www.RogerWendell.com
Roger J. Wendell
Defending 3.8 Billion Years of Organic Evolution^SM

2013

May 22, 2013 (Wednesday):

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper granted a reprieve to mass-murderer Nathan Dunlap today. Dunlap was convicted of murdering four people at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant in 1993 in Aurora, Colorado. Attorney Phil Cherney stated yesterday that his client, Nathan Dunlap, was grateful for the governor's decision. Cherney stated that the he felt the decision to spare Dunlap's life was "...powerfully good for him."

May 20, 2013 (Monday):

Moore, Oklahoma was hit hard by a very large tornado today. It's reported that there are about two dozen deaths as a result. I've been through Moore over 50 times and have always enjoyed Oklahoma in general. I wish them the best.

April 19, 2013 (Friday):

The country woke this morning to news that one of the two Boston Marathon bombing suspects had been shot and killed near MIT late last night. The two are brothers, ethnic Chechens from the North Caucasus of Russia. The surviving suspect is still on the run somewhere in Boston as I write. [The following sentences were added to this entry later in the evening] The second of the two suspects was caught hiding under a boat in someone's backyard in nearby Watertown. Bleeding from injuries, the second of the two is in serious condition but may survive - giving authorities an opportunity to learn more about the motivations, backers, and other plans of the bombers. Sometimes I try to avoid naming killers in my blog as my own small effort to not glorify their actions.

April 15, 2013 (Monday):

Serious bombing today after the conclusion of the Boston Marathon. Evening reports suggest three have died with nearly 140 others injured. Two of six separate devices exploded - obviously not the work of a "freelancer" as such placements probably require a team effort. Time will tell. The nation's thoughts and prayers are with those in Boston tonight. [Note: The news that there were more than two devices at the time was not accurate. For historical purposes I've kept this entry intact as I had originally recorded it...]

April 08, 2013 (Monday):

Margaret Thatcher, the first woman to become British prime minister, died today at age 87. Known as the "Iron Lady," Thatcher, as Conservative Party leader, was prime minister from 1979 to 1990.

March 27, 2013 (Wednesday):

The U.S. Supreme Court continues to consider same-sex marriage arguments.

March 13, 2013 (Wednesday):

76-Year-old Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was selected as the new Pope today. A conservative known for humility, he's the first pontiff from the Americas and the first-ever Jesuit pope.

March 11, 2013 (Monday):

It was reported today that residents of the Falkland Islands voted overwhelmingly to remain a British Overseas Territory.

March 5, 2013 (Tuesday):

venezuelan president hugo chavez died today at age 58. His net worth, as of his passing, was One Billion (1,000 million) dollars.

February 15, 2013 (Friday):

A meteor streaked through the skies above Russia's Urals region this morning. Shock waves created by the meteor's blast broke windows in hundreds of buildings with flying glass hurting over 700 people. Chelyabinsk, located about 1,500 kilometres (930 miles) east of Moscow, was the largest city affected by the blast. A few hours later, at about 22 minutes past noon here in Colorado (19:22 UTC), Asteroid 2012 DA14 passed within 17,200 miles (27,700 kilometres) from Earth - the closest recorded pass of any asteroid known. DA14 is 50 metres across with an orbital period of 368 days that has now been reduced to 317 days due to the Earth's gravitational field. DA14 Will pass near the Earth again on February 15, 2046.

February 12, 2013 (Tuesday):

After killing a number of police and two innocent civilians, Christopher Dorner was cornered in a cabin at Big Bear Lake in California. Dorner died when the cabin caught fire after officers from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's office shot pyrotechnic tear gas into the structure to smoke him out.

February 10, 2013 (Sunday):

The manhunt to find Christopher Dorner continues - he's the highly-trained former Los Angeles police officer who is believed to be on a rampage to kill his former colleagues.

February 10, 2013 (Sunday):

Pope Benedict XVI announced today that'll he'll be resigning by month's end. He is 85 years old.

February 10, 2013 (Sunday):

The manhunt to find Christopher Dorner continues - he's the highly-trained former Los Angeles police officer who is believed to be on a rampage to kill his former colleagues.

February 8, 2013 (Friday):

I found an interesting error on maps.google and used their contact form to alert them to the problem. Just like I discovered from attempting to work with their YouTube division they were polite but didn't seem to care much. Others have told me there's more and more of this professional indifference as the internet begins to age and mature - organizations simply don't want to expend time and resources on correcting problems they perceive to be unimportant or nonexistant. The problem is apparent on countless blogs, news pages, and other online information sources - tons of spelling and gramatical errors that very few are interested in correcting or updating. Oh well - if you see any errors on my own pages please let me know, I'll try to correct 'em unless I'm out climbing or skiing somewhere!

January 18, 2013 (Friday):

Sports Zoo During two recorded sessions this week, on the Oprah Winfrey show, Lance Armstrong admitted to past doping practices and bullying. In other sports news, more strange than anything, collegiate football star Mati Te'o admitted to having had a relationship with a make-believe girlfriend who, apparently, "died" during an important part of the gaming season. It will be interesting to see how these two sports stories play out over the coming months and years...

January 07, 2013 (Monday):

Network 21. Amway. NetworkTwentyone. Okay, first a clarification - I believe there are a huge amount of businesses out there engaged in fraud, pyramid schemes, theft, and scamming. In fairness, Network 21 and Amway are a legitimate business that operates a lot closer to the truth end of the scale than almost all of the bad companies you've ever run into. Nevertheless, I thought I would take time to make this particular blog entry because Network 21 and Amway captured a bit of my attention (and disappointment) unexpectedly during this first week of 2013. It all started with some FaceBook friend requests and emails from acquaintances I hadn't heard from in over a year-and-a-half since leaving my job for early retirement. Either coincidently or by design, these newly rediscovered "friends" wanted me to learn about Network 21 and what could be an almost unlimited business opportunity. Although they were a little vague, they did suggest that Network 21 had a remote connection with Amway but that I could learn a lot more by joining a webinar presentation that explained the business plan. After spending about 45 minutes in the webinar I had more questions than answers so decided to research if further.

After a few hours of poking around on the Amway website I learned a little bit (but not much) about becoming an IBO (Independent Business Owner) and Amway's product line. I had heard of Amway products, before, as long ago as the early 70s, and understood them to be adequately performing, averaged priced solutions for home care, personal care, cosmetics, and nutritional supplement needs. Here, in 2013, it seemed about the same with the exception that the product line was much larger with offerings for electronic stuff, purifiers, and even motor oil being added to the mix. (Motor oil always catches my attention because I've always worked on my own cars and can't imagine any retailer being able to screw up a formula that's mass-produced by two or three refineries in the area...).

To save you time, gentle reader, my feelings about this buying and business opportunity were summarized in the one line email I sent to my newly rediscovered friends; "I have ZERO INTEREST in Network 21 or Amway." That being said, I can admit that this type of marketing and business structure may have an appeal to others. Maybe people find it pleasurable to buy their toothpaste and toilet paper online in bulk? Or, maybe folks like being connected to others through multilevel marketing or similar business structures and relationships? Nevertheless, for me, I don't need to have a case of synthetic oil delivered to my doorstep in hopes of a business write-off or future income stream. I like the idea of being able to buy a competing brand on a whim (or on sale) and not having to attend a seminar or webinar to explain my relationship with the seller. But, that's just me - do your own research (yes, really do the research) and make your own decision - there are a ton of choices out there!

January 05, 2013 (Saturday):

Went to a town hall meeting conducted by various state legislators, city council people, and government officials. I remain astonished at how little understanding these people have of government spending and our debt problems. The general theme seemed to be that we'll increase government programs once the economy turns around. Why not take the position that we're going to cut spending, forever, regardless the direciton of the economy? Isn't it the wasteful spending and an inefficient government that got us into this situation to begin with? I don't get it...

2012

December 14, 2012 (Friday):

As I've had to report all too often in this blog, yet another monster has killed innocents. This time it was a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. At this early hour it's been reported that over 27 people (school children, staff, educators, and administrators) have lost their lives to some madman. I, myself, don't list the names of these killers so as to avoid giving them any more fame than they've already achieved. Also, I try to spare any reports about victims or their families as their grief is already so unimaginable they don't need a bunch of blogs publicizing it. Still, today's incident breaks our hearts just as those previously reported did...

December 11, 2012 (Tuesday):

Numerous classes were cancelled today in several Michigan school districts to accommodate the absence of hundreds of teachers who called in "sick" at the urging of their union. The sick calls were to protest right-to-work legislation at the Michigan Capitol. As a result, 26,000 students were out for the day as some districts closed their doors out of concern for student safety since so many teachers were absent.

December 02, 2012 (Sunday):

Israel, in defiance of international law and morality, announced it has authorized 3,000 additional homes in illegal settlements throughout the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

November 30, 2012 (Friday):

Despite intense opposition from the United States and Israel, the United Nations General Assembly endorsed an upgraded status for the Palestinian Authority yeserday. The resolution elevates their status from "non-member observer entity" to "non-member observer state," the same category as the Vatican. Hopefully this change will provide Palestinians new leverage in their dealings with Israel.

November 16, 2012 (Friday):

Union action has closed Hostess Brands after 80 years of business.

In other news, Israel-Gaza violence continues. Over 20 Palestinians and three Israelis have been killed since Israel assassinated the military commander of Hamas on Wednesday of this week. It appears that Israeli is preparing to invade Gaza.

November 09, 2012 (Friday):

CIA Director David Petraeus announced his resignation today - admitting to an extramarital affair, which media learned was with his biographer, Paula Broadwell. Apparently an extensive exchange of personal emails between Petraeus and Broadwell were revealed over the course of an FBI investigation. In a letter to CIA employees, Petraeus stated, "Yesterday afternoon, I went to the White House and asked the President to be allowed, for personal reasons, to resign from my position as D/CIA. After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours. This afternoon, the President graciously accepted my resignation."

November 01, 2012 (Thursday):

The northeast is getting back on track after super storm Hurricane Sandy hit on Monday. Over four dozen people lost their lives in this storm and it's estimated damages will climb to well over $20 Billion USD. The economic costs are difficult to calculate because the damage to infrastructure, loss of business, decreased work hours, increased operating costs, and other factors make for a very complex formula. Of course some business, albeit a small percentage, will increase or add to the equation - restoration companies, cleanup crews, construction firms, etc. Economic issues aside, most agree the storm's fury can be attributed to Climate Change with more to come in the future...

October 29, 2012 (Monday):

Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey today and is expected to do a lot of damage along the east coast.

October 24, 2012 (Wednesday):

They caught the monster who killed 10 year-old Jessica Ridgeway earlier this month. Turns out to be a 17 year old weirdo from the Denver area. So sad that this little girl had to lose her life to such a creature...

October 10, 2012 (Wednesday):

A damning report posted online by the United States Anti-Doping Agency accuses cycling legend Lance Armstrong of being at the center of systematic effort to cheat during all seven of his Tour de France victories. The 202-page report includes sworn testimony from almost a dozen former cycling teammates who have admitted doping and say that Armstrong did it, too. It details alleged tactics that include having illegal performance enhancing drugs handed off to cyclists from Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service-sponsored team during races.

October 06, 2012 (Saturday):

While driving through Lamar, Colorado (on my way back from Florida) I listened to news reports about the disappearance of 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway of Westminster, Colorado. I hate to immediately assume the worse but I've seen too many of theses cases over my 56 years - some creepy monster finds a window of "opportunity" to take advantage or harm a child. I hope I'm wrong this time. Nevertheless, it's a sickness that our society can't seem to stamp out...

September 12, 2012 (Wednesday):

US Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three of his staff were murdered last night in an attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

September 06, 2012 (Thursday):

During yesterday's Democratic National Convention a huge controversy arose over a voice vote agreeing to making Jerusalem Israel's capital. Apparently the voice vote was against the motion yet the chair, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, said that two thirds were in favor. Villaraigosa repeated the vote three times before making his "decision." Very strange (and corrupt) indeed!

September 05, 2012 (Wednesday):

Sometime this week (they're saying either yesterday or by Friday...) our nation's debt will surpass $16 Trillion - it's simply not sustainable yet too few of us seem to care.

August 28, 2012 (Tuesday):

An Israeli court determined that Rachel Corrie's death (by a military bulldozer in 2003) was an accident. Although the finding is a disappointment it's not a surprise...

August 25, 2012 (Saturday):

Astronaut Neil Armstrong, first man to walk on the moon, died today at age 82. It was heartening for me to note that his passing was posted on the main web pages of the BBC (of course!) and various Chinese, Russian, Indian and other international sites.

August 24, 2012 (Friday):

The U.S. Anti-Doping agency Announced they will strip Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles after Armstrong said he would stop fighting to clear his name of drug charges. At age 40, as of this writing, Armstrong continues participating in various Cycling and foot races...

August 13, 2012 (Friday):

Shame on Russia for it's treatment and conviction of the feminist punck-rock collective, Pussy Riot, for music the goverment believes is "Hooliganism." Members of the group were sentenced to two years in prison.

August 12, 2012 (Thursday):

Not to anyone's surprise, the government of Ecuador granted Julian Assange asylum today. For shame.

August 06, 2012 (Monday):

Curiosity, NASA's SUV-sized rover, landed safely on Mars last night. The rover survivied a harrowing touchdown that scientists had dubbed "seven minutes of terror." The successful landing of Curiosity is a proud technological achievement in the greatest spirit of the human quest for knowledge, adventure, and exploration - Well done NASA, well done!

August 05, 2012 (Sunday):

I am sickened that my blog must constantly record so many killings. Today it was another monster, this time in Wisconsin, who decided to kill a half dozen Sikh members engaged in worship at their temple. Deplorable.

August 02, 2012 (Thursday):

Kofi Annan resigned as the UN's envoy to war-torn Syria - apparently the Security Council's refusal to agree or take action has made Annan's efforts to save lives a waste of time.

July 20, 2012 (Friday):

Another evil creep killed and wounded a bunch of innocent people sometime during the very early hours this morning. This time the mass killing took place at a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado [approximately 35 kilometres/22 miles east of my own residence...] where they were featuring a new Batman movie. The person doing the killing this time was dressed-up as one of the movie's characters when he began shooting into the crowded theatre - killing a dozen and wounding almost sixty others. Unfortunately Aurora, Colorado had experienced a previous mass killing back in December, 1993. Another evil creep, back then, walked into a kids' pizza joint (where he had recently been fired) and killed four coworkers and wounding fifth. And, of course, the Columbine High School massacre of 1999 made international news when two students went on a killing rampage about 30 kilometres (19 miles) southwest of today's tragedy. The evil craziness never seems to end...

July 19, 2012 (Thursday):

Finished up helping out with climbing instruction at the American Lung Association's Champ Camp this morning.

July 15, 2012 (Sunday):

I made it to the top of Jagged Mountain (one of Colorado's more difficult 13ers) in what turned out to be some problematic graupel, rain, and thunderstorms...

July 12, 2012 (Thursday):

Former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno wrote a letter before his death saying the sex abuse scandal involving his assistant coach was "not a football scandal." In breaking news this morning, a Penn State internal review was released revealing that top leadership at the school - including then-President Graham Spanier and then-head football coach Joe Paterno - concealed Sandusky's activities from the public and the university community to "avoid the consequences of bad publicity," according to the internal review.

July 4, 2012 (Wednesday):

Although summertime air in Fort Collins, Boulder, Denver, and Colorado Springs is normally unhealthy it's especially bad (and dangerous) this season with so many fires burning throughout the area. Ongoing fires in Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado have sent haze and smoke across Colorado's Front Range (the aforementioned cities), prompting air-quality health advisories and extremely poor visibility. Have a happy 4th but please don't burn or explode anything!

June 28, 2012 (Thursday):

This morning the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the "Affordable Care Act," President Obama's health care overhaul, ruling as constitutional the individual mandate requiring most Americans to obtain health insurance starting in 2014.

June 20, 2012 (Wednesday):

Julian Assange went to the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to seek asylum. London Police said he had violated the conditions of his bail and would be arrested if he left the embassy. Diplomatic protocol prevents police from entering the embassy to arrest him. Two women have accused Assange of sexually assaulting them during an August 2010 visit to Sweden. Assange is being sought by the United State in connection with a WikiLeaks release of internal U.S. military documents - Assange believes that if the U.K. allows extradition to Sweeden he could eventually end up in the U.S. to face charges related to his release of American military documents. Assange was arrested in Britain in December, 2010, and has been fighting extradition ever since, saying the allegations are retribution for his organization's disclosure of American secrets. Assange sought refuge at the embassy five days after the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom dismissed a bid to reopen his appeal of the decision to send him to Sweden - his last option in British courts.

June 07, 2012 (Thursday):

It appears about 2,000 NFL players have unified in a suit against their league over head injuries. It seems strange that somebody engaged in football wouldn't be aware that they might get injured...
In other news, Dr. Stephen Jordan, President of Metropolitan State College at Denver, decided to cut tuition rates for illegal immigrants today. Again, how strange that somebody from a neighboring state will be required to pay more in tuition than somebody here illegally from another country!

June 06, 2012 (Wednesday):

Ray Bradbury passed away in Los Angeles yesterday.

June 05, 2011 (Tuesday):

In between clouds I got a very clear look at the silhouette of Venus crossing the sun's disc. Unfortunately I couldn't get my 200mm telephoto to focus through the welder's lens - my next chance with be 105 years from now! It appears that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker won the recall election against him. It's late as I report this but there's an indication he retained his job by a larger margin than earlier predicitions...

May 20, 2012 (Sunday):

After climbing Kelso Ridge (to the top of Grays and Torreys) I came home and made an attempt to view the annular solar eclipse while west of Denver. Peering through 5 pairs of dark sunglasses (NOT recommended) I got a pretty good view of the moon covering well over 50% of the sun's disc. However, my views were brief as there were a lot of clouds moving in so I didn't get a good photo...

April 28, 2012 (Saturday):

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper proclaimed today Colorado Mountain Club Day in recognition of the CMC's 100th birthday!

March 15, 2011 (Thursday):

Ousted Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich reported to the Federal prison in Englewood, Colorado today - located about 10 kilometres (6 miles) southwest of my own home. Blagojevich will be serving a 14 year sentence for convictions that included attempts to leverage his power to appoint someone to President Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat to raise campaign cash or land a high-paying job.

March 11, 2012 (Sunday):

There are reports that a US soldier has killed 16 innocent Afghan civillians in Kandahar Province. I hope it isn't true...

February 12, 2012 (Sunday):

Bloodshed and chaos continue in Syria with U.N. officials estimating 6,000 people have died since protests seeking al-Assad's ouster began nearly a year ago. Today it's being reported that Syrian government forces are using detained civilians as human shields - placing them on tanks in the besieged city of Homs to prevent the opposition Free Syrian Army from fighting back.

February 01, 2012 (Wednesday):

Reuters reports that the political violence in Syria has killed at least 5,000 people in the past 10 months and activists say Assad's forces have stepped up operations this week on opposition strongholds, from Damascus suburbs to the cities of Hama, Homs and the border provinces of Deraa and Idlib. I guess we shouldn't be surprised at what measures these monstrous regimes will undertake to maintain power...

Januray 30, 2012 (Monday):

Today we learned that Colorado western slope Representative Laura Bradford (Republican) was driving around Denver drunk on Wednesday. Of course when police picked her up she was able to convey that she was traveling from an official function - thus invoking legislative privilege, without specifically asking for it, and was given a cab drive home. To her credit she did apologize to her colleagues at the state house. However, it's also clear that our elected officials (at the local, state and federal level) lead privileged lives far different from what the rest of us must endure...

January 18, 2012 (Wednesday):

At left is a snapshot of Google's opening page today - it is in response to what may be one of the biggest days in the history of the open Internet. Thousands of websites - including Wikipedia, reddit, BoingBoing, Craigslist, FreePress.net and SavetheInternet.com - have gone dark to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA), bills in the House and Senate that could open the door to widespread censorship online. This would be a great time to contact your Representative and your state's two Senators kill SOPA and PIPA. Here are their phone numbers: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

Januray 08, 2012 (Sunday):

I had the unlucky experience of being in a nearby mountain restaurant/bar as the Broncos football team was going into overtime with the Steelers. A friend and I were returning from a backcountry ski trip and thought the contest would have concluded by the time we left the trailhead. Boy were we wrong! The bar and restaurant patrons were a howling pack of monkeys pounding tables, screaming, whistling and carrying on over a sports event that pretty much guaranteed it would have no impact on their lives, our community, or anything else productive and meaningful. Nevertheless, I wasn't too surprised as I've been made keenly aware of peoples' desire, worldwide, for entertainment and make-believe heroes...

2011

December 31, 2011 (Saturday):

Wild winds throughout Colorado today - gusting up to 200 km/h (125 mph) in the mountains and up 50 110 km/h (70 mph) on the plains. Sporadic power outages around the state but only knocking down my doublet antenna here at home. In other news, the first of twin research spacecraft entered the moon's orbit today. The GRAIL-A -- which launched from Florida's Cape Canaveral on September 10, along with its sister spacecraft GRAIL-B -- began a "lunar orbit insertion burn" at about 4:30 p.m. ET, reported NASA. That burn is expected to finish around 5 p.m. with the second in the pair, GRAIL-B, following suit Tomorrow...

December 30, 2011 (Friday):

Large-scale anti-government protests and violence continue across Syria as opposition groups call upon demonstrators to camp out in public squares to protest the al-Assad regime. The nationwide rallies have been called "The Crawl to Freedom Square" and the protests coincide with increased violence against demonstrators. Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's security forces continue the brutal crackdown on protesters even as an Arab League fact-finding mission works to determine whether the Syrian government is abiding by an earlier peace agreement to end the brutality.

December 24, 2011 (Saturday):

I was hiking (post-holing, actually) in over 30 centimetres (one foot) of snow at the 2,400 metre (7,900 feet) level and was surprised to see a small gnat-like insect flying around in the sun. Maybe I wasn't paying attention but as a kid, in the early 70s in Colorado, I don't ever recall seeing insects flying around in the winter. Is this an indication that the average temperature is, indeed, rising?

December 18, 2011 (Sunday):

Czech Television announced that former President Vaclav Havel died today. He was 75. Late in the evening state TV reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died on Saturday at age 69. A broadcaster reported that Kim died due to "overwork" after "dedicating his life to the people."

December 17, 2011 (Saturday):

CNN reports this evening; "In a final tactical road march, the last U.S. troops in Iraq crossed the border into Kuwait on Sunday morning, ending almost nine years of a deadly and divisive war."

December 16, 2011 (Friday):

British-American author and essayist Christopher Hitchens died yesterday from complications of esophageal cancer. He was 62.

December 13, 2011 (Tuesday):

CERN, In an unofficial announcement today, suggested they may be getting closer to confirming the existance of the Higgs boson. Rolf Heuer, CERN's Director General, remarked on Twitter: "These are preliminary results. More data will come in 2012. We have not yet found or disproved the #Higgs."

December 08, 2011 (Thursday):

On Wednesday Philadelphia District Attorney R. Seth Williams announced that prosecutors would no longer seek the death penalty for cop-killer and murderer Wesley Cook (aka Mumia Abu Jamal). Williams said that Abu-Jamal will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. In other news: With just a few days left in South Africa, negotiations at the United Nations climate summit in Durban don't appear to be making much progress despite much of the world's hope for a positive outcome. With the global economy facing its own set of challenges, many analysts have predicted that a major break-through on a deal to limit global carbon emissions is unlikely. The situation is both pathetic and ironic - if the world's economy were flourishing the negotiators would be reluctant to change anything that might effect upset the applecart. And, of course, whenever the planet's economy is in high gear there's even more environmental destruction and atmospheric pollution contributing to climate change and the degradation of our quality of life.

December 07, 2011 (Wednesday):

Ousted Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison Wednesday, one of the stiffest penalties imposed for corruption in a state with a history of crooked politics. Blagojevich's 18 convictions included allegations of trying to leverage his power to appoint someone to President Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat to raise campaign cash or land a high-paying job. In other news: Our nation's standard-bearer for morality and character, GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich, promised Republican Jewish activists today that, if elected President, he would move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.,

December 05, 2011 (Monday):

Looks like decades of union featherbedding and management incompetence is catching up with the Postal Service - they've announced today that they're so ill-equipped to deal with the predictable drop in mail volume that they're going to cut service standards for their customers. I suspect that the taxpayer will eventually have to bail out the Postal Service as has been the case for countless corrupt banks, auto companies, and other bloated entities that were "too big to fail..."

December 02, 2011 (Friday):

A Tale of Three Losers: Philanderer, cheat, and liar Herman Cain announced today that he won't make an announcement about his Republican presidential bid until tomorrow. It appears he's been under some pressure from the numerous sexual harassment complaints against him in addition to a 13 year extramarital affair that surfaced this week. To get to the bottom of the story, the losers at Fox News (Megyn Kelly) invited former South Carolina governor and philanderer Mark Sanford to provide an opinion. Sanford you may recall, was the governor who stole from his state for flights to South America to be with his mistress - claiming at the time he was hiking the Appalachian Trail... The pure immorality of it all - we are lost!

November 30, 2011 (Wednesday):

Retired Arapahoe County Sheriff Pat Sullivan may be the first person ever to be thrown into a jail named after himself! (The Patrick J. Sullivan Jr. Detention Facility) Here's a small piece of what the Denver Post is reporting today: "Former Arapahoe County Sheriff Patrick Sullivan was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of trying to trade drugs to a man for sex, as investigators monitored the deal." "Drug task-force officers were "visually monitoring" the deal when the 68-year-old former national Sheriff of the Year delivered methamphetamine to an Aurora home and sought sex in return, said current Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson."

November 28, 2011 (Monday):

As is the custom, in our modern police state, for no legitmate reason an officer pulled me over during my 25 kilometre (15 mile) bicycle ride near Golden this afternoon (aprx 3:30 pm). Turns out a "concerned citizen" called the police department while I was photographing the city's new recycling facility. For some reason (strange bicycle helmet, my darker skin, long hair, riding shorts in winter, etc.???) this citizen thought I looked suspicious so they asked the authorities to have a closer look. But, being too fast for them on my 35 year old Panasonic bicycle, the police didn't catch up with me until I was few kilometres further west on Colfax Avenue where a couple of their cruisers slowly passed me until they were sure they had their man and pulled me over. To the police department's credit their interrogating officer (a woman who appeared to be about age 40 or so) was friendly and non-threatening but did end up with my personal information and an explanation as to why I was photographing a recycling facility (I forgot to give her the URL where I have "tons" of recycling photos posted at http://www.rogerwendell.com/recycle.html).

This incident was similar to other police encounters I've had in the past (while using my camera). In January, 2004 I was headed to Argentina with a brief stop in Los Angeles to change planes. Sitting next to me, on the Denver-Los Angeles leg of the trip was restaurant owner from Nepal. During the flight he asked me to video record him (with his camera) so that the folks in his homeland could see the interior of airplane - as most had never flown before. I was happy to help him out and took a lot of photos and videos of him inside the aircraft.

Once we arrived in Los Angeles the plane was held up on the tarmac until authorities could wake up a couple air marshals to board the plane and interrogate me and my new found friend. Although photographing and video recording aren't prohibited in an aircraft the crew thought that my new friend and I were suspicious enough that we needed to be detained and interrogated by the overpaid and underworked air marshals.

Although this particular pair of air marshals wasn't very bright they were thorough - separating and questioning my friend and I at length - so much so that he missed his own flight to Nepal and I had to go through expedited security to make my own flight. Their interrogation included a thorough examination of our recordings and pictures in addition to endless questioning and a requirement that we each write a paragraph or two essay about the events on board the plane.

Anyway, the point of this rant is that I, myself (and others like me), continue having to endure police interrogations while real crimes are taking place all over the place with almost no law enforcement response. The "Cowards of Columbine" (police who hid behind their vehicles while 37 students and teachers were either killed or injured by two teenage gunmen at a highschool just a few kilometres from where I live), police brutality at OWS gatherings and other protests, do-nothing detectives and overpaid police chiefs - are all examples of a law enforcement "industry" that benefits only the police.

November 26, 2011 (Saturday):

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, carrying NASA's Mars Science Laboratory - the official name for the new rover - had a sucessful liftoff from Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida today. Called "Curiosity," this launch carried the biggest Mars rover ever built. The one-ton rover carries 10 scientific instruments that will be used to closely examine the Gale Crater after it lands on Mars in August 2012. Curiosity's findings will lay the foundation for a possible future manned mission to Mars, and answer important questions about the Red Planet's habitability.

November 19, 2011 (Saturday):

In 2001 WTO declared 19th November World Toilet Day (WTD). Today it is celebrated in over 19 countries with over 51 events being hosted by various water and sanitation advocates. World Toilet Organization created WTD to raise global awareness of the struggle 2.6 billion face every day without access to proper, clean sanitation. WTD also brings to the forefront the health, emotional and psychological consequences the poor endure as a result of inadequate sanitation - Click Here for more info on WTD and click Here for my own page on toilet matters...

November 15, 2011 (Tuesday):

The Postal Service announced today it STILL lost $5.1 billion dollars this year (fiscal 2011) despite recent legislation that postpones a $5.5 billion payment to fund retiree and health benefits. The Postal Service needs to dramatically downsize, now, but I'm sure the unions and other constituencies will fight such streamlining proposals to the very end. Management incompetence, union featherbedding, and law enforcement lethargy (The Postal Inspection Service and Office of Inspector General) will continue unabated until the Postal dinosaur is once again bailed-out by the taxpayer. For shame!

November 10, 2011 (Thursday):

Cops used pepper spray, last night, to break up around 2,000 Penn State students who took to the streets following the ousting of football coach Joe Paterno and university president Graham Spanier. The two were fired amid allegations a child sex abuse scandal occurred on their watch. Paterno's former defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky, is accused of molesting at least eight boys between 1994 and 2009. And, as is usual in the world of sports, little was done to address the issue for fear of upsetting the sports entertainment gravy train...

October 31, 2011 (Monday):

7 Billion is too many!! The United Nations estimates the world's population to have reached 7 billion today. Way too many, by any measure, with China, India, and the United States remaining the three most populated countries on the planet. Our burgeoning numbers are degrading our quality of life as we use up all our resources and pollute ourselves into poor health - not to mention the horrible damage we've done to the natural world in general. This is unacceptable. In other news, U.S. State Department announced that the United States is cutting funding to UNESCO after the agency voted to accept a Palestinian bid for full membership. Again, our (and Israel's) treatment of the Palestinians is unacceptable.

October 26, 2011 (Wednesday):

The Congressional Budget Office announced today that the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans saw their inflation-adjusted after-tax incomes soar, on average, 275 percent from 1979 to 2007. This while three-fifths of people in the middle income scale saw their average after-tax household income increase by just under 40 percent. The poorest one-fifth saw their average income increase only 18 percent over that same 30 year period.

October 23, 2011 (Sunday):

Large earthquake reported in eastern Turkey today.
Closer to home: After playing with, and agonizing over, various antennas (since having my roof replaced this summer) I went back to the simple but reliable 88 foot (26.8 metres) doublet fed wit 450 Ohm ladder line. The biggest problemat my current location is the steep hill/mountainside we live on that brings one side of the antenna very close to the ground - not very helpful for radiating in certain directions!

October 20, 2011 (Thursday):

Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi died today, according to a spokesman for that country's National Transitional Council. Qaddafi died of wounds suffered during his capture near his hometown of Sirte, Reuters and Sky News reported.

October 13, 2011 (Thursday):

The second remaining monster of the pair who terrorized and killed the Petit women, during the deadly 2007 Connecticut home invasion, was also found guilty today. Hopefully he'll receive whatever the maximum is during the October 24th sentencing phase. Gone, forever, are Dr. Petit's wife and two teenage daughters - Jennifer Hawke-Petit and daughters Hayley and Michaela.

October 12, 2011 (Wednesday):

Another one of our national buffoons, Rush Limbaugh, proclaimed again today that there's no such thing as human induced Global Warming. At about 40 minutes into his second hour (he's preempted in the Denver area, by the Mike Rosen show, so I'm not exactly sure what time of the morning his broadcast actually originates...), Limbaugh stated, "I happen to know there's no such thing as manmade global warming." Hmmm...., I wonder how this great scientist and thinker "knows" there's no such thing? I suspect Rush Limbaugh knows very well that the climate is changing, and changing for the worst, but doesn't want to be out of lockstep with the big businesses and huge political connections he has. Just a guess of course...

In other news, another set of our nation's overpaid and underworked "athletes," their owners, and league are going on strike again for more pay and less work. This time it's the do-nothings at the National Basketball Association (NBA). Last time it was the NFL - the football crooks who have soaked taxpayers for countless stadiums and subsidies while the average working person is wondering whether they'll have a paycheck and food on the table a month from now. The point remains that professional athletes are paid too much at the expense of taxpayers or anyone wanting to purchase a product that sponsors the our national sports entertainment industry.

October 07, 2011 (Friday):

Shame on Robert Jeffress, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas. Earlier today Jeffress said that Republicans shouldn't vote for White House hopeful Mitt Romney because he's a Mormon and described the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a "cult." This is yet another reason why America needs to get religion, all religion (including Jeffress and his Dallas church), out of politics. A church involved in politics has no right to a tax exempt status.

October 05, 2011 (Wednesday):

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, died today at age 56...

October 04, 2011 (Tuesday):

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad

The "Occupy Wall Street" protests seem to be growing around the country while the markets, themselves, continue their downward slide (although there was a 153 point uptick for the Dow just before closing today). In other protest news, the unrest in Syria remains bloody, with nearly 2,600 killed in the last half year. In response (or lack thereof) the United Nations Security Council failed to pass a resolution today against the Syrian (Russia and China vetoed the resolution while a handful of other countries abstained...). The scenario seems a bit familiar - there's usually one or two vetoes for any resolutions against Israeli aggression - squabbling bureaucracies while innocent people die...

September 23, 2011 (Friday):

Palestinians took their case to the United Nations today asking for recognition as state. Of course with Israel and the United States against the idea it'll be many years before the Palestinian people can regain their dignity and freedom. In other news, the 6.5-ton Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) is expected to break through the Earth's atmosphere sometime this date - with about ten percent of its mass actually surviving the burn and hitting the planet's surface somewhere... Finally, the repeal of the military's "Don't ask Don't Tell" policy went into effect today - by my calculations, just over 233 years since a court-martial for sodomy occurred in the Continental Army in 1778...

September 22, 2011 (Thursday):

Made it to the top of Utah's highest peak this morning. King's Peak (a "13er") (13,528 feet / 4,123 metres) is a relatively long climb/hike at about 30 miles (48 kilometres) roundtrip. The surrounding High Uintas Wilderness area is very nice except for the extensive Beetle Kill, grazing, campfires, and huge ribbon of "social" trails following the main line. Normally too many people but, as luck would have it, I had the entire mountain to myself for over a day!

September 08, 2011 (Thursday):

Huge power outage throughout the American Southwest this evening. Due to a combination of energy demand (due to hot temperatures) and the switching of some equipment in Yuma, Arizona. The outage even affected Baja California in Mexico...

September 06, 2011 (Tuesday - U.S. Labor Day September 7th):

Here in Moscow, Russia local television featured a one minute piece about the United States Postal Service. Except for the varied video footage there wasn't much of the broadcast I could understand other than it was clear the huge Postal Behemoth if faililng financially. The Postal Service and its unions had plenty of opportunity to plan for this day but yet insisted on maintaining the status quo - an extremely inefficient/corrupt workforce, incompetent management, and a total lack of planning by both parties has ensured the taxpayer of yet another bailout. It's pathetic and uncalled for...

In another "brush with fame" I had the pleasure of chatting with Ray Gaskins (of the Roy Ayers Ubiquity jazz group) on a flight out of Russia. Nice guy except I don't know a darn thing about jazz music though! I think he mentioned that he liked Steeley Dan in addition to his own genre. Although I'm familiar with Seeley Dan I don't know much about their music, either - I just couldn't win on this one!

August 17, 2011 (Wednesday):

Presidential hopeful/Texas Governor Rick Perry says that man-made Global Warming is a myth that was created by corrupt scientists seeking funding. For shame Governor, for shame...

August 13, 2011 (Saturday):

Denver's ozone level reached the unhealthy level by evening again. More people, more cars, more pollution - it's only going to get worse...

August 11, 2011 (Thursday):

NASA Researchers have found the building blocks of DNA in a class of meteorites (called CM2 meteorites) that may have assisted in the formation of life on this planet in the past. Testing revealed the presence of adenine and guanine, two fundamental components of DNA called nucleobases. The scientists remain confident that the meteorites being tested hadn't been contaminated after they plunged to Earth. They've also confirmed that the class of meteorites in question contain many variants of nucleobases - suggesting that their parent asteroids are acting like "chemical factories" due to the wide variety of ingredients and conditions found on in each...

August 09, 2011 (Tuesday):

55 Year old polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was sentenced to life in prison today for his "spiritual marriages" to under-aged girls. Jeffs heads the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and was convicted for sexual crimes against young girls.

August 08, 2011 (Monday):

In a bit of irony, the Dow Jones Industrial average fell 630 points today in response to Standard and Poor's downgrading the credit worthiness of U.S. treasuries - people "fleeing" the market used their proceeds to buy more U.S. treasuries! In other news, youth riots continue in London and Syria continues killing it's own citizens involved in protest.

August 05, 2011 (Friday):

Arrived home late, after an excellent week of climbing 13ers in the desert west (Utah, Nevada, and California), to learn that Standard and Poor's downgraded the United States' credit rating from AAA to AA+ - the first downgrade in our country's history. Standard and Poor's, of course, is the same corrupt bunch that gave high ratings to failing financial institutions despite their impending collapses... In happier news, "Juno" was launched atop an Atlas V-551 rocket today. It's scheduled to make at least 30 polar orbits around Jupiter five years from now - like similar past missions I hope to be around to watch this one's completion and results!

August 01, 2011 (Monday):

The 537 losers (100 Senators, 435 Representatives, Prez and VP) running our federal government came to some kind of budget agreement today. Wasteful spending, huge taxes, and government inefficiencies will undoubtedly continue as they have for my entire adult life. But, these elected buffoons can't take all the blame as each of them are influenced by us, the voters... In other national news yet another child is missing under suspicious circumstances. This time it's 11 year-old Celina Cass (Laro) of New Hampshire - I can't imagine the hell her parents are going through today. Hopefully it's a simple case of childhood runaway but statics suggest that it's probably another monster preying on children...

July 26, 2011 (Tuesday):

The greedy crooks at the National Football League have just settled for a lot more money for very little work or entertainment. Of course the basketball association and other "sports" organizations will shortly follow suit. But, more importantly, whose fault is it that overpaid leagues, owners, and players are allowed to raise the price of everything we buy and consume in this country [advertisers pass their huge expenses on to us, the consumers] - even at the expense of local taxpayers who subsidize their clubs and stadiums? It's the fans of course! Only a devoted fan would spend three day's wages to take his or her kids to a park where overpaid, underworked, drug-riddled "athletes" prance around for an hour or two doing almost nothing. Kind of like ancient Rome...

July 22, 2011 (Friday):

Sadness continues to creep into international news around the world almost like clockwork. Today dozens of people were killed by bombings and gunfire in and near Oslo, Norway. This peaceful, wonderful country attacked by yet another armed coward - it's sickening...

July 21, 2011 (Thursday):

A fun week at Champ Camp ended too quickly for me today. I was honored to be asked to help all week with climbing classes for the kids at camp and am grateful for the experience! A longtime acquaintance of mine, Yukari Miyamae, has been making national news for an incident between her and a TSA agent at Phoenix's Sky Harbor airport last week. This prompted me to make sure I had her properly identified in an old photo of us together on my KGNU page.

July 16, 2011 (Saturday):

President Barack Obama met with HH the Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso) today at the White House. The Chinese government was quick to complain as they fear any recognition of the 14th Dalai Lama will weaken their illegal occupation of Tibet. The Chinese have been occupying Tibet since 1950 and are swamping the indigenous Tibetans with hords of ethnic Han from overcrowded China. It's a sad situation that the entire world has done little to correct because of the cheap, trashy goods the Chinese manufacture for the rest of the planet. I've been to Tibet and it's a sad, humiliating situation that must be stopped. Thankfully President Obama, and other presidents before him, have had the courage to continue meeting with His Holiness despite complaints and pressure from China.

July 13, 2011 (Wednesday):

More explosions and killings in Mumbai during their evening commute this date. Tami and I are especially sensitive to this as we were a half dozen hundred kilometres away, while touring India in 2008, when the second Mumbai massacre took place (the first major Mumbai attack took place in 2006 with the trains...).

July 09, 2011 (Saturday):

South Sudan (officially, "The Republic of South Sudan"), after decades of bloodshed, became an independent nation today.

June 28, 2011 (Tuesday):

The economic riots in Greece have turned violent. Their country is deep in debt and, like here and everywhere else, people believe society can continue with low productivity and guaranteed benefits for all. It will be interesting to see if Greece can continue on in the Euro zone...

June 24, 2011 (Friday):

Denver's air was so unbelievably foul this evening I added air quality links to my Main and Colorado pages. Ground level ozone is created (not to be confused with the high-altitude version that protects life on Earth from radiation) when various gases, emissions, and vapors encounter Colorado's strong and direct summer sunlight. The result is an unhealthy atmospheric mix that damages lung tissue and our overall quality of life. Some people, like me, can actually smell and "taste" heavy doses of ozone (I know, this "7th sense" hasn't been scientifically documented yet...) anytime there's extended exposure. More people, mean more emissions, which means more ozone and damage to our health. Yet few seem to care...

June 11, 2011 (Saturday):

Representative Anthony Weiner (Democrat, New York) remains in the news for a number of lewd photos, texts and emails he sent to various women this year. At first, back in May, Weiner claimed that the lewd photos of himself were sent out by a hacker that got into his Twitter account. Finally, sometime in late June, he admitted that he had lied and that the photos and texts were his. Refusing to resign his position of public trust, we learned today that he's seeking professional help while still attempting to "serve" his constituents. Like most politicians, Weiner has too much time, money and ego at his disposal to do what's right for us, the public. Looks like he's earned a permanent listing on my Bad Guys page and probably that of his wife, too, since they're expecting their first child...

June 10, 2011 (Friday):

On my own, and without a map (this was an unplanned, spur-of-the-moment climb while on an extended road trip), I made the summit of Wheeler Peak - the highest point in New Mexico. I had a little trouble route-finding through waist-deep snow in the trees but had a great experience overall. I'll post pix and video links off my 13ers page as time permits.

June 07, 2011 (Tuesday):

Made it to the top of Telescope Peak above Death Valley. My guess is we acquired about 900 metres (nearly 3,000 feet) of elevation gain from Mahogany Flat campground. After the climb I found the dirt back roads of Death Valley to be an interesting adventure of twists, turns, steep grades, high temperatures, sweeping desert, and magnificent Joshua tree forests. Unfortunately some of the people I was with were petrified with fear - making their experience a lot less fun than my own. Nevertheless, I'll post pix and video links of this trip on my Hiking page as time permits.

June 03, 2011 (Friday):

Assisted-suicide advocate Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a Michigan pathologist, died early today according to various news reports. He was 83 and had been hospitalized in Michigan for pneumonia and a kidney-related ailment. On a personal note, today was my last official day of work until I find my next job/career...

June 02, 2011 (Thursday):

Encountered a small but healthy rattlesnake just 15 metres from the summit of Mt. Morrison. Rattling vigorously, it slowly made its way away from me and the trail. The snake was only about a metre in length, or slightly longer, but seemed to have plenty of mass and energy. I've encountered many rattlesnakes throughout my life and am usually caught by surprise. Luckily evolution had developed their rattling habits to ward of creatures bigger than what they could eat...

May 31, 2011 (Tuesday):

A favored, elderly aunt of mine passed away this morning and will be greatly missed. In some "better-late-than-never" news, the World Health Organization announced today that cell phone use may cause cancer. This doesn't come as much of a surprise to anyone who has given cell phone use any thought - at nearly the same frequency used to cook chicken in a microwave oven, we press these nearly useless devices into the side of our skulls hoping there will be no cellular damage...

May 27, 2011 (Friday):

Today was my last day of work in Grand Junction so I was eager to hop onto Interstate 70 for the 400 kilometre drive back home to Denver. Maybe it was because I was feeling so upbeat and alert that I noticed at least three different cars passing me with a "thumbs-up" in approval of my bumper sticker. Usually I average about one signal of approval, per day, for my bumper sticker but I guess people are starting to wake-up to all the crime and corruption that permeate American churches. At least I hope so! Anyway, I stopped along the way and photographed the sticker before some religous person trys to peel it off my 1993 Toyota Tercel - it had almost 264,000 miles (425,000 kilometres) at the time of this photo - a great topic for my upcoming book on hypermiling!

May 22, 2011 (Sunday):

Doomsday Didn't Happen! Many Christians, especially here in the United States, predicted the end of the world to occur yesterday, May 21st. Except for the usual amount of rapes, murders, wars, floods, tornados, and human-induced environmental destruction nothing out of the ordinary really happened yesterday. Why is it Christians keep proposing such calamities Sadly, it's almost as if they're hoping for a catastrophe. It was reported that many Christians gave up their jobs, homes, friends, and family to wait out "the big one" last night. As best I can tell, Harold Egbert Camping is the Christian fruitcake who uses Bible-based numerology to calculate the "end times" for those of us listening to his radio network broadcasts. Will we, as a people, every grow up and shake ourselves free of all this myth, make-believe, and superstition? Why not "Be Here Now" and make the most of our short existence? It's time to get a life! (Oh, I'm also sad to report that this Camping fellow was born right here in my home state of Colorado - thankfully he moved to California, long ago, to stir things up with his radio broadcasts...)

May 20, 2011 (Friday):

To nobody's surprise, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu advised President Obama that his country had no intention of honoring international law when it came to Israeli's 1967 borders or its occupation of Arab Palestinian lands. The world, of course, just sits back to allow the Israelis to continue stealing what is not theirs. It's obvious in my own country that the Israeli lobby wields an extraordinary amount of influence over the majority of our elected officials. As such, it will continue to be extremely difficult for America to treat Palestinian Arabs fairly in the peace process. Israel will continue taking what is not theirs and America will continue sending huge amounts of money, armaments, and aid to Israel in support of their illegal activities. It's sad, immoral, and embarrassing. In a way it's similar to what goes on in China. The Chinese brutalize the Tibetan and Uyghur people and the whole world stands by to let it happen because of Chinese economic power and influence over elected governments. It's an age-old problem that needs to change.

May 15, 2011 (Sunday):

The head of the International Monetary Fund is accused of chasing a housekeeping employee down the hall of his New York hotel suite and trying to sexually assault her. Dominique Strauss-Kahn was taken into custody late Saturday and will probably be arraigned tomorrow (Monday). Turns out he fled the scene, leaving behind his cell phone, but was arrested at his First-class seat on a French bound plane before it took off. Even the French are growing critical of this character...

In other news Isreal is at it again without anyone (except the Arabs) voicing concern. Israel, all weekend, has been killing Palestinian protesters along its borders where violence has broke out. The incidents are related to the May 14th anivesary of the creation of the state of Israel (better known as the "Catastrophe" throughout the Arab world). 750,000 Arab Palestinians lost their homes, because of the Catastrophe, and the world (especially Israel) expects them to just forget and walk away?

May 11, 2011 (Wednesday):

Glen and Mary took me down to Hotchkiss (Colorado's western slope) to look over a possible land purchase and other stuff. We stopped by the Hotchkiss National Fish Hatchery where a fish bit me while I was video recording! http://www.youtube.com/zeekzilch#p/a/u/2/35bnIr6wark

May 6, 2011 (Friday):

It's been a busy week so I haven't been able to listen to as much talk radio as I normally do. Nevertheless, I caught some pretty long pieces of Limbaugh and Hannity with an occasional quick sound-bite or two from Savage, Levin, and Bortz. Do you think any of these buffoons could have expressed the least amount of appreciation for the Obama administration's Bin Laden action on Sunday? Nope - not an ounce of support could I detect from any of these clowns - it seemed to be nothing but criticism and complaints about Obama having to cut intel and military budgets. Again, who would care what a draft-dodger like Limbaugh has to say except there's a listening audience of nearly 20 million "ditto-heads" hanging on his every word. We are lost...

May 1, 2011 (Sunday):

At about 20:40, local time, I was driving through Golden listening to the BBC when they interrupted their programming to announce that they had received word from the White House that Osama Bin Laden had been killed in Pakistan. About an hour later President Obama appeared on national television, radio, and the internet to confirm the kill - since we don't have television reception Tami and I listened to the president's speech on AM radio (the same BBC broadcast) along with internet streaming of White House video. Turns out Bin Laden was killed in firefight following a U.S. raid in Abbottabad - no Americans killed in the action.

April 29, 2011 (Friday):

Okay, I admit to being a sap at times! - I took an interest in today's royal wedding and think the young couple look good together. But, time will tell...

April 27, 2011 (Wednesday):

Our national carnival clown, Donald Trump, was able to get President Obama to release his birth certificate today. On a happier note, my landlord and I took a couple miles hike with her dog through Devils Canyon in the McInnis conservation area near Grand Junction. Here's the YouTube video to prove it! http://www.youtube.com/zeekzilch#p/u/5/wfqEHs4NZDg

April 25, 2011 (Monday):

Syria continues its bloody crackdown on protestors with over 300 dead so far...

April 17, 2011 (Sunday):

For the past few weeks, in anticipation of spring, I've been trying to listen for crickets. I don't know what it signifies but this late afternoon I finally heard some on Green Mountain. I've also been listening in Grand Junction, where I spend a lot of time on business, but haven't heard any there yet. This surprises me as Grand Junction's climate seems more steady than that of the Denver area.

April 4, 2011 (Monday):

I noticed water flowing in Grand Junction's canals today. It's something I've been waiting/watching for although this seems earlier than I recall from last year. I spend a lot of time in Grand Junction, on business, so have learned a lot about it and the western slope this past year-and-a-half...

April 2, 2011 (Saturday):

Apparantely some idiots at a Florida church burned the Quran a couple weeks ago - no doubt they'd be offened if somebody had burned their Bible but they proceeded with offending the Muslim world anyway. In an imbalanced reaction, some Muslims in Afghanistan responded by killing seven innocent U.N. workers yesterday. Have any Muslim religious leaders spoken out against the killing of these innocents - I haven't heard yet but suspect it'll be Religious "business" as usual...

April 2, 2011 (Saturday):

Apparantely some idiots at a Florida church burned the Quran a couple weeks ago - no doubt they'd be offened if somebody had burned their Bible but they proceeded with offending the Muslim world anyway. In an imbalanced reaction, some Muslims in Afghanistan responded by killing seven innocent U.N. workers yesterday. Have any Muslim religious leaders spoken out against the killing of these innocents - I haven't heard yet but suspect it'll be Religious "business" as usual...

March 26, 2011 (Saturday):

The Middle East remains in turmoil with Libyan rebels now making advances, thanks to the "No fly" zone created by coalition forces last week. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh seems prepared to step down in response to his country's unrest. Protesters are being shot in Syria, too. In other news, Japan now confirms over ten thousand deaths since their earthquake and tsunami earlier this month. Radiation leaks from Japan's nuclear power plants continue to complicate matters as well.

March 18, 2011 (Saturday):

The U.S. and European nations attacked Moammar Gadhafi's forces and air defenses with cruise missiles and airstrikes today - an effort to protect the people of Libya from being brutalized by their own government.

March 17, 2011 (Thursday):

The aftermath of Japan's earthquake and tsunami continue to worsen with the death toll rising and radiation concerns from failing nuclear reactors. In happier news (much happier news!) NASA's Messenger spacecraft swung into position around Mercury, making it the first spacecraft ever to orbit the innermost planet. In hopeful news, the U.N. Security Council voted to authorize military action to protect civilians and impose a no-fly zone over Libya. The council acted five days after the Arab League urged the U.N.'s most powerful body to try to halt Gadhafi's advancing military and reverse the realities on the ground, where rebels and their civilian supporters are in danger of being crushed by pro-government forces using rockets, artillery, tanks and warplanes. The vote was 10-0 with five countries abstaining including Russia and China.

March 12, 2011 (Saturday):

Japan's 8.9 earthquake, yesterday, has severely damaged some of that country's 55 Nuclear reactors.

March 11, 2011 (Friday):

Horrible earthquake and tsunami northeast of Tokyo.

March 06, 2011 (Sunday):

Libya remains a mess with Moammar Gadhafi still killing his own people to maintain power. In other news, Afghan President Hamid Karzai is demanding more from NATO than just an apology for killing nine innocent boys during a recent airstrike. Afghanistan, too, remains a complete mess. It's so unfortunate and sad what people around the world have to endure just to survive at a basic level each day...

February 28, 2011 (Monday):

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi still clings to power by killing protesters in his country. Hopefully the world community will do something more, to protect the people, than just words... In our own country union thugs continue occupying the capital building in Madison, Wisconsin. Despite their state being completely broke teachers, firefighters, street sweepers, and all the rest of them are demanding more than the working people and taxpayers of their state can afford. The Democrats in their own legislature have fled the state to avoid taking any actions against the unions - this despite a recent Rasmussen telephone survey (February 24th) that shows 67% of likely U.S. voters disapprove of such tactics. Hopefully, in the end, the taxpayers will come out on top of all this but I'm not holding my breath...

February 23, 2011 (Wednesday):

A huge earthquake hit Christchurch, New Zealand yesterday. The death toll may be over 100...

February 21, 2011 (Monday):

Libya remains chaotic with protests and, unfortunately, deaths continuing. Most of the unrest started (and continues) in Benghazi and is spreading to Tripoli. Maybe Moammar Gadhafi is on his way out?

February 19, 2011 (Saturday):

Coming home late last night on Interstate 70, from Grand Junction, I fell behind a cop car driving very erratically. He was slowing down to 15 mph (24 km/h) and then up to 55 (88 km/h), not allowing me to pass in areas where the posted limit was 75 mph (120 km/h) - even though it was clear the road was wide open in front of us. I called the 911 dispatcher and reported a "rogue emergency vehicle" driving erratically at mile marker 144 east bound. The dispatcher said it was to control traffic for First Lady Michelle Obama's arrival at the Eagle, Colorado, airport just a few miles ahead of me. Once I finally pass through Eagle I could see all kinds of emergency vehicles flashing their lights to block traffic and access from every direction.

Mexico remains in the news with not only the drug-related murder of its own citizens (34,500 since 2006, according to CNN) but the killing of a U.S. "ICE" agent last week in addition to other Americans over the past few months. Although I've enjoyed travel through Mexico, in the past, I'm avoiding it now. And, too, some of our own border towns are becoming much too dangerous as of late as well...

February 18, 2011 (Friday):

People in Bahrain, Libya, and Iran have taken Egypt's cue and started protesting for their own freedom. Of course the thugs that run their countries have come down hard on the protesters with numerous beatings and killings to scare the crowds.

In our own country the unions are protesting in Wisconsin over that state's efforts to control its budget deficits. Most the American states, as of this writing, are broke, but the unions just don't get it - they think that the cash-strapped taxpayer can continue funding huge paychecks/retirements for state workers, firemen, police, teachers and administrators that don't provide an equal amount of economic value in return. I hope the governor of Wisconsin can set the example and reverse the trend in his own state but I'm not holding my breath...

February 11, 2011 (Friday):

After two weeks of protests and riots Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak stepped down as Egypt's president today. It will be very interesting to see which direction Egypt takes after this...

February 7, 2011 (Monday):

Tami and I have just returned from Antarctica so are a little bit out-of-the-loop when it comes to news. Nevertheless, the riots and protests in Egypt, for the past couple of weeks, even caught our attention while in the sourthern hemisphere. It sounds like there have been a lot of injuries but I don't have all the details yet. While on a slight layover in Los Angeles, we left LAX and visited Randy's Donuts on 805 West Manchester Blvd. This is of some significance because this particular store was built by my father's uncle, as a Big Donut in 1952. Ron Weintrab, the current owner, actually took my donut order (an assortment box for $8.50 USD that we actually flew to Denver with us) and provided a little more insight on the family biz...

January 20, 2011 (Thursday):

BBC News reported this morning that 2010 was the third warmest year recorded - I believe they said 1998, and 2005 were the warmest and that there should be no doubt that Global Warming is taking place - yet, of course, Levin, Limbaugh, Hannity, and host of others continue telling us otherwise...

In other news the FBI can be congratulated for arresting over 125 people engaged in Mafia activities in New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Italy - one of their largest busts of mob ever!

January 17, 2011 (Monday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day):

Former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier is back in Haiti this weekend after a quarter century of exile in France. Seems strange they'd allow him to return since he, and his father before him, took so much from the Haitian people. "Baby Doc" was proclaimed president-for-life at age 19 when his father died. Although he made a small show of introducing some reforms to the corrupt and dictatorial regime of his father it pretty much ended up being business as usual until the people revolted in the mid 1980s. But now he's back? I know the people of Haiti have suffered a lot from the recent quake, and other problems, but why bring a crook back into power?

January 16, 2011 (Sunday):

Queensland, in northeastern Australia begins its slow recovery from massive flooding.

January 15, 2011 (Saturday):

Riots and protesters against President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali continue in Tunisia. Apparently nepotism and corruption have sparked the people's anger - I hope the people win...

January 14, 2011 (Friday):

As is my custom I was listening to Hannity, Limbaugh, Savage, Boortz, Beck, Levin, NPR and other broadcasters throughout the week. Most, with the exception of maybe Savage, spent a lot of airtime either backpedalling or denying their previous broadcasts were too angry or hate-filled. Most said they had never advocated violence - I agree, none of them had ever even come close to suggesting anything violent (that I ever heard) but they're missing the point - all of them (except for NPR and a few other outlets) preached a deep hatred of our president, government, and political direction. I, myself, even heard Rush Limbaugh call our president a "Jackass" - completely unacceptable by any measure! Fortunately, even though none of these talkshow hosts will admit it, the tone of their conversation has been turned down, considerably, although Mark Levin bragged about his law experience and promised to sue anybody who crossed him on these issues.

January 08, 2011 (Saturday):

Some 22 year old creep killed a federal judge, 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Green, and four others in Arizona today. Many others, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, were severely wounded. The 22-year-old's little mind, according to early news reports, justified the shooting because he doesn't believe our Constitution is being followed and that our money should be backed by gold. The madness never seems to end - I suspect it's fueled by the vitriol and hatred that's so common on talk radio these days. I've heard it myself on Hannity, Limbaugh, Savage, Boortz, Beck, Levin, and many others, but let me clarify - obviously none of these "luminaries," or any others that I've heard are advocating violence. What they have been doing, consistently for the years that I've been listening, is advocating a deep hate for government or anyone who doesn't march in lock-step with their own philosophies. By any measure it's been unacceptably uncivil - an anti-American embarrassment that fuels the fringe and unbalanced like the 22 year old who went on this rampage. As Oprah Winfrey said, years ago when the Texas beef industry was suing her, "Free Speech" rocks! I agree but again ask that we all tone it down when it comes to hating somebody just because their beliefs are different...

January 02, 2011 (Sunday):

The Captain of the USS Enterprise, one Owen Honors, seems to be in the news this weekend for some videos he created a few years ago when he was XO (Executive Officer) on that same ship. Although nothing explicit (I was able to find a link to a portion of the videos) the videos were sexually suggestive and a bit offensive in places. Based on my military experience I was surprised to see such videos produced by the ship's command. Back when I was "in," the XO was still a pretty serious position although it did offer a more "human" face to the unit's command. Despite my surprise about the XO's videos it's probably not fair (at this time, at least) to judge Honors' actions since I have no idea what the Enterprises' "culture" and history is all about...

2010

December 10, 2010 (Friday):

In Oslo, Norway an empty chair stood in for imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo as he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in absentia today. China has responded furiously - officials have repeatedly called Liu a common criminal and declared the award a Western plot against China. A Chinese Foreign Ministry official aid, "The decision of the Norwegian Nobel Committee does not represent the wish of the majority of the people in the world, particularly that of the developing countries." Liu Xiaobo, a professor of literature, is serving an 11-year sentence in a Chinese prison for what the government called "inciting subversion of state power." He was not allowed to travel to Norway to accept the prize, nor was his wife, Liu Xia. Although China is becoming wealthy and powerful it still has a long way to go toward basic human rights and political reform.

December 09, 2010 (Thursday):

Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" failed in the senate today.

December 07, 2010 (Tuesday):

I was able to watch a recording of Sarah Palin's caribou hunt that was aired last weekend on her Alaska TV program. (Since I don't have television reception of my own I have to rely on friends and recorders for my occasional viewing fix) Although Palin's attitude didn't surprise me it's still very disappointing to hear and watch people engaged in recreational hunting. Palin claims such activities are what help sustain and strengthen the caribou heard but, of course, that was the wolf's job before her and her kind wiped-out the predators (as governor of Alaska Palin used $400,000 of state money to fund a propaganda campaign in support of aerial hunting of wolves and bears...). Besides the pure idiocy of Palin's hunting philosophy it appeared, also, that she really doesn't know much about the sport anyway - She had numerous missed shots, others had to load her rifle for her, and she obviously doesn't carry herself well in the backcountry. And, the most revealing (to me at least) is the shot of her very young daughter grimacing at the thought of eating caribou meat when somebody from the hunt thrusts the caribou's raw and severed heart toward the little girl and cameras.

December 04, 2010 (Saturday):

I spent last night at a friend's cabin near Aspen (Colorado) so had plenty of opportunity to observe vehicles and traffic on my way home (The drive, one way, is about 190 miles or 305 kilometres...). Driving back home, today, I was struck by the number of vehicles with Christmas trees tied to their roofs on residential roads and the main highways. Granted, although I probably saw less than a dozen the entire trip that's still 12 more than I'd see any other time of the year (for obvious reasons). The main point is how ridiculously wasteful it appeared - big, huge SUVs weighing over 4,000 pounds (1,800 kilograms) speeding along with a 100 pound (45 kilogram), freshly cut tree tied to their roofs. For what, to spend a couple of weeks sticking out of a bucket of water in somebody's living room in honor of a holiday that's nothing but excesses anyway? Imagine the resources that not only went into hauling the tree, but those used to grow and cultivate it either on a tree "farm" or even on some hillside in a natural environment! What a strange and wasteful tradition - cut a tree at its base, haul it home and put it on display for a few weeks before discarding it. I don't get it...

December 03, 2010 (Friday):

The House of Representatives censured veteran New York Rep. Charlie Rangel on Thursday. At one time he was considered one of the most powerful members of Congress. What is the old saying, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely?"

December 01, 2010 (Wednesday):

Another "Holy man," Marcus Lamb, admitted to dishonesty today. The Reverend Lamb is another multi-millionaire that's been much too eager to take money from his flock but reluctant to give it to extortionists waiting to reveal his past infidelity. On his Daystar Television Network the greasy Lamb, in the presence of his wife, talked about his inability to remain faithful to her. Obviously a ratings boost in addition to a preemptive strike to save millions. Lamb, like most preachers and ministers, is mostly concerned with his own comfort, wealth and pleasure - we can only wonder how much real evil he's been involved in but will probably never know. Either way, the rest of us keep tithing so that these creeps can live an easy life?

November 29, 2010 (Monday):

In the very early morning hours my little 1993 Toyota Tercel hit the quarter million mile mark (402,336 kilometres) while I was driving through Vail, Colorado. Although I've never owned a new car [nor do I care if I ever do!] I bought this one when it had just over 14,000 miles (22,500 kilometres) so it seemed pretty new to me! Anyway, thanks to some serious hypermiling techniques I have easily averaged 45 miles per gallon with this car throughout all highway conditions. And, even when haulding groceries and climbing gear around town I still averged nearly 40 miles per gallon city driving! Equally important is that I never had to undertake any serious engine, clutch or transmission work for the 17 years I've owned it so far! A well-made care, that's properly cared for, is good for the environment and your pocketbook. My page on Fuel Economy has more information about my quarter-million-mile-car and some of the gas saving techniques I used to extend it's lifetime and my bank account!

November 28, 2010 (Sunday):

Wikileaks is at it again - this time releasing nearly a quarter million pages of diplomatic cables associated with American embassies around the world. Wikileaks' actions are extraordinarily reckless and irresponsible - time well tell the impact...

November 27, 2010 (Saturday):

The FBI can be commended/thanked for their year-long sting operation that stopped a 19 year-old Somali-American from his plans to blow up a van full of explosives at a crowded Christmas tree ceremony in Portland, Oregon. Federal authorities said he bomb, supplied by the agents, was a dud and the public was never in danger.

November 24, 2010 (Wednesday):

In a FoxNews video report, yesterday, Steve Doocy interviewed sixteen-year-old Corissa Wege, of Hortonville, Wisconsin, about the three bucks she killed in one hour while out hunting with her father earlier this week. Doocy almost wet himself trying to pry the kill details out of Ms. Wege. Of course nobody stopped to ask why one buck, let alone three healthy ones, needed to be killed in the first place. Ms. Wege, herself, stared dumbly into the camera probably wondering why she was out killing things when she could be home studying for college entrance exams. In a FoxNews 11 WLUK-TV interview, a day earlier, Corissa Wege stated, "I just saw horns, so I just shot." Wege's father, Tom Wege, said "I looked through the binoculars and said Corissa he is a shooter too, take him" - "She drilled him right in the boilermaker. She took that one right out of business." "She was shaking, almost crying," said Tom Wege. "She was just...you couldn't even talk to her. Just so excited. It was unreal." On speculating why three healthy bucks were in the area Tom Wege suggested, "I think we had a hot doe in the area." Spoken like a true "sportsman..."

November 23, 2010 (Tuesday):

To quote Reuters, "North Korea fired scores of artillery shells at a South Korean island on Tuesday, killing two soldiers, in one of the heaviest attacks on its neighbor since the Korean War ended in 1953." How much longer must South Korea endure harassment and humiliation from the miscreants running the north?

November 21, 2010 (Sunday):

In today's World edition, Mitchell Landsberg writes in The Los Angeles Times; "In a seemingly offhand remark that caught the Roman Catholic world by surprise, Pope Benedict XVI appears to have relaxed, at least slightly, the Vatican's longstanding adamant opposition to the use of condoms. In a book-length interview with a German journalist, portions of which were released Saturday, the pontiff said that under some circumstances it might be acceptable for a prostitute - or, in some translations, a male prostitute - to use a condom."

"The comments appeared to be a departure, given that the pope spoke out against condom use as recently as March 2009 during a trip to Africa, when he said that the use of condoms could actually make the AIDS epidemic worse. That statement drew worldwide condemnation and, in the months since, some Catholic bishops seemingly have broken with the Vatican to call for the use of condoms to combat HIV, the virus that causes AIDS."

November 20, 2010 (Saturday):

Senator Lisa Murkowski's recent (albeit narrow) win in Alaska illustrates how dysfunctional our two party duopoly has become. Murkowski, a longtime Republican, lost her party's primary election to an extreme right "Tea Party" candidate. Fine, who cares what either party does except it's obvious party extremists aren't putting up candidates that are of much interest to the electorate in general. Murkowski proved this by running as a write-in candidate despite her party's (and Sarah Palin's) rabid support of her opponent...

November 02, 2010 (Tuesday):

I took County Road 90 from Montrose to Naturita, in western Colorado, which was mostly an unpaved, bumpy, winding adventure! I enjoyed it, a lot, except for the "cow-burnt" landscape that's so typical of Colorado and the American west - obvious overgrazing, denuded landscape, and "cow pies" all over the place. Apparently people remain more interested in inexpensive hamburger than a natural landscape that's the birthright of us all...

November 01, 2010 (Monday):

Dilma Rousseff won Brazil's runoff presidential election yesterday. She will become the first woman to lead this very large Latin American country - it's almost the same land area as the United States with a population of over 200 million, or about 70% of that of the U.S. Dilma Rousseff, herself, comes from an interesting, if not difficult, background having been jailed for her guerrilla activity against the then military government. She also won a recent personal battle against cancer. In other news, China begins a ten day population count today with 6.5 million census takers visiting 400 million households. In the country's last count, in 2000, there were 1.29 billion people in China...

October 28, 2010 (Thursday):

With just five days left before the nation's midterm elections it's clear the Republicans are going to make significant gains. Like I've said on my Politics page I've always liked what the Republicans had to say about economics and fiscal responsibility. But, it's also always been clear that, like the Democrats, it was mostly talk - as witnessed by the huge spending and debt that always takes place regardless who's in office or in power. A half decade ago, when people like me were raising concerns about the trillions being borrowed, the Republicans could hardly take notice. Now, of course, the issue is big on their campaign agenda since the Tea Party is stirring things up as a newly formed competitor engaged in such issues. Good, I welcome the concern and hope it's followed by action regardless which of these parties take control. Unfortunately I still believe these newly born economic concerns to be mostly a "cover" for the conservatives whether they be Tea Party members or Republicans. It's obvious, by their actions, that religion and associated morality issues are their biggest concern - they're all working hard to hide this from us, for now, but I can assure you there's going to be a lot of morality legislation in our future, once they're in power, and it's only going to benefit those who's religious beliefs are inline with their own. In a truly free, thoughtful and thinking society there needs to be a complete separation or church and state with religion being removed from public discourse. I'm not holding my breath though...

October 13, 2010 (Wednesday):

Early this morning the government of Chile began extracting 33 workers who have been trapped underground in the San Jose mine for more than two months. A specially-made rescue capsule was used to bring each worker to the surface, 2,050 feet (625 metres), from the collapsed copper and gold mine they had been working in. The mine is owned by the private company Compania Minera San Esteban Primera and is located near the city of Copiapo, about 500 miles (800 kilometres) north of Santiago.

October 10, 2010 (Sunday):

The Israeli cabinet, today, approved a bill requiring new non-Jewish citizens to swear an oath of allegiance to Israel as a "Jewish and democratic state." It has amazed me, ever since I reached adulthood in the mid 1970s, how the world stands by and allows Israel to abuse Palestinians and steal their land. This goofy pledge is yet another attempt at subjugating and demeaning Palestinians yet very few, if any, have the courage to speak up for what's right.

October 04, 2010 (Monday):

Yes on 60, 61, and 101!! These two amendments and proposition, respectively, will give more control to us regular Coloradoans and less money to the crooks who run our state and local government. Of course liberals are against such measures but it's unfortunate that conservatives are succumbing to the propaganda as well - despite their usual big talk about reducing taxes and government their only real concern are social issues - tax talk is just that - tax talk!

October 02, 2010 (Saturday):

Sleeping again on Vail Pass! I took a nap adjacent the bicycle path to allow a huge eastbound traffic jam to pass me after authorities removed a burning vehicle near the summit. It's astonishing how often Interstate 70, throughout Colorado's mountain region, is closed due to wrecks and careless drivers. And, of course, there's never a sense of urgency to clear the mess - despite traffic backing up for ten or twenty kilometres. Since I've driven the route a few hundred times I simply pull over and either read or sleep - no sense in creeping along wasting full and nervous energy...

September 28, 2010 (Tuesday):

Record temperatures in Los Angeles, yesterday, and record temperatures expected in Grand Junction today. Two places that I've spent a lot of time in so their news is of interest to me. Of course of greater interest are the rising temperatures all around the globe Rush Limbaugh and a host of other conservative "thinkers" in my party continue to assure me there's no climate change taking place...

September 25, 2010 (Saturday):

Religious "leaders" remain in the news this week. Bishop Eddie Long, known for his public crusades against homosexuality, faces serious allegations of coercing young males into sexual relationships. Reverend Ted Haggard, another anti-homosexual activist, went through a sex and drug scandal involving a former male prostitute about three years ago - He's now building another church here in my home state of Colorado.

And, finally (for this week at least), the Pope has been in the news again for his involvement in protecting pedophile priests. Here's what CNN had to say about the matter yesterday; "Matt McCormick was in the seventh grade when Father Alvin Campbell gave him a ride home from a baseball game. As they were driving along country roads, Campbell put his hand on McCormick's thigh and 'just left it there.' It was the first time the priest had touched him. During the next three years, McCormick says, the abuse would go much further. That was 25 years ago. Just three months ago, he learned that Pope Benedict XVI played a role in keeping his abuser in the church when CNN told him about a letter signed by the pontiff - then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - refusing to defrock the pedophile priest."

What's the one common theme running through all the problems these religious "leaders" and organizations have been having for the past two or three decades? It's obvious: many churches, religions, preachers, priests, and ministers are corrupt, immoral, and consider themselves above the law. As obvious as they continue to make this for us "we" still flock to their sermons, religious services, and other contrived celebrations. What's worse, "we" continue tithing to support their lavish lifestyles while we, ourselves, have to perform honest work to make a living. When will "we" ever learn? When will "we" put a stop to religious corruption?

September 22, 2010 (Wednesday):

In and interview on CNN's Larry King Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a "skilled killer" who "should be put on trial for killing women and children." As wild and dangerous as Iran is there's still a lot of truth in what they're saying about Isreal and its treatment of the Palestinians. Of course very few Americans understand or care - it's very sad but, too, not an excuse for Iranian behavior either.

September 15, 2010 (Wednesday):

13 Coworkers and I donated 3 hours labor, each, to the Food Bank of the Rockies at their east Denver warehouse. We completely packaged 455 boxes of food - each box designed to supplement and individual family for an entire week. Like everything else in this modern world, there's a surprising amount of sophistication, coordination, and execution that goes into an operation that feeds thousands of needy each day.

September 13, 2010 (Monday):

My commute between the Denver area and Colorado's western slope provides me opportunity to stop in beautiful Glenwood Canyon at times. In this photo I had stopped at the Grizzly Creek and noticed two guys needing help with a photograph of themselves. I snapped a few shots for them as they asked questions about the river flow and related geography questions. Turns out these guys were Big Caz, of Bone Thugs 'n Harmony, and his driver! So, not being too shy I asked Caz if I could have his photo and he readily agreed. Both of 'em were good guys - taking time to explain their music to a 54 year old man who doesn't know as much about their genre as he should! [Big Caz wrote me a nice note off his "myspace" page on October 3rd after I sent him a copy of the photo - cool!]

September 07, 2010 (Tuesday):

By 5 am this morning we could smell the smoke from the fires out of Four Mile Canyon west of Boulder. Yesterday afternoon (over the Labor Day holiday) the large plume of smoke was clearly visible from all over the Denver area. By this morning the fire had burned over 3,500 acres (1,400 + hectares) and destroyed a dozen homes. The Sheriff's department has evacuated over a thousand residents but luckily nobody has been injured.

August 28, 2010 (Saturday):

33 Miners have been trapped 624 metres (2,047 feet) below the surface in Chile since August 5th. So far they seem to be doing well enough, considering their difficult circumstances, and have released videos of their cramped and warm living conditions. The company responsible for the mine is going bankrupt so the Chilean government has taken over recovery efforts - estimating it could take up to four months to reach the miners with a three metre hole big enough for them to escape through. For now, the miners are receiving news, food, and supplies through a narrow hole that connects from the surface to their 50-square-metre living area. The Chilean government has requested the assistance of NASA to ensure the psychological health of the miners being held in such cramped, difficult conditions - somewhat similar to NASA's experience with astronauts...

This news is a bit late but photographs are now circulating around the internet about a 62 foot (19 metre) statue of Jesus that was struck by lightning in Monroe, Ohio last June. The plastic foam and fiberglass structure, over a steel frame, burned completely to the ground. I think there's a religious message in this lightning strike...

August 20, 2010 (Friday):

Half a billion eggs have been recalled CNN's Wire Staff report that, "The number of eggs recalled in a nationwide salmonella scare has grown to more than half a billion." "The salmonella outbreak prompted Wright County Egg of Galt, Iowa, which began recalling eggs last week, to increase its recall to 380 million eggs on Wednesday." "'It's no surprise that these birds that are crammed together, basically defacating on top of other birds,' said Dan Hauff, director of investigations for Mercy for Animals. 'It's no surprise that this is the outcome, this type of outbreak.'"

August 18, 2010 (Wednesday):

Dr. Laura Schlessinger announced she'll be stepping down from her regular radio show after a recent controversy over inappropriate language. Although I don't pay too much attention to celebrities I mention Schlessinger here because she's always been so popular despite being so obnoxious (kind of like Rush Limbaugh, in a way). Occasionally Schlessinger would give a caller or two good life advice but it was usually framed in a "My way or the Highway," snapping, inconsiderate tone. Like most, she was a bit of a hypocrite with her moral preaching while nude photos (from an illicit affair while she was still married) of her circulated the internet or she was using the "N" word (her most recent controversy as of this writing). And, what was especially irritating was that she would occasionally shill for Israel on a program that had nothing to due with politics or anything else beyond the realm of personal problems. I suspect Schlessinger won't be missed or sponsors would have found a way to keep her on the air...

August 15, 2010 (Sunday):

Last week's flooding in Pakistan has affected, either directly or indirectly, 20 million people - devastating crops, homes, businesses, and just about anything in the water's path. As of this writing Pakistan's monsoon season is only halfway over with more rain expected...

August 14, 2010 (Saturday):

NASA Satellite photographs show hundreds of wildfires across central and western Russia. Russian state media report a total of 368 hot spots across their country. Central Russia's Moscow, Ryazan and Nizhny Novgorod regions are the most affected. Smoke clouds, which have become a serious health hazard, can clearly been seen on the satellite images, blanketing large portions of the country. Carbon monoxide levels in Moscow are reported to be at six times the maximum allowable concentration with other toxic substances at nine times the normal level. More than 50 people have been killed in the disaster with many more being hospitalized. Many of the fires have been raging for almost three weeks leaving more than 3,500 Russians homeless. I suspect much of this stems from climate change but Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and their ilk will probably assure us otherwise...

August 09, 2010 (Monday):

Yet another meat recall. This time it's about a million pounds (454,000 kilograms) of ground beef from the Valley Meat Company out of Modesto California. News report suggest that this beef may contain a rare strain of the bacterium E. coli 0157:H7. Vegetarianism, in general, is a safer and healthier lifestyle.

Ten workers, from the International Assistance Mission, were murdered by the Taliban in Afghanistan a few days ago. The Taliban claims the group was Proselytizing despite evidence the vast volume of their work was to provide free eye care to remote villages. Although proselytizing in Afghanistan (for Christianity) is forbidden by a number of agreements it certainly doesn't warrant the death penalty...

July 24, 2010 (Saturday):

In late 1990 had the good fortune of receiving correspondence from Dr. Stephen Jay Gould - preeminent paleontologist and evolutionary biologist. Unfortunately I lost his note to me, and the accompanying Natural History article, for nearly two decades until now! This great scientist, who passed prematurely in 2002 at the age of 60, took time out of his busy schedule to write me. So, I'm am filled with delight and gratitude that I was finally able to recover his letter (email was in its infancy back then) and post copies of it on my Evolution and Autographs pages.

July 23, 2010 (Friday):

More exploring around Colorado's "western slope!" Although I was late getting out of work the sun stayed up enough for me to get some great views along Highways 92 and 133 as I headed to a friend's mountain cabin before returning to the Denver area. Hotchkiss, Paonia, Bowie, Sommerset, Redstone, and Carbondale were just a few of the interesting little towns along the way. I would love to live in such places but it's becoming increasingly more expensive with even less job opportunities. But, fortunately, I've had plenty of opportunity to spend time in many of Colorado's mountain communities and am thankful for it!

July 20, 2010 (Wednesday):

My friends Glenn and Mary took me on a tour of Grand Mesa via Highway 65 out of Delta through Cedaredge. Although I'd been there a few times before I never had taken the Lands End road back down to Orchard Mesa and Whitewater. It was a fun ride with plenty of great views - especially with the occasional "heat" lightning off to the west. I fell lucky to always be experiencing such delights!

July 18, 2010 (Sunday):

On Thursday, July 15, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that last month's combined global land and ocean surface temperature made it the warmest June on record and the warmest on record averaged for any April-June and January-June periods. Worldwide average land surface temperature was the warmest on record for June and the April-June period, and the second warmest on record for the year-to-date (January-June) period, behind 2007. So, the planet is quickly warming yet human activity remains pretty much as usual: big cars, over population, loss of biodiversity, extinctions, and the waste of resources on everything from jet skis and snowmobiles to shopping malls and race tracks. Our disrespect for the natural world is a shameful, moral failure.

July 01, 2010 (Thursday):

Since I spend a lot of time on Colorado's western slope I decided to join community radio station KAFM (88.1 FM). I got a good look around and also spent some time meeting various staff and volunteers. This amazing little station (16 Watts!) fills the Grand Valley with all kinds of interesting and eclectic music. More importantly, I think it's important to support community radio - a place where us regular citizens can have some input on the public airways - something I've always enjoyed and appreciated at KGNU as well. The world needs more community radio stations!

June 27, 2010 (Sunday):

Rocks, sticks, burning police cars and broken shop windows were all part of the G-20 global economic summit in Toronto, Canada this weekend. Hundreds of people have been protesting the G-20 global economic summit in Toronto, Canada with many ending jailed. While protesters were being arrested world leaders continued to strategize ways to keep our make-believe economic "system" viable for a few more years. The media, of course, will probably never give us the reasons what the protesters were complaining about but my guess is it's the usual concern of any rational, thinking human being, i.e., what the hell are we doing to our children, lives and planet??!!

Regardless my own deep insights into the issue governments take a different view. Here's what Fox news reported from its AP feed: "'What we saw yesterday is a bunch of thugs that pretend to have a difference of opinion with policies and instead choose violence to express those so-called differences of opinion,' Prime Minister Stephen Harper's chief spokesman Dimitri Soudas said Sunday."

Wow, those kinds of proclamations always satisfy my curiosity as to why hundreds or regular people would take to the streets over economic and political issues. Thank you Mr. Prime Minister!

June 21, 2010 (Monday):

The Solstice (both of 'em) is always an interesting time for me - As my mind ponders the angular relationship between our small planet and its star I long for the days when natural rhythms guided our lives as opposed to atomic clocks and profit margins. Yes, I'm as fascinated with technology as anyone else, especially when it's applied to answering questions about Evolution or Cosmology, but there's a lot more romance and satisfaction in a life that's part of Nature...

June 7, 2010 (Monday):

Helen Thomas lost her job today as a syndicated columnist. Seems she suggested the occupiers of Palestine head back to Europe and America. Free speech has its price...

June 5, 2010 (Saturday):

I completed a 520 mile (836 km) road trip through western Colorado and eastern Utah for business purposes. Over the three day period (I started on Thursday) I made stops in delightful places like Ouray, Durango, Mancos, Blanding, Moab, etc. Most notable were my visits to Hovenweep and Canyons of the Ancients National Monuments. Of special interest was the free entry due to a proclamation by Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar to encourage Americans seeking affordable vacations to visit parks, monuments, and historical sites. So I did!

May 31, 2010 (Monday, Memorial day):

My family and I stopped by Fort Logan cemetery, in Denver, to honor our country's war dead. It was surprisingly crowded with hundreds of cars lined-up to enter the facility.

FoxNews.com reports that Israel is at it again. This time the Israeli navy attacked aid ships bringing humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. According to Fox, "At least 10 people were killed after Israeli forces intercepted ships trying to cross Israel's blockade of the Islamist-controlled Palestinian territory." The piece goes on to explain how the European Union is demanding a full inquiry into Israel's aggression. Of course most of us don't expect much to come of it - Israel will continue stealing Palestinian land, resources, and life with total impunity.

May 17, 2010 (Monday):

Google (now the owner of YouTube) has notified me that one of my many videos has been banned in Germany. It turns out the clip I took of myself bleeding all over my car, after a skiing accident near Denver (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Omdp34wSxzY), isn't acceptable to Sony Music because of the rap song that's playing on my car radio. Simply amazing...

May 07, 2010 (Friday):

It's been a busy week with BP's Gulf of Mexico oil spill probably dominating most of American news. Following at a close second is the attempted bombing of New York City by a 30 year old Pakistan-born naturalized US-citizen who, at first blush, appears to be bungling fool - not to mention a killer and a cowered all wrapped up in one! Internationally, the failure of Greece's economy certainly caught the world's attention, or at least the members of the European Union who to bail them out. And, of course, yet another sports "Hero," here at home, is accused of sexual misconduct - this time it's Lawrence Taylor and his "interaction" with a 16 year old. Of course we'll continue to pay for overpriced parking, food, and admission to watch these clowns knock each other around on a football field (I wouldn't mind, so much, if it weren't for the fact that a lot of tax dollars go into the support of their stadiums and coliseums...).

May 01, 2010 (Saturday):

While driving back to Denver I had the displeasure of listening to the Randi Rhodes show last night. Like all the other hand-wringers she was whining about Arizona's new immigration law. A very well mannered caller asked her a simple question as to how she, Randy Rhodes, would deal with immigration problem if she was so against this new law. Her response was that immigration wasn't a problem and no additional action was needed at this point!! She pointed to some Homeland Security and FBI statistics that showed crime rates in Arizona having been going down since the 90s - How pathetic, our country has this huge overpopulation problem yet we still don't have the courage to control our won borders! Then, of course, today there are protests taking place all over America against Arizona's new law. People are fighting for open borders despite our high unemployment rate, dwindling resources, and diminishing quality of life. We are lost...

April 23, 2010 (Friday):

Arizona's governor signed a new immigration bill into law today. The bill requires immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times and requires police to question people if there is reason to suspect that they're in the United States illegally. It's about time somebody does something about this problem! Millions of illegal aliens have been crossing into our country, from Mexico, for decades with almost no action being taken by the government. Our huge population problem is worsened by ANY immigration yet nobody up until now had the courage to address it. Of course there were demonstrators in some parts of Arizona today who feel the flood gates should be opened and people be allowed to come into our country without restriction. Hogwash! I've been to places like Japan, China, Australia, and even Europe where they'd deport me in a minute if they found I was trying to set up a new life illegally in their countries! Hopefully Arizona's action will set an example for other states and the Federal government to follow suit but I'm not holding my breath...

April 12, 2010 (Monday):

On Wednesday, April 18 a 7.1 magnitude quake rocked Qinghai province in northwest China. The epicentre was in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu where His Holiness the Dalai Lama is from. So far over 1,400 people have died from the quake and the crooked Chinese government won't allow His Holiness back to his homeland to help out. Of course the world says nothing about this because all of us continue to buy useless junk from Chinese sweatshops at ghetto prices...

In other interesting news another 17,000 flights have been cancelled to and from Europe due to the eruption Iceland's glacier-covered Eyjafjallajokull volcano on Wednesday (April 14). The airborne grit offered up by the additional mini-eruptions is raising concerns about longer-term damage to world air travel and trade.

April 12, 2010 (Monday):

The Denver Post is reporting today that a longtime Colorado priest has been accused of sexual abuse back in the 70s. The Post says, "Parishioners emerging Sunday from St. Thomas More Catholic Church voiced disbelief that one of their priests - known for his jokes and love of Irish heritage - faces an allegation that he sexually abused a young boy decades ago. Father Mel Thompson, the assistant pastor for nine years at the Centennial church, was removed from his duties Thursday, a day after diocese officials say his accuser came forward. Parishioners at the seven Front Range churches where Thompson has served received notice Sunday of the priest's suspension through a letter from Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput." As always, I hope the allegations aren't true but, unfortunately, the Church has a long history of its clergy engaging in child abuse...

April 10, 2010 (Saturday):

A Polish Air Force Tupolev Tu-154M aircraft crashed just north of Smolensk, Russia, killing Poland's President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria Kaczynska and other officials, including the Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Army and senior military officers, the central bank governor, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and dignitaries in the government, vice-speakers and members of the upper and lower houses of the parliament and senior members of clergy of various denominations. They were on their way to mark the 70th anniversary of the Katyn Forest massacre; the site of which is about 19 kilometres (12 miles) west of Smolensk and is where the Soviet NKVD murdered over 21,000 Polish intellectuals during the 2nd World War. This will be an especially hard blow to Poland...

April 7, 2010 (Wednesday):

While in Grand Junction (on business) I usually listen to Glen Beck for a few minutes each morning at around 8 am. This morning I was appalled to hear him and his sidekicks go on, for nearly the entire hour, about their personal involvement with prayer, religion and how they want to encourage others to do the same. It was yet another sickening display of the religious evil that has gripped our feeble society far too long now. Religion's stranglehold on our government, society, and life is so strong I doubt we can ever be free from it but we must keep trying, we must resist.

On another note, and not necessarily a happier one, I was jogging along the government's highline canal (again, in Grand Junction) and watched it slowly fill for the hour I was on its adjacent access road. Obviously an interesting event because the 90 mile canal system was nearly bone-dry just the day before - as they shut it down for the winter months. The problem, of course, is that this 130 year old canal system has permanently altered the natural landscape and allowed an unsustainable number of humans to continue economic activity throughout the area. We simply can't leave nature alone...

In other news, there's been some serious rioting in Kyrgyzstan - apparently to remove the present government. I believe the U.S. has a large airbase there so it'll be interesting to see how this affects our country's efforts in Afghanistan and other areas in that part of the world.

March 31, 2010 (Wednesday):

A surprising number of bloggers and reporters are suggesting the Catholic Church has now lost its moral authority - especially since it appears the current Pope could have handled all the boy raping cases much more fairly and justly back in the day. Being raised Catholic, myself, I disagree with the critics as far as when the Catholic Church lost its moral authority. For me, the "Church" (including many other religions and sects) lost its moral authority a few hundred years before I was born - the burning times, the Crusades, the tacit consent to slavery and the Holocaust, the persecution of scientists (Galileo Galilei, among others), and religion's general war on the environment all convinced me, at an early age, that most churches were corrupt and only out to perpetuate their own comfortable lifestyle. Of course my views remain in the minority as evidenced by the tax free status and tithing churches continue to enjoy despite the constant string of preachers and priests being exposed for pedophilia, theft, alcoholism, drug abuse, rape, and countless other crimes.

March 30, 2010 (Tuesday):

Two proton beams, circulating at 3.5 Tev (teraelectron volts), were successfully collided into each other at CERN today - the highest energy levels achieved at the facility so far. This opens up a new era in particle physics that will be very interesting to watch over the coming years...

March 29, 2010 (Monday):

Nine members of some Christian militia group were arrested for plotting to kill police officers and then bomb their funeral processions! Where do people get these ideas and why are some whacky Christians always trying to steal babies (Haiti), blow up federal buildings (Oklahoma City), kill abortion doctors, and now bomb funeral processions? I know the Bible is a pretty mixed-up collection of stories but I don't think it has Jesus advocating all of this violence!

March 28, 2010 (Sunday):

Russia has reduced it's number of time zones, for 11 to 9, in an effort to pull their vast country closer together. Even more interest is that they've proposed to elimainate daylight savings time, something they've been on since 1981. I wish my own country would do the same...

March 27, 2010 (Saturday):

Annual Earth Hour tonight at 8:30 pm local time. I hope to take an evening walk without a lot of lights around but won't hold my breath...

March 22, 2010 (Monday):

Congress passed national health care reform legislation during the wee hours of the night/morning. I don't know what the answer is but I've always felt it bizarre that the world's wealthiest nation has such poor healthcare coverage for its people. And, of course, it's no secret that insurers and medical professionals make a fortune off of our health concerns - but that's the nature of of Capitalism...

March 21, 2010 (Sunday):

The Associated Press is reporting that Israeli prime Minister Netanyahu won't restrict settlement construction in east Jerusalem despite U.S. demands that all new housing projects be cancelled. United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has stated this week that Israel's blockade of Gaza is causing "unacceptable suffering" to the Palestinian people. Ki-moon also said that Israel's authorization to allow some construction supplies for a 151-apartment U.N. housing project in southern Gaza was "a drop in a bucket of water."

Israel annexed east Jerusalem after capturing it in the 1967 Mideast war. Even though the international community does not recognize the annexation and considers the Jewish construction in east Jerusalem to be settlement building the world does almost nothing as Israel continues to violate international law. And, of course, the United States continues sending Israel more money than any other country on Earth while American entertainers like Limbaugh, Hannity, Palin, and Savage demand even more American tax dollars be sent to oppress the Palestinian people. The things Isreal has done to the Palestinians are horrible - Does anybody have the courage to tell Israel "No!"

March 08, 2010 (Monday):

A rock slide and 66 ton boulder punched holes through Interstate 70 at mile marker 125 immediately west of the Hanging Lake tunnels in Glenwood Canyon. I had just driven through there two hours earlier and noticed a little bit of fresh dirt and rockfall along the road's shoulder. Here's a YouTube video I took of that section of road last September as I was driving westbound: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8Mmlr-68M0

February 27, 2010 (Saturday):

An 8.8 earthquake his Chile today. Initial reports are that 160 people have died but my guess is it will be a lot worse - it just doesn't look good...

February 22, 2010 (Monday):

Veteran whale trainer Dawn Brancheau was killed when the 12,000-pound killer whale she was displaying dragged her into the tank at the SeaWorld park in San Diego. Brancheau was drowned when the whale held her underwater in front of the crowd she was entertaining. It's an unfortunate loss but I still wonder why our own species hasn't matured enough to leave wild creatures alone? I realize SeaWorld, and countless other organizations, use these creatures as an opportunity to educate the public (and earn money...) but why can't we simply be intelligent enough to leave the natural world alone? Why do we continue to pollute it, kill most other living things, and then insist on breeding out-of-control ourselves? Was it Carl Sagan who suggested that the true mark of an intelligent civilization would be no mark at all?

February 21, 2010 (Sunday):

I fell twice, really hard, down-climbing Mt. Morrison for some training today west of Denver. Total snow depth, at most, was only 10 centimetres (4 inches) but slick enough to make the steep climb treacherous. My first fall, coming down off the summit block, cut open my back (between my shoulder blades), despite the protection of my winter clothing. But, I muttered to myself that it was lucky I didn't knock my breath out or go unconscious. Of course ten minutes later I fell even harder, into my upper ribcage, only to knock my breath out for what seemed like an eternity but was probably only 20 or 30 seconds...

February 10, 2010 (Wednesday):

Although we have no television at home I do see too much of it while in on the road traveling from one hotel to the next. And, while driving between business locations I get a chance to listen to more than enough conservative talk radio. This week the east coast has been receiving a lot of attention due to the "ton" of snowfall they've been experiencing this season. In response, many of the media goons are using the heavier than usual snowfall as "proof" that there's no climate change or global warming taking place - despite Canada having to truck snow into their Vancouver site for the winter Olympics!

For example, Mark Lavin, on his late afternoon, couldn't wait to remind listeners that anyone who believed in global warming was an "idiot." Of course Lavin says that anyone who doesn't throw money at Israel, support big monopolies, or is in favour of minimum wage is also an idiot. So, Lavin doesn't offer up much of a surprise except that he continues to complain about having to shovel snow and whine about his heart problems (he's also fond of making fun of President Clinton by telling us about the former chief's "big fat bulbous nose"). Lavin is a creep but I guess his advertisers are glad people like me keep tuning in...

Earlier in the day, before hitting the road, I watched a bit of Fox News while in my hotel's breakfast dining area (who is it, at that hotel, that selects the channels for our morning viewing???). Anyway, Fox couldn't wait to show us a picture of a raging east coast blizzards next to a cover shot of Al Gore's book on global warming. "Fair and balanced" is their motto - sure!

Later in the day I was able to hear carpenter-turned-talk show-host Sean Hannity provide us with his brand of "science." As usual, Hannity couldn't wait to mock climate change while the snow was falling out east. Hannity, too, is always concerned with protecting big business (and big religion) so it's no surprise that he'd be against controlling carbon emissions or anything else that might impact profit.

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that conservatives, religious nuts, and the scientific illiterate are right - that there's no climate change and it's okay to keep polluting. Really? Is it really okay to take a few billion years' worth of accumulated carbon and throw it back into the atmosphere? Obviously the planet isn't going to disappear but do we really want to destroy a thousand million years worth of beauty and diversity just to drive an SUV or building a shopping mall? Do we really have so little regard for life and living things that'll we'll ignore any human impact on the natural world?

Anyway, while recording this entry I did a quick, random search for a credible sources on atmospheric carbon. Turns out that NOAA, an organization respected the world over, has a global monitoring division at their Earth Systems Research Laboratory that measures monthly trends in atmospheric carbon dioxide at Mauna Loa. The graph on their page shows a smoothed mean of 381 parts per million carbron in 2006 rising to over 388 parts per million this year. In 1900 the concentration of carbon in our atmosphere was about 300 parts per million - considerably less than what it is now. Seems to me we'd want to sit up and take notice of such trends. But, maybe I should remain calm and comforted by the words of Limbaugh, Hannity, Lavin, Dobson, and all the other hucksters that want me to keep buying SUVs, breeding like the Duggars, and building 4,000 square foot houses...

February 02, 2010 (Tuesday):

The conservative "Tea Party" has been really big in the news lately. Sounds like a good idea, to me, but unfortunately it's turning out to be just like the other political parties in our country - big money, big power, and big corruption. You think it's just my opinion? Today FoxNews (one of the Tea Party's biggest supporters) ran this on their website: "The first National Tea Party Convention is slated for the end of this week, but several big names and events have cancelled after questions rose about the high fees to attend and the treasure chest where the money will end up.Over the past few weeks, several sponsors, speakers and volunteers have backed out of the convention, scheduled Feb. 4-6 at Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tenn., after learning that the convention organizer, Tea Party Nation, is a for-profit company. Some activists and outsiders alike are questioning the motives of Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips." It never ends...

January 29, 2010 (Friday):

I had the pleasure of listening to the BBC interview Bill Gates about his foundation's philanthropy - especially as it applies to poverty, malaria, and now the issues confronting Haiti after this month's earthquake. Gates, his wife and family, and friends like Warren Buffett and George Soros (and others whose names escape me at the moment) are doing a lot of thoughtful science and giving towards the world's problems.

However, in stark contrast this week, there were a host of national buffoons like Jay Leno, Oprah Winfrey, Conan O'Brien, David Letterman, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage and countless other overpaid/underworked "entertainers" who made it clear (despite all the serious issues facing us and the world) that they have one big concern in life - themselves! For example, I don't have television reception at home but got an opportunity, this week, to watch TV in my hotel room while on a business trip - the entire week was filled with sob stories and handwringing over NBC's swapping show times between Leno and O'Brien. These two egos simply can't get enough airtime (or money) while bickering between themselves and others in the entertainment "industry." Ten percent of my fellow citizens are without work and we're supposed to be saddened that O'Brien has to walk away from his timeslot with a $45 million golden parachute? We're supposed to be concerned about Leno's conniving image while children are being crushed to death beneath rubble in Haiti?

Oprah Winfrey, our national shill, couldn't wait to chime in on the NBC dispute so as to keep her own show on top (never mind she keeps insisting she's going off the air in a year. But, I forgive her because she did such a great job against the Texas cattle industry back in 2000!). Then, of course, hatemongers like Limbaugh, Beck, and Savage can't stop ripping my country apart each and every broadcast. And, to my amazement, the hate and disrespect is even coming from our own right-wing partisan Supreme Court now! During Thursday's State-of-the-Union address Samuel Alito, part of the court's conservative majority, could be seen frowning and quietly mouthing the words "not true" while the president was speaking. Of course Alito is one of the same crooked judges who believes big unions and big corporations have a "right" to free speech and unlimited campaign giving. Simply bizarre!

But, ultimately, who is responsible for keeping the radio and TV morons afloat? It's us! Yep, it's bored, aimless people like me who tune into these clowns (anytime I'm on road trip) that keeps the advertising money flowing their way. It's a sad situation - almost as bad as all the money that flows into our political "system" from the aforementioned corporations and unions. And, speaking of politics, former presidential running mate John Edwards was in the news all week as well. Turns out that not only did he father a child outside his marriage, while his wife was dying from cancer, but he convinced one of his aids to claim the baby! And, in an even more bizarre turn of events, it's beginning to look like his dying wife knew of her husband's infidelities but wanted to go to the White House with him anyway. The founders would vomit.

January 21, 2010 (Thursday):

The Supreme Court of the United States has once again failed American citizens. Their latest ruling allows big unions, and big business, to indirectly contribute to political campaigns on an unlimitted basis. All under the guise of "free speech" yet nobody ever stops to ask why a corporation, or a union, are to be afforded the rights of an individual? Of course what it all boils down to, as always, is money - big unions and big corporations will always be able to outspend and out-influence us little individuals. So, you think I'm wrong? Then try a little experiment and see what works best for gaining access to your own congressperson or senator (or even a judge, for that matter); you as an indvidual person representing your own interests or a representative from a huge corporation or union? Who do you think will get to meet with that senator or congressperson first? Money talks...

January 15, 2010 (Friday):

One of our other national creeps, Rush Limbaugh, said this week that Haiti's earthquake was a disaster "made to order" for the Obama administration. How much more out of touch with compassion and humanity can somebody like Limbaugh be?

January 14, 2010 (Thursday):

One of our national buffoons, Pat Robertson, said this week that the people of Haiti were hit with an earthquake because they had "swore a pact with the Devil" over their religious beliefs years ago. Who are the morons who keep sending money to creeps like Robertson to keep him employed? Anyway, I was able to get my mind off of a lot of it with a 435 kilometre (270 mile) road trip along Colorado state highways 141 and 145 - it was for business purposes that required me to stop in small towns like Redvale, Nucla, Naturita, Norwood, etc. A delightful area I've only been through a few times before so I posted some YouTube videos about it.

January 13, 2010 (Wednesday):

A lot of people in Haiti have been hurt or killed due to yesterday's earthquake. The numbers don't look good for a country that has already been struggling more than most.

January 12, 2010 (Tuesday):

Reports of a strong earthquake having hit Haiti.

January 01, 2010 (Friday):

Brought in the new year with another fun hike conducted by Larry over the Mesa Trail in Boulder. There were about 15 of us and it's become a nice tradition to welcome the new year with. Pix are on my Hiking page.

2009

• December 19, 2009 (Saturday):
  I was on a delightful CMC ski tour along Jim Creek. Although it wasn't much of a workout it was just the nice pace/distance I was looking for to clear my mind. The temperature, when we started, was 4 degrees Fahrenheit (-15 Celsius) but manageable in the calm air. And, despite the cold temperatures, the "Blue Extra" (Blue and Purple) was I was using was almost perfect for my skis the entire trip! Oh, I was also pleased that my solar panel was able to completely charge a set of 12 AH gel cell batteries this afternoon. Not a huge feat but, nevertheless, difficult with just a 40 Watt panel on the 2nd least sunniest day in the year (tomorrow being the Solstice with the day after having the same amount of sunlight as today...).

 

• December 15, 2009 (Tuesday):
  Oral Roberts died today. I remember him as being the Television evangelist who, in the 80s, insisted he would die if his fund raising goal wasn't met. Of course thousands of people couldn't wait to send him their money...

 

• December 10, 2009 (Thursday):
  President Barack Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway today. In celebration I climbed Bergen Peak with Tom - despite the bitter cold...

 

• December 07, 2009 (Monday):
  The largest Climate Change conference in history is now underway in Copenhagen. Also, today, the EPA declared greenhouse gases to be a public health threat. But, I'm not going to hold my breath (so to speak) about all of this - greed, indifference, and religious ingnorance will ensure the continued destruction of natural life on this precious little planet.

 

• November 29, 2009 (Sunday):
  It's been a couple of days since Tiger Woods wrecked his car just a few metres (literally!) outside his Florida mansion. Like most overpaid and under worked "athletes" he'll probably never have to explain what it's all about or answer to anyone. Yet the rest of us will continue to pay for overpriced seating, sportswear, and stadium taxes to watch sports "heroes" do little or nothing for millions of dollars while most of the world can only hope for a meal or a job. Kind of like ancient Rome...

 

• November 09, 2009 (Monday):
  20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall - I remember it well as a happy, optimistic time. Unfortunately the past few days, here in this country, have been filled with more shootings and mass killings - always very sad and pathetic. I've been on a lot of business travel, as of late, and not able to keep up with this blog and other pages as I would like...

 

• November 02, 2009 (Monday):
  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton couldn't develop the courage, over the weekend, to insist that Israel stop the building of illegal settlements as a condition for peace talks. What could be more fundamental than demanding that the Israelis not only obey international law but treat the Palestinian people with dignity and respect? Clinton and the U.S. Policy on this matter are wrong, dead wrong.

 

• November 01, 2009 (Sunday):
  I learned that John Penman died on Friday evening after driving himself to the emergency room. John and I worked closely together on safety issues, at work, for nearly 15 years prior his recent retirement. We also worked together at KGNU. He'll be missed...

 

• October 09, 2009 (Friday):
  President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize.

 

• September 20, 2009 (Sunday):
  Climbed El Diente - my last peak on the list of 58 Colorado 14ers. Weathe was a bit of a problem with rime ice, graupel, and a layer of snow not quite deep enough to support an ice axe...

 

• September 09, 2009 (Wednesday):
  In a display of complete disrespect for our president, and our country, Representative Joe Wilson (South Carolina) shouted, "You lie" to Barack Obama during his speech to a joint session of Congress. It was an obviously planned and calculated bit of theatrics that I'm sure he'll make some other excuse for...

 

• September 08, 2009 (Tuesday):
  President Obama gave a fine presentation to the nation's students today - it was a heartfelt speech about setting educational goals for yourself and working hard to achieve them. This isn't the first time a president has addressed the nation's children and students, others have done it before him. I mention Obama's speech here because it seemed to create such an uproar with a minority of parents around the country - some were so upset they actually kept their kids out of school for the day so that their kids wouldn't be confronted by an address from our nation's president. How absurd! Have we become so weak and gutless we can't even trust our own children to listen to a simple speech about education and achievement. For shame! But, the good news is that millions of other students (and their parents) listened and considered our president's message about education. For those that were too afraid to listen I only hope you, yourselves, don't end up as leaders someday - we already have enough closed minded small-time "thinkers" running roughshod over segments of our society as it is...

 

• September 01, 2009 (Tuesday):
  Colorado's sunset and sunrise have been colored orange from the fires in southern California. There's the faint smell of burning wood up and down the entire Front Range. California burns every year but this must be an especially huge fire if its presence can be so strongly felt 1,600 kilometres away...

 

• August 26, 2009 (Wednesday):
  Senator Edward Kennedy died today of brain cancer. Although his personal life was a mess he pushed through a lot of good legislation that has helped a lot of people. He'll be missed.

 

• August 5, 2009 (Wednesday):
  An unfortunate population mark was hit by the 27 member European Union this month - births and immigration has brought their total numbers up to a half billion. How sad - nevertheless, my own home (USA) remains the third most populated country on Earth - at almost 310,000,000 Americans we're nearly as populated as Europe...

  A new bicycle safety law took effect today. The law requires drivers to give cyclists at least 3 feet of space when passing or risk a $110 ticket. Bicyclists will also be allowed to ride in the middle of lanes if the shoulders are unsafe. The law also makes it a misdemeanor to throw trash or debris at a cyclist. Although I, myself, don't recall anyone throwing things at me on my bike I did have to dodge a few beer bottles, over the years, while jogging. I have no idea why somebody would throw debris at a cyclist, jogger, or anyone else - very strange!

 

• July 6, 2009 (Monday):
  Follow-up reports suggest nearly 200 Uyghurs died in Urumqi unrest over the weekend. With the world now addicted to cheap and flimsy Chinese junk it'll be impossible to get the Han Chinese out Xinjiang and Tibet. Like the Palestinians the Uyghurs and Tibetans will have to endure endless brutality at the hands of thugs who only want their land and resources.

 

• July 5, 2009 (Sunday):
  Ethnic Uyghurs, in Urumqi, Xinjiang, took to the streets this afternoon (China time), in a rare public protest that prompted a police lockdown. As usual the ethnic Han continue to brutalize the Uyghurs, Tibetans, or anyone else who wants their land and freedom back. Of course there's very little news of this because the Chinese hold such tight control over communications and the press.

 

• July 3, 2009 (Friday):
  Alaska Governor Sarah Palin announced, in a rambling, disjointed speech, that she'd be resigning by month's end - suggesting she'd be able to effect more change from outside the political system. She's a very strange, simple person who should never have been elected to office to begin with. But, of course, all of this exposure will make her very wealthy.

 

• June 30, 2009 (Tuesday):
  Al Frankin was declared, by his state's supreme court, the winner in last fall's Senatorial election in Minnesota. The problem, as always, is that neither candidate had a majority of the votes as a simple plurality is all that's required in our system. I don't agree - anytime a candidate doesn't receive a majority of the votes there needs to be a runoff election. To me, that would reduce corruption and third candidates from "spoiling" the election for the majority of voters. But, requiring only a plurality has been such a successful strategy for less than appealing candidates that I doubt our system will ever change.

 

• June 29, 2009 (Monday):
  Bernie Madoff received a 150-year prison sentence for the fraud he perpetrated against investors. I find it curious that family members and associates working with him haven't been charged with anything. Doesn't it seem strange that the top officers, in Bernie's multi-billion dollar operation, had no idea what was being done with the money? Billions of dollars flowing in and out of their organization and none of Bernie's sons, associates, and others connected with the Biz ever wondered where it was all coming from? Obviously most of them knew but I guess the government (and the people) are only interested in the drama of one conviction. Very strange, indeed!

 

• June 26, 2009 (Thursday):
  Michael Jackson died. He was a strange, pathetic character.

 

• June 24, 2009 (Wednesday):

  Wishing he hadn't been caught...

  Another GOP big-shot publicly admitted to infidelity today. This time it was South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford having to explain why he disappeared from his job for most of the week (he flew to Argentina to be with his lover and away from his wife and children). This is not meant to pick on the GOP - it's clear the Democrats can't keep their pants on, either. However, what nobody seems to be pointing out (except me!) is that our elected officials (yes, MOST of them) have way too much time on their hands and are paid too much for too little work. It's almost daily that we hear of politicians engaged in crime, drugs, infidelity, questionable business deals, nepotism, or just plain poor decision-making that doesn't represent us, the people. Yes, politicians are "human" but a lot more should be expected of them. The number one job of any elected official is to conduct the peoples' business - adulterous affairs, lavish vacations, under-the-table payoffs, hiring relatives, and all their other shenanigans have no place in their lives while they're being employed by us. If they don't like it then they shouldn't run for office!

 

• June 18, 2009 (Thursday):
  Massive protests continue in Iran over last week's elections. Amazing that citizen power remains so strong in the shadow of government threats and brutality. A ray of hope for regular people all over the globe - there remain too many oppressive governments that don't have the peoples' interests at heart. Although not at all comparable we still have a lot of government mischief here in our own country. This time it's yet another senator admitting to an extramarital affair - Republican John Ensign's family can't trust him so why should the voters of Nevada? This case is especially egregious because the "good" Senator is a vocal "family-values" advocate! Our country has too many lazy, corrupt, overpaid, under worked politicians making horrible decisions for the rest of us. There's got to be a better way!

 

• June 13, 2009 (Saturday):
  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "won" Iran's election yesterday against challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi. Looks like the Iranian people aren't too pleased with the outcome as there's been rioting in the streets of Tehran. Cell phones have been cut off, police continue beating protestors, and government officials are monitoring and controlling everything. Pretty much the norm for most countries around the world...

 

• May 25, 2009 (Monday):
  Four friends and I took a Memorial Day holiday weekend drive through South Dakota, Wyoming, and North Dakota to hike and summit high points. On our way back to the Denver area, Monday afternoon, we stopped along Highway 59 (somewhere between Gillette and Douglas, Wyoming) and honored our country's war dead with a moment of silence at exactly 3 pm local time. I think it's good to take a moment to remember what the holiday is actually about, so I hope this newly created 3 pm break-in-play becomes a tradition. Either way, here's a YouTube video I took of the American flag flying off a restaurant alongside Interstate 90 in Spearfish, South Dakota: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLfoRkD2xrQ&feature=channel_page

 

• April 22, 2009 (Wednesday):
  A grand Earth Day indeed! As usual, I rode my bike to the bus stop for my daily commute to work. On the way I was able to watch most of occultation of Venus by Moon - a very clear view from up on Green Mountain looking east. Anyway, once in Boulder, I got off the bus earlier than usual and rode a different section of what Boulder calls "Multi-Use" path to my office. The wonderfully winding, twisting trail followed the creek bed through Martin Acres and then popped me out on the overpass above Foothills Parkway. It was there, above the traffic, where I recorded a YouTube video of the sun glinting through the protective steel mesh of the flyover. Unfortunately I was too busy at work all day to participate in any Earth Day events but the weather remained perfect for my ride home in the evening - it would be nice to never have to drive a car ever again

 

• March 28, 2009 (Saturday):
  We celebrated Earth Hour at JoLynn's house by candlelight. Using a wind power charged camera battery I recorded the event on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndYDFE9iVmY

 

• March 23, 2009 (Monday):
  The United Nations released a report today condemning Israel's actions in Gaza last December and January. The 43 page report cites Israel's disproportionate and brutal response in Gaza to Hamas. It's pathetic that the United Nations, and the rest of the world for that matter, is always so slow at responding to Israel's brutality - raising protests long after hundreds (over 1,000!) of innocent Palestinians have been killed. For shame.

 

• March 19, 2009 (Thursday):
  Upon waking we discovered the head of a buffalo in our backyard. Although most of the flesh had already been removed it still had that distinct smell of a rotting carcass. How it ended up in our backyard we'll never know. We do live near a lot of open space but I can assure you there are no buffalo roaming around!

 

• March 07, 2009 (Saturday):
  Took a hard fall while backcountry skiing in Grizzly Gulch near the Continental Divide. Here's a YouTube video of Kaiser stiching my knee up...

 

• February 26, 2009 (Friday):
  Although not my favorite newspaper, I've been reading the Rocky Mountain News since I was a teenager in the early 70s. Sadly, today may be it's last appearance after nearly 150 years of publishing. More than just the bad economy, newspapers are being hit hard by the internet for obvious reasons - a very different environment from what I experienced as a teenager almost four decades ago.

 

• February 09, 2009 (Monday):
  The winds were so strong (gusting over 80 mph - 130 km/h), in Boulder this afternoon, that I had to get off and walk my bicycle - while I was on flat ground! When I approached Green Mountain, a few hours later, the wind gusts had "died down" to 70 mph - 113 km/h - slowing my bike and I substantially on my way up hill. Somewhere near me (according to the news) a tree fell on a car and injured a driver - pretty dramatic weather this part of Colorado...

 

• February 08, 2009 (Sunday):

  We accepted delivery on a new refrigerator today - a routine purchase in a "western" country (at least until our economies really go into collapse...). I mention this purchase only because the new unit is vastly more energy efficient than the 17-year-old one it replaced. With an annual rating of 422 KWh the new refrigerator uses less than a third the energy of the old one. And, of course, along with an energy savings there's also a reduction in carbon release. Plus, the old one was broken and had to be replaced, anyway! Oh, for the record, the U.S. Government's Energy Star website rates our old Norge side-by-side (BDNS24L9A - 23.5 cubic feet) at 1,478 kWH (!) and our new Whirlpool (GR2FHT - 21.7 cubic feet) at 428 kWh (422 kWh is listed on the yellow Energy Star label at left) - Either way, a HUGE difference in energy consumption!!

 

• February 01, 2009 (Sunday):
  Today marks the 43rd aniversary of my country's idiot facination with sports entertainment (the Superbowl). Nothing new, really, but I mention it mostly because I was surprised to see the BBC cover it on the NEWS portion of their website today!! Plus they also covered it on their sports section - but tha was expected... Either way, it was a good opportunity for us to go shopping for a new, energy-efficient refrigerator. Luckily we found one that use less than one third the energy of our current 17-year-old model! Plus, we had the added bonus of the salesperson's complete attention since all the other shoppers were at home sitting in front of their televisions (A quick internet search suggests that many of the large, flat-screen and plasma televisions use more energy, on average, than our new refrigerator!). In the secular longrun, of course, none of us will be able to power televisions or refrigerators a half century from now - but that's a whole 'nother blog entry!

 

• January 24, 2009 (Saturday):
  Another weird day in world history - the BBC admitted in its own broadcast (I heard it myself!) that it's refusing to air advertising for donations and aid for the Gaza massacre this month. I guess the joke is on us listeners since Britain's (and America's) military and financial support for Israel has resulted in the death of almost a thousand Gaza civilians (in the last month alone) with just three Israeli civilians having lost their lives during that same period. The BBC claims it doesn't want to appear "biased" yet never looks into the root cause of the conflict: Israel's theft of Palestinian lands, resources, and freedom. Of course with recent polls indicating that a majority of Americans support Israel's brutality it's no wonder media outlets are reluctant to take a stand for truth. And, as I've said before, one of the most damaging things I can do as an American is question the arms, money, and resources my country pours into Israel in support of such massacres. Even though a blog entry like this can cost me "friends," a job, or financial opportunity I insist on speaking out for those in Tibet, Rwanda (the Tutsis), Darfur, Palestine, and dozens of other places around the globe where innocents continue to lose their lives and property...

 

• January 20, 2009 (Tuesday):
  Admittedly, with all of the excitement over today's inauguration of Barack Obama, and the fantastic weather we're having (21 Celsius/70 degrees Fahrenheit seems awfully high for January, is it because of global warming?), I didn't get as much work completed as I would have liked to. Although I have no television reception at my office, or here at home, I spent hours scouring the 'net looking at everything and all things inaugural - it was an interesting, historic day!

 

• January 07, 2009 (Wednesday):
  During lunch I telephoned into a local talk-show where the host (Mike Rosen) and callers were self-congratulating themselves on the Israeli slaughter of Palestinians. I was the only one who called-in to defend the Palestinians and felt lucky to get a few words in as the host continued to put me on hold so that he could talk over me. Although I expected such treatment it occurred to me that dissenting ideas, like mine, are censored because of fear! The host and subsequent callers are simply afraid to think outside the box or consider alternatives to what they've been forced to think all these years. It's very sad. But more importantly, unhealthy and downright deadly to Palestinians and other oppressed peoples around the world...

 

• January 06, 2009 (Tuesday):
  Israel continues terrorizing Gaza while the world just sits watching, doing nothing. I heard today that almost 600 Palestinians (at least a quarter of which were civilians) have been killed by the IDF - Israeli Defense Forces. It's the most frustrating thing for me to be here, helpless, while Palestinian, Tibetans, Uyghurs, and a host of others are brutalized while my own president (and president-elect), Congress, and government not only do nothing, but continue supporting the aggressors. For shame!

2008

• December 27, 2008 (Saturday):
  Israel continues its illegal, aggresive behavior by bombing and killing 200 hundred people in Gaza today. Of course the world just sits by and does nothing. Isreal steals land and resources from the Palestinians and then wonders why people fight back? I know they think we are idiots that will allow their brutality to continue - hopefully our new president will pressure them otherwise but I'm not holding my breath...

 

• December 15, 2008 (Monday):
  I learned from Fred today that Dr. Alan Kuper passed away on Saturday. Dr. Kuper was a population activist that I had the pleasure of interviewing and then working briefly with (for just a few hours!) in San Francsico. He will be missed...

 

• December 14, 2008 (Sunday):
  I was disappointed to see two shoes thrown at our president during a news conference in Baghdad, Iraq today. I was even more disappointed to see how slowly president Bush's aids and secret service agents reacted. Of course I've never been too impressed with the huge army of overpaid, under worked spooks doing spy and security work for our country anyway...

 

• December 09, 2008 (Tuesday):
  FBI Agents arrested Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, on federal corruption charges related in part to the selection of Barack Obama's successor to the Senate. There are just way too many crooks and bad guys throughout local, state, and Federal government. Although I'm usually critical of the FBI it's these kinds of actions I applaud and support them for. Hopefully the arrest of Blagojevich will send a message to other government crooks but I'm not holding my breath...

 

• December 07, 2008 (Sunday):
  Flying back to Denver, from London (and Delhi) we went right over Iceland. I don't know if it was the angle, the amount of light, or the perfect snow covering but the volanoes and other larger features on the island were dazzlingly beautiful - I don't recall having seen anything like it from the air before...

 

• November 26, 2008 (Wednesday):
  Coordinated terrorist attacks across Mumbai, India at the same time we were in Jaipur. We didn't receive a full report until early the next morning but were relatively safe since the two cities are over 1200 kilometres (745 miles) miles apart. However, there's always the fear that some "freelancers" might pick up on the idea and attack tourists (and Indians) in the same indiscriminant way they did in Mumbai...

 

• November 23, 2008 (Sunday):
  Rode New Dehli's wonderful subway system but, for reasons unknown to us, photography was forbidden!

 

• November 07, 2008 (Friday):
  Although I supported Obama's campaign I'm disappointed he moved so quickly to appoint Rahm Emanuel as his Chief-of-Staff. Emanuel has worked against Palestinian and Arab interests and needs to be removed from the Obama administration. The good news is that President-elect Obama seems to have "hit the ground" running to not only put his administration together but to work on the huge problems confronting our country and the world...

 

• November 05, 2008 (Wednesday):
  

  I am pleased to report that my August 27th prediction was wrong! Barack Obama won yesterday's election, by popular vote, at 64 million to McCain's 57 million - although not a "landslide" it's certainly a very decisive win. Obama's election is good for our country and good for the world. But, of course, the bad news remains the economy and myriad of other problems - we need to all pull together. Obama becomes the 44th president on January 20th - no doubt he and his team are going to be extraordinarily busy between now and then!

 

• November 04, 2008 (Tuesday):
  The entire nation, and the world, holds its breath today for the presidential election. I am pleased that my participation included a couple of poling place interviews for KGNU. On of 'em can be heard Here.

 

• October 31, 2008 (Friday):
  Studs Terkel died today at age 96. Somewhat of a coincidence, I recorded a radio interview with Dave Isay, just two days ago, who said that Terkel helped kick-off his StoryCorps project...

  After being sorely disappointed in the 2000 and 2004 elections I'm superstitious about polls, hope, or feeling positive about the presidential race. Nevertheless, it's looking very good for Obama on Tuesday - a fabulous chance for America to "re-brand" itself after eight years of corruption, incompetence, and disappointment - I just hope I haven't jinxed the situation by displaying my hope here!

 

• October 08, 2008 (Wendesday):
  I'm making this entry in the early morning so only know of yesterday's results: World financial markets continued their slide down the porcelain convenience with governments jumping in to bail out private institutions all over the planet. It doesn't look good...

  Last night's presidential debate remained lackluster, as was anticipated. Why? Well, modern candidates answer to so many constituencies that it's difficult for them to significantly alter their message without alienating some support. And, too, once they've shored-up their "base," they need to talk to the undecided and uncommitted voters in the middle. So, for those of us that pay close attention there's aren't going to be any revelations during such a debate. It's not that I even want to see a lot of arguing, grandiose posturing, threats or promises - it's just that there's no "fire-in-the-belly" from anyone, anymore, because everyone is afraid of losing a single vote.

  But, there always seems to be a lot of fire-in-the-belly with third party candidates yet we almost never hear from them. Why? Because the two party cabal (to quote Ralph Nadar!) controls the entire process and doesn't want the additional competition. The two party system is clearly broken yet there's little chance to reform it since it's so deeply entrenched. Nevertheless we need to keep trying - the two party system is not serving us!

 

• September 29, 2008 (Monday):
  Today we woke to this sobering report from CNNMoney.com:
  "Monday's news marks yet another big shake-up of the nation's banking industry, which has undergone a dramatic transformation in the past two weeks, including the demise of Lehman Brothers, the acquisition of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America and the failure of Washington Mutual and its subsequent purchase by JPMorgan Chase." The title of the article was, Citigroup to buy Wachovia banking assets. At the same time Foxnews.com stated, "Less than an hour before the House takes up the new $700 billion financial bailout bill, President Bush moved to assure Americans that the plan is good for the country."

  We learned a few hours later, after I had made the above entry, that the bill was not passed and the DOW fell 777 points - its greatest point drop (but not percentage) in the market's history.

  We're clearly in a huge economic mess, thanks to years of greed, corruption, sloth and indifference - I hope the something's done to reverse the situation but I'm not holding my breath...

 

• September 27, 2008 (Saturday):
  Last night's debate between McCain and Obama wasn't very inspiring. Of course candidates are never going to address any of the real issues - America's huge overpopulation problem and the destruction of the natural world. Of course there's still some serious stuff they tried to address (or at least pointed fingers) like the collapse of our economy due to greed and corruption - but, how could they ever address the fundamental failure of capitalism, itself, when they're so deeply tied to it like the rest of us?

 

• September 23, 2008 (Tuesday):
  I'm not exaggerating when I say our financial system remains on the verge of collapse - our nation's Treasury Secretary, the Federal Reserve Chairman, and many other officials continue their urgent calls for bank and financial institution bailouts (so many so I'm starting to lose track of which huge financial houses are failing or being propped-up by the government). Although I'm not very omniscient I have been writing for many years (a decade on my website alone) about the excesses of capitalism, the horrible concentration of wealth and power, and other questionable economic activities. But, of course, nobody was going to listen to a lonely blogger back in 1998 nor are they going to listen to me now. Nevertheless, the fact remains clear that an economy, or any country for that matter, can not be sustainable when its financial system is built on greed, speculation, and corruption. Our president, our congress, and our leaders in general were either too immersed in their own profit making, too afraid of public reaction, or too stupid to have taken any action when it would have made a real difference. As a result, me and my countrymen will have to suffer for years, maybe even decades, for the theft that has taken place for so long now. Just my opinion, of course!

 

• September 15, 2008 (Monday):
  As was expected (from weekend reports of other markets around the world) the U.S. stock market and financial system took huge losses again today. This particular implosion was triggered by the collapse of another financial institution, the century-and-a-half old firm of Lehman Brothers, and the echoing effects of shaky loans throughout the entire system. So, what does this say about capitalism in general? Not much, except that it's an obvious house-of-cards-pyramid-scheme that needs to be monitored (and bailed out!) by government the world over. Still, the wild speculating, huge profits, and insider trading have benefit many thousands of players over the years - the economic elite aren't about to give up a system that's been so generous to them. So, the rest of us suffer with high prices, unemployment, and a declining standard of living because speculators have had their way with our system so long. Just an opinion of course.

  Speaking of opinions, a federal judge ruled today that there are way too many snowmobiles going through Yellowstone National Park each winter day - disrupting wildlife, polluting, making noise, etc. Hopefully the decision to protect the park will stand but I'm not holding my breath as the ORV crowd is very rich and powerful...

 

• September 10, 2008 (Wednesday):
  

  Until now, I've resisted commenting, to anybody, about my thoughts on Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and her selection as John McCain's running mate for this fall's presidential election. My hesitation was because I didn't know much about her prior to McCain's announcement last week. Now that I've had time to learn more it seems Sarah Palin is a rather fortunate simpleton that probably doesn't have much right to run a state let alone stand next in line for the presidency. The more I learn about her the less she seems to know - reports remain strong that she's a religious fanatic/fundamentalist that blindly supports Israel, has no concern about our huge overpopulation problem (witness the many children she kept having, well into her middle years), has no respect for the natural world and has traveled almost nowhere (her first trip outside north America didn't take place until last year!). But, I'm told, she has very high approval ratings throughout Alaska and is rated favorably in most national polls as well. No big surprise there - my countrymen never seem too comfortable with leaders who are thoughtful or capable of critical thinking - so it's no wonder we keep electing officials less capable than ourselves. Anyway, as much as I'd love to see a woman in the White House it's too bad it's gotta be someone like Sarah Palin...

   

• August 27, 2008 (Wednesday):
  I've been watching and listening to Denver's Democratic National Convention from a distance. I had an opportunity to do some radio work there but had other commitments - not to mention wanting to avoid a huge transportation mess! However, I'm told things are running much more smoothly than anticipated and that protests and demonstrations are much less than original estimates. That part concerns me as I suspect the police presence (and the temporary jails/prisons erected by the City) has scared away a lot of people. Also, I think that a lot of the potential protesters probably are in agreement with the Democrats much more than was the case in 1968. If that's true then it's even more sad considering the Democrats are doing almost nothing to call Bush on the war. And, of course, both parties refuse to take any action on our huge over population problem. In fact, the activists and protestors don't even mention our nearly one third billion population!! So, it'll be business as usual - dirtier air, scarce water, expensive fuel, and less freedom - mostly because there are too many of us!

Oh, and how about a prediction (although making predictions, especially about the future, is always difficult!)? As much as I like Obama and believe he'd be great four our country, and the world, our country remains a bit backwards for such a change. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I suspect he'll loose by about five points (which is huge) and "Bush" will get his third term. Hope I'm wrong - check back after the first week of November and we'll see!

 

• August 22, 2008 (Friday):
  The Beijing Olympics are over after going much better than I had anticipated (crowded conditions, filthy air, etc.). I didn't watch them as closely as I should have (we have NO television reception, in our foothills neighborhood, so have to rely on an internet connection to view any of it...). Nevertheless, what little I did see of it still seems to be filled with a lot of professionalism under the guise of amateur competition. Don't get me wrong, there were some real amateurs who can be quite proud of themselves regardless what medals they did or did not win. But, in the end, it was the big countries with big money that took home most of the gold - the trend is clear!

 

• August 10, 2008 (Sunday):
  Russian fighting inside Georgia, for the separatists of South Ossetia, has intensified since it's start last Thursday - it's looking very messy. I made it up Mt. Morrison in 44:31 today - a bit faster than normal...

 

• August 08, 2008 (Friday):
  Summitted Mt. Columbia in the early morning fog. The Olympics started in Bejing today - a country I don't have much respect for since they've done so much damage to Tibet and Xinjiang - not to mention the foul and polluted air that greets everyone in their cities. Oh, and the Olympics has been turned into a giant money making machine that doesn't have much to do with honest sport or amateur competition. But, why complain? Instead of parking myself in front of the TV (of which I don't have reception anyway!) I went climbing!

 

• August 07, 2008 (Thursday):
  Summitted Mt. Sneffels. On my way back down I ran into a 75 year old man, with a dozen of his family members, hiking to the nearby lakes for some camping. Imagine, 75 years old and hiking at 11,000 feet (3,352 metres) - that's what we should all be doing in our eight decade!!

 

• August 06, 2008 (Wednesday):
  In preparation for tomorrow's climb up Mt. Sneffels I ran into a production crew, at 11,000 feet (3,352 metres), filming a Jeep commercial! Since it's on public lands they didn't hesitate to let me hang around and take pictures and videos. I posted the pix and video link on my movies page...

 

• August 05, 2008 (Tuesday):
  Summitted Redcloud and Sunshine from Grizzly Gulch. Roundtrip took a total of 6:55 - not bad for an old fat man!

 

• August 03, 2008 (Sunday):

  Summitted Handies in 3:20 from Grizzly Gulch (3,600 feet / 1,097 metres of elevation gain). Could have done it a lot quicker but Jeff wasn't feeling too well, etc. Of course my 14ers page has everything you'll ever want to know about hiking and climbing Colorado's highest peaks!

 

• July 31, 2008 (Thursday):
  Rode my bike the complete length (paved part) of the Boulder creek path today. Once in the morning, going to work, and then again in the late afternoon (with temperatures near 99f /37c) on my way to the bus to go home. It's a great trail and concept that every town and city should have - For seven miles (11 km) it winds gracefully alongside Boulder Creek past the library, small parks, tennis courts, and even a prairie dog town. Heavily shaded, most of the way, it makes for a pleasant walk, jog or ride - even on a hot day like today!

 

• July 27, 2008 (Sunday):
  Completed my 27th 14er today (Mt. Lindsey) which puts me exactly half-way through the list. unfortunately the last half, especially with high fuel prices and a more difficult work schedule at my office, will be a lot tougher to achieve - not to mention I'm about twice the age of the average peak-bagger now!

 

• July 19, 2008 (Saturday):
  Fractured a rib and am in complete agony (not to mention I can't breath deeply, laugh, cough or do anything else that requires a lot of lung-power [although I still plan to climb, albeit a bit more slowly...]). Anyway, it occurred when my bicycle's front tire went flat and I couldn't get out of a brand-new pair of clipless peddles fast enough (they hadn't been adjusted yet...).

 

• July 18, 2008 (Friday):
  Once again on business (training) in Oklahoma. Rode my rental bike about 25 miles (40 km) with a classmate. It was 97 degrees (36 c), when we left after lunchtime - my classmate, being smarter than me, turned back about halfway after we visited the Little River Zoo. I love animals but have never been too impressed with the idea of zoos. I think the Little River Zoo might have the right idea in that they seem to collect some "rescue" animals from a selection of abandoned pets and circus animals. Nevertheless, it's quite obvious that animals need to be free - regardless the quality of zoo, etc. Anyway, I rode some of the back trails through Lake Thunderbird and then all around Norman in the vicinity of the Hitachi factory and other stuff of interest to me. Much too hot out though - I think I only saw one other cyclist the entire day after my classmate departed!

 

• July 6, 2008 (Sunday):
  Made the summit of Unnamed Peak 12,915 (3,936 metres) - mostly because we lost much of the trail to Mt. Lindsey (our real destination) due to all the snow still on the trail!

 

• June 29, 2008 (Sunday):
  Made the summit of Mt. Baker (Komo Kulshan - 10,778 ft/3285 m) without too much difficulty with Tom, Linda, Georgia, Amy, and Jeff. Weather was nearly perfect except for a lot of wind on top and grueling heat along the glacier! Way too many snowmobiles ruining the terrain up to nearly 7,000 feet - with all their stink, smoke, and loud noise echoing off the canyon walls I'm surprised the locals put up with it! Nevertheless, Baker is a good climb and it was a great trip at very little expense thanks to countless bus passes and an airline voucher!

 

• June 27, 2008 (Friday):
  Spent part of the day with my sister at the Adventist's annual camp meeting in Washington. I've been there before and enjoy it a lot - especially their vegetarian offerings like "sham-burgers" and "un-burgers!"

 

• June 21, 2008 (Saturday):
  Today was a most excellent Summer Solstice! Some CMC friends and I did a quick climb up Quandary Peak, a very popular 14er, in additional to taking time explore a bit of Ride the Rockies as it finished up in Breckenridge. Despite lots of snow still around, this late in the season, the hiking went really well and the weather was fantastic. Now, of course, the days will slowly shorten again until we return to the season for backcountry skiing!!

 

• June 17, 2008 (Tuesday):
  Health questions rear their ugly head once again. Like Gilda Radner said, "It's always something..."

 

• June 12, 2008 (Thursday):
  Although I've been avoiding their use for many months, I finally got around to replacing all of our backcountry water bottles with new ones that don't contain BPA (Bisphenol A). I purchased six new bottles at a cost of almost $10 USD each. I guess the biggest concern is that BPA can be disruptive to our hormone system and was found in questionable amounts in baby bottles and the aforementioned water bottles. The Canadian government got things rolling when it banned the import and sale of plastics containing BPA just two months ago. Now various retailers are starting to pull BPA containing plastics off their shelves...

 

• June 11, 2008 (Wednesday):
  After all these years (Decades!) of hanging around Boulder I was finally able to enjoy many miles of their biking trails. Of all the cities I've cycled in Boulder has got to be the most bike friendly of 'em all! Of course there's still the usual problem of having to cross the occasional busy street or intersection full of huge, noisy SUVs and trucks (despite $4 per gallon gasoline people still drive these things around like there's no tomorrow!). Nevertheless, you can get anywhere in Boulder on a bike so I may start doing more of that and less of the bus...

  In other news, Representative Dennis Kucinich submitted an impeachment resolution that was quickly voted into committee where it'll probably die a slow death. Our country is so reluctant to impeach anybody, I don't get it! Impeachment, (mentioned six times in the Constitution!), should be a matter of routine - just like any professional being called in for malpractice or even my own boss (and employees) questioning my own performance. If you've done wrong the country's owners (the citizens and voters) have the right to question what you've been up to - it's our duty!

 

• June 10, 2008 (Tuesday):
  For the past half year I've been taking the GS bus home from Boulder to Golden on a regular basis. It's a regional bus that's more comfortable than most and is usually just over half full for most of its 30 mile trip. Today was the most I've ever seen on it - all the seats were taken (this was the first time, ever that I had to share a seat!) with three or four people having to stand much of the way. Plus, there were close to ten bicycles so the front rack and luggage compartments were full. It's not surprise that $4 per gallon gasoline is bringing this on - it's just sad that we weren't more "conservative" in our ways back when everybody wanted to buy a Hummer and other extravagances...

   

• June 04, 2008 (Wednesday):
  Barrack Obama gained the necessary number of delegates, in yesterday's primaries, to make him the Democrat's nominee for president. I think it's great that a person of color, and women, can gain so much recognition in American politics - there's hope for us yet!

 

• May 30, 2008 (Friday):
  Rode my rental bike down Highway 9 from Norman to Lake Thunderbird - took a few detours to the Little River Zoo (Here's a video) and various campsites. Roundtrip mileage was probably approaching 30 - no easy task on a bike seat designed for somebody half my age and 80% my weight!!

  Anyway, Highway 9, in the heat of the late afternoon sun, smelled of death along its entire length - dead animals were strewn alongside the road every few feet - not unlike the roads in other parts of North America and other countries (especially Australia) that I've traveled over. The problem, even with gasoline approaching $4.00 per gallon, is that vehicles are too big, too fast, and too careless - hence the long line of mangled snake bodies, crushed turtle shells, armadillo speed bumps, possum guts, and every other creature you can think of.

  Yes, I've been part of the problem too! One year I was careening through Wyoming, with Peg Millet as my passenger, and she had to remind me that my excessive speed was not only killing too many insects (my grill was covered with 'em) but that I was an extreme danger to any other critters hoping to cross the road. The solution? Slow down and be more alert! Of course slowing down has an ancillary benefit of saving fuel and reducing unwanted emissions - something that should be attractive to all of us at this point in our petroleum history...

 

• May 27, 2008 (Tuesday):
  While on business in Oklahoma I rode my rental bike from Norman to Slaughterville - a round trip distance of about 20 miles. The town was incorporated in 1970 - named after a grocery store owner a half century earlier. Some locals, near the town, told me that the name also stuck because there's a really sharp turn in Highway 77 where a lot of drunk teenagers had died in years past. Either way, I think I'd have chosen another name for the town. But, then again, they didn't ask me and I was only 14 years old in 1970 anyway! Click Here for my YouTube video as entered town on my bike...

 

• May 25, 2008 (Sunday):
  The Phoenix Mars Lander made it safely to the planet's surface!

  The oldest person, every, has just climbed Mount Everest! It was a 76 year old Nepalese man. And, three days earlier Appa Sherpa broke a record by completing his 18th successful summit if Everest - maybe there's till hope for me!

 

• May 23, 2008 (Friday):
  Utah Phillips passed away today at age 73.

  Oil went over $135 USD per barrel this week and gasoline, locally, is at an all time high of $3.79 (on average) per gallon. I've been taking the bus to work, of and on, for many years but am making a special effort to do so every day now. I've also started taking my bicycle to the Park and Ride, about three miles from my house, but can't rely on that throughout the winter. Nevertheless, I'll take advantage of it while I can!

  Unfortunately many people, around the world, are going to be hurt by rising oil prices. Some may even die as shortages restrict the flow of food and other necessities. It's shameful that so many of the rest of us wasted so much energy these past half dozen decades - not to mention the incredible amount of environmental destruction and pollution we've generated as well. Yet, despite all of this the waste goes on all around me - big construction projects, new (but unnecessary) roads, huge vehicles, ORVs, extensive air travel, the list is identical to what it was a decade ago when energy cost a fraction of what it does today. This particular form of Capitalism, this "way of life," simply isn't sustainable yet we continue on as if nothing's changed!

  Yes, I know these higher prices will stimulate exploration and new finds will lower prices. But, in the long run, we're in deep trouble as there's obviously an end to everything - especially cheap, easy to obtain oil. There are nearly 7 Billion people wanting to live the "good life" and it just can't happen - there are too many of us - the writing’s on the wall!

 

• May 18, 2008 (Sunday):
  Tom, Linda, Dawn and I did about 14 miles up Mount Evans today. Linda was very enthusiastic as she's practicing for a marathon (click Here for the YouTube video!. Also ran into two scientists (Clait and Greg) continuing a 41-year study of Ptarmigans. Apparently the USGS, and others, have taken interest in the study because it's such an unusually long data set that can help better understand the impact of Global Warming in difficult environments like Mount Evans...

 

• May 14, 2008 (Wednesday):
  This week marks the 60th anniversary of the Catastrophe - the Israeli theft and occupation of Palestinian land. Our goofy president, mindless media, and religious buffoons can't seem to praise Israel enough despite it killing so many innocent Palestinians these past six decades. For shame!

 

• May 12, 2008 (Monday):
  A 7.9 earthquake hit central China today, killing nearly 9,000 people...

 

• May 07, 2008 (Thursday):
  Oil reached $124 per barrel today. To the disapointment of my employer (they'd prefer my personal car be "on the ready" throughout our business day) I continue to ride the bus to work. Ridership appears to be increasing on the GS (the line I take too and from work) and I'm pretty sure it's not my imagination. Maybe we will get smarter and stop the fuel waste I've been witnessing first hand for a half century now? Or, will it be a minority of thoughtful citizens giving up their cars, in favour of mass-transit - with the Limbaugh's of this world continuing to drive two-ton Hummers across town to buy a pack of cigarettes? Either way I'm going to start riding my bike to the bus stop - I need to loose some weight of my own, anyway...

 

• May 07, 2008 (Wednesday):
  It's now estimated that 100,000 may have lost their lives during this week's cyclone through Burma (Myanmar). In other news, the Olympic flame made it's way to the top of Everest today in preparation for the world's biggest sports business event in a country that has crushed Tibet and Xinjiang.

 

• April 30, 2008 (Wednesday):
  Albert Hofmann, the Swiss scientist best known for synthesizing lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), died at age 102 today.

 

• April 26, 2008 (Saturday):
  I was surprised (but delighted!) to see the group Women in Black holding their silent peace vigil in front of the Colorado Mills shopping mall. I stopped to photograph them but my camera battery was dead. Darn, it would have been a great shot with all of them in black surrounded by falling snowflakes. Nevertheless, I received a flier and learned a lot about their wonderful efforts for peace!

 

• April 19, 2008 (Saturday):
  I climbed Mt. Sherman (14,036 ft/4,278 metres) with Tom and Linda. Although considered one of the easier 14ers, an average snow depth of about three feet (one metre) made it pretty darn difficult! Plus, I did it without my snowshoes - the "postholing" making it that much more of a workout! Either way, it was lots of fun and has me all fired up for more climbing this summer!

 

• April 7, 2008 (Monday):
  Wow! Freedom for Tibet activists in France and San Francisco made international news for their respective Olympic Torch and Golden Gate Bridge protests. Bless 'em!

 

• April 6, 2008 (Sunday):
  Protesters in London have created a bit of chaos, in support of Tibet, as the Olympic Torch attempts to make its way through town for its long journey to China this summer. Even the "fair and balanced" news pansies at Fox covered the protests on their main web page today. Maybe there's hope, yet, for the suppressed peoples of Tibet and other areas around the world??!!

 

• March 31, 2008 (Monday):
  Neil Conan, host of NPR's "Talk of the Nation" program. interviewed Times environmental writer Bryan Walsh about issues related to Earth Hour. After encountering a number of busy signals I was finally able to "bust through" and was put on the air to describe our experience during Earth Hour!

 

• March 29, 2008 (Saturday):
  Tami and I participated in the second annual Earth Hour event by shutting down all of our computers and lights throughout the house and walking to a local grocery store to complete our family chores. Our neighborhood overlooks Denver and it appeared that there was some participation, gazing out across the dark horizon, but not as much as we had hoped for...

 

• March 27, 2008 (Thursday):
  Our son successfully (and easily!) defended his thesis today and is now a PhD physicist - we're quite proud!

 

• March 25, 2008 (Tuesday):

  A huge portion of the Wilkins Ice Shelf in the western Antarctic broke off today. About the size of Manhattan, the collapsed piece is estimated to have been there for anywhere between hundreds to 1,500 years. But, thanks to global warming it's now gone with the rest of the Wilkins ice shelf, about the size of Connecticut, hanging on by a thin piece. sad, so very sad...

 

• March 24, 2008 (Monday):
  Hey, I was wrong - there are some people out there with guts!! Over the weekend US House speaker Nancy Pelosi angered the Chinese government by speaking out against the treatment of Tibet! And, going beyond just words, she actually went and met with the Dalai Lama (exiled in India) despite loud Chinese government protest. Pelosi said, "If freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China's oppression in Tibet, we have lost our moral authority to speak on behalf of human rights anywhere in the world." The Xinhua state news agency responded by saying Pelosi was a "defender of arsonists, looters and killers." Hmmmm, sounds like the same thing Israel says anytime somebody tries to defend the rights of Palestinians to return to their homeland!

 

• March 17, 2008 (Monday):
  In an another move to strengthen corporate socialism, the government announced a $30 billion bailout of the financial giant Bear Stearns. With government approval, JPMorgan Chase will purchase Bear for $236 million - the government's financing will be used to back up billions in Bear investment backed by subprime mortgages. In the "old" days businesses were punished with collapse for making risky investments that failed. Now, of course, taxpayers are expected to pay the bills for CEOs who can't do the right thing...

 

• March 15, 2008 (Saturday):
  The world (and our country) continue to standby and watch the peoples of Tibet, Xinjiang, and Palestine being brutalized by China and Israel, respectively. Why are we so afraid to speak up? Is it because the Palestinians have no oil? Or, is it if we upset the Chinese we won't be able to buy anymore of their trinkets and other junk at Wal-Mart? I don't know what it is but the silence is deafening as these peoples continue to be forced out of their homes and their countries taken over...

 

• March 14, 2008 (Friday):
  China has intensified its military crackdown on protestors in Tibet - land that doesn't belong to the Han Chinese yet the world does almost nothing (very similar to the occupation of Palestine by Israel). Xinjiang province has also been in the news as the Han Chinese have cracked down on the Uyghur People and their desire to be free of Chinese domination. What with Wal-Mart's special ties to China, and the goofy Olympics taking place in Beijing this summer I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for anyone to stand up for the indigenous peoples of Tibet or Xinjiang (or Palestine, for that matter...).

 

• March 13, 2008 (Thursday):
  According to the Justice Department the FBI continues to badly mishandle letters that it uses to obtain personal records without a court order. The new report cites "issuance of NSLs [national security letters] without proper authorization, improper requests and unauthorized collection of telephone or Internet e-mail records due to FBI errors or mistakes made by NSL recipients." The lawlessness of the FBI, and other government spy and law "enforcement" agencies, doesn't come as much of a surprise to anyone who pays attention to such issues...

 

• March 11, 2008 (Tuesday):
  The government has pumped $200 Billion into the financial markets. Naturally, the stock market rallied and gained considerably. However, these kinds of actions should dispel any doubt that our markets are free and open. Clearly, the "invisible hand of the marketplace," and Capitalism in general, is a failure.

 

• March 05, 2008 (Wednesday):
  On the road again (again!). After some business in Reno I once again found myself exploring more of the back roads out in the American west. It's a luxury whose time has past - with oil at over $100 barrel mindless wondering over country roads will become a lost art (not to mention the waste and carbon loading such travel burdens Earth with...). Well, if it helps, Ed Abbey suggested that such luxurious driving habits will simply "help" us get back to basics that much quicker...

  Anyway, two days ago I was beating up my rental car on the steep and bumpy dirt roads around the Stillwater Naval Air Station in western Nevada. It was there that I stumbled upon a radar site where they were testing a "steerable" dish antenna. The military didn't seem to mind, or maybe didn't notice, that I was video recording their parabolic reflector bouncing up and down and side to side. A voice was booming over their radio's loudspeaker advising technicians to turn the antenna this way or point it that way - apparently irradiating the countryside with bursts of high-powered microwave energy. I didn't stay around long enough to absorb much of the radiation (I hope...).

  Today I drove the length of California 49, having started on highway 89, near Tahoe, making my way past the interesting little hamlets of Sierraville, turning left at Sattley, and then making my way through Sierra City, Downieville and North San Juan. Passed through the very obvious "tourist trap" of Nevada City (not unlike Tombstone, Blackhawk, Deadwood and similar towns I've been through), had lunch in Grass Valley and then drove like crazy to make my 3:30 flight out of Reno. Took tons of photos, GPS waypoints, and video that I may post some day...

 

• March 01, 2008 (Saturday):
  I was on a great backcountry ski trip up the Wild Irishman with Carol and Reed - survivors of the 2005/2006 rock fall incident that killed so many on Kilimanjaro's Western Breach. Their firsthand account of the falling rock and deaths taking place all around them was moving and sad...

 

• February 17, 2008 (Sunday):
  Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. No doubt other nations (like Russia, Spain, China, etc.) will fear such a move motivating separatist movements within their borders...

  The U.S. Department of Agriculture recalled 143 million pounds of frozen beef from a Southern California slaughterhouse that was being investigated for mistreating cattle. This was the largest beef recall in U.S. history, surpassing the 1999 ban of 35 million pounds. It's pretty clear that meat is unhealthy in many ways!

 

• February 16, 2008 (Saturday):
  Tami and I watched two coyotes stealthily cross our backyard this morning. It was encouraging to see nature still alive but extremely sad to learn, later in the day, that scientists have started to "officially" recognize that we are, indeed, in a new geological epoch - the Anthropocene. The Anthropocene, characterized by an environment substantially altered by human activity, follows the Holocene epoch - a geological period which began approximately 11,550 calendar years BP until the last century when world destruction intensified at the hand of mankind. Sick and pathetic to think that so few of us could see (or cared!) that this was coming 30 and 40 years ago. Of course it's even more sick and pathetic that so few people, even today (!), care about all that has been lost in the world. We are a lazy, greedy, selfish species - I am ashamed...

 

• February 08, 2008 (Friday):
  Drove the rental car another 300 miles but, this time, it was through the Sierra Nevada of northern California - through quaint little towns like Quincy, Paxton, Canyondam, Susanville, Johnstonville, and Milford. Lee Summit (4,439') and Fredonyer (5,748') were two of the many passes along my route - all of 'em were winding and narrow with five foot walls of snow on each side. I also made the usual three or four dozen photo stops for everything from proselytizing and political signs to jails and ancient trestle bridges. Gasoline was between $3.09 to $3.29 - prices we'll be longing for once we're past peak oil...

 

• February 07, 2008 (Thursday):
  Flew from KCMO to Reno and then drove a rental car through 300 miles of Nevada desert for a bit of exploring before work - stopping in places like Fallon, Schurz, Walker Lake and Hawthorne. I love the high desert but remain saddened by how cow-burnt the Nevada (not to mention Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Montana and other western states) landscape remains. The time to get cattle off our public lands has long passed! Anyway, I took Highways 359, 167, and 395 back to Reno - stopping in Bridgeport to buy just a few gallons of gas ($3.99 per gallon!!) and make a waypoint at the Mono County Courthouse (built in 1880). Made my way over Devils Gate Summit (7,519') and other passes along the way.

 

• February 06, 2008 (Wednesday):
  Amber and I drove like crazy, from Denver to KCMO, in a raging blizzard along the eastern Kansas portion of I-70. Took us 11 hours which isn't bad considering we actually drove through snow drifts at times. Made it to Sterling's memorial service A-okay...

 

• February 04, 2008 (Monday):
  The Bush administration is requesting a seven percent increase in military spending to $515 billion USD - higher than all the other country's military spending combined! And, as if our bloated military (and the associated armaments industry) doesn't already take too much of our tax dollars, Bush is asking for an additional $200 billion USD for "Homeland" security - an independent branch of the our spook and military industries. If passed by Congress, Bush's request will be the first $3 Trillion budget in history with record deficits and debt continuing as part of our government's fiscal "strategy." We are lost...

 

• February 02, 2008 (Saturday):
  My father-in-law, Sterling, passed away today. We were lucky to see him before he left us...

 

• January 10, 2008 (Thursday):
  Sir Edmund Hillary died today at age 88. In addition to Mt. Everest he did a lot of good work for hospitals and schools. I saw him speak in 1994 and was impressed with the other parts of his life in addition to the climbing. Seems strange now but I received his autograph at the time...

 

• January 02, 2008 (Wednesday):
  Oil, albeit briefly, reached $100 per barrel today. Not a huge percentage increase when you consider it's been in the 90 dollar range lately. Nevertheless, it's a good indicator that our happy motoring days are going to slowly diminish from now on. Even though we're at peak oil there will still be periods of increased production (thanks to the aforementioned pricing!) but, overall, world output is going to fall over the long run. And, what did we do to prepare for this, or, more importantly, to mitigate the damage done to the environment, the atmosphere, and our general quality of life? Not much! We've wasted, squandered, and abused this messy form of energy for over a century now and our bad habits are starting to catch up with us...

2007

• December 30, 2007 (Sunday):
  Steve F. and I skied to the Wild Irishman Mine today. Our trip back to Denver, via I-70, was the worst/longest either of us had ever experienced. Travel time, due to ski resort crowds, icy roads, and blowing snow was almost triple that of a normal day. There were dozens of accidents, rescue vehicles and police stretched along the entire route for Dillon to Denver. The Highway Patrol eventually closed I-70 in both directions - what a mess!

  Again, the problem with I-70 isn't the highway itself - it's that there are too many of us! America's population passed 301 million this month and that's nothing to be proud of!

• December 27, 2007 (Thursday):
  Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated today - huge news that swept the world...
• December 22, 2007 (Saturday):
  I joined a group for a winter solstice backcountry ski trip along Jim Creek. Bitter cold (below zero at the start) but an enjoyable workout. We came within 150 feet of a bull and cow moose. A very unusual encounter for us here in Colorado...
• December 10, 2007 (Monday):
  Former Vice President Al Gore accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to combat global warming. He shares the prize with the United Nation's Panel on Climate Change.
• December 09, 2007 (Sunday):
  Another random killing, here in Colorado, just days after a similar incident in Omaha, Nebraskas...
• December 07, 2007 (Friday):
  This week we learned that the CIA destroyed video tapes of its agents interrogating two al Qaeda suspects in 2002. The agency's lame excuse for deleting such documents, now that Congress wants to take a closer look at their activities, is that they wanted to protect the identity of the agents conducting the "alternative" interrogation! Never mind that viewing the videos could have been restricted to government officials or that the agent's images could have been digitally masked or altered! There's little doubt around the country, as I make this entry, that the videos would have confirmed torture (water boarding) taking place. Saddly, the real casualty in all of this is our country's good name and image continuing to be besmirched by the overpaid, under worked thugs who run our government, military, and secret agencies...

  Today the nation also got to hear presidential candidate Mitt Romney's long, evasive speech about his Christian faith and it's effect on his life, our government, and the country in general. Again, anyone who isn't a Christian, and especially the non-believers, are at best ignored and usually discriminated against by the likes of Romney and the rest of the Bible crowd. The most disappointing thing, of course, is that politicians still conduct national discourse under the shadow of religious literalism and make-believe. For shame!

• November 29, 2007 (Thursday):
  The gaming case for the new computer I'm building arrived on my front porch today. Although I wanted to wait until after the holiday rush I couldn't resist the price ($50 USD, total, after coupons and rebates) for such a fully ventilated system - three 120 mm fans and one 200 mm fan for a huge amount airflow. Anyway, I'm thinking of an 800 Watt power supply, quad processors, a couple gb of RAM, and huge hard drives at about one third gb of storage. Of course when you read this entry five years from now it'll all look so primitive...
• November 19, 2007 (Monday):
  We learned that our neighbor, across the street, discovered three dead raccoons in his backyard. Animal control confirmed that they had been poisoned! We are so lucky to have so much wildlife in and around our property yet others see it as an opportunity to be cruel and destructive - it's pathetic!
• November 18, 2007 (Sunday):
  Tami and I hiked a few miles around the area of Landscape Arch and Double O Arch in Arches National Park.
• November 16, 2007 (Friday):
  Tami and I stopped in Jacumba and easily climbed the fence into Mexico. Then, of course, easily climbed the fence again to walk back into the United States. Obviously a very porous border...
• November 14, 2007 (Wednesday):
  Jogged a few miles into the Ventana Wilderness area via the Pine Ridge trailhead. Later in the day we drove down Highway One and filmed the elephant seals north of Malibu.
• November 13, 2007 (Tuesday):
  Spent a very pleasant evening in Big Sur.
• November 12, 2007 (Monday):
  Tami and I hiked a couple miles through Muir Woods - it was very pleasant! We also walked both ways across the Golden Gate Bridge but found the traffic noise to be a bit much...
• November 03, 2007 (Saturday):
  Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf imposed a state of emergency after suspending the Constitution, sacking a Chief Justice and deploying troops - what a mess!
• October 26, 2007 (Friday):
  I was engaged in "pledge rap," at KGNU, with Liz, Joel, Duncan and Sam. One listener renewed her memership in honor of my interviewing skills - wow!
• October 21, 2007 (Sunday):
  Climbed Mt Morrison this morning for the 120th time (literally!). Today was a little different in that it was near-blizzard conditions and downright treacherous on the steep parts!
• October 20, 2007 (Saturday):
  Drove back to Denver, from Grand Junction, with a Sierra Club friend - just in time to experience the storm's full force moving eastward over Vail Pass! Nevertheless, like John Muir, I've always loved an epoch weather event (although I've yet to lash myself to a tree like Muir...). The bad part was the start through Garfield County - the over-lit gas drilling rigs, that we saw last night, were even more evident (through breaks in the weather) along with all of their associated compressor stations, pipes and storage tanks. I can only imagine how devastated this section of our state must look from the air, not to mention the complete disruption to wildlife and the biota in general. For what? A little more natural gas to turn into fertilizer or to heat sports stadiums and shopping malls? We are lost...
• October 17, 2007 (Wednesday):
  I am very proud that America bestowed our nation's highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, on His Holiness the Dalai Lama today. Still, I remain infuriated that so little has been done to free Tibet from China's miserable, immoral occupation. Anyway, his HH is certainly deserving of my country's highest recognition!

  In other religious news, Richard Roberts has requested a leave of absence from his job as president of Oral Roberts University. Seems the Roberts family is being accused of all kinds of corruption and misdeeds - not unlike most of the big churches that dominate other parts of the American landscape. Sad part is, my countrymen have short memories and continue throwing tons of money and tax breaks at any church willing to muscle-in on our neighborhoods and broadcast networks...

• October 12, 2007 (Friday):
  It was announced that Al Gore, and scientists from the International Panel on Climate Change, will be sharing the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize! Fantastic news, of course, but still sad that the Earth's climate is being altered by human activity. Pathetic, really, if you think of how quickly the climate is now changing compared to the thousands and millions of years it took in the past. We are selfish and irresponsible...
• September 29, 2007 (Saturday):
  Newt Gingrich announced he won't be running for president. Topps Meat Co. expanded its recall of ground beef from about 300,000 pounds to 21.7 million pounds - one of the largest recalls of its kind in our country's history. The problem seems to be the possibility of some hamburger patties being contaminated with the E. coli O157:H7 bacterium. Since meat-eating isn't very healthy, to begin with, this would seem like a great time to give up beef altogether! EIther way, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is investigating 25 illnesses associated with the beef that's been recalled...
• September 25, 2007 (Tuesday):
  Peddled a small rental bike well over 15 miles throughout Potomac and along the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park - the weather was nearly perfect and I had almost the entire trail to myself since everyone else was either in school or working for the day! Took the Metro to Smithsonian Station and had a pleasant lunch on the mall. I don't know what it is but every time I'm in DC they're always erecting these huge, white tents up and down the mall for various displays and booths. I'm surprised there isn't more emphasis on keeping the area open. Oh well...
• September 24, 2007 (Monday):
  Graduated MLDP! Gave the closing speech in addition to one, earlier in the day, on peak oil and it's effect on our company and the future of our country's economy. Although the audience seemed relatively quiet I believe both talks were well received as I received many compliments later in the evening and even at breakfast the next morning. Still, do people even care? Is anyone willing to stand up, speak out, or act on such matters - or is maintaining a "prim and proper" image for further career advancement the most importnat thing at this point? Either way, do my coworkers and the rest of the world really believe that the price of Oil will go down if our population continues to increase? Do they really believe the way we live is sustainable? Is anybody thinking (or caring) out there??
• September 18, 2007 (Tuesday):
  Tami and I had our first taste of Durian this afternoon - a pungent smelling fruit from southeast Asia that has a rather tasty pulp very reminiscent of pudding! In other news, the Federal Reserve has had to "monkey" with interest rates to keep our house-of-cards economy going in the right direction. The herd of sheep at the stock market responded favorably...
• September 12, 2007 (Wednesday):
  I was in Brussels, with a few extra hours on my hands, and decided to rent a car to see Luxembourg. Driving like crazy, for over 430 km (roundtrip), I burned out 3rd, 5th, and the reverse gear. I was averaging 150 to 160 km/h (about 100 mph) so have no idea why the transmission failed, especially the reverse gear, but am thankful I made it back to Belgium in time for my flight to Munich!!
• August 28, 2007 (Tuesday):
  It was revealed that Idaho Senator Larry Craig was charged with sexual misconduct after an airport restroom incident earlier this summer. Even in my old age (I'm 51 as of this entry!) it still amazes me what reverence we hold for government officials, movie stars, and sports figures. At times they seem almost immune to any laws or criticism despite being as human as the rest of us. That doesn't mean a president or sports mogul shouldn't be treated with respect. However, impeachment, indictment, and just plain old public scrutiny should be a matter of routine - not the exception!

  Received a job offer for a one year assignment at the office across town from where I'm currently working. I guess I should be grateful to be working, at all, let alone receiving these little offers here and there. Either way, it's like Cactus Ed said himself, "It's too little, too late..."

  Anyway, for more important matters, I once again cut my own hair today. Long lines and high fees discourage me from seeking out professionals - a #5 blade (5/8 inch, 16mm) does the trick for easy hair care maintenance!

• August 27, 2007 (Monday):
  U.S. Attorney General Roberto Gonzales resigned today. It's astonishing how much dishonesty, corruption and incompetence has taken place in the Bush administration yet nearly all of them go away unquestioned or unpunished. As I recently mentioned on my radio show, this past half-decade has got to have been one of the darkest periods in American government and political history.
• August 26, 2007 (Sunday):
  Climbed Missouri and Belford for what must have been a minimum of 6,200 feet in elevation gain - quite the workout for both John and I!
• August 20, 2007 (Monday):
  At about 9 pm the International Space Station, with the Space Shuttle trailing it, passed nearly overhead. The display lasted about two minutes until the two disappeared behind the Earth's shadow - still well above the horizon. The space program remains in the news with recent revelations that some astronauts may have been drinking a few hours prior to a few shuttle flights. Drinking or not, it's high time (so to speak!) to eliminate the human element from space travel! Automated exploration of space is less expensive, less resource intensive, less polluting, and probably achieves an equal amount of science. I'm all for space exploration and science but don't like turning the skies into a military platform or expensive playground - let's get people out of the space exploration equation!
• August 15, 2007 (Wednesday):
  We, or at least the small percentage of us who pay any attention, learned in today's news that the death toll in yesterday's suicide bombings in northern Iraq has risen to at least 500 (according to local officials in Nineveh province). Ten years ago nobody would have believed such numbers to be possible. Ten years from now (I hope) we won't believe it either. But, here it is, this snapshot in time, with many hundreds of people dying in Iraq each week. What an absolute indescribable tragedy! It's all so sad and pathetic, and for what reason did we decide to invade and destabilize that country? Imaginary weapons of mass destruction? To appease Israel? To stabilize the price of oil? For what reason were so many thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians to die? I can't imagine any reason to justify so much suffering and misery...

  Of course of bigger interest in our news is anything related to consumerism. China is getting its hand slapped because some of the toys it sold us had lead in the paint. Other toys had loose magnets that children might swallow while other toys had imitation eyes filled with kerosene. No doubt China will execute a few toy executives and clean up its manufacturing processes to maintain its business reputation. But what does it say about us? All of this cheap, worthless junk we can't buy fast enough for our children. For shame!

• August 13, 2007 (Monday):
  President Bush's senior political adviser, Karl Rove, submitted his resignation on Friday.
• August 02, 2007 (Thursday):
  The Duggar couple, of Arkansas had their 17th child today. Anything beyond two children, in this day and age, is selfish and irresponsible - regardless of how much time and money you think you have!
• July 29, 2007 (Sunday):
  Climbed Snowmass Mountain via the west face - amazing amount of loose and falling rock above 13,000 feet...
• July, 22 2007 (Sunday):
  Aidan and I climbed Castle Peak, 14er, and then had dinner at Hunter S. Thompson's old haunt, the Woody Creek Tavern (WCT). Although outrageously expensive (like everything else in Pitkin County), WCT does have a fantastic vegetarian menu. I ordered the Vegan tacos and enjoyed them immensely!
• July 21, 2007 (Saturday):
  Had dinner at Little Annie's, in Aspen, on our way for a climb in the Elk Range.

• July 20, 2007 (Friday):
  President Bush finally got around to placing some limits on the CIA's terror interrogation program with an executive order that pushes our country in a better direction. Although weakly worded, and vague about torture and inhuman treatment, the order does appear to reverse a shameful trend in the way our government and military has been treating prisoners this past half decade.
• July 02, 2007 (Monday):
  To nobody's surprise President Bush commuted the sentence of convicted felon Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Well, maybe there was some surprise as most of us figured Bush would give his buddy Scooter a full pardon - but maybe that's to come later? Anyway, to think of all the innocents that Bush has held illegally in Guantanamo, and a variety of secret CIA prisons, and not one of them has been given a second thought by the president or his staff. Ol' Scooter must be feeling pretty tall knowing the Commander-in-Chief wrestled long and hard over the 30 month prison sentence he had received. Ah, to have friends in such high places, what could be better? And, what better reward for covering up your boss' wrong-doing? It's an age-old formula that works well in administrations like Bush's...
• June 22, 2007 (Friday):
  Another strange day for our government! The CIA made public documents that detail illegal and scandalous activities it engaged in over 30 years ago (things like wiretapping of journalists, kidnappings, warrantless searches and similar conduct are revealed - but to nobody's surprise...). It was also revealed today that Vice President Cheney's office tried to abolish the National Archives Information Security Oversight Office for their look at the way he and his staff handle classified documents. Again, no surprises here as Cheney's recklessness and disregard for law are legendary. Also today, but in my own little world, I learned from my urologist that there is no sign of bladder cancer or a return of the tumor he removed from me a year ago. One word: Relief!
• June 16, 2007 (Saturday):
  Took a wonderful tour of Biosphere 2, 30 miles north of dowtown Tucson, with Allen and Mable. I had no idea that so much thought, planning, and money had went into this early 90s experiment! What a fantastic effort that all involved in can be proud of. I highly recommend anyone in the Tucson area stop by to take a look for themselves - your appreciation for dear old mother Earth will be that much greater!
• June 15, 2007 (Friday):
  Had a splendid walk through part of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. After sunset I was somewhat surprised (not to mention disappointed) that my coworkers were reluctant to go anywhere near the Mexican border (Lukeville, on the border, was just five miles from where we had parked at the park's information center). A surprising number of Americans still fear travel even when it's something as simple as the Rocky Point (Puerto Peñasco) tourist area of northern Mexico. An acquaintance suggested that it was because of all the terrorist propaganda Americans have been bombarded with these past few years. Maybe true but I still couldn't help noticing all of the trucks pulling boating equipment straight south for the Sea of Cortez (Mar de Cortés )...
• June 14, 2007 (Thursday):
  I borrowed one of our group's rental cars and drove 385 miles, roundtrip, from Tucson to Fort Apache and back again. The Globe, Arizona police pulled me over for speeding but were kind enough to let me escape with just a written warning since I agreed to a vehicle search. Relatively thorough, they pulled up car seats and removed trunk lining, etc. Not sure what they were looking for but I'm glad none of my coworkers hadn't left anything questionable stashed in the car! The Indians on the San Carlos Rez' treated me well - made it back to my Tucson hotel room sometime past 01:30 am and was pretty exhausted by the time our group met at 8 am that morning...
• June 13, 2007 (Wednesday):
  My coworkers and I took a little "fieldtrip" to Tombstone where I thoroughly enjoyed an intimate tour of the Good Enough Mine (Tombstone Consolodated Mines Company). The town is full typical tourist stuff while the mine, although enjoyable, charges too much (still, the owner himself spent over an hour of time with me, personally, so I can't really complain!). Nevertheless, Tombstone is worth the trip to see it all at least one time in a person's life. Got pulled over by the border patrol on my way back to Tucson and then poked around Oracle all evening looking for Ed Abbey's mythical Oracle roots...
• June 12, 2007 (Tuesday):
  Followed a band of slow moving cars to the top of Mt. Lemon, near Tucson, and was actually allowed beyond the gates to the University of Arizona's observatory property. Ah, but thought better of it and turned around before the grad students had realized they accidentally allowed somebody over two times their age through the gate...

• June 11, 2007 (Monday):
  Hiked a mile through Saguaro National Park (West) from Gates Pass.
• June 10, 2007 (Sunday):
  Arrived in Tucson for a week of business and had time to pop into Nogales, on the Mexican side, for a nice meal with some coworkers. I was disappointed that these same guys were reluctant to explore the rest of Nogales with me (I'm convinced Americans have too many phobias when it comes to travel, even for something as simple as the "Front" border area of northern Mexico). I was even more surprised at how dirty the air over much of Arizona looked. Very different from my first trip through Arizona with my parents when I was ten in 1965. Back then, along Route 66 (a couple hundred miles north of Tucson), the skies were spectaularly clear - especially at night when there were more stars visible than I can recall at any other time of my life. Now, of course, you're lucky to even make out the path of the Milky Way let alone its dust lanes and other objects. We've lost so much...
• June 01, 2007 (Friday):
  Doctor Jack Kevorkian was released from prison after serving 8 years of a 10-25 year sentence for assisting at least 130 terminally ill patients with suicide.
• May 31, 2007 (Thursday):
  NASA Administrator Michael Griffin (a Bush appointee) expressed some doubt, on NPR, whether Global Warming should be of much concern. Griffin stated, "I have no doubt that a trend of global warming exists. I am not sure that it is fair to say that it is a problem we must wrestle with." For shame! These are the critical thinkers and "leaders" running America's most powerful and influential agencies? Gag me with a spoon!
• May 29, 2007 (Tuesday):
  "Peace Mom" Cindy Sheehan announced that she's quitting her role as leader of the anti-war movement and heading home to try and lead a normal life again. Exhausted from her anti-war work, and frustrated with our country's political in-action, she said that her son "died for nothing" when he was killed in Baghdad over 37 months ago...

  In related news, it's been revealed that over 90% of our Senators didn't even read the key 2002 pre-Iraqi war report authorizing the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The 90-page, classified National Intelligence document required going to a secure, Washington DC location. Records show only six senators and a handful of House members bothered showing up...

• May 17, 2007 (Thursday):
  It's been announced that World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz will resign, effective June 30th, due to his lack of ethics and judgment over career manipulations in favour of his girlfriend. Good riddance! However, it's too bad our nation's corrupt Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, doesn't take Wolfowitz' cue and resign as well. However, Gonzales obviously much better connected and won't be leaving any time soon. So, don't hold your breath waiting...
• May 15, 2007 (Tuesday):
  Jerry Falwell died today. Seems like he did a lot of damage, throughout his life, to both Christianity and our country...
• May 10, 2007 (Thursday):
  America's poodle, Tony Blair, announced he'll be stepping down as Britain's Prime Minster. My guess is he'll be replaced by somebody that won't be a whole lot different. Like placid Hindu cows we voters are nearly oblivious to what's really going on around us...
• May 07, 2007 (Monday):
  Nicolas Sarkozy won France's presidential election over the weekend. Although he promises change I think his country, my country, and most of the world is headed in the wrong direction. With the end of cheap energy and a huge population problem, "globalism," "free trade," and open markets are going to be a thing of the past in the not too distant future. So, for France, China, the U.S., or anyone else to be vying for more market share will be a waste of time in the long run - after Peak Oil we're all going to wish we had structured a more sustainable, Earth-friendly society. I know this sounds just like another wild blogger's opinion but the facts are out there - world oil production is flattening-out while demand rises and most countries are beyond their peak for natural gas production. Without cheap energy we're going to be in big trouble. When? My guess is less than five years. Hopefully I'm wrong and we can revisit this blog entry, say during the spring of '12, and laugh! I doubt it though...
• May 04, 2007 (Friday):
  Tami spotted this season's first kit in our backyard this morning. The mother fox, just like in years past, stands vigilant while her youngster frolic in the springtime sun - it's fun to watch!
• April 23, 2007 (Monday):
  Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin died today at age 76. President Bush continues his unquestioned support of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales - despite Gonzales' firing of U.S. Attorneys who weren't in political agreement with the current administration.... Also, looks like Paul Wolfowitz gets to keep his job as president of the World Bank - despite breaking World Bank ethics rules by giving high pay and benefits to his girlfriend. I guess Gonzales and Wolfowitz have friends in high places - very high places...
• April 20, 2007 (Friday):
  My last day in Washington, DC before heading back home. Had a delightful time talking with protesters, politicians and museum curators around the White House, Capitol building, and Smithsonian. I had a ticket to the Senate chambers but arrived after they're session ended. I did enjoy tours of the Library of Congress, Native American Museum, and Supreme Court. I've posted some pix Here.
• April 11, 2007 (Monday):
  Another horrible mass-shooting/killing. This time it's Virginia Tech. I can't imagine what it would be like to be the parent, spouse, sibling, friend, neighbor or lover of one of those lost - there can be no worse news.

  Unfortunately, it doesn't appear police tactics have changed much since the 1999 mass murder at Columbine (just a dozen kilometres from my own home here in Colorado). Although my sampling of videos for these incidents is small and unscientific it still appears the police are reluctant to dive into the "unknown" to save the lives of the citizenry. The photos I've seen always seem to show the police crouched behind their vehicles, or other protective barriers, while the rampage goes on in the building before them. I've heard the police come up with all kinds of excuses about there being communications problems, or they don't know who is inside doing the killing, etc. Heck, isn't that what the police are paid for - to risk their own lives, even if it means busting their way into a locked building where people are being killed?

  These police inaction incidents also reminds me of New Orleans and hurricane Katrina when a good portion of the force simply disappeared. Yes, my own instincts would be to save myself but I'm not (any longer, anyway!) a policeman and it's their job to take risks to control order and save people. Although I'm not going to hold my breath I hope some police departments, somewhere, consider these thoughts and develop a more aggressive policy when it comes rampage killings and similar publice emergencies...

• April 16, 2007 (Wednesday):
  Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. passed away
• April 10, 2007 (Tuesday):
  A quarter century for ALAW!
• April 09, 2007 (Monday):
  My web hosting company advised me, today, that the statistics package that monitors visits to my site can't keep up with the traffic as the data file is too large and unwieldy. I'd love to use this as a point of reference, or braggadocio, but the sad fact is that over 25,000 hits per day are from folks "hot-linking" my site to "borrow" graphics for their own pages and backgrounds (many are on "MySpace") resulting in 1.1 million hits for March. It's going to take a lot of coding to combat this...

  At about 8:40 pm Tami and I watched the international space station pass overhead in the night sky. Rising from the southwest, it was headed northeast with a brightness somewhat less than Venus but stronger than most stars. Overhead it disappeared above the clouds but popped into view, now and again, where the clouds thinned out. Although a fascinating experiment, I often wonder what good it does to send so many humans into space - especially near-Earth orbit where so many hundreds have gone before? (About 450 by the time of this entry) The space station, and supporting spacecraft, are expensive, resource-intense polluters that offer very little return-on-investment. I vote we engage in a lot more unmanned space exploration and leave these over-paid military "astronauts" down here on Earth with the rest of us.

  As if humans, themselves, don't make a big enough mess out in space, they also leave a lot of trash behind. A 1999 study estimated there are some 4 million pounds of space junk in low-Earth orbit, roughly 110,000 objects larger than 1 centimeter - each big enough to damage a satellite or space-based telescope.

• April 02, 2007 (Monday):
  RVW departed.

• March 20, 2007 (Tuesday):
  Coming home from pizza we witnessed another car hit a deer alongside Green Mountain. The police arrived and allowed the driver to move on after ensuring he was okay and there was no other damage. The deer had severely broken leg and could hardly get up off the ground due to other injuries. The shot it with two rifled slugs from a shotgun, saying there had been about 20 of these incidents so far this season...
• March 19, 2007 (Monday):
  The A380 made its maiden flight from France to the U.S. today. Like the 747 before it, the A380 is an oversized, expensive polluter that'll waste a lot of fuel. Just my opinion of course...

  On a smaller waste scale, I drove from Durango to Denver's airport to return my rental car. Stopped in Mancos, for a couple hours of work, and then took the scenic route over Lizard Head pass (10,222') and then detoured into Telluride for lunch (it wasn't cheap...). Back on the road again, I made my way through Sawpit, Placerville (not the one in California!), Ridgway, Montrose, and Delta. After going over the top of Grand Mesa I took the De Beque "cutoff" road for shortcut back to I-70 over Vail Pass (10,620') and back into Denver. The entire drive was about 517 miles - taking me about nine hours for lunch, photos, and the marking of many waypoints. I've been very fortunate to travel like this - this kind of spontaneous travel will be unheard of a decade or two from now...

• March 18, 2007 (Sunday):
  Had a pleasant five mile jog alongside the Animas River trail at Durango. Then took a quick return visit to Mesa Verde before going back to work in Mancos. Seemed to be a lot more visitors to the park compared to me visit yesterday. However, there were probably not more than 20 tourist vehicles in the entire park - not bad by any standard! I completed a pleasant 3.9 km hike around the Petroglyph Point Trail. Saw some really great petroglyphs, of hands, but couldn't find many of the others listed along the trail.
• March 17, 2007 (Saturday):
  Visited Mesa Verde National Park since it's only 8 miles from where I'm working in Mancos. From the higher points, along the park road, I could clearly see Shiprock spire in New Mexico where I had just visited the week before. Walked through the Spruce Tree House cliff dwelling were Tami and I had taken the kids over two decades ago (The ladder I took down into the Kiva looks like the same one I climbed in the 80s!). I completed the Mesa Top Loop, stopping at each and every pithouse, tower and temple without encountering a single other human! Amazing, a Saturday morning and there were no other cars or people in the entire area - it doesn't get any better than that!
• March 15, 2007 (Thursday):
  Visited Vallecito Dam and Reservoir near Durango. The sign said, "Operated by the Pine River Irrigation District & Southern Ute Indian Tribe - constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation." Of course this dam, like all the others I've visited, is just a big plug in the heart of Nature - someday the river will be free again!
• March 10, 2007 (Saturday):
  Took the long way home, from Pagosa to Denver, for a 462.1 mile change in scenery! Part of the extra mileage was due to some required business in Durango but then it was north from there over US 550 through Silverton, Ouray and Ridgway. At Montrose I took a right-hand turn onto US 50 and made some long stops at both ends of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. At Ponchas Springs I went north, up to Johnson Village, and then took 285 home through Fairplay and Bailey. Took a bunch of waypoints, on top of each pass, just for the fun of it!
• March 07, 2007 (Wednesday):
  My business partner was running late so I took the opportunity to drive through northern New Mexico, making a U-turn through Four Corners and returning to Pagosa Springs via US 160. I started out by going south, on US 84, making a right-hand turn onto 64 through Dulce, Farmington, and Shiprock. For tens of miles on the east side of Farmington there were dozens of oil-field trucks buzzing about in all directions. Each and every one of them had a red warning flag on a thin rod above the cab or truck bed. I stopped one driver and asked what the flags were for and he said it was to make their vehicles more visible on the dusty back roads.

I stopped, nearly two dozen times, to take photographs of everything from these field trucks and oil rigs, to the beautiful high country desert and mountain settings. However, I was disappointed, at each of my stops, to find piles of trash and garbage along the roadside. Of course the road itself, along with my own travels, are a pollutant but most of this garbage was recyclable glass and aluminum. Although I could have filled a few semi-trailers with this debris I brought back what I could for recycling in Boulder...

Anyway, while west of Farmington I tried to reach the base of Shiprock but could only get within a mile or two over the steep and bumpy terrain. The entire trip was 386.4 miles and a bit rough on the rental car...

• March 06, 2007 (Tuesday):
  Drove 325 miles from Denver, to Pagosa Springs, for business purposes. Stopped on Wolf Creek Pass (elevation 10,850 feet) and did a little jogging since traffic was extremely light. That's the beauty of traveling off season, in the middle of the week, and during late hours - the roads are lightly traveled!
• March 02, 2007 (Friday):
  Okay, I'll admit it - I'm addicted to oil! Drove another 650 miles (658, to be exact!) from Reno to Monterey and back again. Visited my old Coast Guard haunts and surrounding area. Although the Coast Guard Station allowed me to snoop around, a small bit, times have really changed since I was stationed there nearly 30 years ago. This homeland security business has made them meaner and more trigger-happy - plus they all dress like storm-troopers. Lots more fencing and security cameras, too. Ahhh, it's going to be tough getting used to a police state but that's the price we're all paying for allowing others to screw the Arabs out of their land and resources. Anyway, although Monterey is still a nice place they've turned Cannery Row into a gift shop and the wharf into a floating restaurant - not unlike all the other cookie-cutter-look-alike cities around the continent...
• February 24, 2007 (Saturday):
  Drove 650 miles (650.4, to be exact!) through northeastern California, southern Oregon, and northwest Nevada. A portion of the trip was for business while the remainder was pure pleasure to explore and experience the lesser used areas of the eastern Sierra Nevada (along California 139, 299 and U.S. 395 to Alturas) and then the wide-open spaces of southern Oregon and northwestern Nevada (Highway 140 from Lakeview, Oregon to the junction with 95 just above Winnemucca). Although it was a Saturday afternoon there were almost no other people along highway 140 in southern Oregon. I spent well over an hour photographing the two dozen miles between mile markers 20 and 50, above the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge, and didn't see any other cars! The plateaus, mountains and rolling valleys around the Oregon/Nevada border are magnificent albeit very much cow-burnt (overgrazed). It does appear the damage is repairable and the area can someday be returned to its former splendor. However, we're lucky the area is still very much wide-open and lightly population.
• February 16, 2007 (Friday):
  Returned from a great return trip to Hawaii!
• Jauary 06, 2007 (Saturday):
  Went on a great backcountry skiing trip to Wild Irishman Mine near Montezuma. At about the time we started skiing a large avalanche fell across Berthoud Pass moving cars and injuring six people.

2006

• December 28, 2006 (Thursday):
  Another huge storm hits Denver just a week after the last one...
• December 26, 2006 (Tuesday):
  38th President Gerald R. Ford died at age 93. Despite his Warren Commission work, and the pardon of Nixon, Ford did a pretty good job during a difficult political period. Hopefully his death won't turn into the grief-glut that the Alzheimer's patient Reagan's passing brought us...
• December 22, 2006 (Friday):
  Denver is completely crippled by a huge snow storm...
• December 10, 2006 (Sunday):
  Chilean General Augusto Pinochet died today at age 91. He was the master-mind of the world's first "9-11," in September '73, when the CIA backed his efforts to overthrow Chile's democratically elected Allende government. Despite Pinochet being responsible for the deaths of 3,000 innocents, he still had the backing of clowns like Henry Kissinger and Great Britain's Margret Thatcher (Thatcher, upon news of Pinochet's death today could only say she considered him her friend).
• December 02, 2006 (Saturday):
  Took a long drive through Bishop, California with a nice stop at Mono Lake and look at the Mammoth ski are. Like all other ski areas it's over used, environmentally dead, and too expensive - just my opinion, of course! Tried to get into Yosemite but Tioga pass is already closed for the year. Anyway, the Sierra Nevada range is nice but there's no place like Colorado!
• November 25, 2006 (Saturday):
  Visited Lake Tahoe, for the first time in 30 years. Nice but a bit crowded, even during this "off season." Also stopped by Pyramid Lake, Nevada and was just 70 miles from the "Burning Man" site - maybe I'll join-in next year?
• November 19, 2006 (Sunday):
  Arrived in Reno...
• November 08, 2006 (Wednesday):
  Darn! I made a special point of watching for the transit of Mercury, across the face of the sun, by using a welder's mask from our shop at work. Couldn't see Mercury so I guess I'll try again during its next scheduled transit on May 9th ---- 2016!
• November 04, 2006 (Saturday):
  I distributed some of the Sierra Club door hangers, that I worked on last night (see my November 03 entry), around my neighborhood today. Surprisingly slow and tedious work. Nevertheless, honest work. I ran into three other volunteer canvassers while I was completing my rounds. Each was serious, intent, and enthusiastic - it was refreshing for me to see this kind of energy, at the most local of levels, put into the democratic process. It was interesting too, to talk with the sister of a Republican candidate running for the state senate - it's a tough time for Republicans because of the war and various scandals that have gripped the party and our government. Funny, too, her brother's flyers didn't mention the Republican party anywhere - just an untitled picture of the candidate with our term limited Republican governor...
• November 03, 2006 (Friday):
  The Rev. Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals (an umbrella group representing more than 45,000 churches with 30 million members), and senior pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, admitted to having associated with a male prostitute and purchasing methamphetamine. "Big Jim" James Dobson, and other evangelicals around the country, have expressed shock, surprise and dismay about Haggard's conduct - despite the rest of us already knowing that many involved in church leadership are corrupt, immoral do-nothings living the high life (Jimmy Swaggart, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, Oral "God and Cash" Roberts, Jim Jones, Warren Jeffs and others come to mind...). Hopefully, the good people can overcome such horrible religious leadership and continue leading honest and decent lives!

In the evening, after work, I volunteered at the Sierra Club's State Committee for Civic Education office in Golden. This was for their nonpartisan get-out-the-vote effort and my friend Judy Johnson and I carpooled together. We did a bit of "phone banking" (I apologize if that was you who I interrupted during the prime-time TV hour!) and applied poling place stickers to hundreds of door hangers - somebody's got to do it!

• October 30, 2006 (Monday):
  Underwent a CT scan and learned the kidney cyst is benign - yahoo!
• October 24, 2006 (Tuesday):
  Had the distinct pleasure of recording an interview with Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope this evening. Interesting political content that will probably be broadcast on KGNU sometime next week. [ed note. It was broadcast on Tuesday morning, October 31st...]
• October 23, 2006 (Monday):
  National Mole Day - commemorating that basic measure of chemistry, Avogadro's Number (6.02 x 10^23)
• October 20, 2006 (Friday):
  Diagnosed with a kidney cyst...
• October 17, 2006 (Tuesday):
  We're enjoying our vacation, here in London, only to be reminded that today our own country reached the horrible population milestone of 300,000,000. America remains the world's third most populated country - nearly five times as large as the United Kingdom's population and almost six times the population of Australia and Canada combined (both countries are roughly the same size as the U.S.). Nevertheless, any way you slice it it's still too many people!!
• October 13, 2006 (Friday):
  Broke my finger after falling during a jog along the southeastern shore of Scotland...
• October 03, 2006 (Tuesday):
  Two more of the Pensylvania school girls, held hostage yesterday, died from their gunshot wounds. Horrible.
• October 02, 2006 (Monday):
  Congressman Mark Foley resigned his seat after it was learned he'd been improperly instant-messaging sexually explicit messages to underage male pages on Capital Hill. I don't like the idea of turning my blog into a tabloid but this particular story is interesting/sad on two counts; One, the Republican Party was slow and reluctant to get to the bottom of their man's story - some party members having known about Foley's interests in young boys over a year ago. Two, this guy was an opponent of child pornography and served as chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children. He introduced a bill, in 2002, to outlaw websites featuring sexually suggestive images of preteen children, saying that "these websites are nothing more than a fix for pedophiles."

In other news, a new book by journalist Bob Woodward suggests that incompetence and corruption in the George W. Bush White House runs much deeper and broader than thought before. Apparently the administration received, and chose to ignore, all kinds of information related to Al Queda, the war in Iraq, and other important issues. The title of Woodward's book, State of Denial says it all; The world, during the Bush presidency, went up in flames while his wealthy friends gained even more money and power.

And, finally, another horrible school shooting. This time it was in a one room Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania (of all places!). The 32 year old gunman, who doesn't deserve to have his name repeated, killed three school girls and wounded eight others. Since a school killing in my own state, just last week, I've been giving this issue a lot of thought and simply can't come up with an answer. However, I do think (but can't prove) that these terrible acts have a very strong link to the government (illegal wars, illegal detentions and torture) and media violence (movies glorifying the killing of animals and humans) that permeates our society. In general, we seem to cultivate very little respect for life - whether plant, animal or human it all seems to be up for grabs for nothing more than pleasure and entertainment purposes. So very sad. And, again, I can't imagine what the parents of these young girls are going through tonight. The horror is unimaginable...

• September 27, 2006 (Wednesday):
  While I was enjoying some sightseeing, in our Nation's capital, some deranged monster broke into a high school, near my home in Colorado, and killed 16 year old Emily Keyes and then shot himself. I can't begin to imagine what this girl's parents, friends and family will be going through not only now, but for the next half century as they remember her. When will the violence ever end?
• September 24, 2006 (Sunday):
  My cousin Sheryl Foster died, last night, after a long battle with brain cancer.
• September 17, 2006 (Sunday):
  I flew home for the weekend to join Tami and Amber for a talk by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet. HH appeared at Denver's Pepsi Center and the entire facility was completely filled! His talk was interesting, moving, and at times humorous. There's more about the Dalai Lama, and that talk, on my Tibet page.
• September 07, 2006 (Thursday):
  America's "Poodle," British Prime Minister Tony Blair, announced he'll be stepping down sometime within the next year. Not soon enough for most of us - this guy was one of the few people, on the entire planet, who could have persuaded President Bush from the illegal invasion, imprisonments, and wiretapping...

Today's visit to the urologist indicates the bladder is entirely healed after June's surgery. Unrelated and unfortunate, a dear relative, who wants to maintain privacy, has been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. In the past few hours I've learned many things about the disease that I wasn't aware of before - it's not at all pleasant...

• September 06, 2006 (Wednesday):
  President Bush gave a speech that covered a lot of ground concerning Guantanamo Bay, the CIA, and the "war" on terrorism in general. Some of his speech acknowledged our use of "alternative" interrogation methods and the CIA's secret detention system. Although I'm suspicious of his motives a lot of the detail he provided is a welcome change to the secrecy and illegal practices of the past five years. Of course there was no mention of American military bases in Arab countries, Israel's theft and occupation of Palestinian lands, or the other reasons terrorism remains such a threat to our country...
• September 02, 2006 (Saturday):
  Randy is visiting here, with Lisa, so Tami and I accompanied them to Denver's Museum of Nature and Science. Fantastic! I'm especially impressed with their vast paleontological displays and panoramas. Interesting, but unfortunate, I learned from one of the museum volunteers that certain Christian groups make repeated visits and challenge the presenters about the museum's interpretation of natural history! And, apparently, two volunteers had had enough of the anti-evolution challenges and decided to argue back earlier this year. The two were asked to give up their volunteer positions! So, staff and volunteers simply smile and grin whenever a guest starts raving and complaining about evolution and natural history. Randy brought up a good point though; too bad these same complainers don't scrutinize their own beliefs as much as the do the museum displays!
• August 29, 2006 (Tuesday):
  I was able to make KGNU's open house for our new Denver studio. Pretty exciting to watch KGNU's growth - I posted some pix on my KGNU page.
• August 17, 2006 (Thursday):
  It's been a busy day on planet Earth. We're receiving reports that England's second-in-command, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, had one word to describe the Bush administration's policies this week; "Crap!" Of course half of America wonders why it took so long to figure this out while the other half has labeled the Deputy as insane... Halfway around the world (relative to England), a 41 year old American, hiding out in Thailand, believes he's the JonBenét Ramsey killer - the story sounds a little fishy but time will tell.

A federal judge ruled that the U.S. government's domestic eavesdropping program is unconstitutional and ordered it ended immediately! Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said the Bush Administration disagrees with the ruling and has appealed - much to everyone's "surprise..." And, finally, while I was waiting at a restaurant drive-up, for lunch in Golden, a guy parked his car, got out, and ran up to my car to thank me for my bumper sticker! I thanked him for the thanks but have to admit the sticker is a few days out-of-date and a U.N. cease fire is starting to take hold (the sticker is a hand-made job that suggests the bombing of Lebanon needs to stop). If hostilities remain in check, for a few days longer, I'll remove the sticker. Anyway, it's always nice to know others appreciate my art and ideas!

• August 10, 2006 (Thursday):
  I met the somewhat famous local climber Roger Seekins at work this evening. He's 37 years old and survived a 100 foot leader fall in Eldorado Springs Canyon State Park this summer. He explained the fall as just a couple of mistakes - the biggest of which was a directional anchor not being removed after he had placed protection above it. So, when he took his leader fall, his belay was pulled forward and slammed into the rock. His belay, although not able to lock the rope, held tight with his hands (cutting them on the rope!) as Roger fell nearly 100 feet - stopping just 15 feet above the deck. Roger was wearing a climbing helmet so only fractured a facial bone (2mm wide crack) and lots of bumps and bruises all over his body. Took him just over a couple of weeks to fully recover and he's already climbing again!

Britain is in the news, today, for having foiled an airline bombing plot this week. Seems a couple dozen British nationals were planning to blow up flights between the U.S. and London by mixing chemicals in toothpaste and other personal-care containers once onboard. I'm flying to Florida, later in the month, and am not looking forward to even longer security lines...

• July 27, 2006 (Thursday):
  I watched them remove the last OCR from Denver's GMF today. I was there, as an ET in 1990, when we moved the first one over from the TA! I also "lived through" such technological changes as the LMLMs, LSMs, MicroMarks, FSM 881, FSM 1000, and the upgrade of the FSM 100s with ATHS and AI (AI has been installed on four of the seven FSM 100s as of this writing...). Also saw BDS added to the AFCs, the installation of CIOSS and DIOSS equipment, and five Phases of DBCSs with WABCR replaced by WFOV and ICS and other modifications added to Phases II through V. Like most other industries we use way too many initials, abbreviations, and acronyms!
• July 21, 2006 (Friday):
  Israel's pounding of Lebanon has continued for nearly ten days now. It appears Israel continues, intentionally, to target innocent civilians. Apparently their idea is to intimidate the surrounding Arab population. Whatever their reason, the killing of innocent civilians is wrong and the world knows it!

It's also interesting (and sad) to see the constant news reports about the various countries that are arming Hezbollah yet there's never any mention of the billions of dollars in military equipment the U.S. gives Tel Aviv (Jerusalem) each year - at great expense to taxpayers and my countrymen. Strangely, later in the day today, some radio outlets let it slip that the U.S. was trying to fill some rush military orders, for satellite and laser guided bombs, that Israel had placed earlier in the year. The U.S. government's concern, according to the radio broadcasts, were that the world would perceive the U.S. as backing Israel during attacks against Lebanon, Palestinians, and Arabs in general. Believe me, the world is not surprised that the U.S. backs Israel without question!

On a more personal note it's easy to accuse anyone concerned about Israeli aggression as being a racist or an anti-Semite. However, that's an unfair characterization since many people, including me, have taken courageous stands against China's occupation of Tibet, South African apartheid, Indonesia's invasion of East Timor, and dozens of other conflicts and illegal occupations around the world. The charge of anti-Semitism is just a smoke-screen to allow Israel unlimited aggression...

• July 01, 2006 (Saturday):
  Today Colorado starts a state-wide smoking ban for all businesses, except our corrupt casino industry. It's a long time coming and yet another illustration of how little our conservative government cares about the health and well-being of its citizenry. My friend Charlie Oriez died of lung cancer and he didn't even smoke... (see my 09-07-2005 entry)
• June 29, 2006 (Thursday):
  The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that President Bush overstepped his authority in ordering military war crimes trials for Guantanamo Bay detainees, saying in a strong rebuke that the trials were illegal under U.S. and international law.
• June 23, 2006 (Friday):
  The doctor removed the stint from my ureter and bladder this morning and I'm already feeling a lot better (lower back pain is almost gone). I was surprised at the stint's length - it appeared to be at least 10 inches long and was curling and twisting without the pressure provided by the surrounding tissues. Although I was told, last week, that the tumor was benign I really didn't believe it until I saw the written pathologic diagnosis today - I feel as though I have won the lottery! It's beyond my ability to explain what it's like to be told you have cancer and then learn, a week later, that the tumor was benign. I am very lucky and almost, at times, feel as though the experience was a gift. However, I hesitate to expand on that idea because I know so many others are suffering with cancer and may not have the chance I did. My heart really goes out to them. I see them everywhere. Today, while going in to have my stint removed I passed radiology. A man, of about my age, was with his wife in the radiology waiting area. Apparently he had had enough and walked out into the hallway with her quietly at his side. He bent over, next to the window and a potted plant, and broke down. I can only imagine the burden he's been carrying, the huge weight that's grinding down on him and his family. And, so sadly, there's a lot of this going on all around the globe. So, back to me and my undeserved luck. My experience, in a way, reminds me of Schrodinger's cat - the surgeons entered me not knowing whether the cat was alive or dead but it turns out that quantum probability allowed me to get through this one, this time around...

Oh, and maybe this is a good sign as well - the doe who gave birth in our backyard came back today after having been gone my entire illness. We're only able to spot one of her fawns but are hoping for the best. Thankfully her and her kind find some comfort on our property so I try not to disturb them when I'm outside...

• June 12, 2006 (Monday):
  Okay, I've "cheated" on this entry a bit in that I actually created it a few days after my cancer surgery. But, for the record, it was this date (June 12th) that my doctor removed what he believes to be the entire bladder tumor. Now we wait until week's end for the pathology report. I am uncomfortable but have plenty of powerful drugs and lots of loving, caring people around me. Cancer sucks but can be beat. I think I'll start a cancer page of my own. Not sure why - there are tons of quality cancer web pages out there. Maybe one or two folks might find the page of interest or comfort? My entire site, this year, has been averaging over 1,000 unique visitors most week days so maybe somebody will find it of some interest...
• June 8, 2006 (Thursday):
  I've received many wonderful phone calls and emails from folks thinking about me and praying for me all over the continent - cousins in the great northwest, family in Omaha, siblings on both coasts, environmental and community radio activists - it really makes me feel much better about a health situation with so many unknowns. My sister Kelly was even able to include my name in an international prayer circle over the satellite at the Three Angels Broadcasting Network (3ABN) - of course I've always had a special place in my heart for the Adventists even though I'm not a spiritual person, etc. Either way, thank you 3ABN and the Enumclaw Adventists!
• June 7, 2006 (Wednesday):
  My doctor diagnosed me with cancer today - even spelled it out, c-a-n-c-e-r, in a document they needed me to sign before proceeding further. It's a huge blow but not completely unexpected as I've been trying to get to the bottom of a health issue since early May. Now, of course, the problem turns out to be cancer. And, it's just like the millions before me who have expressed their fears in personal diaries, blogs, on talk shows, and in magazine articles - when the doctor tells you you've got cancer it's worse than a kick in the stomach. I've been bothered by it, deeply, all day, but hope to have some closure after Monday's surgery. If not closure then maybe at least a clear road map as to what I need to do to combat this problem? I believe it was that very famous cancer patient, Gilda Radner, who said; "It's always something..." - boy was she right!
• June 6, 2006 (Tuesday):
  My dentist, Dr. "Chris" installed a temporary crown today. I asked him if he remembered Martin's Dental Lab, in Denver, about 25 years ago. He did and he was delighted to hear my story of Martin "moonlighting" in his basement with a dental chair and all of the necessary tools and equipment. Martin, sometime around 1980, set one of my crowns back in place at a considerable discount compared to a licensed dentist. I was young and poor at the time, and somehow found Martin's Dental Lab after a crown the military had installed for me a few years earlier fell out. I recall, distinctly, the tattoo the Nazi's had engraved on Martin's arm during his time at Auschwitz. Martin was a firm but reassuring "Dentist" for a young guy with no money and a gapping hole in his month - I liked him a lot. Anyway, Dr. Chris remembered that Martin had the best lab, in Denver, and was sad that they don't make 'em like that anymore. Apparently Martin sold the biz, in the early, 80s, and died less than a year after that...
• June 5, 2006 (Monday):
  I begin nights as part of a three month training assignment at work. So, I spent the morning working in the yard only to encounter Bob, the water meter reading guy. He's an amazing fellow - 68 years old and walks countless miles to read meters for 2,200 different homes each month. More amazing is that I've only met him once before, a couple years ago, and he still remembered my name! Hopefully I'll be as agile in my late 60s...
• June 3, 2006 (Saturday):
  Started work in our backyard and discovered doe and her two newly born fawns comfortably situated there. Except for a quick photo, decided to leave 'em alone, for awhile, and come back next week to attempt my yard projects...
• April 6, 2006 (Thursday):
  I was invited to "pledge-rap" with KGNU's Sam Fuqua and Ellen Klaver. Amy Goodman, of "Democracy Now!" joined in, by phone, and raised the lion's share of support...
• March 13, 2006 (Monday)
  I had the pleasure of meeting, and interviewing, Greg Mortenson of the Central Asia Institute about his book, "Three Cups of Tea"
• March 07, 2006 (Tuesday)
  Ali Farka Touré died at his Mali home - he was 67.
• March 03, 2006 (Friday)
  I met Boulder "Flat Irons" artist Cydd West at his 2301 Goss Street Home/Gallery
• January 7, 2006 (Saturday)
  Returned from Ecuador

2005

• November 15, 2005 (Tuesday)
  Tami severely breaks her leg while at stop driving south of Darwin, NT, Australia.
• November 04, 2005 (Friday)
  According to CNN, protesters set a bank on fire and threw objects at police in the streets of the Argentine city hosting the Summit of the Americas. Bands of demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails, set bonfires in the streets and burned American flags. The protests were against President Bush and his invasion of Iraq.
• September 29, 2005 (Thursday)
  Just received word that I've been accepted to MLDP!!
• September 14, 2005 (Wednesday)
  I had the pleasure of recording an interview with climber/writer David Roberts at KGNU today. We talked, at length, about his book "On the Ridge Between Life and Death" and its references to climbing and death. Also got to meet with writer/book reviewer Diana Korte, and her husband Gene, today as well. We had a long, interesting discussion where I "picked their brains" about interviewing techniques and the general mechanics about writing and authors in general...
• September 10, 2005 (Saturday)
  Rented a bike from the "Bike Hut," on Pier 40, and rode all over San Francisco and across the Golden Gate bridge. This was my first real experience in a crowded urban environment on a bicycle. The cars, when they knew I was present, treated me pretty well. However, the pedestrians were very hard to predict at times - I believe Vic, at the Bike Hut, refers to them as "Chicken Bobbers..."
• September 7, 2005 (Wednesday)
  Friend and fellow environmental activist Charlie Oriez (see my 12-02-2003 entry) passed away after a long illness. His passing must have occurred at about the time I was catching a flight to San Francisco for the Sierra Club's "Sierra Summit..."
• August 31, 2005 (Wednesday)
  Looting and gunfire plague New Orleans two days after Hurricane Katrina decimated the area. Local, State, and Federal government appear completely unprepared and incapable of responding - there are numerous hints that it's due to racial and class differences. Louisiana governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco called for prayer while Mayor Ray Nagin declared some kind of martial law. President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and a number of other Federal officials remained on vacation all the while Katrina wrecked havoc along the Gulf Coast...
• August 26, 2005 (Friday)
  Kathy Partridge introduced me to Prof Ira Chernus at KGNU today.
• August 23, 2005 (Tuesday)
  American buffoon Pat Robertson called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Even the American State Department had to distance itself from such idiocy...
• August 16, 2005 (Tuesday)
  Israel began forcing "settlers" out of Gaza. Various news reports have been suggesting, all day, that a number of governments are demanding Israel also leave the West Bank in addition to relinquishing control of East Jerusalem.
• August 2, 2005 (Tuesday)
  I met Adam Air at KGNU at the end of Iron Feather's Restless Mornings Show...
• July 9, 2005 (Saturday)
  London reports some of its Mosques have been vandalized. The annual G8 summit ended with George Bush refusing to help with the global warming problem
• July 7, 2005 (Thursday)
  London comes to a halt after four bombs cripple transit system.
• July 6, 2005 (Wednesday)
  London wins bid for 2012 Olympics.
• March 09, 2005 (Wednesday)
  I joined AARP today...
• February 23, 2005 (Wednesday):
  I was able to chat with Congressman Mark Udall after his appearance on KGNU's Morning Magazine.
• February 21, 2005 (Monday):
  I passed by the house of Hunter S. Thompson shortly after he killed himself.
• January 16, 2005 (Sunday):
  A small doe got horribly stuck in the gate that leads to our backyard...

2004

• December 26, 2004 (Sunday):
  An Indian Ocean earthquake-tsunami catastrophe devastated a number of Asian countries.
• November 11, 2004 (Thursday):
  Nobel Laureate Mohammed Abdel-Raouf Arafat As Qudwa al-Hussaeini died in a French military hospital today.
• November 3, 2004 (Wednesday):
  Bush and religious fundamentalism scored a clear victory in yesterday's elections. Luckily, here in Colorado, important energy and transportation issues were passed despite the protests of Governor Owens and other Republicans.
• August 16, 2004 (Monday):
  The Venezuelan Electoral Council announced that President Hugo Chavez won the special recall election that opponents hoped would unseat him.
• August 5, 2004 (Thursday):
  Donated blood to the Norman Chapter of the American Red Cross while I was in Oklahoma on business.
• July 18, 2004 (Sunday):
  T. Boone Pickens stated, on CBS television news, that the era of cheap oil is over. He also suggested that Saudi Arabia doesn't have the capacity we've been led to believe. I, myself, believe we're close to, or already at, world peak production (which some in the academic world refer to as "the big rollover") and we'd better start some smart preparations before our environment and millions of innocent people suffer for it.
• June 5, 2004 (Saturday):
  Ronald Reagan died. I remember him as a very poor communicator who ignored environmental, worker's, and minority issues. Plus, he seemed to give our nation a "license" to be greedy and mean. With conservativism controlling everything in our country I'm sure the following week will be nothing more than a grief glut...
• May 31, 2004 (Monday):
  Returned from a wonderful ten day visit in Japan.
• April 21, 2004 (Wednesday):
  Jewish anti-nuclear activist Mordechai Vanunu was released from Israel's Shikma Prison in the southern port city of Ashkelon. Vanunu spent most of his 18 year sentence in solitary confinement for having told the world about Israel's Dimona nuclear plant in the southern part of the country. Vanunu's disclosers, about the Dimona nuclear plant, came just a few short years after Israel had bombed Iraq's Osirak nuclear plant...
• April 14, 2004 (Wednesday):
  President Bush met with Israeli Prime Minster Ariel Sharon in Washington today. Our President endorsed Sharon's plan for removing Jewish settlements from Gaza. Unfortunately, President Bush didn't insist on the removal of Jewish settlements from the West Bank, Israeli's return to its pre '67 borders, or the right of Palestinians to return to the properties that were taken from them. It saddens me that my country isn't able to show more understanding for the rights of Muslims, Arabs and Palestinians...
• April 13, 2004 (Tuesday):
  I was elected to the county assembly at our neighborhood's precinct caucus. Of course my influence at the assembly, in reducing government debt and saving the environment, will be miniscule but we have to keep trying...
• April 9, 2004 (Tuesday):
  I was very moved interviewing Congressman Dennis Kucinich on my radio program at KGNU.
• March 2, 2004 (Tuesday):
  Voters in Mendocino County, Calfifornia approved the nation's first ban on the
  raising and keeping of genetically engineered crops or animals!!
• February 29, 2004 (Sunday):
  Jean Bertrand Aristide was forced to resign the Haitian presidency.
• February 19, 2004 (Thursday):
  Doug's father passed away.
• January 19, 2004 (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Monday):
  Made it to just above Independencia Hut - 6,400 metres (21,000 feet), Aconcagua.

2003

• December 28, 2003 (Sunday):
  Nothing happened today.
• December 22, 2003 (Monday):
  Good news for both Biff and I!
• December 18, 2003 (Thursday):
  Bad news for Biff...
• December 04, 2003 (Thursday):
  Colorado courts seem to be in the news this week. Just learned they've decided that Colorado's school voucher law violates the local control clause of the Colorado Constitution. There's got to be a way to provide parents and families more choice in the education of children. The teachers' union continues holding taxpayers hostage while educational performance declines.
• December 03, 2003 (Wednesday):
  Beautiful morning at sunrise - light blue sky lightly splashed with wisps of high altitude clouds...
  Just learned that the courts have ruled against the redistricting forced upon Colorado by the Republicans this year.
• December 02, 2003 (Tuesday):
  As if the 400+ web pages I've already authored aren't enough, I thought I'd start up my own blog. Got the idea from my friend Charlie Oriez (see my 09-07-2005 entry) although my health issues are nothing compared to his. Also, as Henry David Thoreau wrote on October 22, 1837 (in response to Ralph Waldo Emmerson's suggestion that he start a daily journal to develop his skills of writing and observation), "'What are you doing know?' he asked? 'Do you keep a journal?' So I make my first entry today."

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