Jesus Dress Up!

Jesus Dress Up!

The Tofte Project

Web site on sustainable living based on cabin on the North Shore of Lake Superior

An Argentine Family in Time

Family Photos

NPR : Senate Energy Bill Headed for Face-Off with House

NPR : Senate Energy Bill Headed for Face-Off with House:

"Key differences between the House and Senate bills include:


* The Senate is budgeting $18 billion for energy-related tax incentives; the House is asking for $8 billion in tax breaks for the energy industry.

* Senate tax breaks focus on promoting renewable energy sources like corn-based ethanol fuel, wind and solar, while also providing incentives for cutting energy consumption through the use of technologies like electric-gasoline hybrid vehicles.

* The House primarily targets its tax incentives on traditional energy industries like electric utilities, as well as promoting fossil fuels like oil, natural gas and coal.

* The Senate bill mandates a doubling of ethanol use in gasoline to 8 billion gallons per year by 2012, a measure intended to cut the amount of oil imported to the United States, as well as help farmers who grow the corn from which ethanol is derived.

* The House bill provides liability lawsuit protection for makers of the gasoline additive MTBE, a chemical intended to help curb air pollution from cars that can be poisonous if it leaches into groundwater.

* The Senate bill does not touch sensitive issues like drilling for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, something the president wants."

The Miniature Earth

The Miniature Earth

Iraq Realities Force Bush to Respond

Iraq Realities Force Bush to Respond:

"As with the Downing Street Memo, the (London) Times was quicker than any American news organization to document the gap between rhetoric and reality of U.S. policy in Iraq.

President Bush will address the American people Tuesday night amid mounting questions about claims of progress in Iraq. Polls show once-solid public support for the war has dissipated. Restive Republicans are increasingly critical. The coverage in the international online media highlights the administration's problem. While the White House complains that news organizations ignore signs of progress in Iraq, the Iraqi press itself is full of reports of chaos and corruption.

The secret negotiations, according to the Sunday Times, suggest how the United States may be trying to ease its predicament. 'The talks appear to represent the first serious effort by Americans and Iraqi insurgents to find common ground since violence intensified in the spring,' the paper said."

Cheney inserts foot in mouth and refuses to retract

One Good Move has the Daily Show as it breaks down the semantical dance of the administration as it backpedals on the "last throes".

The Top Ten Conservative Idiots

The Top Ten Conservative Idiots of the week, No. 203 :

"As polls show a disturbing erosion of support for Bush's Iraq policies, Republicans have been doing their best to once again tie the occupation to 9/11. Leading the charge last week was Karl Rove (1), who made perhaps the administration's most disgraceful (and dishonest) attempt yet to divide America."

Rebekka and Sam sprint to the summit of Mount Sand Dune. 

It was cold and windy when Bekka started from Elk Park this morning. The trail from Elk Park descends from 12,000 feet elevation to Barr Camp at 10,200' over six miles. From Barr Camp to the summit is another six miles, but with an elevation gain of nearly 4,000'. 

One of three marmints I spotted early morning on the slopes of Pikes Peak. 

Bekka running between mile 2 to go and 1 to go on Pikes Peak. 

16 golden stairs from our run on Pikes Peak today. The "16 golden stairs" begin about half a mile from the summit of Pikes Peak--in actuality it is 32 switchbacks to the summit from the "16 Golden Stairs" sign. I ran a 3-2-1 (run down from the summit to 3 miles to go, run back to the top, run down to the 2 miles to go sign, back to the summit, run down to the 1 mile to go sign, back to the summit), this is a great workout at altitude--12 miles of running all above 12,000 feet elevation. 

Rebekka and I went to the Sand Dunes National Park on Saturday--this was my first visit...kinda cool...(doesn't she have great teeth?) 

Is Cheney Allright?

From The Huffington Post

"The guy sent to pick me up by the Vail Valley Institute (where I’m speaking) told me that he had seen the VP’s motorcade speed towards the local hospital. Being an intrepid HuffPost reporter, I asked him to take me straight there. Upon our arrival, we encountered a high level of security -- and a lot of zipped lips: “We cannot tell you anything,” “No comment,” “That information is not available...” But one hospital staffer, obviously not schooled in the secretive ways of Cheney, let it slip: “He’s no longer here”. And since you cannot “no longer” be someplace you’ve never been, we can deduce -- though not confirm -- that Cheney did, in fact, pay a visit to the local hospital. "

Enjoy your weekend. That's what they're doing in Glastonbury, England. 

" Media Matters ," week ending June 24, 2005

" Media Matters ," week ending June 24, 2005 ... : "1,382 DAYS AFTER 9/11 -- TERRORIST ATTACKS AT AN ALL TIME HIGH: By objective measures, the Bush administration's approach to combating terrorism is an abject failure. Last year '[t]he number of serious international terrorist incidents more than tripled.' According to State Department data, 'attacks grew to about 655 last year, up from the record of around 175 in 2003.' How did the administration respond? By halting the publication of the State Department report. The year before, 'the State Department retracted its annual terrorism report and admitted that its initial version vastly understated the number of incidents.'

1,382 DAYS AFTER 9/11 -- OSAMA BIN LADEN STILL AT LARGE: More than three and a half years ago Bush vowed to capture terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden 'dead or alive.' He's failed. The administration wants you to think we are hot on his tracks. CIA Director Porter Goss said he had 'an excellent idea' where bin Laden is hiding. Vice President Cheney said he had 'a pretty good idea of a general area that he's in.' Note to the Bush administration: close doesn't count in terrorist manhunts.

1,382 DAYS AFTER 9/11 -- IRAQ WAR MAKING THINGS WORSE: According to the CIA, '[t]he war in Iraq is creating a training and recruitment ground for a new generation of 'professionalized' Islamic terrorists.' An in-house CIA think tank concluded that, since the U.S.-led invasion, Iraq has served as 'a training ground, a recruitment ground.' In the poorly planned aftermath of the invasion 'hundreds of foreign terrorists flooded into Iraq across its unguarded borders.' There is a serious risk Iraq is now 'creating newly radicalized and experienced jihadis who return home to cause trouble in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and elsewhere.'

1382 DAYS AFTER 9/11 -- LOOSE NUKES: The Bush administration has repeatedly asserted that nuclear weapons in the hands of our enemies is the greatest threat to America. "

Klein nailed on falsehoods in Al Franken Show g ... [Media Matters for America]

Klein nailed on falsehoods in Al Franken Show g ... [Media Matters for America]

Karl Rove comments and commentary

Juan Cole asks "Why does Karl Rove hate our liberty and Way of Life?"



Andrew Sullivan sees Rove's outrageous comments as a transparent attempt to deflect from the administration's failures.

The Future

The Future: According to The Onion.

I'm waiting for the pictures of Gannon and Rove. Surely they exist... 

Rove's Philosophical Differences and Other Republicans Stories : Wonkette

Wonkette: Repubublicans in last throes of Absurdity

 

About half way from the "one mile to go" sign to the summit of Pikes Peak you arrive at the "16 Golden Stairs" sign. It's a lie though. In reality 32 switchbacks remain.... 

From my run up Pikes Peak on Sunday. I call this the "Mountains of Madness" after a novella by H.P. Lovecraft. As you run from the "three miles to go" sign to the "two miles to go" sign you know you have to reach the base of this monolith before you reach the sign... then you have the long traverse and a couple more switchbacks before you reach the "one mile to go sign"...

The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions

I read the 9/11 Commission Report shortly after it came out and at the time I thought it a decent study, very well written, and an excellent beginning of an explanation for the events leading up to 9/11. So, when I was perusing the new non-fiction section of the library last week I picked up this book with the same main title: The 9/11 Commission Report, but with a markedly different subtitle: Omissions and Distortions. I'm just over a 100 pages into it and I have to tell you I am simply astounded. Lots of questions raised that were never investigated--such as why did the head of Pakastan's ISI, Mahmoud Ahmad order Ahmad Umar Sheikh (subsequently in prison for the murder of Daniel Pearl, but that's a whole nother story of ISI and terrorist complicity well told by Bernard Levi) to wire 9/11 ring leader Mohamed Atta $100,000 shortly before 9/11? Here's a link for you: http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/index.php/Mohamed_Atta

If you prefer the Wall Street Journal for your source here's another one: http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=95001298


Mahmoud Ahmad was forced to retire within a couple of weeks after Mushareff was read the riot act and the story died on the vine. I was highly surprised when I did the research on the web to verify the story. What do you suppose would have happened if Sadaam would have wired $100,000 to Mohamed Atta and the FBI knew it and was able to verify it?

This is just one small item out of a book of surprise after surprise. I'm not sure I'm ready yet though for what I think he's leading up to.... I'll need a lot more convincing to believe our government was complicit in the attack on 9/11...

The 9/11 Commission Report: A 571-Page Lie

Here come Rebekka!! Almost there! 

I had an offer for a free ride down on the Cog Railway from an engineer friend of mine (Mike Sandlin--very competitive runner) but I had to wait for Rebekka! 

16 Golden Stairs is a lie. It is 32 switchbacks! 

SB above timberline on the way to one of more than 20 lifetime runs to the summit of Pikes Peak. 

Barr Camp 

View of Pikes Peak near the "7.8 mile to go" sign. 

Rebekka on Saturday when we visited the "Painted Mines" new open space near Calhan, CO. 

Rebekka after reaching the summit of Pikes Peak in 4hrs6min from Manitou Springs--13 miles and 7,300' elevation gain. 

FT.com / US - Clinton slams Guantanamo

FT.com / US - Clinton slams Guantanamo:

"Mr Clinton joined critics at home and abroad who have singled out the indefinite detention of prisoners without trial and widespread reports of human rights violations at Guantanamo. “It is time that there are no more stories coming out of there about people being abused,” he said.

Mr Clinton said the test for judging whether harsh treatment of terrorist suspects was justified was whether it challenged the “fundamental nature” of American society. If the answer is Yes, you have already given the terrorists a profound victory.”"

The Free Press | Did Bush Steal 2004 Election?

t r u t h o u t - The Free Press | Did Bush Steal 2004 Election?:

The following text is the Introduction to the 767 page: Did George W. Bush Steal America's 2004 Election? Essential Documents.

This volume of documents is meant to provide you, the reader, with evidence necessary to make up your own mind.

Few debates have aroused more polarized ire. But too often the argument has proceeded without documentation. This volume of crucial source materials, from Ohio and elsewhere, is meant to correct that problem.

Amidst a bitterly contested vote count that resulted in unprecedented action by the Congress of the United States, here are some news accounts that followed this election, which was among the most bitterly contested in all US history:

* Despite repeated pre-election calls from officials across the nation and the world, Ohio's Republican Secretary of State, who also served as Ohio's co-chair for the Bush-Cheney campaign, refused to allow non-partisan international and United Nations observers the access they requested to monitor the Ohio vote. While such access is routinely demanded by the US government in third world nations, it was banned in the American heartland.
* A post-election headline from the Akron Beacon Journal cites a critical report by twelve prominent social scientists and statisticians, reporting: 'Analysis Points to Election ‘Corruption': Group Says Chance of Exit Polls Being So Wrong in '04 Vote is One-in-959,000.'
* Citing 'Ohio's Odd Numbers,' investigative reporter Christopher Hitchens, a Bush supporter, says in Vanity Fair: 'Given what happened in that key state on Election Day 2004, both democracy and common sense cry out for a court-ordered inspection of its new voting machines.'
* Paul Krugman of the New York Times writes: 'It's election night, and early returns suggest trouble for the incumbent. Then, mysteriously, the vote count stops and observers from the challenger's campaign see employees "

U.S. Code, Title 18, Part I, Section 1001

Found this on Your BB Sucks.:

U.S. Code, Title 18, Part I, Section 1001

Statements or entries generally

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully -

(1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact;

(2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or

(3) makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry; shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.

(b) Subsection (a) does not apply to a party to a judicial proceeding, or that party's counsel, for statements, representations, writings or documents submitted by such party or counsel to a judge or magistrate in that proceeding.

(c) With respect to any matter within the jurisdiction of the legislative branch, subsection (a) shall apply only to -

(1) administrative matters, including a claim for payment, a matter related to the procurement of property or services, personnel or employment practices, or support services, or a document required by law, rule, or regulation to be submitted to the Congress or any office or officer within the legislative branch; or

(2) any investigation or review, conducted pursuant to the authority of any committee, subcommittee, commission or office of the Congress, consistent with applicable rules of the House or Senate.

Hearings on the Downing Street Memo

Follow This link to open Real Player to directly play Congressman John Conyer's hearings on the Downing Street Memo and the War in Iraq, from C-Span last Thursday.

The Trillion-Dollar Bet - New York Times

Alarming signs on the near term horizon. The combination of extraordinary tax cuts and extreme expenditures for the war in Iraq that have led to massive budget deficits and trade deficits AND a melt down in the housing market will cause a recession like we haven't seen since the 1930's. It is coming sometime before the end of this adminstration's term.
The Trillion-Dollar Bet - New York Times


"By DAVID LEONHARDT and MOTOKO RICH
Published: June 16, 2005

American homeowners have made a trillion-dollar bet that mortgage rates will remain near record lows for at least a few more years. But with some interest rates already rising, economists worry that the bet could turn bad."

Interview -- Chris Hedges

Good Interview with Chris Hedges, author of the piece on The Religious Right, Soldiers of Christ II, Feeling the Hate with the Religious Right found in the May issue of Harper's Magazine.

Juan Cole: Informed Comment

"Top Ten Things You Wouldn't expect to Happen if You Listened to Bush and Cheney"

The Raw Story | Radio vets purchase Ed Schultz; Liberal talk gains business cred

The Raw Story | Radio vets purchase Ed Schultz; Liberal talk gains business cred: "Two radio executives who made Clear Channel and Rush Limbaugh household are to announce today they have purchased The Ed Schultz show, America’s fastest-growing talk show in the country, RAW STORY has learned.

Veteran radio execs Randy Michaels and Stu Krane purchased the show from Democracy Radio, a non-profit which helps seed progressive talk radio hosts. Michaels’ and Krane’s new company, P1 will now carry the show. The protracted sale has been in the works since March."

Today's Early Bird

Wow. My jaw dropped this morning as I checked the Early Bird, a military compendium of the major news stories taken from leading newspapers nation-wide. Now that 59% of the populace thinks we should get out of Iraq anticipate more and more politicians joining in the clamor for an exit strategy--Republicans too. This has all the hallmarks of Viet Nam. More and more people will realize there is no end to this fiasco until it reaches critical mass and we abandon ship. Peace with honor and all that. There are no easy answers. Let this be a lesson to future leaders. The present bunch is hopeless.

TOP STORIES

1. Poll: USA Is Losing Patience On Iraq
(USA Today)...Susan Page
Nearly six in 10 Americans say the United States should withdraw some or all of its troops from Iraq, a new Gallup Poll finds, the most downbeat view of the war since it began in 2003.

2. Officers: Military Can't End Insurgency
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Tom Lasseter
A growing number of senior American military officers in Iraq have concluded there is no long-term military solution to an insurgency that has killed thousands of Iraqis and more than 1,300 U.S. troops in the last two years.

3. As Iraqi Army Trains, Word In The Field Is It May Take Years
(New York Times)...Sabrina Tavernise and John F. Burns
...Despite the Bush administration's insistent optimism, Americans working with the Iraqis in the field believe that it could be several years, at least, before the new Iraqi forces will be ready to stand alone against the insurgents.

4. Advances Make War More Survivable
(Miami Herald)...Mark Washburn, Knight Ridder News Service
Situated about 60 miles north of Baghdad, Camp Anaconda's hospital has turned into a 60,000-square-foot modern facility where those caught up in the violent spiral are treated.

5. Army, Insurer In Iraq At Odds
(Los Angeles Times)...T. Christian Miller
Besieged financial services giant American International Group Inc. repeatedly has sought to derail an effort by the Pentagon that could save taxpayers millions of dollars on reconstruction work in war zones like Afghanistan and Iraq.

6. Terror Prison Debate Growing Louder
(Miami Herald)...Carol Rosenberg
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle Sunday urged inquiries into the fate and policies of the Guantánamo Bay terror prison -- the same day Time magazine revealed explicit details about the interrogation of a captive who was compelled to urinate on himself and bark like a dog at the base in Cuba.

Beautiful Boxer

After our morning activities, Bekka running well above Barr Camp and back, and my manning a water station at mile 6 of the Garden of the Gods 10-miler and subsequent round trip to "Carpenter's Crossing" we made the trek to Denver to see Beautiful Boxer, a 4* Thai film about the national champion kickboxer who gradually transforms his/her life from male to tranvestite to finally female through a sex change operation. Amazing film. A must see! I highly recommend it.

The Secret Service is Entrusted to Protect the President, but the Secret Service Still Works for and is Accountable to the American People

This story WILL NOT DIE! As I drove back from Denver today after watching the most excellent Thai film "Beautiful Boxer" I listened to Ed Schultz on Sirius talk with Mark Udall. This is scandalous. Our tax payer dollars are paying for GWB and CO to push their propoganda on SS and exclude any but the "true believers" from his audience. I have been following this story of the "Denver 3" since it happened through the excellent follow through by the Denver Post. I love this newspaper. I cancelled my subscription to the right wing rag CS Gazette. IT STINKS!

The Secret Service is Entrusted to Protect the President, but the Secret Service Still Works for and is Accountable to the American People: "Colorado Representatives Mark Udall (D-2nd), Diana DeGette (D-1st) and Senator Ken Salazar are calling the Bush administration’s tactics a “cover-up” as the White House continues to hide the identity of the man who impersonated a secret service agent to forcibly remove three Colorado residents from a Presidential town hall on March 21st about privatizing Social Security.

The three Colorado lawmakers wrote a letter to Secret Service Director M. Ralph Basham to request a meeting and called on the agency to reveal details about the agency’s investigation. On March 21st, Karen Bauer, Alex Young, and Leslie Weise – the “Denver 3” – were forcibly removed by a man impersonating a Secret Service agent because the car they drove to the town hall had a bumper sticker that read, “No More Blood for Oil.”

The Secret Service launched an investigation into the matter and determined the man who removed the Denver 3 was not one of their agents. The White House maintains that it has the authority to preemptively deny Americans their Constitutional rights to assemble based on it’s own suspicion that someone might disrupt an event."

The Conservative, by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Found this timely lecture by Emerson while surfing the web. It still rings true...

The Conservative:

"A Lecture delivered at the Masonic Temple,
Boston, December 9, 1841

The two parties which divide the state, the party of Conservatism and that of Innovation, are very old, and have disputed the possession of the world ever since it was made"

Ministers were told of need for Gulf war ‘excuse’ - Sunday Times - Times Online

Ministers were told of need for Gulf war ‘excuse’ - Sunday Times - Times Online: "MINISTERS were warned in July 2002 that Britain was committed to taking part in an American-led invasion of Iraq and they had no choice but to find a way of making it legal.

The warning, in a leaked Cabinet Office briefing paper, said Tony Blair had already agreed to back military action to get rid of Saddam Hussein at a summit at the Texas ranch of President George W Bush three months earlier.

The briefing paper, for participants at a meeting of Blair’s inner circle on July 23, 2002, said that since regime change was illegal it was “necessary to create the conditions” which would make it legal.

This was required because, even if ministers decided Britain should not take part in an invasion, the American military would be using British bases. This would automatically make Britain complicit in any illegal US action."

Marathons

I posted reports on the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon from last weekend and on the Mount Desert Island Marathon that I ran last October.

This will all be houses soon. 

wildflowers and Pikes Peak. 

SB with the newly graded Briargate extension north of Powers. This will all be houses, strip malls, and big boxes. 

Two of nine pronghorn I saw during my morning run north of the Powers Blvd extension (in progress). 

North of Powers, pre development. 

Paint Brush