Orion Magazine: Bye, Bye, Miss American Empire: or, the sweet smell of session

DailyKos: Crossroads of Inner Asia (travelogue with photos)

Mike Gravel on CAMBODIA

Newsweek: Unbelievable horror in the Congo. Rare Mountain Gorillas murdered last week. Why? No one knows. The worst gorilla massacre in 25 years. The population of mountain gorillas is only 700 total in the world.

Amy Goodman talked about Rorschach and Awe, in today's DemocracyNow! segment, an on-line piece from Vanity Fair about just how depraved the CIA has become in promoting torture by its agents.

Jeffrey Tobin reports in next month's New Yorker on a murdered Seattle assistant U.S. Attorney and questions if it might be related to the firing of John McKay, the U.S. Attorney of Washington state. I shudder to think that my sister was in the running for U.S. Attorney for Washington under Bush...

The Diane Rehm Show's Susan Page has a good discussion today on the ramifications of a crippled Attorney General. I have enjoyed listening to Diane Rehm's autobiography, "Finding my Voice".

Dick Cheney, President? The Now Show's Mitch Benn with a ditty that is destined for the top 10.

FBI, IRS Search home of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens.

Malawi youth builds windmill to power village.

Lake Superior, Munising, Michigan, Upper Peninsula

The Pictured Rocks Seashore Cruise, 7-29-07

SB finishing Grand Island Trail Marathon; SB eating a pasty; SB and Bekka and Muldoons famous Pasties

Trip to the U.P. of Michigan: Father Bagari, the snowshoe priest; high point on Mt Arvon; and SB at the start of the Grand Island Trail Marathon.

BREAKING: JEWS: Christianity a Fiction Fashioned by Semites!

One Smart Dog

Rapture Ready

You gotta see this to believe it. Truly scary people.

Max Blumenthal video on HuffPost: Rapture Ready :The unauthorized Christians United for Israel Tour

Crestone Needle to the right, Broken Hand Peak to the left.

Rebekka, on my land near Westcliffe. We car camped Saturday night then Sunday morning we hiked to the South Colony Lakes in the basin below Crestone Needle and Crestone Peak--the most spectacular setting in the state of Colorado.

Keith Olbermann tells the prez to go fight in Iraq.

Market Shock: AAA rating may be junk.

Really cool presentation on black holes: The anatomy of a blackhole.

Jesus' General presents GOP Theme Songs

Wiser has compiled a database of over 100,000 environmental groups worldwide.

Robert Fisk on Iraq and T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia)

T. E. Lawrence's entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica on Guerrilla

Strengthening the Dollar

Huffington Post: Andy Worthington asks: "Who are the16 Saudis Released From Guantánamo?"


The Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve north of Fairbanks, Alaska looks like a place I'll have to visit.

Plastic trash vortex shows extent of ocean pollution northeast of Hawaii: A trash carpet that has reached the size of the state of Texas.

Barr Trail Race Report, July 15th, 2007

Before the race I was nervous, but quietly confident. I had put in the time at altitude with six ascents of Pikes Peak already this year, and with a 100-mile race a month ago under my belt I had the endurance. My main competition in the 50-54 age group for the 12-mile Barr Trail Race to Barr Camp and back would be the formidable Eddie Baxter. Eddie had won the 50-54 age group in the Pikes Peak Ascent last year in a jaw-dropping time of 2:44. But it wasn’t until I rechecked the entries on-line the morning of the race that I saw Senovio Torres from New Mexico had also entered. Senovio holds the records for the Pikes Peak Marathon for the age groups 45-49 and 50-54, and for the Pikes Peak Ascent, age group 50-54. Two years ago he set the record (beaten last year by John Victoria) for the Barr Trail Race (I also set the record that year, but finished 2^nd to Senovio).

In the early going, keeping track of my competition, I reached the top of the W’s ahead of both Eddie and Senovio at 22 minutes and change—about where I needed to be. Rebekka handed me a bottle of Cytomax, which I sipped before dropping it empty at No-Name Creek. With the day’s forecast of blistering heat the extra hydration was critical, but I didn’t want to carry any extra weight such as a camelback. My legs felt a little tight. Had I left my race at the top of the W’s? Eddie caught up to me in the flat stretch before the arch and smoothly passed me. Before I knew it he was out of sight! Man! —he must have hit the glide path!

In the easier portions of the trail near the 7.8 mile sign and beyond I fell in with Buzz Burrell. I didn’t know him but he looked like an old fart so I asked him for his age group. He started laughing. Thinking he must have misunderstood me I asked him again. He said he was laughing at my question. Finally I told him I was 52 and he realized that I was also an old fart and told me he was 55. He ended up finishing just behind me, setting the course record for the 55-59 age group.

When I reached the ½ mile-to-go sign to Barr Camp a glance at my watch showed 1:07. Damn! Too slow for an age group record. I knew I had to reach Barr Camp in 1:11 to have a good shot at the age group record. That was not going to happen as the fastest I had run that last half mile recently was seven minutes. As I approached Barr Camp the next question was where would I see Eddie? Through the meadow, past the bench, I finally saw him coming down right at the fence next to Barr Camp. He had about 100 feet on me. I made the turn and coming down, right at about the same place on the fence up came Senovio. At the turn-around I was about 100 feet behind Eddie and 100 feet ahead of Senovio.

I caught back up to Buzz Burrell, and fell in behind him. We moved across the bridge and up to lightning point--then down to the slight up-hill leading to the 7.8 mile sign--I surged past Buzz—now it was time to turn on the “crazy legs” and see if I could make Eddie come back to me. I flew down the down-hills and pushed the up-hills until finally I saw Eddie ahead of me. He was coming back steadily. No need to push too hard—just let him come back. When I passed him I put on a hard surge. I looked back on the switchbacks above No-Name Creek, saw that he was a couple switchbacks behind, and relaxed the pace. Cruising down towards the top of the W’s someone was breathing down my neck—I asked him if he was ready to pass and the youngster blew by quickly and was soon out of sight – young fresh legs. About here I thought, “What about Senovio?” Maybe he was gunning for me! Senovio was a formidable down-hill runner—maybe he was closing on me! I couldn’t relax. The rest of the way I ran scared, which is a good way to run! Finally reaching the final stretch of pavement near my house I looked back but only saw Buzz Burrell about 50 yards back--no one else in sight. I could coast. I finished in 1hr56min. Eddie finished 31 seconds back and Senovio close on his heels, another 7 seconds behind Eddie. But I would get the nice new pair of La Sportiva Trail Running shoes for finishing first in the age group!

Lance is going to do the Leadville 100-mile Mountain Bike race after all... Last I heard, Floyd Landis is doing it too... Should be interesting...

BecomingHuman.org: Compelling Flash movie on your evolutionary origins.

Here it is... The Iraq War's answer to the Viet Nam War's "Winter Soldier". U.S. soldiers bear witness to atrocities brought to bear on Iraqi civilians. War is hell.

The Nation: The Other War: Iraq Vets Bear Witness

Ecotality has clips from Live Earth

Charley Rose interviewed Guenter Grass Monday night. He came off very well... John Irving gives a well-deserved gushing review of "Peeling the Onion" in today's NY Times Book Review.

I did a 3-2-1 from the summit of Pikes Peak today. What is a 3-2-1? Run from the summit down to the 3-miles-to-go sign, run to the summit, run back down to the 2-miles-to-go sign, run to the summit, run back down to the 1-mile-to-go sign, run to the summit. I took a pratfall near the summit on my way down to the last segment from the 1-mile-to-go sign. It must have looked pretty bad because I heard someone say "Are you all right?" to which I responded "I'm OK". They continued "Are you sure?" I was in no mood to continue the conversation so from my prone position, face down on the rocks I yelled, "I'm all right. Don't ask me again!!" I had pain on both knees, shoulder, and hand. As of this writing I have pain on my finger, shoulder and one knee. Not sure about the finger as it is swollen and kind of "hamburgerized" at the joint. Shoulder and knee are fine.

Sixth time to the summit of Pikes Peak (14,110') in 2007. Estimated 50th life time summit run.

4th of July bar-b-que on my deck this evening. We climbed Sheep mountain this morning, cooked up a feast this afternoon and evening, then watched the fireworks off Red Mountain from my deck in Manitou Springs.

The Idiot in Chief likes to compare himself as Winston Churchill. Today's WaPost likens The Prez to Churchill's polar opposite: Neville Chamberlain.

I'm watching "Why We Fight" right now on Encore On Demand. Why do we keep getting fooled and hoodwinked into futile wars? What will it take? Last night I recorded "Winter Soldier" on another quagmire and watched part of it this morning as I got ready for work. All I can say is "wow". I remember how the pundits were pooh-poohing it during campaign 2004 and snarking John Kerry for taking part in it in 1972, but it is filled with TRUTH. They need to make another "Winter Soldier" on Iraq. Hardly surprising that it earns a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Threats, Policy, Challenges.

From the Gazette's Dave Phillips: an Amazing story of Go-Devils racing down the Cog Railway on skateboard-like contraptions back in the old days...

Gen Wesley Clark interviewed by the NYT Magazine.

NPR: Laura Bush kept in bubble, too.

Trivia: reading test

A-Frame

A-Frame shelter at timberline, three miles below the summit of Pikes Peak. Photo taken this morning on my 3rd ascent of Pikes Peak in a week.