Sam the Wolfdog tramps up the Barr Trail. Gog and McGog loom in the distance.

Jane Smiley's most informative book of 2006: Albion's Seed.

Jane has written a most insightful analysis of just which cultural component of our nation's heritage has taken over our body politic and why they must be marginalized and driven back to their corners if we are going to survive as a nation.

Former Watergate counsel John Dean has written the first two of a three part series on the problematics of a rigorous oversight hearing sequence by the Democratic majority.

Part 1: Are Congressional Wars Coming? Since Cheney Has Already Said He'll Ignore the Democratic Congress, It Seems Likely

Part 2: What Should Congressional Democrats Do, When the Bush Administration Stonewalls Their Efforts To Undertake Oversight?

SNL: Gerald Ford dead 10 years ago.

Lest you get lulled into the current media love fest for Gerald Ford:

Ford and Kissinger gave the green light to Suharto for Indonesia's invasion of East Timor in 1975. setting the stage for the long, bloody, and disastrous occupation of the territory that ended only after an international peacekeeping force was introduced in 1999.

My Desk at work: All the race numbers on the wall are from this calendar year. Marathons start with the blue 14 and go down and to the right. All other races including the San Juan 50-miler are to the left. Marathon medals are hanging to the right of the blue 14. Trophies are on the desk top. The background on my monitor is me looking towards Mt Rainier from my parent's deck on Puget Sound, Olympia, Washington.

At the end of this month I will take down all the numbers and box up the trophies and start over again for 2007. This has been a tradition for me for several years.

This is the most welcome sight for Pikes Peak Marathoners!

Cog Railway to the summit of Pikes Peak.

Unique home on Pilot Knob.

I have more stairs than this house!!

I am new to Manitou Springs, Colorado after moving here last summer. I am enthralled with the unique homes and architecture and the incredible creativity of the human spirit in this town. On Christmas Day I walked around my town and took pictures...

Juan Cole: Top Ten Myths about Iraq

Gen Odom: Six Brutal Truths about Iraq

State Terrorism

I am listening to Noam Chomsky on Google Videos and he just pointed out three well known terrorist incidents of the year 1985, one of which was a covert bombing of a mosque in Beirut by the CIA as approved by William Casey--80 civilians were killed and over 200 mostly women and girls were wounded. The target, a sheikh believed responsible for the Beirut Barracks bombing that killed more than 200 U.S. Marines escaped harm. This was documented by Bob Woodward in his book about William Casey and the CIA: Veil. Here is an interview of Woodward on PBS's Frontline where he also mentions this act of state sponsored terrorism. Which state? The U.S.A.

Troop 'surge' in Iraq would be another mistake

By retired Army Col Patrick Lang and retired CIA analyst Ray McGovern

Running this morning in the Garden of the Gods with Pikes Peak in the background.

"Radillac" spotted on I-25 near Colorado Springs

Bush's "Delusion": A Psychiatrist's Perspective

U.S. Judge orders mental test for Jose Padilla. Can he order one for Bush and Cheney too?

Raw Story has the redacted CIA Op-Ed and explanations (This is the politically motivated attempt to censure an Op-Ed on Bush's myopic negotiations with Iran)

Media Matters names ABC "Misinformer of the Year"

A Peace Corps Volunteer Blogs from Togo

Report on Guantanomo Detainees (PDF): 55% are not determined to have committed any hostile acts against the US or its allies. Only 8% are known to have an affiliation with Al Qaeda.

Noam Chomsky on our efforts to bring democracy to the Middle East (video): "In our mission to bring democracy to the world we don't care about the opinions of people --- they're kinda irrelevant."

A Future George Jetson never imagined: Why are houses of the future always round?

A guide to the order of trilobites: rock star of the Cambrian, gone with the ages after the Permian extinction 250 million years ago...

Links for your entertainment

The Most Dangerous Road in the World: Bolivian Andes

CBC Spends seven days with "God's Kids"

Green Revolution is sweeping the US Construction Industry

Saudi Royals Snub Bush, Fund Opposition in Iraq

Target Iran: Former UN Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter and Investigative Journalist Seymour Hersh on White House Plans for Regime Change on today's Democracy Now!

Chinese Ice Sculpture

Timeline Map of the History of the Middle East

Sam the Wolfdog in Today's Blizzard

Links on the Reality-based world

Eric Boehlert on Reality Based Reporting

Jay Rosen: Retreat From Empiricism: On Ron Suskind's Scoop

Two articles from Walter Pincus on the reality of "standing up" Iraqi forces, here and here.

Chris Weigant: Military Endgame in Iraq

Rebecca Solnit: The Age of Mammals: Looking Back on the First Quarter of the 21st Century

YouTube: Wake up to Global Warming

YouTube: Marx Bros Mirror Scene from Duck Soup

Guantanomo Photos

Ready for a government horror story? Here's a doozy.

NYT: Dispatches from Afghanistan.

Mining the Moon for a Nuclear Future

20 Million Years and Farewell: China's River Dolphin, the Baiji, declared extinct.

Mass Extinction Underway

Merry Mithras!

The Jesus Myth

Today on DemocracyNow! : Howard Zinn on the uses of History and the War on Terror.

Stock tip of the day: Rich as a BRIC and Going for BRIC
Investing in Brazil, Russia, India, and China

NYT: Former U.S. detainee in Iraq Recalls Torment

More Clues

10,600 scientists condemn political interference in science.

The Oil Drum: Discussions about Energy and our Future.

Plain Truth from the Cattle Rancher who won't eat meat.

I found Jesus Camp the movie on You Tube in 9 parts. Here is part 1.

Here is Bill Maher's take on Jesus Camp.

From the trailer they focused on a kid who at age five was saved. I distinctly remember rejecting Christianity at age five. I just couldn't accept the shallow concept of the requirement to believe something on faith (read: gullibility) in order to go to heaven or else you burn for eternity! Absurd on its face. Even for a five year old. Still holds true for a 51 year old. Totally unbelievable not to mention stupid.

This morning on Longs Ranch Road

Running up Longs Ranch Road on the slopes of Pikes Peak. 

I thought these might be clues

The Warmth of a President

Judge to Rule on Jose Padilla case
(Padilla is an American citizen who has been held for three years with no charges brought against him. He has been tortured to the point that his attorneys claim he is unfit to stand trial. Yes. This is the United States of America.)

The Bush Gulag: Where are the Bodies?

Enemy Combatant: The searing story of one man’s years inside the notorious American prison—and his Kafkaesque struggle to clear his name

Capt Travis Patriquin the author of this simple but effective slide show showing how to achieve victory in Iraq was killed by the same improvised explosive device that killed Maj. Megan McClung of the Marine Corps last Wednesday.

Patriquin had fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. A gifted officer, he spoke numerous languages, including Arabic. His story is here.

Colin Powell debunks "troop surge" hype on Face the Nation. Says "Army is Broken".

How to talk to a climate skeptic.

View from my Hot Tub

I took this photo from my hot tub about a month ago, just before I dumped my digital camera in the tub, ruining it. The memory card survived. 

How the Republicans are Stealing the November Elections

Juan Cole on Bushes and Bonapartes

Saturday Morning Links

Forbes puts Boulder at the top of its "smartest cities".

BooMan studies the Church Committee Reports to understand the path we are going down at present and the real danger to our civil liberties and the nation we were.

Daily Kos reports on Tommy Franks latest assertion that the constitution will likely be thrown out if there is another terrorist attack on American soil.

Wesley Clark to host conference on National Security in March.

Diplomat's suppressed document lays bare the lies that led us to war.

Iraq Nam

THE IRAQI WEEK THAT WAS: December 9 - 15, 2001 through 2006

Spread the Word: Iraq Nam

Friday Links

I ran the lower Barr Trail this morning to just above the top of the W's. The sun was rising to the east as I returned.

Büchner lives on: The inestimable Times Literary Supplement reviews the inimitable playwright who died at age 23 but left a legacy for the ages:
Georg Büchner
DICHTUNGEN, SCHRIFTEN, BRIEFE UND DOKUMENTE
Edited by Rosemarie and Henri Poschmann

Slate: Barackwater: For now, Obama's scandal is too small to hurt.

Steven Berlin Johnson concludes a series on cities in the NY Times. He blogs here.

Tuesday Links

A Family in Oregon found this fawn on their backsteps.

Julia Sweeney author of "Letting Go of God" now has a CD available of her one women show.

Must read piece on Jose Padilla, US citizen who has been held for more than three years with no charges brought against him. Mr. Padilla has undergone extensive torture to the point that in his current mental condition he is unfit for trial: Presidential Tyranny Untamed by Defeat.

Does this represent our ideals? What binds us together as a nation if not respect for civil rights? Dark times for the republic... Maybe end times for the great experiment...

On a lighter note:

Potluck Potlatch

Otter Creek Trail Marathon

Otter Creek Trail Marathon

Brandenburg, Kentucky

Dec 10^th, 2006

Steve Bremner

Marathon State 43, total marathons 81

This is the first time I’ve run marathons in back to back weekends. Prior to this the closest time in between marathons has been two weeks. Recovery from trail marathons is almost instantaneous so I didn’t have much apprehension running this race one week after the Tecumseh Trail Marathon in Indiana on December 2^nd. Indeed, I didn’t even find out about this race until about three days before Tecumseh, whereupon I quickly bought a plane ticket and signed up for the race since KY was a needed state in my 50-state quest and nowadays I always run trail marathons when given the choice.

I flew in to Louisville on Saturday, picked up a rental (First time driving a PT Cruiser), and cruised on down to my reservation on Fort Knox (45 minute drive). After checking in I headed on out to the commissary where I found some Amy’s organic TV dinners for the micro and a banana for the morning. Conveniently Fort Knox is right next to Otter Creek Park, so the next morning I only had a 15 minute drive to the race. As an Air Force retiree, anytime I can stay on a military installation I do so. They are as clean and quiet as any Hilton and the price is right—Fort Knox was $44/nt.

Race start was a tad on the cold side (30F), but after a couple miles I was glad I was wearing just a tech top and shorts. We started off with a 2.2 mile loop, then commenced with the first of three 8-mile loops. Though I started off in an easy lope, no one wanted to run with me so right away I opened up a 100 yard lead. At the 2.2 mile point I couldn’t see anyone behind me. Could this be the makings of a runaway race?

It didn’t take long before the slower of the 8 milers and the 16 mile racers started coming back. Though I would yell “on your left” as I passed there was contact on occasion with the IPoders. I can’t understand why people listen to music when they run. It would drive me crazy. There is enough to keep track of out there in the wilderness.

I would get to know this 8-mile loop intimately over the next three hours, but the first time through was spectacular. Rolling terrain through deciduous forest over leaf-covered single track trail, followed by a precipitous drop to Otter Creek which we followed for some time before an aide station about halfway through the loop. Then we climbed up to a bluff where we had a scenic overlook of the Ohio River which forms the border between Indiana and Kentucky. The broad bends of the river with farmland and forest were a welcome sight on the next two times around the loop. From there we had a bit more climbing before it mostly leveled off moving to the end of the loop. A Russian guy caught up to me at this point, 10.2 miles into the race and we ran together for about 5 miles after which he slowly left me in his wake. A couple miles later another guy passed me, but for the last ten or so miles I ran alone, occasionally passing the odd 16-mile racers and towards the end probably lapping some marathoners. I ran the first 8-mile lap in an hour, second in 1:05, and third in 1:16, for a total time of 3:39, third place overall. Winning time was 3:32, 2nd place was 3:35. At least I didn't get "chicked".

Little did I know that I should have held some in reserve for my airport connection in Chicago. They had delayed our flight due to a back up of planes in the air over Chicago and by the time I got off the plane and was in the terminal it was 7:33 PM. My flight to COS was on time and leaving at 7:50. That meant I had 7 minutes to make it from terminal 1 to terminal 3 – normally a 20-minute walk or more. With a heavy pack I did my best to simulate a jog arriving at the gate at 7:42. Flight closed, door locked, no sympathy. I was forced to spend the night in Chicago.

We Wish to Inform You that Philip Gourevitch Has Edited a Spectacular Collection of Interviews

Powell's Books interviews Philip Gourevitch about his new book: The Paris Review Interviews, I.

NYT: Top Ten Books of 2006

NY Times Top Ten Books of 2006

No, I haven't read any of them!

On my short list are Absurdistan, The Looming Tower, Mayflower, The Omivore's Dilemma, and The Places In Between. I probably should read all of them.

Hey! I just read George Soros' new book"The Age of Fallibility: Consequences of the War on Terror". What a magnificent thinker! How can those right-wing bloviards like Bill O'Reilly disparage him as "far left" etc?? He is for open societies! He established institutions that opened up the Soviet Bloc and broke down the Iron Curtain! For goodness sake!! He is a democrat with a small d!! One can only deduce that the right wing bloviards are anti-democratic and closer to plutocratic, or worse fascist.

Incoming House intelligence chief botches easy intel quiz

When asked by CQ National Security Editor Jeff Stein whether al Qaeda is one or the other of the two major branches of Islam -- Sunni or Shiite -- Reyes answered "they are probably both," then ventured "Predominantly -- probably Shiite."

Horrible, just horrible

This happened in El Paso County, my county here in Colorado.

Pictures.

"A dead llama, laying in the middle of a yard, with two dogs feeding on the carcass.

Another dead llama, its legs sticking out of a broken window.

An emaciated horse, so far gone that it cannot stand up.

A dead dog, laying in the doorway of a trailer under a crate full of garbage.

A box full of dead, rotting puppies."

Paul Krugman: They Told you so

Shortly after U.S. forces marched into Baghdad in 2003, The Weekly Standard published a jeering article titled, “The Cassandra Chronicles: The stupidity of the antiwar doomsayers.” Among those the article mocked was a “war novelist” named James Webb, who is now the senator-elect from Virginia.

Beyond Belief

Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and many more articulate a vision of morality and values Beyond Belief 2006.

Links for Thursday

NYT: Changes expected in e-voting. No more evoting without paper trails if all goes as expected. Finally.

Dailykos: Wes Clark's Iraq positions. Very extensive! Wes Clark is 'da man!!

Bill Moyers gives this message to West Point cadets.

FL-13 update. Howard Dean favors going to the mat! Go Howard!

Dennis Kucinich has truth. Why can't reason prevail in the Iraq debacle? We should have cut and run in 2004.

Today's links

New book on extraordinary renditions "Ghost Plane" has a web site.

The author of "The Long Emergency" on our appalling dependency on oil has a web site.

Water on Mars: Recently! Really!

Iraq Study Group Report download. Read it! Here is an analysis.

Amazing but True!

The Atheist Delusion

Those contempuous Atheists! Why won't they be kind!

Why won't God heal amputees?

CIA Torture Logs now available

WAPost: Wrongful Imprisonment: Anatomy of a CIA "Mistake"

Pelosi for President: 2007

How are things in Iraqi Kurdistan?

Not bad!

http://mediastorm.org/0011.htm

What to do?

A proposal for a way to Impeach Bush Cheney.

Senator John Warner, R-VA, tells Bush to talk to Dems on Iraq. Will he listen? Doubt it.