H. R. 676 (Introduced-in-House)
Here we go! Let's see what we can do to really affect positive, systemic change in America! This bill looks like a great start!
Write your congressman, you can email also, if you wish, but written works best! Tell'em to get behind this.
This will be a best first step!
14 December 2008
13 December 2008
15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense: Scientific American
15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense: Scientific American
Science is so often bandied about casually & incorrectly, that it is refreshing to see it accurately summarized by a trusted source!
If Intelligent Design were at work, do you think it would have allowed the Middle Eastern religions to proliferate to the point of 2009? Really, now!
Science is so often bandied about casually & incorrectly, that it is refreshing to see it accurately summarized by a trusted source!
If Intelligent Design were at work, do you think it would have allowed the Middle Eastern religions to proliferate to the point of 2009? Really, now!
07 December 2008
Democracy Now! | CEOs of Big Three Automakers Return to Capitol Hill to Plead for $34B Federal Bailout
Democracy Now! | CEOs of Big Three Automakers Return to Capitol Hill to Plead for $34B Federal Bailout
If the auto industry really is so all fired important to the economy, then why can't the oil industry, specifically Exxon-Mobil pay for their salvation? Just in the last year they've recorded over US$1Trillion in profit. Their taxes have never been lower. Seems to me they could easily fund some loans to the auto industry.
Then the wads of cash that Congress can't wait to throw around (I hope you eschewed voting for any incumbent congressman!!!) could be spent on ramping up solar, geothermal, and other types of energy. (I've just decided to eschew the use of the word 'alternative' since that implies a perspective of the dominant mindset. Whew, now REM is just Rock! ;-)
I fail to understand how anyone could give these guys money after they've demonstrated their inability to manage what they already have!
Write your congressmen today & say ¡No Mas!
If the auto industry really is so all fired important to the economy, then why can't the oil industry, specifically Exxon-Mobil pay for their salvation? Just in the last year they've recorded over US$1Trillion in profit. Their taxes have never been lower. Seems to me they could easily fund some loans to the auto industry.
Then the wads of cash that Congress can't wait to throw around (I hope you eschewed voting for any incumbent congressman!!!) could be spent on ramping up solar, geothermal, and other types of energy. (I've just decided to eschew the use of the word 'alternative' since that implies a perspective of the dominant mindset. Whew, now REM is just Rock! ;-)
I fail to understand how anyone could give these guys money after they've demonstrated their inability to manage what they already have!
Write your congressmen today & say ¡No Mas!
20 June 2008
Deer Mountain
Rocky Mountain National Park Hiking Page
There's something mind-expanding about hiking with new friends! Maybe mountain trails enable a loftier & grander tone as Thoreau described in Walden. Maybe it's the opportunity to think & ponder longer in the conversation as a function of less & less oxygen. Maybe it's the lack of oxygen, but by the time you get back down off the mountain, there's a deeper friendship.
I had the opportunity to hike with two new friends at the beginning of June, and it's set the tone for a great summer! Steve & I hiked Deer Mountain for the first hike of the year. Getting up to just over 10k feet took us about 2.5 hours. We only got lost once and we both had to stop frequently to breathe in the view. That's another mind-expanding experience: Standing on the side/top of one mountain, gazing at scores of peaks ranging all around the horizon.
Steve & I honed our diagnostic acumen as we observed the various droppings along the trail. Elk & deer drops we were quick to identify, but the large equine processed grass & water globs puzzled us for a while. Our identification was soon justified as a guide & a young couple came down a rather narrow part of the trail. "Just giv'em a little reign here, so they can find their own way." said the guide as Steve & I stepped into the trees. I was damn glad I wasn't on one of those horses. (One of my more poignant notes to self: Never climb on top of a being larger than myself & expect it to do my bidding!)
Steve was vindicated as we got closer and closer to the top by the sighting of snow. He managed to stay out of tromping through snow at this point, unlike a few hours later when he soaked his Nikes in 3 foot snow drifts another 2k feet higher!
Finally we came to the sign that said the peak was just .2 miles away. As we stepped out onto summit, the view was awe inspiring. Mountains loomed around the horizon across a large valley carved by a moraine 10,000 years ago. I've walked through that valley & seen the huge remnants left as geological trinkets on the floor. But being at the top of a mountain and looking down on it, the valley floor smoothes out, glowing a bright young green on a sunny, crisp morning.
The top of Deer Mountain was littered with chipmunks, curious to find the law-breakers who will feed them. Steve called home to celebrate being on top of the world with his sea-level wife. We marveled (& rued a little) at the fact he got a signal at the top of Deer Mountain.
We took our time on the mountain top & made quick work of the descent. Hiking definitely works both the hamstrings & the quads, up & down! Steve couldn't resist the beckoning grass fields and took a couple of them to bypass a switchback. Maybe he just couldn't resist the short cut. I found it rather easy to resist, not liking the traipse down a 20% slope without a hiking staff, but I wasn't about to let the flatlander show me up, so I accompanied him down one particularly beautiful long grass field. I was glad Ranger Glenn wasn't there to chastise us!
Once we got back to the trailhead, we shot another picture for the end of the hike. We were not as fresh & energetic as the picture taken at the start of the hike, but certainly the trail dust couldn't mask the glow of the first hike of the season!
From the base of Deer Mountain, Steve drove up Trail Ridge Road. We stopped before we got to the Alpine Visitor center, got out of the car at a trail head & gaped at the two guys coming up the road, at nearly 12,000 feet above sea level, pedaling bicycles and towing small trailers behind them. We were impressed! From this trail head, we walked out across a wide plain & quickly found ourselves post-holing through a 200 yard long snow drift. It didn't slow Steve down and soon he'd climbed to the top of the highest outcropping around. From there he found the brass plaque that maps out all of the peaks visible in the 360 degree view afforded by the height. I could see all he could see, I just chose not to climb up the last 30 feet or so.
We drove down from Estes Park & came back via 75th south to Niwot Road. It's a beautiful rural drive that reminds us that development restrictions really are important!
Something about all that open space allows the mind to absorb much more than it normally does. Steve & I probably compressed 3-4 years of conversation into that hike. Not bad for the first hike of the summer!
There's something mind-expanding about hiking with new friends! Maybe mountain trails enable a loftier & grander tone as Thoreau described in Walden. Maybe it's the opportunity to think & ponder longer in the conversation as a function of less & less oxygen. Maybe it's the lack of oxygen, but by the time you get back down off the mountain, there's a deeper friendship.
I had the opportunity to hike with two new friends at the beginning of June, and it's set the tone for a great summer! Steve & I hiked Deer Mountain for the first hike of the year. Getting up to just over 10k feet took us about 2.5 hours. We only got lost once and we both had to stop frequently to breathe in the view. That's another mind-expanding experience: Standing on the side/top of one mountain, gazing at scores of peaks ranging all around the horizon.
Steve & I honed our diagnostic acumen as we observed the various droppings along the trail. Elk & deer drops we were quick to identify, but the large equine processed grass & water globs puzzled us for a while. Our identification was soon justified as a guide & a young couple came down a rather narrow part of the trail. "Just giv'em a little reign here, so they can find their own way." said the guide as Steve & I stepped into the trees. I was damn glad I wasn't on one of those horses. (One of my more poignant notes to self: Never climb on top of a being larger than myself & expect it to do my bidding!)
Steve was vindicated as we got closer and closer to the top by the sighting of snow. He managed to stay out of tromping through snow at this point, unlike a few hours later when he soaked his Nikes in 3 foot snow drifts another 2k feet higher!
Finally we came to the sign that said the peak was just .2 miles away. As we stepped out onto summit, the view was awe inspiring. Mountains loomed around the horizon across a large valley carved by a moraine 10,000 years ago. I've walked through that valley & seen the huge remnants left as geological trinkets on the floor. But being at the top of a mountain and looking down on it, the valley floor smoothes out, glowing a bright young green on a sunny, crisp morning.
The top of Deer Mountain was littered with chipmunks, curious to find the law-breakers who will feed them. Steve called home to celebrate being on top of the world with his sea-level wife. We marveled (& rued a little) at the fact he got a signal at the top of Deer Mountain.
We took our time on the mountain top & made quick work of the descent. Hiking definitely works both the hamstrings & the quads, up & down! Steve couldn't resist the beckoning grass fields and took a couple of them to bypass a switchback. Maybe he just couldn't resist the short cut. I found it rather easy to resist, not liking the traipse down a 20% slope without a hiking staff, but I wasn't about to let the flatlander show me up, so I accompanied him down one particularly beautiful long grass field. I was glad Ranger Glenn wasn't there to chastise us!
Once we got back to the trailhead, we shot another picture for the end of the hike. We were not as fresh & energetic as the picture taken at the start of the hike, but certainly the trail dust couldn't mask the glow of the first hike of the season!
From the base of Deer Mountain, Steve drove up Trail Ridge Road. We stopped before we got to the Alpine Visitor center, got out of the car at a trail head & gaped at the two guys coming up the road, at nearly 12,000 feet above sea level, pedaling bicycles and towing small trailers behind them. We were impressed! From this trail head, we walked out across a wide plain & quickly found ourselves post-holing through a 200 yard long snow drift. It didn't slow Steve down and soon he'd climbed to the top of the highest outcropping around. From there he found the brass plaque that maps out all of the peaks visible in the 360 degree view afforded by the height. I could see all he could see, I just chose not to climb up the last 30 feet or so.
We drove down from Estes Park & came back via 75th south to Niwot Road. It's a beautiful rural drive that reminds us that development restrictions really are important!
Something about all that open space allows the mind to absorb much more than it normally does. Steve & I probably compressed 3-4 years of conversation into that hike. Not bad for the first hike of the summer!
06 May 2008
Lazy Biking Days of Summer
In case you were wondering, I will be trying to ride my bike in to work again this year! Above is a link to my usual ride, although with the demise of the StorageTek campus, I may need to find a better way around the ICF (Interlocken Charlie Foxtrot).
I'll be taking a practice ride on Sunday to see if I can still make it!
I'll be taking build up rides this week to get ready.
There's air in the tires & even a new tube, so I should be good to go.
Keep your eye on the spy cams around Louisville, Lafayette & Broomfield, maybe you'll spot me! ;-)
26 March 2008
Which Superhero are you?
http://www.thesuperheroquiz.com/
Your results:
You are Spider-Man
Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...
I was never that much into Spiderman, but then I was never as dark as Batman or his ilk.
The comic book superhero is an interesting mythology, especially in light of the pervasive influence it has had across our culture. Millions of kids growing up wishing they could be something that was impossible, rather than dreaming of that which was just slightly out of reach.
Kinda reminds you of the cornucopia of Greek or Roman gods. People were free to worship which ever god they liked best or would help them the most. Mythology still seems to serve the same purpose, eh? ;-)
The more things change, the more they stay the same!
Your results:
You are Spider-Man
| You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.  |
Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...
I was never that much into Spiderman, but then I was never as dark as Batman or his ilk.
The comic book superhero is an interesting mythology, especially in light of the pervasive influence it has had across our culture. Millions of kids growing up wishing they could be something that was impossible, rather than dreaming of that which was just slightly out of reach.
Kinda reminds you of the cornucopia of Greek or Roman gods. People were free to worship which ever god they liked best or would help them the most. Mythology still seems to serve the same purpose, eh? ;-)
The more things change, the more they stay the same!
25 March 2008
How I became a modern day nomad, and how you can too - Gadling
How I became a modern day nomad, and how you can too - Gadling
This really begs the question of how bad do you want to see the rest of the world, not to mention how bad do you want the rest of the world to see you?
With an iPhone, a pocketful of memory chips & credit cards, it would be easy to be virtually anywhere, whilst you actually were virtually anywhere. We should keep an eye on this site! ;-)
This really begs the question of how bad do you want to see the rest of the world, not to mention how bad do you want the rest of the world to see you?
With an iPhone, a pocketful of memory chips & credit cards, it would be easy to be virtually anywhere, whilst you actually were virtually anywhere. We should keep an eye on this site! ;-)
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