Beautiful

Robin Hood Tax?

Winter Olympian

I've enjoyed watching this guy since the first time I saw him compete back in 2002. There's something about the bad boy head to head sports that sets them apart from glitter and judge events. His dad got him into sports to keep him from being a latch key kid after the mom left. He was chunky as a kid and still fights the weight problem if he's not training. He's been involved in international controversy and accused of throwing a race so a friend could make the Olympic team (exonerated totally). He seems to be one of those nice polite people who morph into an animal when the gun goes off. His sport is one of those where the slightest slip can cost you everything and yet he's tied for the most Olympic medals (5) won by an American male. He could easily pick up the two medals he needs to be the most successful Winter Olympian in American History or make the tiniest of errors and fall flat. It's like that for all of the head to head sports and it is agonizing for anyone close to an athlete, knowing how hard they train, how difficult it is to win, and how easy it is to lose.

Apolo_Anton_Ohno

It's too bad these kids have to shill so hard to pay the bills.

And because you probably missed Rachel Maddow's eviceration of the idiots who deny climate change because it snowed in Washington, D.C.



The Winter Olympics are facing a problem because it is in the 50's in Canada right now. All climate change models predict the extremes will get more extreme. Why is that so hard to get across to some people?

Damn the Stimulus...Full Speed Ahead!

There's a message, a moral, and a mission here. See this to the end.

Ernest Shackleton's Scotch Stash Recovered With Brandy Bonus

There's no limit to what some people will do in search of a good single malt Scotch:

The alcohol was removed from the ice by the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust, which had initially believed there to be just two crates.
Al Fastier from the trust said: "To our amazement we found five crates, three labelled as containing whisky and two labelled as containing brandy."

Famed Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton led an expedition to be the first to reach the South Pole. He failed by 100 miles. When his ship was trapped in ice he took a small crew in a life boat and rowed 800 miles across the Arctic Ocean too South Georgia Island to obtain help and rescue his entire crew. He saved every man but tragically lost his stash of Scotch and Brandy. A distiller hopes to analyze the Scotch and replicate the recipe which has been lost to mankind until now.

Noble work, that!

Not Bad Shine Crazy...Nope, Nope, Nope

That's a Georgia accent if I ever heard one. Matter of fact, I'm from Georgia and I sound just like that...And if you believe that, I've got some TVA fertilizer I want to sell you.

Every Child Outdoors

With video game and HD Tv turning out kids into couch potatoes destined for an old age fighting type 2 diabetes, some folks are trying to reverse a really unhealthy trend. Yesterday the Tennessee State Senate adopted SR705 in support of:

Tennessee Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights

With recent concerns about youth detachment from the outdoors, lack of physical exercise and increased health risks, “Every Child Outdoors – Tennessee” has adopted The Tennessee Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights (TCOBOR).

“Every Child Outdoors – Tennessee” is a coalition of more than 100 supporting organizations including local, state and national organizations and agencies, governments, non-profits and businesses representing health, natural resource, education, hunting and fishing, recreation and youth stakeholders.

TCOBOR is a list of experiences from which every child in Tennessee would benefit.

Studies document that children who engage in these activities are healthier, perform better in school, have better social skills and self-image, and lead more fulfilled lives.

The Tennessee Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights states that Tennessee every child, before entering high school, should have the opportunity to:

Walk in the woods

Play outside

Explore nature

Watch wildlife

Grow a garden

Splash in the water

Camp under the stars

Learn to swim

Climb a tree

Go fishing

Fly a kite

Visit a farm

Mission of “Every Child Outdoors – Tennessee”

To promote and support opportunities that encourage children to engage with and experience the outdoors.

Winter Light

The far ridge has put on a light show all day today.

In the sunset light the trees on the ridge top seem to have been plugged in. My photography does not do this justice. I guess you have to be glad I tried to capture it instead of just going for another glass of wine and the binoculars.

Obama Goes to the Lions Den (And Kick some Lion Rear)

President Obama went to the Republican retreat today. He stood there, took their questions (including a really stupid blathering from TN Congressperson Marsha Blackman), and fed them some humble pie. It was televised on CNN and several Republicans are complaining that was a big mistake.

Obama stands and delivers.

The spin started before Obama was even finished. The Republicans kept trying to end it saying, "Mr. President, We're sure you have other commitments."

"Nah, I'm having fun," said Barack Obama.

Listen

Back Home on a Winter Walk

So enough about New Zealand. We're home again after an epic flight and the delivery guy just brought our luggage home after the airline lost it. All is good and we cemented our homecoming with a little walk up the creek. Even though we've been hiking around glaciers the local cold is, um, refreshing.

Ice on the swimming hole...

In a very few weeks, several fish species will start their mating season in the creek. Deep in this pool the temperature is nearly the same year round, with the cold only affecting the upper 15 feet. Down deep it is always 58 to 64 degrees when the water flows are below those required to stir things up.

Ice on Ford Branch.

Cheers to all in the new year. Glad to be home!

Hanging with the Stars

Some stars wear sun glasses when they go out in public, this one wears clouds. Mt. Ngauruhoe, one of the cameo stars of "Lord of the Rings" known on screen as Mt. Doom, refused to put in an appearance for us. I think that Orc thing has left it a bit shy. We're on the sunny side so the snow cap didn't make the shot.

And now the big star...Mordor! Mount Tongariro gives its name to the National park that contains these volcanoes. One of them, Mt. Ruapehu, has erupted as recently as 2007 and killed 153 people in 1996. Doesn't stop the locals from building a ski village right up on the slopes in the volcanic detritus.

The Kiwis have a certain dry humor that abounds in everything, even the highway signs.

We never saw a live kiwi but the warning signs for their signature bird were everywhere in the parks. Introduced mammals, the possum and a weasel, may be the end of kiwis in the wild.

Home Stretch

We're on the way back to Aukland to fly home in three days. We gain back the day we lost crossing the date line but the jet lag will be the same. Here's a few more pix to make you jealous.

Sunset at Glenhu Bay near Mt Aspiring.

Reversible Falls going the right way. We named it that.

Here's why...

They had a trampoline at the campground near Mt. Cook. There were 140 kph wind gusts at 3000 meters that night. We were only at 1500 but our tent got flattened anyway.

New Year in New Zealand

This is the Glacier Burn track in the Holden Range across from Glenorchy. The glacial lakes are mind bogglingly aqua and massive. This was roughly a 1500 meter ascent through an ancient forest. We were sure we were going to have to start fighting Orcs any second. More pictures later when I get to an internet connection that actually works.

Merry Christmas to All

We're in the land of the Kea, a gorgeous and overly inquisitive bird.

This is one of the more common flightless birds in New Zealand called a Weka. This one was eating road kill and dodging cars at the last second like it was no big deal.

Arthur's Pass looking up the Otira river. The flowers are one of the Foxgloves, I think.
This is the Devil's Punchbowl falls, my first hike in NZ if you don't count the Christchurch botanical gardens.

Pororari river walk on Christmas morning...

I'm not used to looking up and seeing ferns as big as palm trees. There are some Hobbits in there somewhere.

The NZ Christmas tree grows all over the place. I don't know if people plant them in their yards or just leave them in place when they build the houses. There's no need to plant exotic ornamentals when the weeds look like this.

Merry Christmas from all of us. We wish you were here...And so do you!

Santa...Bad Role Model

Santa Claus is the only fictional character in the world with a higher recognition factor than Ronald McDonald. Children love him and dream of his visit to their home in the wee hours of Christmas.

In many cultures snacks are traditionally left for Santa. These can be cookies and milk or they can include a small snifter of brandy along with a few carrots and celery sticks for the reindeer. After a night of house to house careening around the planet and pounding brandy to stay warm, Santa is probably totally toasted as he sits in the driver's seat. Think about the structural soundness of your roof and the possibility of a drunken fat guy crashing a team of reindeer through your attic.

Santa is an obvious communist as well. I know of no more entrenched wealth redistribution system than his lavishing billions of dollars worth of merchandise upon children who haven't paid a dime for any of it, and thanks to those danged Liberals and their child labor laws, it is not even legal to make them work to earn that new play station, even though it was probably assembled by children in some Asian nation with sensible worker protection laws, like say China. Elves, you say? Yeah right. Santa wears a lot of red, have you noticed?

Santa's fat and proud of it. At least he hides one of his worst habits from the kids. He still smokes. You only catch him with his pipe on older traditional cards but we know it and he should own up to it. He rides around shouting at his poor reindeer drinking, feasting, and spreading the wealth like a madman, and what's with all the ho's?

I'm guessing that like so many other wives of celebrities, Mrs. Claus stays with the old coot for the good of the elves. There's no other reason.

All in all, except for that junk food thing of his, Ronald McDonald might be the better role model. Except he hangs around with puppets and children and no adults. Hmmm?

Cheers,

Steve

PS: There's even some research

"I Am Your Enemy"

Understanding brings a certain sadness and realization about the cowardice of those we elect and how our country works. It is a continuing theme of mine that we are being constantly lied to and that these lies are abetted by a disabled media whose main duty is to praise Pollyanna for emptying the chamberpots. Today's reading assignment is an insider's dish on why, in the fight for "Truth, Justice, and the American Way," It is the Joker who is winning.

I am your enemy. That you don't know this is understandable: after all, people like me prefer it that way. But until you understand just what you're up against and why, you're going to continue to lose, and look like fools in the process

.

No One is Going to Save You Fools

Since the Liberal Media Didn't Bring you This...

Just last week, Republican leaders in the House summoned more than 100 key lobbyists for the financial industry to a "pep rally," and urged them to redouble their efforts to block meaningful financial reform. Not that they needed the encouragement. These industry lobbyists have already spent more than $300 million on lobbying the debate this year.

You knew all that, right? That was a quote from your President, after all. As near as I can tell, our President is a kind, thinking, literate, bad ass dude, and a great leader. If only he had some courageous people to lead!

Yeah! I'm talkin' to you! I'm talkin' to you!

US Government Report: China's #1 Export to the USA...Unemployment

Want some scary stories to read? This will frighten you as much as anything ever. This is from a report by the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission and frankly tells us where our jobs have gone...

China has consistently used the value added tax as an instrument of industrial policy, applying the VAT selectively to penalize imports and to encourage exports. The VAT, which has been adopted by 140 countries, including most industrialized countries other than the United States, is applied to manufactured goods at each
stage of production. China levies a 17 percent VAT on the value of most goods. However, this 17 percent rate is rebated selectively on exports and applied to all imports.

Ugly stuff and why have we stood around and let this happen?

Export-led growth policies pursued by China and other industrializing nations have inevitably led to excess capacity in many products, notably steel and automobiles, which has contributed to declining manufacturing jobs and production in
many market-oriented countries, including the United States. Problems arise for China’s trading partners as China exports its excess capacity at prices that the rest of the world cannot match. For example, in 2008, China accounted for 38 percent of the world’s crude steel production (about 500 million tons), compared to only 7 percent for the United States, and China’s excess capacity of steel is
greater then Japan’s entire yearly output.352 Such exports also exacerbate the global economic downturn, as China essentially exports unemployment

...

This is a long and wonky report but essentially says what the USA needs to do to turn around our employment picture:

Quit letting China steal our lunch!

The Report

And then there's this:

China’s Cyber Activities that Target the United States, and the Resulting Impacts on U.S. National Security

• The Commission recommends that Congress assess the effectiveness of and resourcing for law enforcement, defense, and intelligence community initiatives that aim to develop effective and reliable attribution techniques for computer exploitation and
computer attacks.
• The Commission recommends that Congress urge the administration to develop measures to deter malicious Chinese cyber activity directed at critical U.S. infrastructure and U.S. government information systems

.

Geez! There's report after report at this US Government web site that both scares and angers me. Pick a subject and read for yourself. We don't need to have a jobs summit. We need the gumption to do the obvious. Quit sending our manufacturing strength and jobs to China.

Dammit!

Steve

And now here's more scary topics posted at the links I gave you:

Among the topics addressed in the 367-page Report are:

China’s increasingly aggressive espionage efforts to obtain U.S. secrets and technology for the benefit of China’s military and its economy.
China’s stepped-up cyber espionage and cyber warfare capabilities that constitute a growing threat to U.S. computer networks.
China’s extensive use of foreign propaganda and China’s efforts to influence public opinion and policymaking in the United States.
China’s detailed industrial policy designed to attract foreign investment and production and to create “national champions” to compete on a global scale.
China’s use of subsidies and other trade-distorting measures in violation of its international commitments.
China’s role in the creation of the economic imbalances that that helped produce the global financial crisis.
The expansion and modernization of the Chinese navy and its effects on U.S. access to the waters around China and Taiwan and the likelihood of a maritime arms race.
The use of new and more sophisticated methods by Chinese authorities to control the Chinese news media and the Internet.
China’s activities in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia.
Mainland China’s increasing influence in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
The effect of China’s policies on the economy of the upstate New York region.

Thought for Today

On a day when a peer reviewed scientific publication notes that Miami, Savannah, Charleston, and New York City will be underwater in before this century is done, and conservatives have come out with pro rape and anti abortion votes in the Senate as another 30,000 combat troops are being committed to Afghanistan, the number one news story in America is, "Tiger Woods Got Women...Lots of 'em."

I don't play golf. It seems like a stupid game to me. There's no defense and everybody gets their own ball. It's sort of a grandiose version of pitching pennies combined with a drinking game.

The highest endorsement players over the last few years have been Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, who are seen as the good guys, and John Daly, seen as an out and out party boy, womanizer, and drunk. Tiger is undergoing a slight image modification at the moment. He's in trouble for getting caught using his driver in the rough.

Every day it seems another stunningly attractive bimbo pops up in front of the cameras playing a voice mail message from golf's golden boy. It remains to be seen how this will affect Tiger's billion dollar revenue stream of purses and endorsements. Publicly, sports and news pundits are "Tsk, tsking" about Tiger, but I've seen golf carts, and I know that they have spots for two golf bags and four beverage containers. You can try and tell me that male golfers as a whole are disappointed with Tiger but I know differently. They're thinking, "Dang! I've got to get me some of those clubs."

And I know danged well that Tiger's Nike golf shirts are flying off the shelf. That would be the ones with the slogan that says...

"Just Do It!"

Cheers,

Steve

Disclaimer: No Golf cliches were harmed in the making of this bog post.

Sunday Sermon from the Ministry of Truth

A caring message to the Conservatives sheep ...with sympathy: "Why don't you stop doing Satan's the Big Bad Wolf's work for him."

(I wish I had written this!)

We are sorry that you don't want your kids learning certain things. We are sorry that you are afraid and confused. We are sorry that you are angry and scared. We will try to make it better but it only works if you stop fighting us like it was good versus evil, because, dear Conservatives, liberals are on YOUR side, not the Pharisee establishment who couldn't pass through a needles eye.

We are sorry that you live in a separate reality, dear Conservatives, and we are doing what we can to make things better. Fortunately for all of us, there are some adults in the room now, people who don't fear monger with death panels and terror strikes, conspiracy theories and misinformation. The world WILL make progress, and we can't afford to do it without you. We can't have you fighting us tooth and nail anymore either. We can't afford to wait for you to figure it out, dear Conservatives, so we may have to go on without you, because our future is too important to screw up, and right now, you're not helping.

And that's just some of the punch lines. I invite you to read the rest.

Noble Bird

I got up a couple of hours before dawn to get this dinosaur going in the smoker. Four more hours and we'll be feasting.

Walk Over Williams Mountain

I'm afraid I don't get the ORV experience. Why would you want to ride a noisy machine right by tons of really cool things when you could walk and listen and experience them on every level? I was unhappy at seeing the ORV tracks that led down to this spring head. There are extremely rare plants that live in these micro ecosystems and one trip on a 4 wheeler could destroy all of them in one pass. This is the spring head on Williams Mountain above Whites Creek. My botanist friend has asked me to be on the lookout for a rare orchid that grows in spots like this.

This is the Williams Cemetery. I have no idea how that circle was drilled onto the rock headstone. In every one of these old remote cemeteries I always see the headstones that are spaced only a few feet apart. They lost a lot of children in early times. And by early times I mean less than 100 years ago. My maternal grandmother gave birth to 5 babies but only raised 3 children in deep rural Georgia. In parts of Tennessee, like Williams Mountain, it wasn't any better. There are four headstones in this photo and seven more of the small ones just out of the frame to the right.

You've Been Warned!

Gore brings The Crazy.

Slacker!

In his first ten months President Obama has miserably failed to live up to the accomplishments of his predecessor. He has allowed not a single foreign based terrorist attack on US soil nor has he cleared any brush on a fake ranch. In fact, Obama has only taken one week of actual vacation since he took office and he still conducted official duties during that time so does it really count? He has had several date nights with his wife, however, so maybe that should count for something, and he did build a swing set for his daughters on the lawn at the White House...But other than that, what has he actually done, besides personally meet with more leaders of foreign countries in his first six months than any other President in history?

Sure there's that restart of the nuclear proliferation talks, cutting the bogus star wars missile defense thing that would work just fine if our enemies would only put GPS transmitters on their nuclear ballistic missiles aimed at the USA. And well, he has upgraded the body armor for our troops from the lousy stuff they've had to use for 7 years, increased their pay, changed policy to pay the expenses of the families of our fallen warriors, ordered the government to start complying with the Freedom of Information Act, put restrictions on future lobbying by his staff after they leave, restricted lobbyist access to the White House, opened White House visitation records to the public, re-engaged in talks to protect the Arctic, engaged in climate change initiatives, re-committed to treaties to protect the Antarctic, worked to end the practice of providing tax incentives to companies who offshore American jobs, lowered drug costs for seniors, ended the policy of no bid contracts, ended the practice of having White House aides re-write scientific reports to support polluters, paid for redecorating the White House living quarters out of his own pocket, and ended the Bush war on medical marijuana. Sure there's that, but really...What has he actually done?

Has he announced that he plans to pull out of Iraq? Well yeah, and he fired the generals in charge of Afghanistan and ordered the new ones to go away and come up with a new plan that might actually work or a plan to withdraw if not. And then he may have actually prevented the collapse of America's financial system, but other than that, what?

Come on, I'm waiting...

This man is an obvious slacker who deserves his low approval rating by the American people of over three times that of Congress. I mean has the national economy showed positive growth yet? Well sure but only about 3.5% so far, what kind of turn around is that after an entire year of negative growth?

I mean when is Barack Obama actually going to do something?



Peace,



Steve


Lots of this was taken from here and there's plenty more than what I've mentioned.

Enemies Domestic

...energy and natural resources companies have lobbied Washington to the tune of $300 million in the first nine months of this year, above the pace of last year’s $387 million. Oil and gas companies and electric utilities accounted for more than two-thirds of the spending. Their lobbying to keep fossil fuels burning without any care for the planet swamped the lobbying by alternative energy concerns, which so far this year amount to $23 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The Chamber of Commerce, America’s single-biggest lobbyist, spent $35 million in the third quarter alone and $65 million for the year, fighting meaningful climate change and health care legislation.

Enemies Domestic

How to Teach Difficult Ideas

This is a magical confluence of musical talent, intellect, and digital technology from Melodysheep.

It is a WOW moment for me...

More (and maybe even better)

Symphony of Science

It was 40 Years Ago Today...

Big stars for 25 years now, is it time for these two monsters of the screens big and small to come out??

They share a room, and a bedroom, if not a bed. They bicker like husband and wife. They frequently break out in song. One has a curious obsession with his rubber ducky.

To answer that burning question our cracked research team here at Whites Creek Journal has delved into tthis scandal and can now lay to rest a persistent entertainment industry rumor: Bert and Ernie, regardless of what Jerry Falwell's ardent followers might think, are NOT gay!

The proof is evident when one watches them perform in rehearsal. They cannot have sexual preferences of that sort because they cannot have sexual preferences whatsoever. The truth of the matter is that Bert and Ernie are puppets. They have no naughty bits. They simply do not exist from the waist down.

...the sexuality of other cartoon characters has come into question over the years. Anti-gay groups have accused SpongeBob SquarePants and Tinky Winky of the "Teletubbies" of harboring a homosexual agenda...

The fact that these characters are complete fiction seems to be lost on certain folks who still harbor the delusion that one may be recruited into a particular sexual lifestyle by reading the wrong comic books or watching TV a little too early on Saturday morning. Yes it's true that Batman spends more time with Robin than with Batgirl or Catwoman, even, but what does that prove?

Pee Wee Herman has a girlfriend as does Oscar the Grouch, though Oscar does live in a trash can with his pet worm, but hey...What does THAT prove? I'm pretty sure Oscar's girl friend was a sham. Happens all the time in Hollywood. Why do some people have lives so small that they even care? They should focus on the really big issues like instant replay in football and that floating pile of plastic the size of the USA in the Pacific Ocean. The personal persuasion of a fictional creation has about as much relevance to the state of the world as the real meaning of what those dark bits in Moose Tracks ice cream are supposed to represent. These questions are not for a child's world and Henson knew that. Instead he gave us characters with differences and empathy and taught us to love them. Stepping back and reviewing the body of work one has to accept that Jim Henson's creations are as great a force for the acceptance of our differences as any on this planet. It is a monumental force for good.

At any rate, today marks the 40th anniversary of the Muppets and I wish Jim Henson could be here to enjoy it. The creativity brought forth by the puppeteers has been marvelous and uplifting at times and raucously funny at others. If you have never taken a child to a Muppets stage show your life is the poorer for it. It's not too late. What a gift to the world.

Thank you , Jim Henson. Thank you, puppeteers.

Good night Ernie. Good night Bert. Must be fun to get through life and never have to wear pants.

Peace,

Steve

Evidence on the Water

After finding our phone lines had been intentionally cut on Friday, we felt an epic hike would restore our understanding of why we work so hard to protect Whites Creek in the face of people whose "fun" destroys things they refuse to understand. Today was another day where one is called to go outside. We needed some restoration and renewal.

The visual symphony of the gorge is well documented photographically on this site, but there's always something new to discover or see in new light. We've been working on the trail up to this table rock and my photography can't begin to tell you what it's like to walk around behind the pedestal as you think about the massive sandstone rock supported over your head by the seemingly fragile stack of sedimentary rocks your hand is touching. Some of them are obviously loose.

The cliff above this level is the edge of the gorge. I believe it has the best view of any overlook for miles around, high enough to view Laurel Branch cut on the Rhea County side but still below the level of the traces of humanity on the far side plateau. You'll have to come out and see for yourself because the photos don't do justice, mine anyway.

Under the edge of the cliff is a huge overhang with the remnants of a stone shack. We've heard various stories about it. Whther it is the draft dodger's hide out from wars in the last century or a moonshiner's shack, it is in a magnificent south facing location worthy of the Anasazi on a smaller scale. The cliff side is home to a plant that John Muir paid notice to on his walk through Tennessee in 1867. This is the "round leaf catch fly" honoring us with a late season blossom. It is in the same family as "Fire pink" which blooms in the spring, and is carnivorous, catching midges and such in the sticky hairs on its leaves. This allows it to gather nourishment from the air, as it were, and survive on this otherwise inhospitable ledge.


Nature takes its course in the world, whether we like it or not. Descending from the rim of the gorge some 500 vertical feet above, I saw this downy white clutch of feathers floating in a leaf lined pool of water. Unreachable, even with the stick I was carrying to beat back the blackberry canes from my path, I wondered what bird they could possibly belong to?

Looking around the path I saw the answer, unusual as it was. One of the large hawks, probably a young redtail, had entered the food chain on an unfortunately lower rung than what it usually occupied.

A shrill "scree" call echoed through the gorge from above the trees as I studied the feathers and the fresh blood that told me this was a very recent death and possibly the mate of the bird circling and calling repeatedly above me. What predator could make this kill and devour the 3 to 4 pounds of hawk as well as the hawks kill that had held it vulnerable on the ground? I'm guessing coyote, and maybe more than one.

It's tough out there.

Peace,

Steve

Walk on November 5

These are views that few of my friends will go with me to see. It takes a 400 foot vertical hike to get to these spots but it's well worth it. The first is Rhea County seen from a rock outcrop in the back yard. Whites Creek can be seen at the lower left, some 600 feet below. The Sequatchie Nuclear plant at Soddy Daisy is on the far horizon but only shows as a small bump in this shot, thank goodness.

I see land advertised as "lake view" so I guess mine qualifies. That part of the lake is the main channel nine or so miles away. On a clearer day the Smokies sit on the horizon about 80 miles away.

This Morning's Walk

I was sitting on one of the house sized rocks on the edge of the creek when I noticed this sun bow. It's times like that in which I wish I was a real photographer with the skills and equipment to really capture the light. You'll have to make do with this for now.

This is the reflection of the intense morning sun at flat rock pool. I stared at this for way too long, meditating on things I will share with you later. The short version is that our efforts to protect Whites Creek and share it as a private natural area for everyone to experience are under attack by some very selfish and short sighted people. There are legal issues that keep me from saying more at the moment but I may need your help if this goes any further.

You can see larger versions of these shots by clicking on the images.

Scary Story

Lots of things keep me awake at night. Here's one that should keep every American restless until we fix it.

You know all those expensive fighter jets, missiles, smart bombs, attack drones, satellites, and other electronic equipment that the United States military relies on to fight battles and protect America? The computer chips that make them all do what we tell them are mostly made in Asian factories.

98% of the integrated circuitry inside American Military equipment is not made in America. This means that we don't have total control over what internal program can be built in to the chips. We are susceptible to the modern equivalent of the Trojan Horse, secret programming that can take over the equipment when triggered.

“Maliciously tampered integrated circuits cannot be patched,” General Clark wrote. “They are the ultimate sleeper cell.”

So our failure to Buy American has rendered our military vulnerable by allowing the possible takeover of our Military might by a foreign power.

But this is just a scary story and nothing like this has ever happened right?...Right?

A recent White House review noted that there had been several “unambiguous, deliberate subversions” of computer hardware.
“These are not hypothetical threats,”

Starting to worry yet? The obvious thing to do is contract with American owned and based facilities to build what we need at home, right? Buy American, right? Anyone against this has to be a traitor to America supporting America's enemies, right? Wanna take a guess who vehemently opposed to the very idea of "Buy American"?

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The slogan "Buy American" makes good sense during a time when America is digging its way out of a recession that took 8 years to create. But the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has lost sight of who they used to represent, so they are spending millions to make sure that Americans ignore the slogan, "Buy American." The U.S. Chamber has hired Madison Avenue PR firms to discourage any "Buy American" trend

So has the US Chamber of Commerce been taken over by anti American sympathizers? Corporatists?

Is there any other conclusion that can be drawn by a rational person? I don't think so.

It's time to call upon our elected officials to protect us from all enemies, foreign and especially...Domestic.

Steve

PS: It should be noted that non-open source software in our electronic voting machines makes our elections as unsafe as our military equipment and far easier to tamper with. One must ask why the Tennessee Republican Party is so adamantly refusing to provide a paper ballot to prove how votes were actually cast in a recount?

Pick Your Side and Let's Fight

In the United States of America we treasure free speech in an odd way...We allow people and corporations the freedom to lie. This gets us in all sorts of trouble. We started a war in the Middle East on the grounds that weapons of mass destruction were moments from being fired at us, we have museums that show humans riding dinosaurs, a sacred book says that evil was introduced into the world by a talking snake, and a massive ad campaign that claims there is no such thing as human caused global warming. All of these statements have no basis in fact, though they do have a basis in belief created by the marketing department. Why do we, not only allow people to lie to us, but protect their ability to do so even with the obvious destructive consequences smashing us in the face every single day?

(Before some of you go off on me for that talking snake quip I ask two things...One: Open your bible and read the appropriate text word for word. Two: The mainstream church that I was raised in taught that many of the passages in the Bible were parables and metaphors, not necessarily hard fact.)

Now...

We have health insurance companies paying politicians (why do we allow this?) to sanctimoniously lie about a "government takeover of medicine" which no one in Congress has proposed. There are proposals for government takeover of insurance but that's different and I personally approve. Since the early 1990's the private insurance industry has quadrupled its financial burden on the American GDP and yet the average life expectancy of Americans has actually dropped when the effects of anti smoking campaigns are factored out. We're paying four times as much and it is not doing a damned bit of good on the whole left to the private insurance sector. Maybe you believe that the "Government can't do anything right" but I'll contend that the private sector has done far worse and is headed worser. If our system did not allow corporations to pay politicians to lie with impunity we would have a completely different medical system already.

My vote for greatest injustice to America is the systematic attack on the Scientific Method's most beautiful child, Critical Thinking. Science makes no moral judgement because it can't. Darwinian Theory is accepted by every rational scientist on the planet, not because it is a beautiful and elegant work, but because it has withstood every single critical attack ever launched by reputable scientists, who know that should they succeed they would be instantly elevated to the highest annals of human achievement and history. The H1N1 virus was not created 6000 years ago by magic. It evolved from its predecessors as predicted by scientists, warning us to get ready, well before it actually showed up in human populations. H1N1 is one of those successful mutations that Darwin told us about. The Scientific Method is giving us the means to combat it. This is fact.

Another thing that the overwhelming majority of scientists have predicted is Global Warming. This has been predicted and warned about since the middle of the last century as scientists noticed that industrially produced greenhouse emissions began to make up an increasing percentage of our atmosphere. They also noticed that free Oxygen, the one element in our atmosphere that we require for our immediate survival, is being reduced. No sane scientist wanted the greenhouse effect to be real. It was with hope against hope that the phenomena were scientifically evaluated with the awful truth emerging from every direction...We are killing our planetary ecosystem's ability to support human civilization in any form that currently exists. Scientists have also told us what we need to do in order to save our planet and ourselves. We have the vaccine under development at this very moment. The vaccine to protect us from unthinkable world Armageddon is so simple that we don't seem to be able to accept its reality. We can stop creating greenhouse gases.

Continuing on our current path will leave to our grand children and great grandchildren a vastly different planet Earth, upon which they may not be able to survive. This is what the scientists tell us. Currently the primary greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2) makes up 390 parts per million in our air. This is too high for our planet to remain at its current average temperature and predictions are that it will go much higher under our current industrial path. In order to stabilize our planet we need to stop the increase in CO2 emissions and reduce them so that the ppm returns to a safe level of around 350 ppm. Anybody who tells you different is lying to you. The liars consist of mostly the energy cartels and their hired lackeys. Their hired lackeys consist of certain news organizations and certain politicians.

The question must be asked, "Why do these people want to wish Armageddon upon their blood descendants?" I think it is because not only are they lying to you and me...They are lying to themselves. It is because when normally rational human beings come together in the group think of a corporation they leave their souls and consciences outside the door. They sit around the Big Coal corporate table looking at each other and say, "Stopping this Global Warming thing will make us go bankrupt so let's pretend it isn't happening." No one sitting at that table whose country club membership and floor level basketball tickets are at stake will state the obvious..."But we'll destroy our planetary ecosystem!" They can't because they have abrogated their humanity and turned their soul over to a corporation which has none of either.

So look to see who tells you the truth about this. We can save ourselves and our children but we can't save the corporations who lie to us. Worse than that...It is us or them. The solutions are easy.

We will eventually run out of coal if we survive long enough to burn it all, but that is suicidal. The Stone Age did not end because we ran out of rocks. Humanity found a better way to make its tools. It is an ugly metaphor but fact that in America the people who relied on stone were over run by people who had moved on to iron. There are technologies, efficiencies, and conservation methods that could immediately cut our energy use in half. Solar energy has arrived and is actually now cheaper than coal if all of coal's externalized costs are added back in. Batteries need some work but are extremely promising. It is time to move away from coal and we can. We will have to choose this path. A a consequence this will destroy coal companies and energy companies who choose coal as their power source. It will greatly diminish the fossil based fuel and energy sector. Some very rich people will lose some money. It will save the Earth and its peoples.

Pick your side and let's fight. As for me...I choose fact and the side that reveres fact and rejects lies. I choose science and the side that studies science over ignorance. I choose Life for my children!

Courage,

Steve

350.org

Whoops there goes another Mountaintop

What is a mountain worth? And the clear clean streams that flow off its slopes, when the prize is the coal that is killing our planet?

Fall 09

Taken this afternoon in grey light. The creek is showing the limestone blue when the sun shines but it hasn't done that much these last few days.

I may post a few more shots later. It was a good day to hike and see the world. I love the light after storms.

"All Americans Should be Proud"