VOTE!

Well, my friends, this is it. In the mere two years since I started blogging to keep myself from a random killing spree, we have a true shot at redeeming ourselves here in the US of A. And make no mistake, when I say "this is it", I really mean it. Things must change. Our country can no longer bear the idiocy and incompetence that has oozed it's way into our body politic because of the knee-jerk voting habits of the ultra-religious (and hyper hypocritical) "base" of the right. Reasoned people are running for office this year. Good people that found that rising to the challenge of governance meant doing so out of the desire to see true change, not as an opportunity to become part of the Washington meat grinder that churns out a new corrupt lobbyist every time someone is leaving political office. No, there is no way to overstate this, things must change.

I will vote today, and in doing so, I bring with me a belief system just like many of the people I vehemently disagree with, but what I'd like to think is that my beliefs are second to my desire to see our government finally act out of the desire to help all of the people that reside here, not just the ones who look at life in the same way as I do. To me, the single issue voter is a loaded gun. A narrow-minded tactical weapon used to sway elections away from issues that will effect more than the people on their block. The "morality" based wedge-issue is their fuse, and what's been interesting in this election cycle is how little prominence the press has been giving them this year (aside from Iraq of course). I'm not saying I would wish to suppress the votes of the so-called "values voters", but what I would like is that if you belong to any group who chooses to demonize others for their behavior while ignoring the hypocrisies your leaders, I would prefer that these folks would stay home until such time as they have educated themselves on more than one issue dictated to them by their pastor by simply reading their states voting guide.

We have a right to vote. All of us do. It is our fundamental right and duty in this country. Don't let apathy or intimidation or any other such force imposed upon you deter you from what you need to do today. Most of all though, vote with a well informed conscience. It's your vote cast and yours alone. No one will know what you've said to the country in doing so, it's private. So say what you will to us today with a clear mind. As far as what you say, well, that's up to you. Good luck.

I'm still here

I'm pretty sure no one is reading this blog anymore, but if they are, just read the title. Most of the reason I've halted major operations on this site have to do with being physically unable to sustain the necessary amount of rage needed to write a really good and informed post. Politics, bahh! You see, in the intervening time, I've found it much more helpful to release my need to pursue truth and justice in the broader world we live in and focus on something much more pointed and urgent. I've become a capitalist. It's a wonderful thing. You should all try it some time.

Gone are the days when Mid East struggles boiled my blood and forced me into a mad tail chasing effort to eviscerated all who caused the world I once loved to tumble into chaos. No, now I just plan how much more I can get for the rental on my next job or how fat the business account is getting due to my rapid succession of 16 hours days. Yep, I'm sellin' out, I want the world to know, I've got to let it show!

Screaming "Money Fucking Rocks!" from every roof top in glamorous Sherman Oaks might mitigate some of the stress I've accumulated along with the rising pile of cash.... aaaahh crap. Who am I kidding here, I'm still broke. I'm just trying to believe some of my own hype right now so I don't freak out and run screaming from this little all consuming vortex of a business I've started.

Why do we encourage Americans to do this rather than vote? What is it about the fable of the American entrepreneur that seems to draw in millions more good hard working people rather than local city council elections? Why aren't I doing more to help the world rather than... well, making more money I can't seem to hold onto. The only reason I can come up with goes back to a daydream I had this morning.

Somehow, (either by Lotto or Gates Foundation grant) I had become unimaginably wealthy and imagined myself using every dime I had to buy CNN. Instantly, people such as Joe Scarborough and Nancy Grace were "put on notice", and I clearly let them know if they didn't start to practice real journalism, their heads were gonna roll. I was a tough boss and even though some hated me, they still respected what I was doing.

Then came the grand daddy of all fantasies. One day (as I believe truly happens) an administration official, someone of a Roveian stature, comes to visit me in my office. This official sits across from me and informs me that the president is unhappy with the recent left-leaning slant my network was taken. I sit and listen to a very long and veiled threat about regulations and tax breaks that will never come to pass if I play ball. It is at this point that I smile as I rise from my non-leather clad chair and inform him that everything he has just said has been tapped by a hidden camera crew and this meeting would lead this evenings news. Impeachments soon follow somehow.

I don't think the fantasy holds much water when it comes to the finer legal points or my ability to wrangle a couple billion dollars, but the point is still the same, money equals power. For now, this is the over ridding equation. So maybe this is why I've chosen the dizzyingly complex world of micro-finance, it's just one way to feel some pull in the world run by the shadow democracy of money. Too bad it'll keep me fixated on making more money instead of on the real matters of import. Weird thing is though, I'm enjoying it. CNN here I come!

Your vegan positive news article of the day:

A fisherman was recovering from surgery after he was speared in the chest and knocked into the Atlantic Ocean by a blue marlin during a fishing competition off Bermuda's coast.

Auto Lament

Last night at the Pharmacy while getting my EpiPen prescription (I hate bees!) the pharmacist told me not to leave the EpiPen in the glove box. I whimpered to him I don't have a car.
It's actually not true, I still have my vehicle but am selling it in about a month.
I think I sounded sad when I said I didn't have a car, but upon reflection, I think I am just in the mourning process of leaving the auto lifestyle. I think I have almost completed the grieving since I completely forgot I still have an auto.
I went outside in the 40 degree weather and had a great ride home.

Spring begins in less than a week...

It just continues to snow. We drove up the road about 10 miles on Sunday to ski. There was 3' on the ground, makes the cycling difficult.

Debtors Prison = Gitmo?

This is a long time coming I realize. I was just sharing with vuduvgn that I wasn't mad enough to post anything lately, then I read some blogs...

They paid down some debt. The balance on their JCPenney Platinum MasterCard had gotten to an unhealthy level. So they sent in a large payment, a check for $6,522.

And an alarm went off. A red flag went up. The Soehnges' behavior was found questionable.

Read the whole thing to realize how totally effed up our country is right now. Just think about how many freedoms we've lost since Bush took office. Just list them one at a time. Then maybe you'll get really mad again, like me.

Bush hates fish and fat kids will rule the world

``The federal government has done absolutely nothing to help, and fishermen are angry,'' said Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations. ``It's almost like they created this Klamath situation to make them look competent on Katrina.''

The number of overweight children worldwide will increase significantly by the end of the decade, and scientists expect profound impacts on everything from public health care to economies, a study published Monday said.

Snow in Nevada City - Edit

We woke up to snow again in Nevada City. Not much, only about 3 or so inches, but still purdy.


Looking up Commercial St. from the office window.


Looking down Commercial St.


View over the next building to the trees beyond. Click for larger version.

Update: This is later on in the day.

From the office window

Biking as a Lenten practice

[Peter] Dula was ashen when he addressed us with his typed speech. His voice and his words conveyed the bitterness of the present-day situation in the Middle East, the Iraqi hatred for Americans, and his powerlessness to distinguish himself from the occupying military forces and contractors. He told us how he had recently been evacuated to Jordan after a rash of expatriate kidnappings, leaving behind new friends whose futures were unknown. Everything about Dula spoke to us of the horrors of seeing one's neighbors' children kidnapped, of walking with fear along a deserted street, of seeing churches exploding in the night.

By the end, our ethics class sat in stunned silence. The least we could hope for was some way to respond. Should we go to Iraq and do the same? Is it time to picket the White House? Write letters? What do we do? Dula's answer was clear and emphatic.

"Ride your bike."

He repeated this short phrase twice but the second time it sounded more like a plea than a suggestion. Then he walked from the lectern and left a befuddled crowd to ponder his words and, hopefully, to act upon them.

This Is What I Want...

In recent months, I've spent a great deal of time reading post after post, and article after article voicing dissent, anger and frustration about the myriad of mishandled issues of this administration. Most of the vigorous debate (and even the debate about the debate) has circled around the war. Some have suggested such debate is improper in a time such as this. So above all things, about this, let's be clear. It is in fact a right of the people to voice these criticisms without fear of retribution or harm. I believe the only way any democracy can function is to have these voices be heard and answered by the elected leadership.

Now, if said leaders are only willing to repeat falsehoods and offer nothing new to the exchange (such as the timeless "Stay the course" message of the recently released 35 page "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq") then it is, in my opinion, the duty of the dissenters to offer the alternate strategy that the people require to make an informed choice.

My point is this. If all the folks in D.C. who have cold feet about the war that they voted for want to simply criticize, fine. But where's the alternate plan? While I think it is important to debate and investigate the justifications of our entering into this quagmire, it's not the end of the debate by any means. We need informed solutions, real alternatives. I am no longer willing to take the advice of four-star generals who are too politically fearful to publicly disagree with the civilian leaders who keep throwing their subordinates in harms way just to keep from looking like they screwed up from the outset.

So, this is what I'm asking for: Give us ("us" being whosoever dares disagree with the status quo) access to the on the ground military leadership. Let us talk with them. Let them give us what they see as options (considering they're there everyday). We need someone to do the heavy lifting now. To hear the good and the bad. We need to make informed decision based on fact and reality, not behind the scenes gripes and ass-covering. That's how we got here.

No one, and I mean on one, made a truly informed decision to take us into war. No one had the same access to materials and personnel to do so. Apart from the argument that this was done because of some nefarious pre-formed plan or whether everyone was just truly misinformed, it matters not. There were only a select group of ears that heard the unfiltered advice and counsel of those that were proved to be wrong. You can't tell me that if some good old fashioned dissent was thrown into the mix back then, that we'd be in the same place now.

No three people should ever decide to take us into war. We should all bear the terrible burden of that weight. It keeps us from from having motive to prove that the few were right or wrong. It keeps us focused on our goals. There can be no singular finger pointing when we are all equally informed.

I feel that this is the only way to get us out of this mess that we are very much in. It's time to share everything. It's time to put it all on the table. Let's finally have knowledge behind us when deciding to risk our lives and the lives of our fellow man.

He writes for Outside magazine, figures.

Wimp. Noble, but still a wimp.

West Coasters don't know what they are talking about.

These are fall colors.

IRS doesn't like God's involvement in politics

I read this today in the Sacramento Bee.
The Internal Revenue Service has warned the All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California, that it may be losing its tax exemption, citing a sermon by the Rev. George F. Regas, on Oct. 31, 2004...According to the story, he did not take sides or tell parishioners who to vote for, but he did criticize the war in Iraq, stating that Jesus would have called Bush's pre-emptive war "a failed doctrine," and that "Forcibly changing the regime of an enemy that posed no imminent threat has led to disaster."

Finx, do you think this has any bearing on the Republican's Justice Sunday?

UPDATE (11/8/05 9:38 am PST) by FINX:

Well, if yer askin'. I'm not sure how this all gets decided, but I'd bet dollars to donuts someone's playing fast and loose with the rules yet again. For example, how is it that the James Dobsons of the world can claim to be "men of God" and yet cheat the American tax code by using their spiritual institutions to do the bidding of politicians? His Focus on the Family group was at one time part of a powerful far-right lobbying group called The Family Research Council (FRC). This relationship was troubling to folks in D.C. because the ties were a little too close for comfort, so the IRS applied pressure and the FRC severed it's "official" ties to Dobson's group in 1992 (by the way, this was the second time they had to do this). However, Dobson stayed on the board long after the official split and claimed the two organizations were "spiritually one".

So, it would seems that the rules are being selectively applied in this instance to send a message. Is that really any surpise to anyone in these days of the Christian-Right/Republican mafia tactics we see being employed day in and day out. Just ask Republican uber-lobbyists Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon about the rules of the game:

"The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees," Scanlon wrote in the memo, which was read into the public record at a hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. "Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them."

Awesome.

To me, the most appalling things about all of these people is that they act as though they own God. The "Family Research Council" is a corporation after all. One who's work is dedicated to such noble causes as the quest to eliminate hate crime legislation. God knows Jesus would be out there beating the shit of gay men every chance he could, right?

A Victory? - A Finx Rant

Well, hello again my friends. I feel like I should start by saying how sorry I am that I haven't kept up my end of the blogging bargain here at the Dispatch, but I think that I've come back just at the right time. As I'm sure you all know by now, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff, has been indicted by a Federal grand jury on five separate counts and has subsequently resigned. Yahoo! It's Miller Time!... Or is it?

You see, this is the least possible damage the White House could sustain considering both Karl Rove and Dick Cheney have had their grubby little fingerprints discovered all over this whole affair. I mean, who's ever really heard about this "Scooter" fellow anyway? Well, maybe most of the people reading this, but certainly not millions of other Americans who've allowed far bigger crooks to be re-elected year after year. No, I'm afraid what has happened here is that the sloppiest of the criminals in this administration have been nabbed, but by no means the worst.

There is still hope given the open-endedness of Fitzgerald's investigation, but I fear unless Scooter rolls on some of the most powerful and vicious people in the world, this thing is a dead duck that lays solely on Libby's doorstep. The real crime of pre-war deception can only be found and prosecuted by the people via it's Congress. God and the blogosphere knows if these were the days of Clinton... well, you know where I'm going with that one, heads on pikes, etc. etc.

It would seem the Teflon Don's of the White House have gotten themselves pretty well insulated... for now. After all, there is this little nagging question of what might happen in '06. It seems a foregone conclusion that the Senate would get involved in some serious digging if the Democrats found their way into the majority position again. But they will truly have to fight for it because these Reds are a formidable foe. "Time to take the gloves off", as the minions of their torture squads say. It seems a good time to expose the real motives of these people. A time to really speak to the subtext of all of the political wrangling. What if something like this (link) ran as a campaign ad? Would people see it as too much? Leftist propaganda?

The only thing a could ask in responce is, why? Why is it too hard to imagine that these people really don't care about you? Just look at what they did to Joe and Valerie Wilson and tell me that they care. Look at how they knowingly lied to us and tell me that they really considered breaching your trust. They didn't. We mean nothing to these people. None of this is about us. It's about profit taking and exploitation. It's about saying and doing whatever it takes to keep from getting caught in their lies. Even if it means throwing your friend on a grenade.

Poor Scooter. Let's hope he does us all a service and returns the favor to his "friends".

Otherwise, it'll be up to the Democratic Congress in the winter of '06 to sort this all out. Sleep tight Karl. Sweet dreams Dick. Man this stuff gets me goin'!

Bike Commuting - Corporate Style

There was a good article in the Sacramento Bee last week about bike commuting and how companies support such activities.

Off to the Bay area for the weekend and Veloswap on Saturday. An orgy of bike parts and bike people, i'm psyched!

Oregon Pics

Finx, you add some text, eh? I'm tired of these things not being posted.

Finx: Okay sparky, keep your pants on! Funny, I feel like I had to say that a lot while sharing a tent with vudu, hmm.
I've added some more text, since Finx wasn't present for many of the miles we rode. He was there in spirit though, we cursed him often.


Notice that vudu's calves are the same size.
Left to right: vuduvgn, finx, Troy, Eddie, Adam. We are about to start our 7 hour drive to Roseburg, Oregon. We only started 2 hours late. We got to a camping spot just outside Roseburg about 3 am, got up at 8 and then rode the North Umpqua Trail.

Finx on a very nice section of the N. Umpqua Trail.

Finx telling vudu he's number one.
Note: This is Finx's fourth time on a bike in many, many months.

It was at this point that Finx barfed at the mere thought of this trail.
The rest of us, also including Debra and Amy, who had joined us that morning, rode the lower 16 miles of the N. Umpqua Trail. It was smart for Finx to avoid this section. Much love to him, but we doubt he would have survived it.

Debra descending a very nice piece of loamy and lush singletrack.

A very Tim Burtony moment.
Adam climbing up to Bob's Butte, I was pushing this long, switchback loaded section. Note to others: singlespeeds are not the ideal trail bike.

Sorry about the blurry pic. This is me on a log at the very end of the trail.

This is the start of one of the longest singletrack decents I've ever had the pleasure of riding.

You'll notice that Finx is in none of these group shots because he was busy gasping for air miles behind. Boy that was a fun day!
The group ended up ascending the 7000 feet and 22 +/- miles of fire road in about five hours.

Waiting to see if Finx is still alive. Then they got bored and left.
It's true. We did leave some arrows and notes in the road out of cedar bark though. We hoped the best for him.

Willammette valley beyond. Left to right: Jesse, Troy, vuduvgn, Adam, Amy, Eddie.

Down down down...

Singletrack heaven.
This was up on Saddle Blanket Mountain. This was an addition to the Alpine loop.

Adam leaving Sourgrass Mountain.

Debra descending the Alpine trail. It is rare that you wonder if the descent is going to end, then you ask yourself the same question in another 15 minutes, and again in another 15 minutes, and again...

Fun with anaphylactic shock! Okay, now notice how vudu's legs don't quite match.
Bees suck.

Finx and vudu's bikes are tree-huggers, like their owners.

Adam battles beer-breath.
Adam drank alot the previous night, it was his birthday. I knocked his beer over and failed to rinse out the dirt and rocks before I filled it back up. Adam is a forgiving fella.

All tuckered out after 100+ miles and several 1000 feet of climbing!
We are clean for the drive back. The day we left is the only day we showered :o

High gas prices are good for the U.S. of A.

"A sharp decline in SUV sales and a late-summer surge in bicycle sales..."

Jobbering

I tried to post this last week but The Union hid the article for some reason. Anyway, have you met my boss?

One rung at a time

I had my three month review and pay negotiation yesterday. It went better than I had feared, so that is good. I got me some benefits now!
I have a meeting with a client this morning at 7:30 am. Another meeting over a 40k change order on the job i'm working on at 8:30 am. That 8:30 meeting, I have a feeling, will be rather contentious. Gotta make sure i'm nice and caffeinated.

I see that New York is under high alert, supposed to be a terrorist attack. Wonder what Bush Co. did to need such a large distraction...

Rode alot this week. Finally mostly over my cold and am putting in the miles. Finally dragging my friends up the hill instead of them waiting for me. Feels good. I'm hoping to do a high sierra ride this Sunday with Bradley from Organic Athlete.

Two steps forward...

Hmm. Well this old laptop just ate the post I had started, the one I had promised FINX about 6 months ago. Mmmmm, technology, such a demon. Funny thing about motivation and inspiration, it can so easily be squashed.
Some good news this week, some bad. I would have to put Delay's indictment and Frist's investigation by the SEC into the good category. I doubt it is more of the sea change that some believe Cindy Sheehan started, but it would be good to take down these hypocritical oafs. Of the bad, I see two big ones this week. One would be the hemorrhoid of a man by the name of Pombo. Republican congressman Pombo from Tracy, California has proposed a very large revamp to the Endangered Species Act. A biological deficit to be paid off by future generations, much like the national debt created by GW. Based on what I've recently learned of this man he is a huge ass wound that, well, must be removed. The second bad is the confirmation of Roberts today. It's not the nomination that is necessarily so bad, he was smart enough to not divulge any information that could lead anyone to form an opinion. The bad thing here is the failure of the Democrats to find any sort of alliance. The Democrats continue to fail, to work alone and continue to be weak.
Upside? Peace and happiness in one's own personal life. However, if you are connected to the outside world, give a damn about family, friends and other living beings, if you are a compassionate person, it is hard to not feel a certain amount of melancholy about all the bad that is done in the world by awful people in power.
Cycling is good because it allows me to think about myself and MY life. It gives me strength, takes weakness and lets me challenge myself. One more mountain bike race coming up in October and cyclocross season has started. I may have a taste of that...