Mark Udall

Running for US Senate in Colorado.

Mark Udall joined a pretty exclusive club around this time last year, one with fewer than 1,300 members. He summited the last 14er on his list, Culebra Peak, and became one of a select few to have climbed all the mountains in Colorado higher than 14,000 feet.

It was a rare feat, but for Udall, it made perfect sense. The Rocky Mountains, as he has said, are in his blood.

His cousin Tom Udall—who is also running for an open Senate seat this year—drove up from Santa Fe and the men climbed the state’s southernmost 14er together.

It wasn’t the first mountain the two climbed together—in 1989, when Mark Udall was leading expeditions for Outward Bound, where he worked for 20 years, he ran into Tom, who had just lost a congressional race. That time, it was on a 23,000-foot peak in Argentina.

“We were descending the peak after two weeks on the mountain with all these supplies. I probably had a 120-pound pack on my back,” Udall recalled, describing the physical and mental fog he experienced. “And there’s a guy waving at me and he looks very familiar to me, and we meet on the trail and it’s Tom.”

It would be good to have a hiker in the US Senate.

Ouch!

Yellowstone National Park, originally uploaded by asnewlibrarian.

A hiker in Yellowstone National Park fell through a trail into a geothermal pool.

The Artists' Paintpots area in Yellowstone National Park is temporarily closed due to safety concerns.

Eyewitness news has learned that yesterday afternoon a hiker from Utah suffered serious burns after falling through an established trail into a pool of near boiling water.

Before yesterday park authorities were unaware of the pool's existence.

Jeanette Hogan received burns to her ankle and lower leg. She was taken to EIRMC, treated, and released last night.

Food Fight

I do not believe Rachael Ray is a terrorist. She may be far more nefarious. She is tearing apart America's culinary soul. Anthony Bourdain.

Complain all you want. It's like railing against the pounding surf. She only grows stronger and more powerful. Her ear-shattering tones louder and louder. We KNOW she can't cook. She shrewdly tells us so. So...what is she selling us? Really? She's selling us satisfaction, the smug reassurance that mediocrity is quite enough. She's a friendly, familiar face who appears regularly on our screens to tell us that "Even your dumb, lazy ass can cook this!" Wallowing in your own crapulence on your Cheeto-littered couch you watch her and think, "Hell...I could do that. I ain't gonna...but I could--if I wanted! Now where's my damn jug a Diet Pepsi?" Where the saintly Julia Child sought to raise expectations, to enlighten us, make us better--teach us--and in fact, did, Rachael uses her strange and terrible powers to narcotize her public with her hypnotic mantra of Yummo and Evoo and Sammys. "You're doing just fine. You don't even have to chop an onion--you can buy it already chopped. Aspire to nothing...Just sit there. Have another Triscuit..Sleep...sleep..."

It's A Start

Companies are going to a four day work week to save gas.

CINCINNATI (Reuters) - When Ohio's Kent State University offered custodial staff the option of working four days a week instead of five to cut commuting costs, most jumped at the chance, part of a U.S. trend aimed at combating soaring gasoline prices.

"We offered it to 94 employees and 78 have taken us up on it," said university spokesman Scott Rainone.

The reason is simple: rising gas prices and a desire to retain good workers. And while so far only the university's custodians are eligible, Rainone hopes the option will be offered to all departments -- including his own.

"In our office, we have people who travel anywhere from five or six miles to a couple who are on the road 45 to 50 minutes," Rainone said. "As the price of gas rises, the level of grumbling rises."

Regular gasoline averages $3.94 a gallon in the United States, up 33 cents in the past month and 88 cents since the beginning of the year, the Energy Information Administration said this week.

The federal government has offered four-day workweeks to eligible employees for years as part of a flexible work program that also includes telecommuting.

Nuts

Some times the right wingers get themselves into a tizzie over the most amazing things.

Try Some Legal Weed

Mt. Shasta Brewing - Weed, CA, originally uploaded by painfullyhip.

Mt Shasta Brewing has got the governments panties tied in knots.

WEED, CALIF. -- -- This town is in a tempest over a bottle top.

The federal government is telling the owner of a small brewery here that the pun he's placed on caps of his Weed Ales crosses a line.

"Try Legal Weed," the caps joke.

The U.S. Treasury Department's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau says those three little words allude to marijuana use.

Vaune Dillmann, owner of Mt. Shasta Brewing Co., says he was just trying to grab attention for his beers and this tough-luck place in the morning shadow of Mt. Shasta.

They need to get a grip or apply the law evenly.

While stomping on him, Dillmann says, the government treats Budweiser with kid gloves, despite the fact that "This Bud's for You" also could be mistaken for marijuana slang.

"They sell Bud. We sell Weed," he said. "What's the difference?"

Go Lighters

A use for go lighters.

The US Forest Service (USFS) has seen the light when it comes to backcountry trail reconnaissance - the 'ultra' light, that is. USFS managers in the Los Padres National Forest have chosen a group of veteran ultralight hikers and trail builders, the Litehikers, to complete difficult post-disaster backcountry wilderness patrols or recons.

Ultralight backpackers can move faster, covering more ground in a shorter time than traditional backcountry rangers on horses or those with heavy packs and boots. In dangerous post-disaster conditions, ultralighters can negotiate washed out or snag-ridden trails more safely because of their lower center of gravity and lower profiles. The information gathered by the ultralight crew enables the officials to quickly determine which trails to open, close, or repair. For the public, this speeds the possibility of trail access, rather than typical district-wide closures following a disaster such as a fire or flood.

In the past, this task would have been assigned to paid backcountry rangers who lived in stations throughout the forest, but due to funding issues, the Los Padres Forest Service has partnered with volunteers known as Volunteer Wilderness Rangers (VWRs). VWRs are trained by the Forest Service and operate as non-paid employees. Not all VWRs in this area practice ultralight backpacking, though many are converting after seeing the distances covered by the ultralight crew.

Most light hikers are alright, but some rely on other people's generosity because they do not carry the needed gear.

Damn!

Another young hiker fell to his death.

An 18-year-old Summit County man fell to his death during a hiking trip late this afternoon, officials from Summit County Search and Rescue confirmed tonight.

The hiker was with two friends when he fell approximately 100 feet from a ridge in the Mohawk Lakes area south of Breckenridge.

Summit County Search and Rescue was dispatched to the area around 5:30 p.m.

The cause of the fall is still under investigation, said Joeben Slivka, incidents commander for Summit County Search and Rescue.

The identity of the hiker has not been released.

My condolences to his friends and family.

Update: A little more information.

Summit County Rescue Group spokesman Joe Ben Slivka said it happened on the Mohawk Lakes trail, about 10 miles south of Breckenridge in the Blue River area.

Spokeswoman Anna DeBattiste said that according to the hiker's two friends, Michael Henthorne was sliding in the snow, lost control and fell off a cliff into a scree field.
The hiker's two friends performed CPR, under guidance from Summit County Dispatch over the phone, but were unsuccessful in reviving the subject.A Flight for Life helicopter was involved in locating the subject and shuttling rescuers into the field. The hiker was pronounced dead upon arrival of rescuers.

Water Pollution

The EPA under republicans are for it. Are you?

From the Washington Independent.

High Speed Rail

We really need high speed rail for a lot of reasons. It is efficient, lower carbon, and will create jobs.

A major investment in high-speed rail could dramatically decrease congestion at airports and on highways as well. A single railroad track, just 6 feet across, would provide the same capacity as expanding the Long Island Expressway by six lanes. Amtrak's high-speed Acela Express trains have already captured a significant portion of travelers between New York and Washington, competing with shuttle flights for passengers.

As for energy savings, even the most conservative studies give trains an advantage of 4 to 1 over cars and airplanes. According to studies done in Japan, high-speed trains produce one-tenth the carbon-dioxide emissions of airplanes.

With our economy most likely headed into a recession, another compelling argument for a major investment in high-speed rail is that it will help produce millions of new jobs and promote economic growth. A $20 billion investment in high-speed rail will create more than 300,000 jobs nationally. That ratio of investment to job creation compares quite favorably to the recently enacted federal stimulus package. According to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the $150 billion stimulus will create only 500,000 jobs this year (a cost of $300,000 per job).

Via Matt Yglesias.

Not Good

A Salt Lake City couple is missing in the Grand Canyon.

A Salt Lake City couple vacationing at Grand Canyon National Park are missing after apparently trying to backpack a difficult 45-mile trail loop in a remote western area of the park.
Alan P. Humphrey, 39, and his wife, Iris Faraklas, 35, were reported missing Sunday when they did not arrive in Prescott, Ariz., as scheduled, on Saturday.
The pair, who are considered experienced backpackers, were issued a backcountry permit on May 17 for the Royal Arch route. The loop is in the far western portion of the Grand Canyon. The permit expired Friday.

Lets hope they make it out well.
Update: They have been found alive. Dehydrated but safe.

Sad

A young hiker fell to his death in Utah.

A teenager lost his life on Sunday after falling during a hike in Coconino County.

Kanab, Utah resident Todd J. Rowley, 17, was in the Kanab Creek Wilderness trailhead with six other people having a Memorial Day weekend picnic.

Witnesses told officials that Rowley and an adult friend were on the south side of Snake Gulch when they attempted to climb down to reach a cave that was located on the side of a steep cliff.

Rowley then lost his footing and fell approximately 200 feet.

My condolences to his friends and family.

Bummer!

A hiker's pack was stolen in Duncannon, PA.

A Tennessee man’s backpack was stolen Monday in Perry County after he left it on the Appalachian Trail in Duncannon Park to pick up supplies, according to state police at Newport.

The theft happened between 9 and 9:45 a.m., police said, noting that the backpack contained a hammock, sleeping bag, digital camera, MP3 player, pocket knife, books and a camp stove.

Do not leave your pack unattended in a public park.

Golden Gate Bridge

Golden Gate Bridge, originally uploaded by daman sidhu.

The Golden Gate Bridge was opened today May 27, in 1937. One year after John McCain was born. Other things younger than John McCain here.

Humpback Whales

Flying School Bus - Humpback Whale Breach, originally uploaded by mikegrace78.

The humpback whale is making a comeback.

HONOLULU (AP) -- Once hunted to the brink of extinction, humpback whales have made a dramatic comeback in the North Pacific Ocean over the past four decades, a new study says.

The study released Thursday by SPLASH, an international organization of more than 400 whale watchers, estimates there were between 18,000 and 20,000 of the majestic mammals in the North Pacific in 2004-2006.

Their population had dwindled to less than 1,500 before hunting of humpbacks was banned worldwide in 1966.

"It's not a complete success, but it's definitely very encouraging in terms of the recovery of the species," said Jeff Walters, co-manager of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.

The study, sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is the most comprehensive analysis ever of any large whale population, said David Mattila, science coordinator for the sanctuary.

At least half of the humpback whales migrate between Alaska and Hawaii, and that population is the healthiest, Mattila said.

Warner Springs

dusty trail, originally uploaded by Yolise.

A hiker is missing near Warner Springs, California.

Sheriff's deputies and teams of volunteers are combing mountainous back country near Warner Springs in search of a hiker who disappeared Sunday morning.

Joseph Leeong, 38, was last seen about 10 am. Sunday at the Lost Valley Boy Scout Camp, a Sheriff's Department spokesman said. He was reported missing about 6:30 p.m. Temperatures dropped to below freezing in the area overnight, the spokesman said.

Update: He has been found.

Utah Phillips May 15, 1935 to May 23, 2008

When I find myself believing the mainstream. I listen To Utah to get myself right. Rest in peace, my friend.

Wind Power

Guarantied electric prices for 25 years. The power companies are so intertwined with coal interests that they do not understand that they are power companies. Not coalpower companies.
Via Gristmill.

Medics Ready For Annual Cheese Rolling

More Hill-Side Insanity !, originally uploaded by om0j0mo.

Medics are ready for annual cheese rolling.

LONDON (AFP) - Scores of foolhardy competitors were on Monday gearing up to pitch themselves down a steep hill in pursuit of an eight-pound (3.6 kilogramme) cheese as part of a dangerous cheese rolling event in western England.

Entrants will take part in one of five events, all of which involve scrambling, slipping and sliding down a very steep 200-metre slope in Gloucestershire in the hope of being the first to grab hold of the coveted Double Gloucester cheese.

Medics were on standby for the inevitable spate of injuries resulting from the chase down Cooper's Hill in Brockworth, which in places has a 1:1 gradient.

Following heavy rain over the weekend, conditions were likely to be wet and muddy.[...]

Double Gloucester is an unpasteurised, semi-hard cheese which has been made in Gloucestershire since the 16th century.

Moon Pie

Moon Pie is hiking the Pacific Crest Trail this year. Here is how her journey started from the Chattanooga Times.

I drifted off to sleep … only to be woken up by a U.S. Border Patrol helicopter with searchlights a few hours later, circling overhead looking for illegals. I hoped they wouldn’t land near me, and rolled over to cover my face from the light and the noise. Two hours later, on the train tracks near where I was camped, a U.S. Border Patrol truck drove along with another spotlight, also searching for illegals.

Needless to say, after a fitful first night’s sleep, I woke at 6 a.m. to pack up camp and get a few miles on before the sun came up and began to heat up the day.

I had a helicopter hover over me my first night. No lights though, it probably had heat imaging. I did not move or run. I guess immigration figured I was a hiker and moved on. Although the next day I did see some aliens.

Well the next morning, as I was getting close to Hauser creek, I hear what sounds like a heard of horses coming down the trail fast. Remember the PCT is graded for horses. So I stopped and stepped off the trail to see five illegal aliens running down the trail in heavy work boots, jeans, and flannel shirts. At ten or so it was already ninety degrees or so. The men ran by covered in sweat, smiled and waved. They crossed the dry creek and disappeared into the underbrush like a flock of turkeys.

Welcome to America, I thought as I climbed out of the canyon.

Bad Start For Hikers This Weekend

An Arizona man fell to his death.

The body of a man was discovered at the base of a Papago Park butte Friday night in Phoenix.

Police believe the man, whose name has not been released, may have been hiking the park's elevated trails when he fell to his death.

A Colorado man also fell to his death.

It took fifteen members of El Paso County Search and Rescue nearly four hours to recover a 60 year old local man’s body discovered near St. Mary’s Falls, west of Colorado Springs. A hiker spotted the body, at around 12:30 Saturday. Robert McCandless says, “I was hiking up to St. Mary’s Falls, saw a yellow something that stood out.”

McCandless hiked up to the body and checked for a pulse, but says, “It was pretty obvious he was dead because…ashen complexion…and I took his pulse, shook him just to make sure, but it was pretty obvious.”

According to the Sheriff’s office it appears the man was hiking next to the falls in what was described as “steep terrain” when fell to his death. McCandless also supports the theory given by authorities. “It was pretty much straight up from where he was; my guess is that he was up higher and fell down.”

There were many rescues across the country as well. My condolences to their friends and families.

Update: Colorado hiker identified.

A hiker who fell to his death at St. Mary's Falls was a prominent Colorado Springs businessman who had sued the Catholic Church, accusing a priest of sexually abusing him as a child.

The victim was Edward Anthony Murphy, 59, according to El Paso County sheriff's Lt. Lari Sevene.

Murphy died at the scene Saturday after he fell more than 25 feet while descending from a morning hike to the summit of Stove Mountain, on the side of Mount Rosa.
[...]
Besides his prominent family, Edward was becoming known for helping expose sexual abuse by priests when he, Martin and John revealed they had been victims of a priest.

The brothers sued the Catholic Diocese of Denver in August 2006 alleging molestation by the Rev. Leonard Abercrombie in the 1950s. Abercrombie, a longtime friend of Martin and Gertrude Murphy, died in 1994.

Before his death, Sheila Murphy confronted the priest on the phone and she said he made a partial confession before his death.

Once again my condolences to his friends and family.

How Bizarre

Fourth severed foot found.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Another severed human foot has been discovered washed ashore on Canada's Pacific coast, but police are no closer to solving the gruesome mystery.

The foot, still wearing a shoe, was discovered on Thursday on a small uninhabited island south of Vancouver in the Strait of Georgia, and is the fourth discovered in the region in the past 10 months.

The previous cases all involved right feet still in sneakers, and each was found on a different island.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have not said if the latest discovery was a right or left foot.

DNA testing has failed to link the earlier discoveries to any missing person cases.

Barack Obama

Is Barack Obama a Muslim?

Up On Cripple Creek

Lion King spends some time in Cripple Creek. Ice sculptures and a pine wood dreby.

Colony Collapse Disorder

Tree Hugger has an interesting piece about Colony Collapse Disorder. It seems to the author Russ George, believes co2 levels are responsible.

First, they begin to fan their wings to circulate air through the colony and then, if that fails to lower the CO2 levels sufficiently, workers begin to sacrifice themselves one by one, flying to a lonely death. Curiously, 80 years ago bee scientists noted that CO2 was the controlling factor in bee colonies. Later scientists observed that bees exposed to high CO2 become incapable of performing their normally incredible navigation skills and become lost bees. It can be no wonder that with our recently imposed 44% higher CO2, - often 2-4 times higher locally - bees have no means to know that their time tested last gasp means to protect the colony will not suffice.

Mr George does not mention the moving of bees across the country. It seems to me that the colonies that collapse are from the large commercial operations that travel long distances on tractor trailers. Certainly, co2 levels are higher along the highways. IIRC, one large commercial operation has hired a second driver for cross continental travel, to reduce losses. Large mono culture farms can not support a local bee population.

Veterans Benefits

John McCain does not support them. My dad was a Marine. He taught me a man's actions were more important than what he said. McCain should have learned that in the Marines. Being held prisoner does not mean you support veterans benefits. It means you were held as a prisoner. Here are McCain's actions. From Think Progress.

The recognition McCain has received from veterans groups is not “high awards” but failing grades:

— Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gave McCain a grade of D for his record of voting against veterans. (By contrast, Obama got a B+.)

– Disabled Veterans of America noted McCain’s dismal 20 percent voting record on veterans’ issues. (Obama had an 80 percent.)

– In a list of “Key Votes,” Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) notes McCain “Voted Against Us” 15 times and “Voted For Us” only 8. (Obama voted for VVA 12 times, and against only once.)

McCain frequently cites his own experience as a POW in Vietnam as the ultimate evidence of his dedication to his fellow veterans. Unfortunately, his record belies his rhetoric.

Click through the link to watch him lie.

Doug Lorain

A Portland area hiker and writer.

Doug Lorain has been charged by a grizzly bear and bitten by a rattlesnake in the process of hiking more than 30,000 miles and writing five trail guidebooks.

At age 45, he spends 150 to 180 nights sleeping in a tent, or his Subaru Forester. His knees aren’t the best, and it’s harder now that he’s married to be gone away from his Portland home.

So, is he thinking of giving up a life on the trail, and often being alone?
Nope. He’s planning on spending most of this summer in Wyoming, working on a future book, “Backpacking Wyoming.’’

“I can’t be described as a well-rounded outdoorsman,’’ Lorain said. “I hike. I don’t hang glide. I don’t fish. I don’t water ski. I don’t cross-country ski. I hike. That’s what I like to do. I see no reason particularly to change.’’

Southwest Washington hiking buffs can get the benefit of Lorain’s trail miles in his new book “Afoot & Afield Portland/Vancouver,’’ new on the market from Wilderness Press.

The 454-page book costs $19.95.

“The idea of the book is to include every wild trail, at least one mile in length, within a one-hour drive of the Portland/Vancouver metro area,’’ he said.

Also he has a book coming soon of backpacking trips within three hours of Portland. Click on the link for his favorite area hikes.

Ethanol Bad

The Postal Service switched to ethanol vehicles and burned more gas.

May 21 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Postal Service purchased more than 30,000 ethanol-capable trucks and minivans from 1999 to 2005, making it the biggest American buyer of alternative-fuel vehicles. Gasoline consumption jumped by more than 1.5 million gallons as a result.

The trucks, derived from Ford Motor Co.'s Explorer sport- utility vehicle, had bigger engines than Jeeps from the former Chrysler Corp. they replaced. A Postal Service study found the new vehicles got as much as 29 percent fewer miles to the gallon. Mail carriers used the corn-based fuel in just 1,000 of them because there weren't enough places to buy it.

``You're getting fewer miles per gallon, and it's costing us more,'' Walt O'Tormey, the Postal Service's Washington-based vice president of engineering, said in an interview. The agency may buy electric vehicles instead, he said.

Perhaps it is time to end the ethanol subsidies. Read it all. There is a big ethanol loop hole for the car makers. That keeps fuel mileage low. The ethanol added to gas give the big fuel companies big subsidies too.

Via The Carpet Bagger.

Free Money?

The folks at clusterflock swear this is real. I supposedly get $10.00 if you my dear reader signs up.

Genetically Modified Tomatoes

From the Onion.

PASADENA, CA—Geneticists at the California Institute of Technology announced Monday that they have developed a tomato with a 31 percent larger price tag than a typical specimen of the vine-ripened fruit. "By utilizing an exciting new breakthrough in gene-splicing technology, we've been able to manipulate this new tomato with recombinant DNA in such a manner as to make it nearly as pricey as a similarly sized tangelo," said Dr. Lee Nolan, who headed up the project. "Genetically modified crops such as this will be instrumental in helping average grocers keep pace with unaffordable organic stores such as Whole Foods." In addition to vastly surpassing similar produce in expense, the new tomato will reportedly wipe out four species of ladybugs.

Via Gristmill.

Ouch!

A hiker in Arizona was attacked by bees.

PHOENIX, AZ -- A hiker at South Mountain's preserve was hospitalized Monday night after he was stung hundreds of times by bees.

Witnesses say they heard the 30-something male hiker screaming and yelling about 4 p.m. Monday from a gulley area about 150 yards off the trail.

He was being attacked by hundreds of bees.

The man tried to run, but collapsed behind a rock.

Witnesses say he was coated in bees as he waved a shirt above his head and screamed for help.

He was lucky people saw the attack and called for help.

Even police and park rangers could not help the hiker.

By the time a special technical rescue team with the Phoenix Fire Department arrived, the man had been under attack for 2 hours.

Six members of the rescue unit donned special bee suits with helmets, taped up their wrists to close up any holes and started down the mountain.

Canyon Lands National Park

Canyon Lands National Park, originally uploaded by nclint1617.

A hiker is missing in Canyon Lands National Park.

Jerry O. Wolff, 65, had a permit to stay in the park until Friday, and nobody has heard from him or seen him since then, said Denny Ziemann, chief park ranger for Canyonlands and Arches National Parks.

Ziemann characterized the search for Wolff as “fairly significant.”

“Unfortunately, (the terrain is) very remote and isolated,” Ziemann said.

Air and ground searches have been used, as have search dogs, he said.

“We’re actually starting to scale it back,” Ziemann said of the searches for Wolff.

Weather is the biggest threat to Wolff’s well-being, Ziemann said. Tuesday’s high temperature was predicted to be 99, Ziemann said.

Wolff, who was in the park alone, had a backcountry permit to stay four days and five nights in the remote Needles area of the Canyonlands National Park.

It is a very remote part of the world.

The Needles section of the park is particularly rugged and typical of the “southern Utah red-rock country,” Ziemann said.

It’s difficult to see things from the air because of the drastic changes in elevation of the terrain.

The Park Service called St. Cloud State to gather information about a faculty member, spokeswoman Marge Proell said Tuesday. Privacy laws prevented her from identifying the faculty member, she said.

“We try to develop a profile that puts him in the search area and one that gives us a clue of how and where to look,” Ziemann said. “As is the case oftentimes, especially in a remote area, it gets to a point where there is nowhere else to look. We’re not at that point yet.”

But, he said, efforts are reaching a point where searchers could face too much danger if they continue searching some areas, he said.

Wolff was alone, Ziemann said, and in an area so remote that he hired a service to drop him off.

The area is accessible only by certain all-terrain vehicles.

“It’s a very remote, very isolated” area, Ziemann said. “Just by its nature, it’s out there.”

Lets hope for the best. A prayer or two would not hurt.

Beer Quote of The Day

you stand in your castle
you stand all alone
locked in your world
full of heartache and foam
listen to me baby
my words soft and clear
my sweet sweet goddess
of love and beer

Popa Chubby from Sweet Goddess Of Love And Beer

Sweet Goddess Of love And Beer

I could not find Popa Chubby singing this. So, the Sonic Toasters.

Blaspheme!

Sharon Astyk of Casaubon's Book is a Blasphemer!

Now the nice thing about beer is that it is not required for human existence (ok, we know some people who will argue with us about this).

She shall hens forth be removed from the blog roll for saying things that would offend the Gods and Goddesses.

Actually, she has a great post about peak oil and it's likely effects on food production. I highly recommend it. We are going to have to get closer to our food. Physically and spiritually. In my opinion.

Petroleum has made possible the mechanization of much of the labor involved in agriculture. In 1900 roughly 38 % of the population of the United States was actively involved in growing food. By 1950 that number had been reduce to just more than 12 %.[xii] Today less than 2% of the American population does that work. This shift in labor was made possible largely by the harnessing of fossil fuels. Tractors and combines, among other machinery, replaced the human hand in the field. Pumps for irrigation rely on diesel fuel as does the vast network of intercontinental trucking that hauls, on average, each item of food over 1500 miles from where it is grown to where it is eaten.

Petroleum is also the feedstock for the pesticides used to support industrial agriculture and its vast fields of monoculture crops. Seemingly endless landscapes of corn, wheat and soybeans cover Midwestern America and are protected with a combination of chemicals that kill the pests. When you grow a thousand acres of just one type of plant, the bugs that like to eat that plant are drawn to those fields in swarms. Without the ability to fight off enormous numbers of such pests, this system of monoculture probably wouldn’t be possible.

Next there’s the matter of all the nutrients needed to grow our food. We eat an incredible amount corn in our country. A recent Corn Refiners Association study suggests corn is used as an ingredient in almost 4,000 products. This does not include the meat, dairy and eggs that are a derivative of corn used as feed or lots of paper products that include corn.[...]

Taken in isolation, the idea that we’ll prioritize energy for agriculture, or for any one thing or another does make a lot of intuitive sense - as long as we are talking about some discrete, neatly isolated thing. It is easy to think that the reprioritization of resources will be both logical and inevitable - but the problem is that intuitive responses aren’t always right. In actual working systems, there are a host of first priorities, all of them extremely difficult to triage.

The problem is that there are so many highest priorities in any society - do you cut back on police protection? Medicines? Ambulances? Heat for the freezing? Public transport? The transport of relief supplies? Military engagements? In times of radical shortage, prioritizing becomes the struggle of competing priorities, political interests, black markets and a host of other factors, none of which ever quite get what they need

Food Farming Fuel

Farmers are fighting high fuel and energy costs on the farm. Here is one Ohio farmers solution.

Dull has since become an Ohio pioneer in green farming and renewable energy, and his efforts have garnered the attention of Ohio legislators, who turn to him for creative ideas on agriculture’s role in environmental protection.

“He is demonstrating through his farming practices that you can have a profitable farming operation while caring for the earth,” says Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, who wants the state to rely more on alternative energy and is pushing a stimulus package that would earmark $150 million for advanced energy sources such as solar power, wind, and clean coal.

There are six wind generators on Dull’s 2,800-acre farm in western Ohio. In one building sits a machine that produces hydrogen made from electricity and water. Dull hopes it will soon replace the gas in his forklifts and supplant the propane that heats his pig barn. Dull’s office is geothermally heated and cooled. He dries his seed corn by burning rejected corn instead of propane, and he grinds corn cobs to sell as horse bedding and mulch.

It is even cost effective.

Dull spent $210,000 on his 120-foot-high windmills, 25 percent of which was bankrolled by a state grant. The windmills account for about 15 percent of the $40,000 worth of electricity required to run the farm each year. Dull spent about $100,000 on his corn-drying furnace; at current propane prices, it has saved him about $150,000.

Beef And Brie Sandwich

1. 1 medium onion
2. 1 red pepper
   
3. 1/4 pound cremini mushrooms
4. clove of garlic
5. 3 Tbs butter
6. olive oil
7. 1 cup chardonnay
   
8. 3/4 pound New York Strip steak
9. 1/4 pound brie
10. baguette

Slice the onion and red pepper. Saute in olive oil. Set aside.

Slice the mushrooms. Saute in the butter, some olive oil, and the garlic. (you can use more garlic if you want) Add the chardonnay. Reduce by a third. Set aside.

Slice the New York Strip crosswise as thin as possible. Salt. Saute quickly. A minute per side.

Add peppers, onions, and mushrooms. Add brie cover.

Put on sliced baguette.

Enjoy.

Good News

The Forest Service has to go back to the 2001 rules for logging. In 2004 Bush and company decided if they cut down all the trees, it would prevent forest fires.

Greg Loarie [attorney, Earthjustice]: "At its core, Sierra Forest Legacy v. Rey (incorrectly titled CBD v. Rey) challenges the 2004 Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment (also known as the "2004 Framework"), which establishes management direction for all 11 national forests in the Sierra Nevada. The 2004 Framework replaced the original "2001 Framework," which set forth a balanced approach for conserving species and reducing the risk of wildfire and was widely regarded as the new gold standard for ecosystem-based forest management. The 2004 Framework abandoned the 2001 Framework's carefully crafted standards, and called for a drastic increase in logging of large, fire-resilient trees throughout the Sierra.

When it adopted the 2004 Framework, the Forest Service acknowledged that logging large trees does not reduce the risk of wildfire, but it claimed that such logging was necessary to finance the removal of smaller trees and brush. Quite literally, the 2004 Framework lost sight of the forest for the trees. Our clients argued, and the Ninth Circuit agreed, that the Forest Service's failure to consider any alternative options for financing fuel reduction activities violated the National Environmental Policy Act. Accordingly, the Ninth Circuit enjoined the Forest Service from carrying out aspects of three logging projects - totaling 12,000 acres - in the northern Sierra Nevada that implement the 2004 Framework and would be inconsistent with the 2001 Framework.

I lived in the Sierra's for a couple of years. All the mills are closed. The locals always blamed the the environmentalists for the closed mills. There was always silence when you pointed out that the mills closed because the trees were cut down.

Something like 99% of the old growth forests are gone. The logging companies had their share. I think the American public is entitled to look at the rest.

Veterans Benefits

McCain is opposed. Just like his bff George Bush.

Pizza Toppings

From the Wasted Food blog

While mushroom and black olive is my standard order, I would do the same with most anything that needs using up. Because really, what can’t you put on a pizza? As for the ‘not baked in’ issue, I found that the toppings just needed to be pressed into the pie a bit.

Red Rock

Lion King walks through some nice red rock formations in this episode.

Full Moon

moon set near lighthouse, originally uploaded by Five eyes.

Full Moon over Lake Michigan.

Merry Wives Cafe

An offshoot of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of The Later Day Saints has opened a cafe in rural Utah. I just want to say, people should be allowed to worship ans associate in this great country of ours as they see fit. I do not care how many wives or husbands you want to have. As long as every body is over eighteen do as you will and commit no harm. Just leave the children alone. No sex with kids is that too much to ask. I think not.

Any way Slashfood has a article about the Merry Wives Cafe.

here's only one sit-down restaurant on the 55-mile stretch of highway between Fredonia, Ariz. and Hurricane, Utah, and it ain't a Denny's. The Merry Wives Cafe in Hilldale, Utah is owned by a local polygamist group which runs the restaurant with a sense of humor and an eye towards curiosity-seeking tourists.

The group, who call themselves The Work of Jesus Christ, are an offshoot of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (who are condemned by mainstream American Mormons). The owners of Merry Wives hope to dispel myths about polygamy - they claim not to engage in underage marriage, welfare fraud or child labor.

Giggling travelers and local mega-families eat bacon cheeseburgers side-by-side at the cafe - the restaurant has even had to shut down when a family of 50 has taken over. Some guests leave phone numbers tucked under salt shakers, in case a wife wants to escape polygamy. Some get up and leave, horrified, when they realize just where they're eating

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Media Control

Ezra Klein has an Op/Ed in the Los Angeles Times on the media in Presidential campaigns. This graph stuck out as the problem with the media filter.

A study by Indiana University telecommunications professors Erik Bucy and Maria Grabe found that from 1968 to 1992, the clips of presidential candidates speaking on network news were cut from an average of one minute to about 10 seconds. Since 1992, that's dropped to eight seconds. Which means that politicians are being filtered through the media lens more than ever. Only a third of those eight-second clips addressed substantive issues of policy. Ask yourself: How much substantive policy do you think you could communicate in eight seconds?

Who decides which eight seconds? The republicans can not win on the issues so the TV does not report the issues. And it is not just the TV. The Washington Post had four articles on John Edwards in one day. Three articles discussed his hair cuts but none discussed his positions on the issues.

Missing Hikers

Two young girls got separated from their family in Washington.

VANCOUVER, Wash. -- Two young girls are missing from a family hike after they got separated from their dad and brother in Clark County.

The father called 9-1-1 Sunday night. He said he had gone hiking with his three children but got lost and then got separated from his seven- and 10-year-old daughters.

Sgt. Steve Shea said the family had been hiking on Mt. Tarbell, which he described as "very remote."

More: See map of trailheead

The Clark County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue team found the dad and his 15-year-old son around 2 a.m., after he led them in using his cell phone. The search continued all night for the girls.

Update: the girls have been found alive and hopefully well.

The girls were found about four miles south of the Tarbell Trailhead next to Coyote Creek, north of Battleground.

A Volcano Rescue Team spotted the girls at about 10:22 a.m., not far from where the father and his 15-year-old son were found earlier Monday. Getting the girls out from the remote area may take several hours, officials said.

Their names were not released immediately.

Update 2: Something seems not quite right. I can see letting children out of sight on a trail, but not off a trail.

On previous hikes, according to Shea, the father had taken his girls off trail to explore wilderness areas.

"I'm not sure if that had anything to do with this," he said. "It was more, 'Let's go exploring.' It's my understanding that he would go with them."

It appears, he said, that the girls went to Coyote Creek to try to follow the stream out of the forest.

Sheriff's Commander Mike Nolan said rescuers are in the process of clearing a new trail because the girls were found more than a mile from the closest Washington Department of Natural Resources road.

I am not a parent but 7 and 9or 10 is too young to be exploring alone in that type of wilderness.

Stranded In Suburbia

It is good to see someone in the mainstream media talk about the need to change our infrastructure. Paul Krugman in the the New York Times from Berlin.

I have seen the future, and it works.

O.K., I know that these days you’re supposed to see the future in China or India, not in the heart of “old Europe.”

But we’re living in a world in which oil prices keep setting records, in which the idea that global oil production will soon peak is rapidly moving from fringe belief to mainstream assumption. And Europeans who have achieved a high standard of living in spite of very high energy prices — gas in Germany costs more than $8 a gallon — have a lot to teach us about how to deal with that world.

If Europe’s example is any guide, here are the two secrets of coping with expensive oil: own fuel-efficient cars, and don’t drive them too much. [...]

It’s the kind of neighborhood in which people don’t have to drive a lot, but it’s also a kind of neighborhood that barely exists in America, even in big metropolitan areas. Greater Atlanta has roughly the same population as Greater Berlin — but Berlin is a city of trains, buses and bikes, while Atlanta is a city of cars, cars and cars.

And in the face of rising oil prices, which have left many Americans stranded in suburbia — utterly dependent on their cars, yet having a hard time affording gas — it’s starting to look as if Berlin had the better idea.

Changing the geography of American metropolitan areas will be hard. For one thing, houses last a lot longer than cars. Long after today’s S.U.V.’s have become antique collectors’ items, millions of people will still be living in subdivisions built when gas was $1.50 or less a gallon.

Infrastructure is another problem. Public transit, in particular, faces a chicken-and-egg problem: it’s hard to justify transit systems unless there’s sufficient population density, yet it’s hard to persuade people to live in denser neighborhoods unless they come with the advantage of transit access.

North Mississippi All Stars/Alvin Youngblood Heart Big Momma's Door

I'm off to see the North Mississippi All Stars and Alvin Youngblood Hart.

McCain

Does he have any position that he has not abandoned?

C&O Canal Extension

Now you can ride or walk from Washington DC to Pittsburgh PA.

Any portion of the trail that you were to carve out would reward you with a delightful walk or ride. Taken as a 316-mile whole, you're on sensory overload (although some senses are stronger than others at the end of a 60-mile day on the bike).

The western 132 miles are a smooth path of crushed stone that is built into the right of way of an old rail line that ran from Pittsburgh to Cumberland. It was finished in 2006. The rest of the 184-mile journey to Washington, D.C. is more established -- and slightly more rugged, with tire-eating roots and rocks dotting the trail. The old C&O towpath was rescued from highway developers in 1954 after a public wrangle led by Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, and while it is kept clear of fallen timber, it's otherwise left alone.

Reading through that brief description, you might have looked past the best part: Rail lines and canals tend to be fairly flat, since trains loaded with coal can't easily climb more than a 2 percent grade, and water can't run uphill except with the help of man-made locks. So even though the trail cuts through some of the hilliest country east of the Mississippi, there are no gut-wrenching climbs for bikers to face, particularly for those heading east.

The eastern continental divide is roughly a third of the way to D.C., rising gently up about 1,600 feet during the 110 miles from McKeesport. Heading the other way, west to the divide from Mile Post Zero in Georgetown, the trail climbs nearly the full 2,375 feet above sea level. It's spread out across almost 200 miles but gets steeper toward the continental divide. Either way you do it, the first part of the trip goes up, the second part goes down.

Craft Brewing

A Wall Street Journal interview with Jim Koch the founder of Sam Adams Beer.

Cars

We are going to change the way we drive. Gas powered cars are going to be a thing of the past. Joseph Romm has an article about Toyota's forward thinking.

Those who follow the energy/climate issue and Toyota, however, are not surprised. Alone among major car companies, Toyota has taken seriously both peak oil and global warming. So Toyota has understood for a long time something that Detroit and conservative politicians don't -- the car of the future has high fuel efficiency and the ability to use an inexpensive low-carbon fuel. That makes the hybrid vehicle, with its ability to transition to the plug in, the most important vehicle platform of the century (see "Plug-in hybrids and electric cars -- a core climate solution, nationally and globally").

The other lesson for car companies is that you need to use most of the hybrid technology to save gasoline, not increased power. Honda failed to understand that with their Accord hybrid (see here and here). With 255 horsepower and city mileage of 25 mpg (!), the car sold 25,000 units since 2004, and a mere 6,100 of the 2007 mode. Honda will not be hybridizing the next generation in 2008.

Kudos to Toyota.

Last Stop

SUBWAY LAST STOP 4, originally uploaded by Tom Loback.

Old subway cars are being used to make artificial reefs off the east coast.

OCEAN CITY, Md (Reuters) - After four decades carrying millions of New Yorkers, 44 of the city's subway cars are now home to millions of fish.

The worn-out cars were dumped on Friday into the Atlantic Ocean, 21 miles off the Maryland coast, to create an artificial reef, designed to attract fish for the state's lucrative sport-fishing industry.

"These reefs provide quality habitat for marine life off our coast which benefits not only the environment but also local businesses," said Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan.

The 18-ton stainless steel cars -- minus wheels, windows and doors -- were stacked two-high on a barge where a bucket crane with a specially designed hydraulic lift picked them up one by one and dropped them into 90 feet of water.

Beer Quote of The Day

“Filled with mingled cream and amber I will drain that glass again. Such hilarious visions clamber Through the chambers of my brain -- Quaintest thoughts -- queerest fancies Come to life and fade away; Who cares how time advances? I am drinking ale today.” Edgar Allen Poe

Drugs

The biggest threat to your health from marijuana is the war on drugs. Not Marijuana. From the New Yorker Magazine.

1. In Seattle, a fifty-six-year old man died last Thursday after being refused a liver transplant because he had followed his doctor’s recommendation to use marijuana to ease the symptoms of hepatitis C. From the Associated Press story:[...]
On the other hand, imprisonment, disqualification for organ transplants, and the activities of the federal drug harassment industry remain hazardous to your health.

Via: Avedon

American Historic Sites At Risk

The US Forest Service is not doing enough to protect historic sites in the forests.

DENVER - National forests have at least 325,000 historic sites hiding among their trees, and most of them are at risk because of a lack of money at the Forest Service, according to a national preservation group.

"Thousands of significant landscapes, structures and sites - places that record important chapters in America's story - are in danger of being lost forever," said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The group released its 52-page national report Thursday in Denver.

Moe cited Chimney Rock Pueblo as a great example of historic sites on Forest Service land. The ruins between Durango and Pagosa Springs mark the northernmost outpost of the Chaco Canyon civilization.

The Forest Service and local volunteers from the Chimney Rock Interpretive Association have cooperated to preserve the pueblo. But the Forest Service needs a full-time person to work at the site, Moe said.

"The Forest Service shouldn't have to depend on the kindness of strangers to preserve historic sites," he said.

But other sites don't enjoy the same high profile. Of the 325,000 known historic sites on national forest lands, only 2,000 are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. And archaeologists have surveyed only about one-fifth of America's national forests, according to the report.

Some of the country's densest concentrations of historic sites lie on public lands in the Four Corners region, said Barbara Pahl, director of the National Trust's regional office. It takes a trained archaeologist to identify many of the sites, she said.

The Forest Service's top official for historic preservation agreed with much of the report.

"We've had many successes in our heritage program. We haven't had enough," said Joel Holtrop, the deputy chief of the national-forest system.

The report recommends add-ing $15 million for historic preservation to the Forest Service's budget, slightly more than doubling current spending.

But the Forest service under Bush is more interested in cutting down the forests than preseving them.

A Disgraceful Farm Bill

A New York Times Editorial.

Congress has approved a $307 billion farm bill that rewards rich farmers who do not need the help while doing virtually nothing to help the world’s hungry, who need all the help they can get.

President Bush should keep his promise to veto it and demand better legislation.

The bill is an inglorious piece of work tailored to the needs of big agriculture and championed by not only the usual bipartisan farm state legislators but also the Democratic leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Every five years we get a new farm bill, and each time we are reminded that even reformers like Ms. Pelosi cannot resist the blandishments and power of the farmers.

The bill includes the usual favors like the tax break for racehorse breeders pushed by Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate minority leader. But the greater and more embarrassing defect is that the bill perpetuates the old subsidies for agriculture at a time when the prices that farmers are getting for big row crops like corn, soybeans and wheat have never been better. Net farm income is up 50 percent.

For once I agree with Bush. Veto this bill.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

According to Slashfood today is National Chocolate Chip Day. So I made chocolate chip cookies. Mix together.

1. 2/3 cup shortening
2. 2/3 cup butter
3. 1 cup granulated sugar
4. 1 cup brown sugar(packed)
5. 2 eggs
6. 2 teaspoons vanilla

Sift together and stir in.

1. 2 and 3/4 cups flour
2. 1 teaspoon baking soda
3. 1 teaspoon salt

Stir in

1. 1 cup chopped pecans
   
2. 12 onces of chocolate chips

Bake at 375 degrees for eight to twelve minutes.

The Toll House Cookie was invented by Ruth Wakefield of Whitman Massachusetts, and it is younger than John McCain.

Official Toll House cookie recipe.

Mom's Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Cake Recipe.

Immoral Republicans

Majikthise says:

With so many Republican scandals, it is getting difficult to keep track. I think we need to come up with some catchy mnemonics. In the meantime, remember: Issa's the alleged car thief. Fossella's the bigamist facing DUI charges.

I still find it funny that Issa made his money from car alarms. He is the voice on the classic car alarm ad that says "Back away from the car."

Cheese Racing?

It is best if you click the link.

Keith Olbermann Special Comment

Transcript here.

Crest Is Best

Crest is best, originally uploaded by One Man Walking.

Craig is moving right along in his adventure to walk from the southern end of Japan to the northern end. This reminded me of something my father used to say when hiking ridges. "Get high and stay high." I can not walk a ridge without thinking of my father. here is a bit from his journal.

The morning’s walk was the best so far. Right on the crest and a cloudless day. At first I was pushing through thigh-high wet bamboo leaves but soon the trail cleared and I got moving faster. I reached several peaks but my favourite was Me-yama. From there I could see Ishizuchi-san with its temple perched on top. To the north the land slid away to the plains and beyond that the towns in the inland sea. I could even see islands out there. South of me were more mountains than you can shake a chopstick at right in the middle was this glorious crest.

Bush's Sacrifice

He has sacrificed a lot.

Stung

A great article in the New Yorker about Colony Collapse Disorder.

Not long ago, I found myself sitting at the edge of a field with a bear and thirty or forty thousand very angry bees. The bear was there because of the bees. The bees were there because of me, and why I was there was a question I found myself unable to answer precisely.

In a roundabout sort of way, the encounter had been set in motion several months earlier, in late February, when the Times ran a story about a new ailment afflicting honeybees. It had been given a name—colony-collapse disorder—but no one had any idea what was causing it; beekeepers would open their hives only to discover that they were suddenly and mysteriously empty. According to the article, some keepers had lost seventy per cent of their colonies, and these losses, in turn, were likely to reduce the yields of crops ranging from kiwis to avocados. All this information struck me as disturbing, and therefore interesting. I thought that at some point I might want to write about it myself, and so I began to read up on bees.

It is a long but very good read.

Via: Epicurious.

Day Hikes

Forbes Traveler has an article about day hikes. Definitely click on the slide show.

"I feel most spiritually alive when I'm connected with the earth." That's Brian Robinson, the first person to complete the Pacific Crest, Continental Divide and Appalachian trails (the hiking "Triple Crown") in one year. He adds, "I need to get my heart and lungs pumping and muscles moving to feel that intense joy."

Tom Stienstra, too, waxes poetic on the importance of hiking in his life. For this prolific outdoors author, newspaper columnist and radio/TV host, even Los Angeles can provide a favorite mountain trail. "There are so many people in that area," he says, "you start to feel like a speck of sand on the beach. But you climb to the top of that peak, you realize you're still important to the world."

According to the Outdoor Industry Association, more than 29 million Americans day-hiked in 2006; that's nearly 11 percent of us. And not everyone is traveling hundreds of miles to reach a desirable destination. "People want to recreate close to home," says the American Hiking Society's Cohen. "A current phenomenon in hiking is the availability of trails really close to urban centers. Lots of cities have a big push to bring hiking and other recreational opportunities closer to where people live."

Wind Power

Wind Turbines, originally uploaded by Worker101.

Wind power could provide 20% of our electrical power by 2030.

The Energy Department said yesterday that the United States has the ability to meet 20 percent of its electricity-generation needs with wind by 2030, enough to displace 50 percent of natural gas consumption and 18 percent of coal consumption.

But in a report drawn up by its national laboratories, the department said that meeting the target would require more improvements in turbine technology, cost reductions, new transmission lines, an expansion of the wind industry and a fivefold increase in the pace of wind-turbine installation.[...]

The report said that, under "optimistic assumptions," expanding wind generation to meet 20 percent of U.S. electricity needs by 2030 would cost nearly $197 billion, but it said that most of that would be offset by nearly $155 billion in lower fuel expenditures. There would be, it said, other offsetting positive effects.

It will be less expensive than coal and nuclear. With some incentives from the federal government it could happen. We need to start looking to concentrated solar plants too.
Via Ezra Klein.

Alexandra Cousteau

Alexandra Cousteau, originally uploaded by canarygreen.

I saw Alexandra Cousteau speaking last night on c-span. World Water Crisis A National Press Club Luncheon Speech about sustainability in the oceans. A topic that needs to be addressed but probably will not be until there is a catastrophic failure. She was speaking on behalf of the Earth Echo Foundation.

She also does work with Waves of Change. Empowering youth and women to promote ocean sustainability.

The term eco-hottie comes to mind does it not. I doubt, I will have an eco-hottie of the week like Crunchy Chicken.

Things Younger Than John McCain

The Original Toll House Cookie. Thats old!

Backpacking With Kids

I know you are saying "Chef you don't have any kids." Well, I have a brother thirteen years younger than me. When I was younger in order to go backpacking, I had to carry my brother. Here are some tips.

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — It had been at least 24 hours since we had seen other humans, and the trail seemed to be ours alone — gleaming granite slabs, scrabbly switchbacks, glorious glimpses of the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River, and jagged Sierra spires under cloudless skies.

But the meditative crunch-crunch-crunch of our boots soon gave way to men's voices. A trio of bearded 20-somethings approached.

"Whoa, baby!" gasped the group's gnarly looking leader, pointing to our son, snuggled up in a baby carrier on my chest.

"Lucky dude! He gets a free ride!" joked another.

"Can you carry me, too?" wheezed the laggard.

The tips are at the link above.

Beer Quote of The Day

The house was as empty as a beer closet in premises where painters have been at work. Mark Twain

I have to say, so much of what Twain wrote well over a hundred years ago is still true today. An amazing man.

Tornadoes

March 28, 2007 Tornados, originally uploaded by maupin.

It seems to me there are more deadly tornadoes this year.

The USA has been ravaged through mid-May by a near-record number of tornadoes that has pushed the death toll — including 47 killer twisters over the weekend — to a 10-year high.

The deaths of 98 people attributed to tornadoes this year has made 2008 the deadliest year thus far for tornadoes since 1998 and the seventh deadliest since modern recordkeeping began in 1950, The Weather Channel said.

We are no where near record highs. In 1952 there were 230, followed by 519 in 1953.

1. 1953, 519
2. 1974, 366
3. 1965, 301
4. 1953, 230
5. 1958, 193
6. 1971, 159
7. 1968, 131
8. 1998, 130
9. 1955, 129
10. 1984, 122
11. 1967, 114

All other years were below 100, since 1950. What caused the really high numbers? Did tornadoes hit a school full of children? We build better structures now and have a better weather warning system. A NOAA chart for the last three years. The deadliest months are may and June.