Mover Mike

Here is how the National Debt has grown over the Last 3 Decades:

Carter - 4 Years
Started - 01/21/1977 - $653,544,000,000.00
Ended - 01/19/1981 - $930,209,523,658.00

Total Debt under Carter - $276,665,523,658.00 (276 Billion)

Reagan - 8 Years
Started - 01/20/1981 - $930,210,000,000.00
Ended - 01/19/1989 - $2,602,337,712,041.16

Total Debt under Reagan - $1,672,127,712,041.00 (1.6 Trillion)

Bush, Sr. - 4 Years
Started - 01/20/1989 - $2,602,857,255,961.25
Ended - 01/19/1993 - $4,187,806,610,369.16

Total Debt under Bush, Sr. - $1,584,949,354,408.00 (1.5 Trillion)

Clinton - 8 Years
Started - 01/20/1993 - $4,188,092,107,183.60
Ended - 01/19/2001 - $5,727,776,738,304.64

Total Debt under Clinton - $1,539,684,631,121.00 (1.5 Trillion)

Bush. Jr. - 5 Years
Started - 01/20/2001 - $5,728,195,796,181.57
Ended - 01/24/2006 - $8,185,315,076,347.87

Total Debt under Bush, Jr. - $2,457,119,280,166.00 (2.4 Trillion) & Growing

I am afraid this will all end badly!

Hat Tip to Scribe

Budget Surplus national debt Mover Mike

The Oregonian has a Storm Large special in the Friday A&E:

Go behind the reality-TV scenes with Storm Large while listening to a track from her album, "The Calm Years," recorded years before "Supernova" was even a gleam in CBS' eye. Click here.

Update:

Update:

Update:

MAP 1.1 2006/09/01 00:51:28 45.320 -121.691 7.0 23 km ( 14 mi) E of Mount Hood Village, OR

Thank you for your response.

At the very least, use inflation adjusted dollars or you are comparing 2000 dollars to 1999 dollars to 1998 dollars, which is completely invalid. Using a constant measure is critical in producing a valid chart.

You can see charts of the surplus here

I find your explanation, that the Republicans want to "mislead" us into thinking that there was a surplus under the Democrats, highly unlikely.

"The gimmicked accounting standards, as established during the Johnson era, and as used today for official, unified budget reporting, show a 2003 deficit of $374.3 billion. Using GAAP reporting (without Social Security reporting), the official GAAP deficit for 2003 expands to $665.0 billion. Including accounting for Social Security and related areas, the 2003 deficit balloons to $3,702 billion, or $3.7 trillion. The accounting reflects no adjustment for the new, more expensive Medicare program." (in all cases I've added emphasis)

2004 Results

Results for the official 2004 deficit will be published in the next several months, and the numbers are projected by the Bush administration to be significantly worse than in 2003, $445 billion versus $374 billion, with the actual deficit likely to near $4.3 trillion (my estimate). The 2004 GAAP financial statements on the government will not be published until March/April

-----------------------------GAAP-Based--------GAAP-Based

Fiscal--------"Official"----Deficit Without---Deficit With

-Year-----------Deficit------Soc. Sec., Etc.--Soc. Sec., Etc.

------------------------------------------------------------

2004 est.---$445 Billion-----$800 Billion-----$4.3 Trillion

2003--------$374 Billion-----$665 Billion-----$3.7 Trillion

2002--------$158 Billion-----$365 Billion-----$1.5 Trillion

We have a neat scam going. We go into debt and debase the dollar through inflation and make the value of the dollars we pay back worth less. Since 1971 when the US went off the Gold Standard the value of the dollar has been debased to the tune of 95%.

Why do the Republicans go along with the fiction of a surplus in the Clinton years? Because they want to use the same tricks Clinton and Bush I, and Carter and Reagan and Nixon used. They want to continmue spending money, giving the voters essentially bread and circuses for their vote, without raising taxes.

IT'S A TRAVESTY!

B Bradford Budget Surplus Clinton Administration national debt Mover Mike

Super Typhoon Ioke has made a direct hit on Wake Island, pounding the tiny U.S. Pacific territory with catastrophic winds of up to 300 kilometers an hour. Ioke is the strongest central Pacific typhoon in at least 12 years. Forecasters expect the "monster" storm to submerge Wake Island and destroy everything on it that is not made of concrete.

Typhoon Ioke Wake Island Mover Mike

The US has been relatively unscathed by hurricanes this season. Either the storms have fallen apart or like Ernesto veered from the GOM and quickly fell back to tropical storm status. For Florida, 45 mph winds and rain is a lot better than 140 mph winds.
There is one area that is going to get hit today and tomorrow and that's Mexico and the Cabo San Lucas area. We had a great time there in January. Please join me in offering a prayer to our friends in Cabo that they make it through Hurricane John safely.

Hurricane John Mexico Cabo San Lucas Mover Mike

In California, according to the SacBee this morning, the state is trying to figure out how to spend a $2.9 Billion windfall won from the governor. Now, experts are questioning the merits of reduced class size.

Comprehensive research of California's existing class-size reduction program shows no solid connection between shrinking classes and boosting student achievement. That's raising questions about the state's pending decision -- through Senate Bill 1133 -- to pour $2.9 billion over the next seven years into decreasing class size at additional grade levels.

"This is really a dark continent in terms of any research," said Stanford education professor Michael Kirst, who has studied the state's class-size reduction program.

[...]

(Schwarzenegger's) secretary for education, Alan Bersin, said the proposal to shrink classes will improve education for the state's neediest students.

"The research is clear that class size reduction, in and of itself, does not improve student achievement," Bersin said. "But that, coupled with improved teaching, can be decisive."(emphasis added)

More teachers, bigger membership and more power!

Teachers Class Size California Mover Mike

Storm acted surprised because Gilby said she hadn't grown much in nine weeks and Dilana looked relieved. She had avoided being dispatched even though her mouth had severely wounded her. The remaining five get a good lesson in song writing. That could be very valuable.

Who will be the next to go? I can only guess. My money is still on Storm in the top four!

Storm Large Rock Star Supernova Mover Mike

Regarding your blog entry about the "Alleged Budget Surplus During the Clinton Administration" I just wanted to bring some facts to your attention.

Firstly, you are not using adjusted dollars, therefore you are incorrect including inflation in your measurement. A better measure would be to use debt as a percentage of GDP.
(Note to Bradford: No where in my post is there any mention of inflation or adjustment for inflation and as for percentage of GDP See chart below)

Secondly, even today the White House (under the Republicans) states that there was a surplus:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2002/guide04.html
(Note to Bradford: I am not responsible for the stupidity of the Republicans, besides it is in their interest to confuse you.)

Thirdly, measures of public debt are NOT the same as measures of national debt. Some debt is intragovernmental holdings via the Federal Reserve.

If your webpage was to use adjusted dollars, or preferably percent of GDP you'll find that in fact the debt did, as the White House says, decrease due to a surplus.
(Note to Bradford: If total debt as a percent of GDP goes down, it means that GDP is rising faster than debt growth and does not mean that the budget is in surplus.)

So I hope you'll correct, or at least amend your information as it is currently incorrect.

Thanks,
B. Bradford

Federal borrowing involves the sale, to the public, of notes and bonds of varying sizes and time periods until maturity. The cumulative amount of borrowing from the public—i.e., the debt held by the public—is the most important measure of Federal debt because it is what the Government has borrowed in the private markets over the years, and it determines how much the Government pays in interest to the public.

Now that's just nuts. For example, let's say that you have credit cards and mortgage, but you also decide to set up a college fund and actually put aside money every month in a "lock box" in your home for the kids college. You as the man of the house see all that money pile up. It is just sitting there and you need a new boat. So you borrow money for the boat from the "lock box".

Next year that money is just sitting there and you want a new flat screen so you borrow that money from the "lock box". Comes time for college and the "lock box" is bare and you say not to worry. The debt to the "lock box" is not the same as debt to the bank and the mortgage, because it is money we owe to ourself. Never mind the kids don't get to go to college. B Bradford, we now owe over $8 Trillion and we must pay the interest on the Federal debt of $8 Trillion.

The facts are there was no surplus in the Clinton years. The Federal debt went up each year while he was in office. Not by a lot, but it still went up:

09/29/2000 $5,674,178,209,886.86
09/30/1999 $5,656,270,901,615.43
09/30/1998 $5,526,193,008,897.62
09/30/1997 $5,413,146,011,397.34
09/30/1996 $5,224,810,939,135.73
09/29/1995 $4,973,982,900,709.39
09/30/1994 $4,692,749,910,013.32
09/30/1993 $4,411,488,883,139.38
09/30/1992 $4,064,620,655,521.66

Source: Office of Management and Budget 2006

B Bradford Budget Surplus Clinton Administration national debt Mover Mike

* Lukas - “Lithium” by Nirvana - That was about the best Lukas presentation and unlike times past, he worked just great with the audience and left the house band alone.
* Toby - “Rebel Yell” by Billy Idol - my ex-wife's favorite song. Didn't you just want to yell, "More, more, more?" Nice touch of bringing the girls on stage.
* Magni - “I Alone” by Live - another great performance by Magni and he really connected with the audience.
* Ryan - “Clocks” by Coldplay - I loved Ryan's performance. His falsetto was really working. A little manic, maybe. Desperation, maybe? The way he used the microphone bothered me.
* Dilana - “Mother Mother” by Tracy Bonham - Top performance of the night. Dilana really can sing. She deserves this band. Someone said the winner will get no creative control, only $5,000 per week and no share of the profits if they win. Dave and Tommy say we should put last weeks outburst by Dilana behind us. Maybe, but maybe if she wins, its Karma.
* Storm - “Bring Me To Life” by Evanescence - I've saved commenting on Storm for last. I didn't like the song, but I liked Storm and we haven't seen Storm, really, since Anything, Anything. If she lands in the bottom three, which she probably will if the preliminary voting is a clue, she will get a chance to sing a song chosen by her. Then let the chips fall where they may. I think she's better as a single. I can see it now "Storm Large and The Balls" headlining at the Hard Rock Cafe. I would pay to see that!

I would guess the band deserves Dilana or Lukas.

Bottom three: Storm, Magni, Ryan. Going home: Magni.

Storm Large Rock Star Supernova Mover Mike

Update:

Danielle at MySpace had this experience:

I called FYE music to get the new Ray Lamontagne CD today and they had it in stock and advised the price would be $15.99. But Wal*Mart just charged me $9.44 for the whole CD! Not to mention all the gas I saved not having to drive 40 miles to FYE.

1 - $.00 - 4SAM01/Rolling Stone Magazine 1 Year Subscription
1 - $.00 - MTDD01MP128/Sound Check Vol. 1 Digital Download Sampler
1 - $.00 - R9AM02/R9 Ray LaMontagne Promo Insert
1 - $15.00 - R9CD05/PREORDER Till The Sun Turns Black CD

I don't subscribe to The Rolling Stone so I figure the CD cost me $6.70! So far, I'm loving the sound. It is always a risk to buy the second CD from an artist, but boy, the second CD from Katie Melua and now this. My luck has changed!!!

BTW, Ray will be performing on 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien' tonight on NBC. Check local listings for details. You can also listen to Ray's interview and performance on NPR's "Weekend Edition".

Ray will be performing here on 10/4/06 at the Crystal Ballroom and on 10/5/06 at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, WA. If tickets are still available go here

Ray LaMontagne Till The Sun Turns Black Katie Melua Rolling Stone Magazine Portland Oregon Crystal Ballroom Mover Mike

Update:

"It was out-of-the-world bizarre," Storm says. "I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. I don't know where it came from. She had a bad day with the press, and it was shown to the world."

The reverberations of the episode were felt around the mansion. "It was an awful day . . . and Dilana and I are keeping our space," Storm says.

dingoRUE has posted that the viewer's choice songs for tonight are:

* Lukas - “Lithium” by Nirvana
* Toby - “Rebel Yell” by Billy Idol
* Magni - “I Alone” by Live
* Storm - “Bring Me To Life” by Evanescence
* Ryan - “Clocks” by Coldplay
* Dilana - “Mother Mother” by Tracy Bonham

Dave Navarro's predictions for bottom three:

My prediction? Storm, Ryan and Toby.

Storm Large Rock Star Supernova Mover Mike

Map:Drought conditions

The NY Times has an article today about the drought and it effects on ranchers and farmers, Blistering Drought Ravages Farmland on Plains.

As if earless, shriveled cornstalks were not enough, farmers and ranchers say they carry a sense that their counterparts elsewhere seem to be doing just fine, leaving them with what feels like an invisible disaster, unnoticed by the outside world.

Drought 1930s Dust Bowl Mover Mike

This one was off the coast, about 275 miles.

Update:

Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.
-Arnold Toynbee

Wide open and unguarded stand our gates, and through them passes a wild motley throng.
-Thomas Bailey Aldrich, “Unguarded Gates,” 1895

You cannot become thorough Americans if you think of yourselves in groups. America does not consist of groups. A man who thinks of himself as belonging to a particular national group in America has not yet become an American.
-Woodrow Wilson, Address to New Citizens, 1915

Those who favor unrestricted immigration care nothing for the people.
-Sam Gompers, founding president, AFL, 1921

Why was the border guard so thin? Did the Romans not notice…that their way of life was changing forever?
-Thomas Cahill, 1995

No society has a boundless capacity to accept newcomers, especially when many are poor and unskilled.
-Robert Samuelson, economist and Newsweek columnist, 2005

We can’t protect our own borders.
-Donald Rumsfeld, November 29, 2005

The following excerpts are all from a new book, State of Emergency: The Third World Invasion and Conquest of America. Many people may not read it because of the political baggage of the author, but I’ve read the book, despite my disagreement with the author on other issues, and it is entirely right on the money when it comes to the invasion of our country by foreigners. It occurred to me that many people may miss out on the common sense found within its pages so I’m excerpting a little bit of it here for those who may never read the words otherwise.

On November 28, 2005, President Bush, speaking in Tucson, conceded that in five years 4.5 million aliens had been caught attempting to break into the United States. Among that 4.5 million, Bush admitted, were "more than 350,000 with criminal records." One in every twelve illegal aliens the U.S. Border Patrol had apprehended was a criminal.

That is 70,000 felons apprehended each year, 200 felons every single day for five years, trying to break into our country to rob, rape, and murder Americans. Of the millions who succeeded on Bush’s watch, how many came for just such purposes? How many Americans have been robbed, assaulted, or murdered because the President failed in his duty to defend the borders of the United States?

Nearly 8 million foreigners did enter during those five years, 3.7 million of them illegally. If one in twelve was a criminal, 300,000 felons slipped in during Bush’s tenure. This is an historic dereliction of presidential duty.

There are today 36 million foreign-born in the United States, almost three times as many people as the 13.5 million hear at the peak of the Great Wave in 1910. And it is among these tens of millions of foreign-born that illegal aliens find sanctuary. As James Edwards of the Hudson Institute writes, legal and illegal immigration are two sides of the same coin. If we fail to control the one, we cannot control the other. As a rule, he notes, when legal immigration rises, illegal immigration soars.

[…]

Our foreign-born population today is almost equal to the 42 million who came over three and a half centuries from 1607 to 19965. The Border Patrol catches as many illegal immigrants every month as all the legal immigrants who came to America in the 1820s. Today’s numbers are of a different order of magnitude.

No nation has ever attempted to assimilate 36 million foreigners in a generation. Yet, each year, 1.5 million more are added to the number, half of the illegals, 90 percent of them from Third World countries whose people have never before been assimilated into our population.

[…]

“The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities,” said Theodore Roosevelt. We are becoming was T.R. warned against: a multi-lingual, multiracial, multiethnic, multicultural Tower of Babel. To the delight of anti-Americans everywhere and the indifference of our elites, we are risking the Balkanization and breakup of the nation.

[…]

How many spies and saboteurs have been sent into our country as sleeper agents? How many Al Qaeda are here awaiting orders to bomb subways and malls or assassinate our leaders? We have no idea. Neither does the Department of Homeland Security. Border security is homeland security. But America has lost control of her borders and, as Ronald Reagan said, a country that can’t control its borders isn’t really a country anymore.

In his address in Tucson, President Bush made a startling admission. For decades, he said, the United States has had a separate policy in dealing with non-Mexicans breaking in through the 2,000-mile border with Mexico, a policy of “catch-and-release”: “about four of every five non-Mexican illegal immigrants we catch are released in society and asked to return for a court date.

When the date arrives, about 75% of those released don’t show up at court.* As a result, last year [2004], only 30,000 of the 160,000 non-Mexicans caught coming across our southwest border were sent home.”

“This practice of catch and release has been the government’s policy for decades,” said Bush. “It is an unwise policy and we’re going to end it.”

Is this not an astonishing admission? …How can the president say our homeland is secure?

Further on in his Tucson speech, Bush conceded that our government and laws have been frozen in a pre-9/11 world:

Under current law, the federal government is required to release people caught crossing our border illegally if their home countries do not take them back in a set period of times…Those we were forced to release have included murderess, rapists, child molesters, and other violent criminals.

“This undermines our border security” and the work “these good folks” of the Borders are doing, added the president.

Again, is this not astounding? President Bush was talking about releasing “murders, rapists, child molesters, and other violent criminals” into our society, because “current law” commands it and the nations whence the criminals come refuse to take them back.

The question begs itself: With Bush and his party in power, why had they not changed “current law”? Why had President Bush not picked up a phone and told the leaders of these “home countries” that there will not be another visa issued to their country until they take back every one of their criminal felons who has broken into ours?

What is the matter with President Bush? What is the matter with us?

What explains the paralysis of the present White House?

George Bush has taken an oath to see to it that the laws of the United States are faithfully executed. The immigration laws are clear. Businesses that hire illegal aliens break U.S. law and are subject to sanctions. Yet, as the columnist John O’Sullivan writes, “in the Clinton years 1995, 1996, and 1997 there were between 10,000 and 18,000 work-site arrests of illegals annually. In the same years about 1,000 employers were served notices of fines for employing them. Under the Bush administration, work-site arrests fell to 159 in 2004 where there was also the princely total of three notices of intent to fine served on employers.”

“In this dramatic relaxation of internal enforcement” under George W. Bush, O’Sullivan concludes, “is the explanation of the rapidly rising estimate of immigrants living and working illegally in this country.”

Can anyone say that, with this record, President Bush has faithfully executed the immigration laws of the United States?

Twice, President Bush took an oath to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Article IV, Section 4, reads: “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union, a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion.”

Yet, with perhaps 4 million illegal aliens having broken in during Bush’s five and a half years in office, and our border states daily breached by thousands more, can anyone say President Bush has protected the states of this Union against that invasion? In an earlier America, this dereliction of constitutional duty would have called forth articles of impeachment.

[…]

America’s leaders claim she is the most powerful country on earth. But American has a government too morally flabby to act as decisively as Ike did** to remove from our national home those who have broken in and had no right to be here. How many America women must be assaulted, how many children molested, how many citizens must die at the hands of criminal aliens and foreign terrorists before our government does its duty?

[…]

If present projections of the U.S. Census Bureau prove accurate, the American our grandchildren will live in will be another country, a nation unrecognizable to our parents.

By 2050, it is now estimated that there will be almost 2.5 times as many people here as in 1960: 420 million. The share of the population of European descent will be a minority, as it is today in California, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. And that minority will be aging, shrinking, and dying. There will be as many Hispanics here – 102 million – as there are Mexicans today in Mexico. …By 2050, they will be 24 percent of a nation of 420 million. By nation of origin of our people, America will be a Third World Country.

Our great cities will all look like Los Angeles today. Los Angeles and the cities of the Southwest will look like Juarez and Tijuana. Though we were never consulted about this transformation, never voted for it, and have protested against it in every poll and referendum, this is the future the elites have prepared for our children.

This is not immigration as America knew it, when men and women made a conscious choice to turn their backs on their native lands and cross the ocean to become Americans. This is an invasion, the greatest invasion in history. Nothing of this magnitude has ever happened in so short a time.

Against the will of a vast majority of Americans, America is becoming transformed. As our elites nervously avert their gaze or welcome the invasion, we are witness to one of the great tragedies in human history. From Gibbon to Spengler to Toynbee and the Durants, the symptoms of a dying civilization are well known: the death of faith, the degeneration of morals, contempt for the old values, collapse of the culture, paralysis of the will. But the two certain signs that a civilization has begun to die are a declining population and foreign invasions no longer resisted.

Here in America, the self-delusion about what is happening and the paralysis in the face of the crises have no precedent. What can be said for a man who would allow his home to be invaded by strangers who demanded they be fed, clothed, housed, and granted the rights of the firstborn? What can be said for a ruling elite that permits this to be done to the nation, and that celebrates it as a milestone of moral progress?

We are witnessing how nations perish. We are entered upon the final act of our civilization. The last scene is the destruction of the nations. The penultimate scene, now well underway, is the invasion unresisted.

*According to Congressional testimony on August 16th, the Border Patrol reported that actually only 90% of released illegals report back for their court date.

**In 1954, when Eisenhower discovered a million Mexicans here who did not belong, without apology he ordered them sent home in "Operation Wetback." They went.

This has been a production of the Guard the Borders Blogburst. It is syndicated by Euphoric Reality, and serves to keep immigration issues in the forefront of our minds as we're going about our daily lives and continuing to fight the war on terror. If you are concerned with the trend of illegal immigration in our country, join the Blogburst! Send an email with your blog name and url to euphoricrealitynet at gmail dot com.

First was his post about the tracking readers. Ron is the managing editor at the Beaumont (TX) Enterprise. They try to cover topics that they think will appeal to their readers and respond to their readers' desire for the paper to be more "family friendly". However, tracking was inexact until the advent of the online version. Now they can see what readers click on.

Ah, but online counters tell us different. The Los Angeles Times ...printed a whimsical profile of Joe Francis, the creator of the "Girls Gone Wild" soft-porn video series ... a week later, it published a huge, months-long project identifying the 100 most powerful people in the American West.

A few days later, some editors asked for the numbers -- and maybe they're sorry they did. The "Girls Gone Wild" guy's story got 452,000 hits, and its accompanying photo gallery got 593,000. The West 100 story got only 25,000 hits, and its photo gallery 28,000.

stories about sex, death, excess, disaster and crime are literally getting 10-50 times the number of hits as a City Council story, or stories about local taxes or the economy.

Second, was his post entitled 20 Ways To Maintain A Healthy Level Of Insanity. I got a big laugh out of several and could imagine doing some of these things. For example:

9. As often as possible, skip rather than walk

10. Order a diet water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.

11. Specify that your drive-through order Is "To Go."

19. Tell your children over dinner: "Due to the economy, we are going to have to let one of you go."

Ron Franscell Texas Ernesto Mover Mike

FORECAST VALID (August)28/1200Z 19.9N 80.5W...OVER WATER
MAX WIND 70 KT...GUSTS 85 KT.

FORECAST VALID (August)29/1200Z 22.5N 84.0W...OVER WESTERN CUBA
MAX WIND 80 KT...GUSTS 100 KT.

EXTENDED OUTLOOK. NOTE...ERRORS FOR TRACK HAVE AVERAGED NEAR 225 NM
ON DAY 4 AND 300 NM ON DAY 5...AND FOR INTENSITY NEAR 20 KT EACH DAY

OUTLOOK VALID (August)30/1200Z 24.5N 87.0W...OVER WATER
MAX WIND 90 KT...GUSTS 110 KT.

OUTLOOK VALID (August)31/1200Z 27.0N 88.5W
MAX WIND 100 KT...GUSTS 120 KT.

Lousiana Hurricane Oil Ernesto Mover Mike

Update:

Special to the Mercury News

Bedbugs, the flat, brown, blood-sucking subjects of the beloved nursery rhyme, are back with a vengeance after almost being eradicated from this country for the past 60 years.

the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel near San Francisco International Airport. They've settled in on New York's posh Park Avenue. They're snuggling up with visitors in hotels in Boston, Las Vegas and Orlando.

two phenomena for its renewed success in the United States, experts said: globalization and the more restrictive use of pesticides here.

Bedbugs Pesticides Globalization DDT Mover Mike

Update:

The fifth tropical depression of the 2006 Atlantic storm season likely will become a hurricane as it moves into the U.S. Gulf of Mexico early next week, a private weather forecaster said Friday.

"A strong consensus from hurricane tracking models indicate this storm will become a hurricane as it moves into the Gulf early next week and could threaten the Gulf production and rig infrastructure during the later half of next week," Jim Rouiller, senior energy meteorologist at Planalytics, said in a note.

tropical depression Hurricane Oil Ernesto Mover Mike

Update:

The storm system north of Venezuela doesn't have a name yet, but it could become Ernesto before the end of Friday, forecasters said.

Michael Milstein writes in The Oregonian about swarms of California tortoiseshells that have appeared from Mt Hood to Mt Jefferson.

By swarm, we're talking millions. There has been word of a near loss of visibility at times on the mountain passes between Bend and the Willamette Valley, said Mace Vaughan of the Xerces Society, a Portland group that promotes insect conservation. The butterflies gather especially around water.

Anatole Kaletsky is an Associate Editor of The Times and one of the country’s leading commentators on economics. Anatole was previously Economics Editor of The Times, and has won many awards for his financial and political journalism. He writes

DEFEAT IS NEVER pleasant, but often it is better to lose than to win. Defeat in the Second World War was the best thing that ever happened to Germany and Japan in their thousand years of recorded history. For America, losing in Vietnam was also a blessing in disguise. While defeat seemed to shatter the illusion of an “American century” of global dominance, it was followed by 30 years of almost uninterrupted prosperity, a political renaissance for conservative values and America’s total victory over communism in the Cold War.

Sure Germany and Japan became modern industrial powers after the war thanks to the Marshall Plan and our occupation of Japan, but...was it worth the cost of the millions of dead Germans and Japanese? If this were true, since we suffer in this country from a surfeit of Chinese goods, why not nuke China and wipe out some of the world's excess manufacturing capacity?

Kaletsky calls losing in Vietnam a blessing in disguise. Bull! Ask the parents of Max de Sully and the parents and wives and children of 52,000 dead Americans and all the wounded if losing was a blessing. Losing in Vietnam has taught us nothing. We still fight our wars making the military fight handicapped. We wouldn't attack the safe havens in Vietnam and we haven't made Iran and Syria pay for supplying the insurgents in Iraq and Hezbollah in Lebanon. And Vietnam didn't lead to "a political renaissance for conservative values". We are more socialist today and more in debt and conservative values are under more attack than under Reagan. In fact, again Iran has never had to pay for its seizure of the hostages from our embassey in Iran.

As to the victory over Communism, the Soviet Republic may have fallen, but totalitarianism is just as much a problem today as back before Reagan.

It gets worse. Kaletsky writes that we should concede defeat.

The “international community” is now totally powerless in its nuclear confrontation with Iran...

The only way to do that (bring Iran back into the civilised world) is to stop issuing empty threats and to start offering Iran real incentives for co-operative behaviour — non-aggression guarantees from America and Israel, removal of the residual US economic sanctions dating back to the 1980s and the prospect of steadily improving treatment in investment and trade.

The only thing right about Kaletsky's paragraph are the first four words: DEFEAT IS NEVER pleasant.

Anatole Kaletsky Mover Mike Mover Mike Mover Mike Mover Mike

Update:

Maybe the fact that Storm Large was in the bottom three after the first votes came in during Tuesday night's "Rock Star: Supernova" show helped save her for another week. Perhaps the threat of Storm getting the boot prompted fans to hit the phone lines in droves. For whatever reason, when the bottom three were revealed on Wednesday's elimination episode, Portland's sultry singer was not in the trio of terror.

Storm Large Rock Star Supernova Mover Mike

Photo By Ross William Hamilton / The Oregonian

We have a special interest in our Oregon team. One of my wife's best friends for over 50 years is Cathy DeJarden, sister of Tom DeJarden father of Devon DeJarden. Devon was a hero in one game and helped Derek Keller pitch tonight a combined no-hitter, winning 4 to 3. His grandfather is in a nursing home down near Salem and is considered a real sports fan. I am sure he is very proud of his grand son and the whole team from Beaverton.

There has been some very plucky plays by Jace Fry pitching last night who helped his cause by hitting a double. Tonight, Devon, in a key spot helped his team by getting a key bunt that scored Albert from third. What can you say about Sam Albert. The kid was everywhere with his defense and aggressive base running on offense.

It has been a long time, 1958 to be exact, since Oregon sent a Little League team to the World Series. Rick Wise and Keith Lampard were team heroes then and I went to Madison High with them. I was a year older. Let's see if Oregon can get the job done this time. If you read this kids, we are all rooting loud for you. Win it for Grandpa DeJardin.

My heart almost broke watching David Hearne, the pitcher for Illinois. He pitched a great game, striking out at least 12 in six innings. With the score tied 2 all, the aggressive play of Albert made it 4 to 2 and it was a real struggle for the Illinois pitcher to hold back the tears.

Murrayhill Devon DeJardin Sam Albert Little League Baseball Beaverton Oregon Mover Mike

I Wish We Could Have this President for Another Four Years!

Eight more years! Eight more years! Wouldn't that fry them?

Bush Gore Kerry Mover Mike

Patrice - Beautiful Thing - (Original song) I liked the song, good energy. She seems too sweet, more like Sarah McLachlin trying to be a rocker. I don't think she has a big enough voice for this gig. Dave is right. Patrice should be a single.

Magni - Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana A great performance by Magni, a little too constrained. He really should have broken something!

Ryan - Back of your Car - (Original song) This guy is coming from behind and proves he can front the band and he is dark and dirty. The man looked off balance a number of times. Probably can't dance.

Storm - Cryin’ - Aerosmith - That was great! Am I biased? You bet. We got to see Storm rockin' tonight. She's beautiful and nasty. Nice combination! You can take this woman home to meet mom. Just don't leave them in a room together, alone.

Now there's not even breathin' room
Between pleasure and pain
Yeah you cry when we're makin love
Must be one and the same

Toby - Layla - Eric Clapton I am bored with Layla, the song and I am bored with the black outfits and chains and black jeans.

Lukas - All These Things That I’ve Done - The Killers I am unfamiliar with the song, but I liked Lukas' doing it and he has a great voice.

Bottom three: Patrice, Dilana and Toby. Time for Patrice to go home.

Storm Large Rock Star Supernova Mover Mike

Storm Large Rock Star Supernova Mover Mike

London Metal Exchange functions

The London Metal Exchange provides the global forum for all those who wish to manage the risk of future price movements in non-ferrous metals and plastics. The Exchange has developed standardised contracts which assume that on falling due they will result in material either being delivered or received.

This past week, the investment world witnessed an event that has only occurred rarely in the past. I am referring to the extraordinary developments in the nickel market on the London Metals Exchange (LME), the largest base metals exchange in the world.

Any time you unilaterally violate or negate the terms and conditions of any legal contract, that contract is in default.

A long-side manipulation, (is) evidenced by a concentrated long position and prices higher than would be without the concentrated position.

A short-side manipulation, like those in LME nickel and COMEX silver, is evidenced by a concentrated short position and prices lower than would be without the concentrated short position.

The downside of dealing with an exchange like the LME is the very great risk that you will not be able to take delivery as the Nickel buyers are finding out now.

Nickel London Metals Exchange Gold Silver Mover Mike

Dilana jumps head first into quick sand and volunteers to one reporter on how Storm hated the Supernova song lyrics, on Ryan who hated the song all together, on the fact that Patrice should no longer be there, on why Magni is not really wanting this gig and would prefer to be with his family and how Toby is along just for the ride.

In the press, when you talk negatively about a someone or another person whether it is a member of your band or someone else out there in the public eye, there will be repercussions. No matter what.

Patrice - Beautiful Thing - (Original song)

Magni - Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana

Ryan - Back of your Car - (Original song)

Storm - Cryin’ - Aerosmith - I Can't wait to hear Storm sing:

Now there's not even breathin' room
Between pleasure and pain
Yeah you cry when we're makin love
Must be one and the same

Toby - Layla - Eric Clapton

Lukas - All These Things That I’ve Done - The Killers

Storm Large Rock Star Supernova Mover Mike

By Heidi at Euphoric Reality

There are only a few hours left to have some impact on the case of two Border Patrol agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, who are being sentenced tomorrow for attempting to apprehend a drug smuggler who was fleeing across the border illegally. The charges against the Border Patrol agents were serious bodily injury; assault with a deadly weapon; discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence; and a civil rights violation. Compean and Ramos also were convicted of four counts and two counts, respectively, of obstruction of justice for not reporting that their weapons had been fired. The Texas jury acquitted both men of assault with intent to commit murder, but found them guilty on all other charges. The recommended sentencing is 20 years in prison.

You can read the entire account of the case in this Daily Bulletin article written by Sara Carter, but there are a few things you need to know up front:

"It is a violation of Border Patrol regulations to go after someone who is fleeing," she said. "The Border Patrol pursuit policy prohibits the pursuit of someone."

According to the memo, Aldrete-Davila told investigators the agents shot him in the buttocks when he was trying to enter the country illegally from Mexico. But according to Aldrete-Davila's later testimony and that of the agents, he was shot after trying to evade the agents upon his re-entry into Mexico.

The memo never was disclosed to the jury.

As a Border Patrol agent, Ramos has been involved in the capture of nearly 100 drug smugglers and the seizure of untold thousands of pounds of narcotics. He also was nominated for Border Patrol Agent of the Year in March 2005, though the nomination was withdrawn after details of the Aldrete-Davila incident came out.

Ramos also had drug interdiction training from the Drug Enforcement Agency and qualified as a Task Force Officer with the Border Patrol. But Ramos' training in narcotics -- as well as the numerous credentials he had received for taking Border Patrol field training classes -- was not admissible during the trial, he said.

He said the Border Patrol's official pursuit policy handcuffs agents in the field. He also sees the prosecution of Ramos and Compean as part of a larger effort by the federal government.

"The pursuit policy has negatively affected the Border Patrol's mission as well as public safety. Part of that mission is to stop terrorists and drug smugglers," Bonner said. "They could be smuggling Osama bin Laden, drugs, illegal aliens, or it could have been just some drunk teenager out on a joyride. You don't know until you stop them."

"The administration is trying to intimidate front-line agents from doing their job," he added. "If they can't do it administratively, they'll do it with trumped-up criminal charges.

"Moreover, the specter of improprieties in the prosecution of this case raises serious concerns that demand an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation."

The El Paso Sheriff's Department has met with the Ramos family to discuss continued threats against them from people they believe to be associated with Aldrete-Davila. The sheriff's department also has increased patrols around the family's home.

The only other organization that has responded to the Ramoses thus far, Monica Ramos said, is the Chino-based nonprofit group Friends of the Border Patrol, chaired by Andy Ramirez.

"This is the greatest miscarriage of justice I have ever seen," Ramirez said. "This drug smuggler has fully contributed to the destruction of two brave agents and their families and has sent a very loud message to the other Border Patrol agents: If you confront a smuggler, this is what will happen to you."

You can do so by signing a petition that will be delivered to the President - but you must do so TODAY, it's the last day. The men will be sentenced tomorrow.

The goal is to collect 100,000 signatures asking President Bush to pardon these two men. So far, 97,589 people have signed the petition and there is no doubt in my mind that Guard the Borders readers can fill in the remaining numbers needed. The petition, to which you may add your own comment reads as follows:

To: President George W. Bush, As a citizen of the United States I am outraged to learn that two U.S. Border Agents are facing twenty-year prison terms for doing their jobs-- pursuing illegal aliens who cross our border, and I’m calling on you to officially pardon them for their actions.

I am even more outraged to learn that this illegal alien (who was attempting to smuggle about 800 pounds of marijuana into our country), was tracked down by a Department of Homeland Security Investigator and granted immunity for his testimony against these two agents!

This is a terrible injustice, and I urge you to use your considerable authority and power to pardon these two agents and right this obvious wrong!

Please do not hesitate to take this small action on behalf of men whose lives have been destroyed by a drug smuggler and corrupt government agents and prosecutors. It's the very least we can do for them - I wish there was more.

What if this was you? What will happen to these two men? What will be the fallout from such a miscarriage of justice?

"My husband is a good man, a loving father, and his devotion to his country and his job is undeniable," Monica Ramos said. "Prosecutors treated the drug smuggler like an innocent victim, refusing to allow testimony that would have helped my husband. The smuggler was given immunity. My husband is facing a life in prison.

"It's so frightening, it doesn't seem real."

COUNTING THE DAYS

About a week ago, feeling little hope, Joe Loya, Monica Ramos' father, took the family on what will be Ignacio Ramos' last fishing trip with his sons before he is sentenced.

"What kind of justice is this?" Loya asked. "What kind of nation do we live in when the word of a smuggler means more than the word of a just man?"

Monica Ramos says her hardest day is yet to come -- the day the authorities take her husband away.

"We just guard (our children's) hearts right now," Monica Ramos said. "I think about the last time he'll hug them as children, and maybe not get the chance to hug them again until they are grown men."

The sons are between 6 and 13 years old.

Ignacio Ramos was, if anything, even more emotional.

"Less than a month left with my family," he said, his voice choking, as though the air had been pulled from his lungs. "My sons," he whispered. Then silence.

It took several minutes for Ramos to summon more words. "All I think about at night is the day I have to leave my family. I can't sleep. I've always been with them."

Then he talked about the memories he would never have, "their first dates, high school graduation, sports," and the tears falling from his eyes were mirrored only by those of his wife, who took his hand into hers.

The only ones left who can help are the American people themselves. That means you.

"Decollete? Underwear for your (breasts)."

Storm Large Rock Star Supernova Mover Mike

Update:

Consider the insight of psychologist, anthropologist, and marketing guru G. Clotaire Rapaille, famous for introducing cultural archetypes to marketing. In a recent interview with the Harvard Business Review, he eloquently explained the universal archetype of the salesperson: "Salespeople are Happy Losers. Whether they know it or not, they are like addicted gamblers; they are after the thrill. On some level, addicted gamblers know that they are going to lose most of the time, but they are excited by the outside chance of winning. Salespeople share that temperament. They are pros at losing. They are rejected at least 90% of the time, I'd say. Why would anyone choose that job? For the chase. I assure you, salespeople are never going to be an endangered species. There will always be people who enjoy and want this job, just as there will always be addicted gamblers."

Wrong! I am addicted to the blog and the news, seeking the unusual, the breaking news that will send hundreds of thousands of visitors to my site. I don't want the transitory Instapundit jump in visitors, but the habitual visitor who has to start each day with a visit to Mover Mike and a frequent stop during the day to see if something changed at Mover Mike. I thought I had given up the chase, instead, now I am a "happy loser" selling my ideas to a world audience.

Max Kalehoff G. Clotaire Rapaille Salesman Mover Mike

Actors George Clooney (``Syriana,'' ``Ocean's Eleven'') and Dennis Haysbert (``24,'' ``The Unit'') are among the first buyers.

Tesla Tesla Roadster Roadster Electric Car Mover Mike

Update:

Humans are much more able to find patterns through the ears rather than the eyes. I find the music from Mt Etna in Sicily and Tungurahua in Ecuador strangely fascinating.

Listen to the piano versions of Mount Etna and Tungurahua in action.

It is called sonification and

The researchers have made the volcanoes sound like heavy wind outside the window in one case, like a powerful engine idling in another. They also mapped the sounds onto MIDI piano, resulting in some avant-garde-sounding pieces (which are linked to above.)

Nickel prices climbed to the highest since at least 1987 as stockpiles dwindled, forcing the London Metal Exchange to impose trading restrictions for the first time in a year.

After nickel surpassed $29,000 a metric ton, twice its level at the start of this year, the LME ordered for delivery rules to be suspended because of shortage of the metal. Inventories have plunged 83 percent in the past year.

"We now have a genuine material shortage," Simon Heale, chief executive officer of the exchange, said in an e-mailed statement today, explaining the exchange's decision.

The price of nickel, a metal used to make steel rust-resistant, is four times higher than the average of the 1990s because of a surge in demand from China....

[...]

Posco, the world's fourth-largest steelmaker by output, said two days ago it had a short nickel position on the LME of "less than 1,000 tons." The company commented after the Wall Street Journal's Asian edition reported it made wrong-way bets involving 10,000 tons of nickel. Posco has been scrambling to cover the positions and is being forced to roll them forward at ever greater expense, the newspaper said, citing unidentified metal market sources in London. The company said rumors of such a large position were "groundless."

Nickel Posco Gold Silver Copper Mover Mike

Update:

Update:

Pandora started the Music Genome Project which answers the question:

Can you help me discover more music that I'll like?

You plug in the artist and it plays a song from his or her CD and if you like that one it will find other artists that match the style. For example, I typed in John Prine looking for artists that match his style, folk roots, country influences, acoustic sonority, major key tonaliity and acoustic guitar, etc. It so far has come up with Graham Cotton and Kieran Kane & Kevin Welch and Bill Mallonee. I have never heard of any of the four!

In addition Pandora has a "Backstage" which offers a biography of the artist, all CDs with pictures and show dates.

The more the RIAA tries to shut down free music downloads, the more technology runs over, around and under the recording legacy of music. In the case of Pandora, I can save the artist searches and play them when ever I want, like a radio station catering to just my taste. All right!

Pandora Music Genome Project Mover Mike

Update:

Update:

San Gimignano Landfair Furniture (Blog Mover Mike

Solar Cycle Sun Spots Mover Mike

Wise was was the best player on the Rose City Little League team that made the Little League World Series in 1958.

* Bats Left, Throws Right
* Height 6' 2", Weight 197 lb.
* School University of Oregon

My sister Cheryl had a crush on him. Keith and Rick were a mighty duo, one pitching and the other playing outfield and both could slug the ball a mile. My classmates and I spent a lot of hours watching those young men along with players like Jerry Simonson and Jim Shepard. What a season and both Rick and Keith made it to the Bigs. Keith to the Houston Astros in 1969 and 1970.

Baseball Rick WiseKeith Lampard Brian Meehan Mover Mike

Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney said Mossad knew details three years ago about Hezbollah's Katyusha and other rockets.

"They knew what they had," he said.

He said Israel's war plan was undermined by political leaders, not by a lack of intelligence.

"Israel's plan was that if they were fired upon, they would respond with a [leadership] decapitation program and massive air and ground campaigns into Lebanon," Gen. McInerney said.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert did not order the decapitation plan and was slow to carry out the ground campaign.

"It was not the intelligence," he said. "There's no question they did not take the heart out of Hezbollah." (emphasis added)

Bill Gertz Israel Mover Mike

Let's take Zayra. Singing he own composition, "Lluvia de Mar", a really a beautiful song in Spanish, Zayra rang the bell. I like her so much that I bought her CD, Ruleta, but she is not the right person for Supernova.

Magni sang "Starman" a David Bowie song, and for the first time, I liked Magni. Not in the bottom three, IMO, but too clean for Supernova.

Patrice sang "Message In A Bottle" a song by The Police. I liked it, and I liked that she can really rock when her back is against the wall. I just get the feeling that her voice is just not strong enough to be the front person.

Lukas sang "Hero" a song by Chad Kroeger, another beautiful song and I can see Lukas fronting the band.

Storm sang "I Will Survive" a Gloria Gaynor song. The judges hated the version sung by Storm. I really liked it. It was not the disco song we all know, it was different and had some real feeling or understanding of the lyrics. BUT...I think this was too safe. I want to see that dirty side of her. I like the eye shots where you see the whites of her eyes. I like the edginess of Anything, Anything!

Toby sang "Solsbury Hill" a Peter Gabriel song accompanied by Gilby. It was ok. I can see him fronting the band.

Ryan sang "In The Air Tonight". One of my all time favorite Phil Collins' song. Ryan sang it very well. Did you notice the drums in this one as the tension built up?

Dilana sang "Cats In The Cradle" a Harry Chapin song. She is the one to beat. Definately not in the bottom three!

An aside: I think Dilana is a real beautiful woman, but all the piercings and hair are a distraction, as are Tommy Lee's tats amd Gilby's hair.

Bottom three: Zayra, Patrice and Storm Large. This last nomination for bottom three is merely a wake up call. I want to see STORM LARGE. Now I've gotta' go vote for her. After all, I expect her to be in the top four and maybe the top two with Dilana.

Storm Large Rock Star Supernova Dilana Mover Mike

Update:

Lee Williams writes that Wilf's, where Storm large played solo sets on Saturdays, has joined the Storm fan sites that show Rock Star: Supernova, but on a 19-inch TV!

Storm says of Tommy Lee,

"Oh, Tommy is a pussycat," Storm said with a laugh, speaking from the "Rock Star" mansion in Hollywood. "And come on, he flirts with everything: girls, guys, lamps, chairs."

[...]

Last week, the remaining eight rockers were awarded a surprise trip to Las Vegas for a glimpse at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, where Supernova will perform a New Year's Eve gig. Storm said Tommy gave her $100 tagged just for gambling. She refused at first, she said, but the rocker reminded her he recently inked an endorsement deal for a quarter-million dollars.

"I was up a thousand, but I really don't gamble, so I cashed it in, got a massage at the spa, then went to bed," while the other rockers continued to party, Storm said.

is custom made by Lord's, a Hollywood design shop specializing in "rock couture." And the song will be another anthem, of sorts.

Storm large Rock Star Supernova Dilana Mover Mike

Update:

if you can believe Hersh, we learn two things:

We can learn what to do in Iran by watching what the Israelis do in Lebanon.

The long-term Administration goal was to help set up a Sunni Arab coalition—including countries like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt—that would join the United States and Europe to pressure the ruling Shiite mullahs in Iran.

Hersh is really good in this article at being a wet blanket, painting a gloomy picture that has Israel failing, first by not getting the job done with Hezbollah and then misreading the Sunni population much as we did in Iraq. The Sunnis did not come out against the Shiite Hezbollah, and thus the U.S. now has even a bigger problem with Iran that may come to a head toward the end of August.

Seymour M. HershIsrael Lebanon Hezbollah Sunni Shiite Mover Mike

the Siniora government (of Lebanon) has rejected the UN demand to disarm Hezbollah, and the terrorist group has blocked the deployment of the Lebanese Army to the south

Syria is removing anti-tank mines from their border with Israel along the Golan Heights, and moving large numbers of tanks to the border at this time.

Is this all leading to a take down of Iranian nukes? Gareth Porter seems to think so in an article published Friday.

One leading expert on Israeli national defense policy issues believes the aim of the Israeli campaign against Hezbollah was to change the Bush administration's mind about attacking Iran. Edward Luttwak, senior adviser to the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies, says Bush administration officials have privately dismissed the option of air strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities in the past, citing estimates that a Hezbollah rocket attack in retaliation would kill thousands of people in northern Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's main purpose in meeting with Bush on May 23 was clearly to push the United States to agree to use force, if necessary, to stop Iran's uranium enrichment programme. Two days before the meeting, Olmert told CNN that Iran's "technological threshold" is "very close". In response to a question about U.S. and European diplomacy on the issue, Olmert replied: "I prefer to take the necessary measures to stop it, rather than find out later that my indifference was so dangerous."

The capture of Gilad Shalit may turn out to be as important as the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand that started WWI.

Siniora government Israel Hezbollah Ehud Olmert Gilad Shalit Mover Mike

Is Olmert incompetent or just another liberal that wants to use his military in an unmilitary way?

It appears to this writer that Israel has been "David Ignatiused"! Remember when he wrote

The evidence grows that you can't achieve real security without negotiating with your adversaries, and you can't succeed in such negotiations without offering reasonable concessions.

Ehud Olmert Israel Hesbollah cease fire agreement Mover Mike

We left Sunday morning the 6th of August for Boise and stayed the night with my cousin Ginger. We hit the road the next morning for Stanley, Idaho and the Sawtooth Mountains

I was anxious to see the Sawtooths, because my Dad lived outside Idaho City in Stearman, Idaho, a railroad station used to load logs. He spent a lot of his youth tramping in these mountains. The Sawtooths are a fault block lifted up on the east side and then carved by glaciers, much like the Tetons which we visited later. They were beautiful but too far from the road to be truly impressive.

Next, we drove to Ketchum and Sun Valley and on to Craters of the Moon National Monument.

We stayed the night barely in Idaho Falls. We arrived in Idaho Falls at 7:00 PM and we found the last motel in the city that wasn't booked. It had a pool of almost icy water, that I took one dunk in and then a welcoming bed.

Next morning it was on to the West Yellowstone entrance, but first we stopped at Big Springs about four miles off the highway. Much like the Metolius River in Oregon, Big Springs starts at the bottom of a small mountain and becomes a small river with 12 inch Rainbow Trout.

One hundred and twenty million gallons of pure water a day -- enough to meet the water needs of a million people -- surge out of the ground here.

We packed up and headed for Jackson Hole and Teton Village.

The pool at the Best Western was like bath water and the room perfect for our two night stay. I missed the show Rock Star: Supernova on Tuesday and just caught the last 10 minutes of the result show on Wednesday night. I was not surprised that Josh and Jill were eliminated, She had landed in the bottom three often, and he just didn't fit with the style of music Supernova was going to be playing. In case you missed it here is the video of Storm Large's performance:

The next day August 10th we were up bright and early to go white water rafting on the Snake River.

We learned that the river flows at about 8 miles an hour faster than the Deschutes, but the rapids were just IIs and IIIs. Big Kahuna was the III and managed to get us all wet in the 60 degree water.

This rapid is formed from a river wide ledge. This ledge forms a big curler followed by a large hole in the center of the channel.

We turn toward home and stop in Swan, Idaho for square scoop ice cream at the Rainey Creek Country Store. We then retraced some of our steps on Route 20 to Idaho Falls, Arco, Craters of the Moon and then back to Boise for another night with my cuz and Pizza.

Saturday morning we were off for the last leg, Boise to Portland. We arrived in Portland at 5:15 PM tanner than leather (the top was down the whole way) and grateful for an uneventful trip with the car and other drivers. Once again Bev and I proved we could spend a week in a car together and still love each other at the end of the trip.

Boise Stanley, Idaho Sawtooth Mountains Stearman, Idaho Sun Valley