Snow!

We are having our first snow of the season at sea level. It has been coming down all day really, and has sure been messing up my satellite television. Sara is making bread and soup and Hana is begging for outside time. With the way things are going it doesn't look like tomorrow will be a day for working at the office.

We have had a fairly nice four day weekend. Sara and I hung out at the gym and even took her parents and sister climbing. Her mom and dad did excellent, I hope we get a chance to bring them outside in the spring.

What's a philosophy?

I have an eight year old nephew (well not yet eight, but soon) who likes to ask big questions. I was a bit stumped when he asked "What does philosophy mean?" We pulled out a dictionary and went about trying to explain it. Not easy when every word you want to use has to be explained as well.

Sara and I had a nice visit with the family in Denver. The nephews were more than a handful on Saturday, but they shaped up pretty quickly. After some sassing back to grandma the older nephew got the shake down from Uncle Chris. The boys were very well behaved after that and we had a very good time with a quick science project. We went into the bathroom and the boys looked at their eyes in the mirror. I turned off the light for 30 seconds and then turned it back on. This of course causes the pupil to constrict and the boys thought that was cool.

We visited Breckenridge, which is a nice ski resort/tourist trap. We would have liked to spend more time but such is the way things go. We also had a great time on the way to the airport. There is this monster store called Outdoor World, and it had a shooting range (with lasers, not bullets) and the boys also got to climb the indoor rock wall. That was pretty neat. We probably could have played for a few hours. Even Sara had fun in there shooting at the range.

We had a bit of excitement at the airport in Denver. Going through security we got pulled aside. Sara apparently had our Leatherman in her purse. Why this wasn't caught at Sea-Tac we have no idea, but none-the-less it was a big surprise that we had this knife with us on the plane to Denver. So $8 and three to six weeks later we'll get our Leatherman back. Fun stuff to have security going through your purse. We cannot remember why the Leatherman was in Sara's purse though...we figure it must have been from our camping trip to Redwood National Forest.

So the family is well, and the nephews are growing tall. Mom has settled into Denver, and seems to be very happy with the weather and altitude. Sara and I just need to become wealthy enough to visit more often. Colorado is a great place to visit.

Hmmm, interesting results.

I didn't see that coming. Seriously, I was almost 99.9% certain that the GOP would hold the Senate. And seriously, I figured Missouri would be much closer than it turned out to be...I mean despite the exit polls and weekly trends showing a Dem win there...didn't expect that it would actually hold to reality.

So, I hope that now there is a clear change of power in our political system, we don't fall asleep and let the Dem's become as corrupt and dirty as the GOP's became. My hope is that both parties do some serious work on setting the ethical standards of our politicians. And I hope that the GOP can find its way back from the lunacy that has gripped them for such a long time. Focus on politics that actually impacts the people, not this gay bashing, tax cutting for the rich, anti-abortion stand. Middle class America needs to focus on keeping our civil liberties, providing education so we can compete in this global economy, keeping people employed with good paying jobs, and making sure we can have reasonable health needs met.

And hopefully we can get away from these bills that amount to doing nothing. It makes no sense to say we are going to "leave no child behind" if we are not going to fund these bills.

Okay, it is nice to see the bully humbled.

Keep your video camera's powered on.

Holy Cow! Thank you all who have taken your video cameras and focused them on the polls, and have made it next to impossible for the election to be twisted and undermined. Yes, there are some very, very close races and we will likely have to wait until the morning to see the end results, if not longer. However keep your eyes on Missouri and Virginia. The weekly polling, the exit polling show there is a favorite, and so far it is looking suspicious. We knew Virginia would be tight, but Missouri ... well 60% of the votes are counted and it should be much closer than it currently is being reported.

Earn your citizenship!

Go and Vote. If the odds are overwhelming they can try to cheat all they want...

Prepare to have your Democracy undermined...again.

Well there are really only two and a half days left until the votes are cast and counted. If you are paying attention, the media is already minimizing the position of the Democratic party. My first thought was "This cannot be right!" So I started doing my research, and sure enough it looks like the media is reporting on selective polling that shows the Democratic Party to not have the leads that weekly polling has been showing.

Why is this important? Well most polling has a plus or minus three percent. So if you put the Republican candidate within that 3% then you flip the results so the Republican wins and then you can say it was within the margin of error.

So the media is preparing the Democrats for disappointment. This is what they did in 2004, 2002, and 2000. The pattern of deception continues. The media claims to be "impartial" but they fail to report the facts, or if they do they minimize the time of presenting factual information. If you pay close attention you'll catch a few comments like "This is the only poll that shows the tightening of the race, but no other polls are showing that. (paraphrased)"

And then they keep playing up the John Kerry comments which if you actually watch the video, the whole video, it is clear and the audience knows it is clear who the jab was directed at -- George Bush. People who claim otherwise are lying to themselves.

So just pay attention. The deception before us is not well hidden, but so many choose to ignore the truth.

Dogs Dogs Dogs

I'm waiting for it to be November 1st in Korea. That is about three hours away, and while I wait for the seconds to pass, I sit and watch Vertical Frontier while Hana stares at me, Leroy watches the yard outside (certianly dreaming of having someone scratch his bum), and Apple is curled up sleeping. It is a great day to hang with the puppy dogs, and watch some interesting history of climbing. I've watched it before but somethings never get old.

I should probably get my chores done for the day...

Justifying the Right

So, all over the news is this slander from Rush Limbaugh about Michael J. Fox. What surprises me, and I'm really surprised, is that some media outlets are siding with Rush. They are justifying his vicious words, and Rush himself has said he stands by what he said and wouldn't put it any other way.

Why would anyone, and I mean anyone think that the opinions of Rush are worth listening too? He's a drug addicted, hooker chasing, lying, disgusting, right-wing apologist.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh! And I stand by that description of Rush.

I feel better. Better than my friend Heather who hurt herself climbing at Elwah this past week. I don't know all the details but I do know she pulled a rock from the wall and tumbled. Apparently, she hurt herself enough to need crutches.

Sara and I haven't had much time to climb lately. I've been putting in extra hours in the office to get a product delivered by the 1st of November. There is always lots to get done and never enough time to do it all. I have a chore list that hasn't budged in weeks. Oh well.

That is just so weird.

I didn't know you could smile with your cheeks and frown with your mouth. I've been married to Sara for eight years and I just noticed that she smiles with a frown. I didn't even know that was possible.

Why am I so tired?

This fall is just killing me. I cannot seem to get motivated. I need to do so many tasks. I've even started keeping track of them in my google page. I was hoping to get outside for one last climbing opportunity but I'm too tired. I've even had a hard time getting motivated about the gym. Though I have had a great time every time I've been in the gym.

This weekend I'll likely have to work. That kind of sucks too. I'm too tired to really care though.

Straw Men

You are either with us or against us.

If you don't support the war, you support the terrorist.

If you vote for a Republican, you vote for a pedophile.

Isn't that how straw men arguments work? Two options neither one really providing the whole picture? I'm certain that not all Republicans are bad. Although, it is very interesting to me how there is this rally to minimize the actions of one very bad individual, and the cover-up by other members of the GOP Party. The press secretary, Tony Snow, referred to the behavior as "naughty" and Fox tried to represent Mark Foley as a member of the Democratic Party, and other GOP members tried to make it out as a Democratic conspiracy (failing to recognize that the information was leaked via a Republican staffer.) What is wrong with the world? Since when do we support and justify the actions of those that cause our society harm? The so called "moral" party seems awfully thin on actual morals. I'm just amazed, dumb struck, confused.

Well, you'll only have to listen to my voting rants for a few more weeks...November 7th is approaching quickly. On a final note ... Vote. However it is that you vote, you should vote. This country doesn't ask much of its citizens -- the least you can do is vote.

My Party Princess

So I managed to throw a party for Sara. I tried to throw a 30th surprise birthday party for her, but she opened some mail and found out. So my little party princess had a Not-So-Surprise Party at the park. Both our families and our friends joined us and we bbq'd burgers and dogs. I think about 60 people joined us throughout the afternoon. Sara had a very good time and I think got to chat with everyone.

I finally surprised her though. I placed several Cam's on her seat in the car. I place a pillow over them, so she'd have to move the pillow before sitting. She was on the phone when she finally moved the "metal," and her surprise was very convincing. She knows I'm terrible at keeping things a secret so she played the part very well.

So now, with a few pieces our friend gave as gifts, and the new cam's we have a great start on our trad rack. It is kind of exciting. It would be nice if we had a chance to get out and start testing things. We'll probably have to wait though.

We'll see. Climbing is adictive.

How Prophetic

"Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true."

--Martin Luther King Jr.

Well, that clears up what is wrong with those who support this Administration.

The President Was Right!

Extra, Extra, Read All About!

Mr. Bush has finally spoken the truth!

He used to say that in time the truth will prevail and that history will show the truth. Well, we are finally starting to see some of that truth, that those of us who actually think and read have known for the last several years.

CIA Learned in '02 That Bin Laden Had No Iraq Ties, Report Says

It is curious that so many people have avoided seeing the truth for all these years -- including the "left-wing media."

I gave her the boot.

Yes, this used to be about what is up with both Sara and myself. The reality is that I mostly rant about politics, religion, and occassionally my own general thoughts. Besides, Sara has her own blog these days, so go there if you want to read her thoughts.

Can you see the difference?

I came across this article from the AP. As I read this article and the quotes from Ahmadinejad, I could not help but notice that his comments are very similar to those of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and others.

This vitriol talk about the "Liberals" is the same from both groups. Funny, how the radical "Liberals" -- well they just want to have peace, prosperity, social fairness and yet are hated by both our right-wing and Ahmadinejad's right-wing. Oh, what's that you say? "But, they are terrorists!" Oh, I can see the difference now.

She stole my story.

We spent the weekend at Squamish again. We were suppose to take a class in Leavenworth but that was canceled and so we found some friends to meet up with. Our friends were on a different schedule than Sara and me. Saturday we ran into them in the afternoon. They had just arrived and we were finishing our day. We only had a short day with them, but we hung on their ropes and got our butts kicked. On Sunday we spent the morning bouldering, and oh my heck that was a whoopin. I finally got a couple a problems finished, but there where several that once on the holds I couldn't make the next move. I would have liked to stay longer. Especially because this next month I'm doing so much that I don't have much free time. I'm being shipped off to Georgia in a couple of weeks on business, and then there is the whole anniversary and birthday stuff that goes on at the end of September. And then, October hits and there are only a couple weekends left...to get Sara up more than one pitch.

If you want to read more on our latest Squamish trip you can read it over at Sara's Squamish Redux.

No Intelligence Here.

In the Washington Post, Dafna Linzer writes, "...a Republican staff member on the House intelligence committee who holds a hard-line view on Iran, fully backs the White House position that the Islamic republic is moving forward with a nuclear weapons program and that it poses a significant danger to the United States. But it chides the intelligence community for not providing enough direct evidence to support that assertion."

He continues writing, "Its authors did not interview intelligence officials." "It" being a 29-paged report from a House intelligence committee.

Clearly, the White House has no intelligence, and it neither cares nor wants to be intelligent. If you would like to read the entire article you can find it here. These people are so completely psychopathic.

In the meantime, Sara and I are off to do some climbing. I think we are going to camp out and climb some boulders in Squamish. We originally were planning on taking a Self-Rescue class in Leavenworth but that fell through and the class was canceled. Fortunately, we have options.

Growing Up.

You know I find it absolutely hilarious. I never wanted to grow up. Now I have responsibility. It seems to find us when we don't want it, and then you never seem to shake it off.

So what can you do? I know this couple who every five years re-evaluates their lives. If all is not well...well I don't know what happens. But if it were me I would never have the courage to do anything too dramatic. I'd wish I could just quit, I'd wish I could just pack up my wife, my dog, my cats and just ... I don't know.

Most likely, I'd just keep paying the bills, buying too much crap, and supporting a system that I don't believe in.

Yep, it is hilarious. Fricken hilarious.

Are you a fool?

How can you identify a fool?

The definition of fool is "one destitute of reason", "A person deficient in intellect", "one without judgment".

I think it is fairly easy to identify a fool. First you look at the mistakes of the fool, then you look at how often the fool repeats those mistakes.

Once again this administration is falling back to old behaviors. We are all the sudden painfully aware that we can never be 100% safe. And this administration has done nothing but play on those fears.