What Is Freedom?

For this Memorial Day, let's remember the central idea that American troops have fought and died for: freedom.

This is especially critical now, since pundits from all corners have forgotten what freedom means. As a consequence, we have been slipping towards more authoritarian forms of government for the better part of the 20th century. We can stop it, if we simply grasp the idea and apply it decisively.

Sometimes it takes an outsider to appreciate what we have, and to remind us of what we need to defend. This is the case with Russian-born novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand, who said:

Since knowledge, thinking, and rational action are properties of the individual, since the choice to exercise his rational faculty or not depends on the individual, man’s survival requires that those who think be free of the interference of those who don’t. Since men are neither omniscient nor infallible, they must be free to agree or disagree, to cooperate or to pursue their own independent course, each according to his own rational judgment. Freedom is the fundamental requirement of man’s mind.

A rational mind does not work under compulsion; it does not subordinate its grasp of reality to anyone’s orders, directives, or controls; it does not sacrifice its knowledge, its view of the truth, to anyone’s opinions, threats, wishes, plans, or “welfare.” Such a mind may be hampered by others, it may be silenced, proscribed, imprisoned, or destroyed; it cannot be forced; a gun is not an argument. (An example and symbol of this attitude is Galileo.)

It is from the work and the inviolate integrity of such minds—from the intransigent innovators—that all of mankind’s knowledge and achievements have come. (See The Fountainhead.) It is to such minds that mankind owes its survival. (See Atlas Shrugged.)

Freedom means the freedom to think, to act peacefully, and to keep the rewards of such thinking and acting. Look at the daily news; does this sound like our current state of affairs? Does our government respect and protect our right to think and to act? Or does it expect obedience and self-sacrifice?

Our culture retains a fragile grasp of the link between thought, action and freedom when it comes to free speech, but we have forgotten how it applies to property and to economic activity. We have arrived at the point where our government is literally managing our economy and its largest businesses. Does that sound like respect for the mind, and for individual thought and action? If we don't respect the human mind, how long do you think we will be able to retain its many benefits?

To get the country back on a proper course, and to regain our sense of what freedom means, we need to respect the heart of its origin: the human mind. Without respect for individual judgment and our right to act on it, we cannot defend freedom, and we will lose what we have left of it. Let's honor the fallen by taking the time to understand what they fought and died for, and to carry it forward in their place.

Can You Spot The Field Mouse?

You'll probably have to click on the image and zoom in for this one. As I was walking along a trail at South Valley Park, as usual the birds, mice and rabbits would retreat into the bushes and scrub oak when I passed by. This time, I decided to stop and wait quietly, to see if a mouse would come back out. Sure enough, one of them raced out of its hiding place and resumed its activity, although it was still partially hidden by weeds. Can you spot it in the picture?


It's right in the middle, partially hidden by weeds, with one eye staring at the camera. Its nose is pointed to the right, and you can just see its ear in a darker shade of grey.

It would appear, rustling quickly through the grass, nibble a green grass shoot (I could hear it crunch through the stem), and then race into its hole with the shoot. This went on for a few minutes while I waited for it to appear between some plants so I could get a picture. It never came near the trail, so there was no chance of photographing it out in the open. Plus, there was an ample supply of grass right near its burrow, so it was going to be a while before it needed to stray elsewhere for nesting material.

This was on the same stretch of trail where I saw this impressive rattlesnake. Hmm... could there be a connection between these two facts?

Loveland Pass Ski

It's time to get caught up on activities from the past few weeks. This post is about a short ski outing at Loveland Pass from mid-May.

Loveland Pass is an alternate route over the Continental Divide vs. taking I-70 through the Eisenhower/Johnson Tunnel. Tiny US 6 winds from one valley to another, finally reaching Loveland Pass at 11,990 feet above sea level. There's a small parking lot, and people get out to take pictures, hike and ski. I did a bit of skiing in the west bowl a couple of weeks ago. Here is my GPS track, with the parking spot on the left:


Due to the ease of access from the highway, it's a stretch to call this "backcountry" skiing, but I took the opportunity to get away from the ski resort crowds and ski entirely under my own power. Rather than hitchhiking back up from the highway, as some do, I opted to skin back up for each run. "Skinning" refers to the use of detachable skins on the bottom of your skis, which allow you to slide the skis uphill due to the one-way hairs on the bottom. Here is my setup:


Between the obSETHeds and the Marker Baron bindings, it's rather heavy combo, but it's rock-solid and it works. To ascend the mountain, you simply put the skin on the base of the ski via its sticky backing, release the heel of the binding (I also put the riser down, which elevates the heel), and slide up the hill similar to cross-country skiing. At the top, you remove the skins and stow them, lock the heel of the binding, and ski down.

I spent a few hours and only managed three laps, due to the inherent slowness of the ascent, perhaps the gear, the high altitude, and the fact that I had run Green Mountain the prior day. But it was a sunny day, nice scenery and there were no crowds; only the occasional passing skier/rider. Now, on to some pictures!

The first part of the climb was on fairly hard wind-packed snow, so I hiked up with my skis over my shoulder. Past the first outcropping of rocks, however, I put the skins on and began the ascent on skis. This is the view looking back towards the road, which is barely visible in the right background as a thin dark strip. The actual parking lot is a bit closer:


It may look sunny and warm, but the wind was hammering the ridge pretty hard, and my face was chilly! I regretted leaving my face mask in the car. After the initial ascent, however, I just stayed below the upper parts of the bowl, out of the strongest wind.

Some ambitious individual on a lighter touring setup than mine had made tracks straight up the hill on a 30-degree incline (measured with my iPhone), and I gamely followed in their tracks, punctuated by plenty of stops to catch my breath. Phew!


Although the snow on the upper section was a bit hard, it got softer on the way down, and I actually got some nice turns in. I did have to watch my foot placement carefully, since the snow was a bit touchy; dig too deep, and you'd hit the stiff crust below the softened layer, and you'd probably catch a ski and go down. Here are my tracks as seen from below:


I skied another line below this with some good soft snow, then it leveled out down near the first trees. This is the view from those trees looking back up:


In the lower parts of the bowl, I was protected from the wind, and the full sunlight made it quite comfortable. It was blissful; great weather, surreal sculpted snowscapes and deep blue sky above. Even the occasional cloud cover made for interesting plays of light and dark:


On my last run, I bailed out before I got too far down in the bowl, and skinned back across to the parking lot. I think next time I'll find a better way, because this slope was littered with rocks just beneath the snow, and it was hard to find a path through them:


A couple of the traverse areas were steeper too, and some of the snow was not that stable, i.e. it was soft snow slipping on top of a harder layer. Not good.

I was pretty beat after 3 laps and a hill run the prior day, so this amount of skiing was just fine. Afterwards I headed to Breckenridge, stopping at Sapphire Point before grabbing lunch at the Breckenridge Brewery, and later seeing the yellow-rumped warbler . All in all, a fun day with some good variety.

Pink Sunset View

High clouds and clear skies yesterday evening created some nice fluorescent pink clouds after sunset. The view is from Alderfer/3 Sisters Open Space in Evergreen, CO:


Even though the clouds were not extraordinarily bright, they seemed to be giving off a light of their own, almost like neon signs.

To complete the picture, imagine the sounds of frogs chirping, of children playing outside at a nearby home, and of the occasional car passing on the country road.

Microsoft Releases Outlook .PST File Spec

As per Microsoft's previous announcement, they have finally released their Outlook .pst file specification. This is of importance to developers looking to work with this file for the purpose of creating independent email and calendaring applications that work with Outlook, without having to install Outlook and work through its API.

I was originally researching this when I was trying to sync my personal calendar entries between Hotmail on the web and my iPhone, using Windows.

There is a method that involves purchasing the full desktop Microsoft Outlook application for Windows, which can download your Hotmail calendar if you have the Hotmail Connector. However, it does not work well because you cannot simply choose one calendar in each app to be the calendar to be synchronized; Outlook imports the Hotmail calendar as a new calendar with a name other than the main calendar, and iTunes does not see this new calendar, so it cannot be synced to the phone! Gotcha!

(I just had an idea, which is to write an Outlook macro to copy the entries between the two calendars, and then maybe the iPhone would see them, but I'm not sure what will happen with those entries when the phone syncs to my work server. It might be worth a try.)

There are ways to sync if you have Google Calendar, but then I have two separate calendars, and frankly I don't like Google's user interfaces. For example, Gmail: rather than their "labels", I prefer a folder-based interface, you know, like every other application in the world. There is also Google Sync, but you must set up an Exchange account on your phone to do this, and I can't because I'm already using one for work and you can't have two.

Bottom line: the iPhone is an Apple device, and if you want to synchronize you'd better be using Mac OS and Apple mail and calendar applications.

Flowers From My Run

As I ran up the hill towards Shadow Canyon near Boulder on Tuesday, I saw so many flowers that I had the idea of taking a snapshot of each different kind, just to see how many it would be. I counted 25 24* different blooms, including flowering trees:


If you happen to click on the image for a closer view, don't expect the height of artistry and quality. I literally stopped running, snapped a shot, and kept going. Some are OK; some are not so good, especially later as the light began to fade. The last image also shows a "feature" of the Canon auto-focus on my cameras, which is that if there is a bright subject in the center of the field of view, sometimes it cannot focus properly. Canon's advice in this case is to lock the focus on something of similar distance and then shoot, but this time it was point, shoot, and run!

The temp was about 75, and the sun had been baking all day, so the air was a potent mixture of scents, from pine and juniper, to the various perfumes of flowering trees, flowers, grasses and weeds. The air seemed alive. Later a warm rain shower passed over the area, adding the scent of wet dirt, rock and vegetation. Springtime is definitely in full force now on the Colorado plains.

*I found a duplicate in row 4; the fuzzy white flowers in column 3 and 4. It is the same flower in different stages of opening.

Objectivist Round Up

This week's Objectivist Round Up is hosted by The Secular Foxhole. The Round Up features posts by bloggers who advocate Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand. Just a few of the many topics include unlimited democracy, Rand Paul on abortion, the meaning of tolerance, and an interview of a philosopher by a magician. Enjoy!

Mountain Micro Capitalism

I've been visiting the St. Mary's Glacier trailhead for a few years now, and one day a couple of years ago, I arrived at the trailhead to find a bearded mountain dude taking peoples' money for the privilege of parking in the once-free parking lot. At first I was suspicious, wondering if this was a scam to fleece innocent visitors of $5. However, his story seemed legit (the mark of a good con man, mind you) so we paid the fee and parked there. Our vehicle was still there when we returned :)

As I remember it, the owner said he had purchased this parking lot recently, and that he intended to add amenities such as restrooms, which the trailhead did not already have. The road past the parking lot is narrow, and private property surrounds the area, so legal parking is at a premium. We would pay him $5 and in return would have a legal parking space and not get towed, and hopefully have restrooms one day.

Well, I came back this year to find he had made good on his promise. Granted they were portables, but there were two of them, and it was appreciated. There was a new self-service fee "station", which is typically a metal pole with a box containing envelopes which you write your information on, insert your money into, and drop into a slot. You take a receipt copy and put it in your car window indicating you have paid. Here is the receipt:


When I was getting ready to set off on my snowshoe hike, the mountain man arrived on an ATV with a young boy, who I could hear gleefully exclaim something like "We're going to have LOTS of money!" Anti-profit forces might cringe upon hearing that a young mind has been corrupted by the dollar, but I think it's great. Life in the mountains seems like it can be tough, so any bit of income that can be legally had by an enterprising person is cause for approval.

It's also an example, however tiny, that wilderness areas might not actually go up in figurative flames if free individuals were to have a hand in managing them. Nobody issued an edict for someone to manage parking near this trailhead; it did not require a national trailhead parking policy. Someone simply took it upon themselves to acquire the property and offer a service near a trail, and everyone benefits.

Snowmelt Above St. Mary's Glacier

As I wandered the ridge between St. Mary's Glacier* and James Peak (right background) on Sunday, I had to pick my way through rivulets of reddish-brown meltwater produced by the midday sun and spring temperatures. However, in spite of the melting snow, it was cold, windy, and not very spring-like at 11,000 feet.


The water is on the surface in this photo, but it was just as likely to flow underneath it, and then reappear farther downhill. The snow was not very deep, but even so some areas were huge pits of slush that I would sink into as I walked along. I was glad I had snowshoes, winter boots, and gaiters on.

*Note: the flat area in the photo is above the glacier and the snow here is only a couple of feet deep max. There were rocks and dirt showing nearby.

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

I had to buy a book to identify this bird, because I was drawing a blank with web searches. I bought the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of Western North America at the Boulder Bookstore. The book seems good in terms of the quantity of birds listed and the logical organization, plus the drawings are nice. I actually found several birds that were close, unlike the other guides I browsed, and I think I've identified this one correctly. Here he is, in all his semi-blurry yet colorful glory:


When I saw him, I was sitting on a rock along the Blue River that flows through Breckenridge, CO, sipping a coffee. I had tried to go to Clint's because they have good locally-roasted beans, but the town is in the middle of its post-ski season shutdown, so lots of businesses are closed until later in May or early June. As luck would have it, Starbucks was open and had my favorite Sumatra, which is what I brew at home (I love coffee from the South Pacific).

Anyway, I was sitting on my rock, and this little bird kept flitting up off his rock 15 feet away on the other side of the river, to eat flies hovering over the water. I thought it was interesting, and tried to take a couple of shots of the quick-moving creature in the dim light; not an ideal photographic situation. Hence the blurriness of the image, even though he is sitting still.

It wasn't until I got the image home and zoomed in, that I realized how colorful the bird actually was. A handsome fellow!

Advice For Making Online Comments

I spend a certain amount of time making online comments on various stories of interest and importance to me, so I just thought I'd mention my strategy for keeping calm and happy in this age of poor thinking and even poorer manners. Some tips:

• Pick one concise point, and write something short and sweet.
• Do not refer to the author, refer to the ideas. This keeps it from getting personal.
• Keep your adjectives accurate, to the point and non-insulting. When I see words like "stupid", "clueless" and so on, I don't even bother reading. Better words are "incorrect" and "wrong", which objectively assess the points being made, and don't imply anything about the speaker.
• DO NOT RETURN TO FOLLOW UP*. Unless the web site is friendly and/or you intend to engage in a productive discussion for some specific reason, post once and never return. Large news sites like CNN and the NY Times, and political sites like Huffington Post and DailyKos (and probably conservative sites, whatever they may be) will attract a huge number of incredibly rude comments that totally miss the point of what you wrote. Just don't go there, your blood pressure will thank you :).
• Save your comment text for re-use later. I save comments along with the URL to the article, in a file named by sortable date stamp, venue and topic, for example: "Post - 20100515 - Electronista RIAA Wins Suit Over Limewire.txt".

That's my strategy. If you have tougher skin and/or more time to burn, your mileage may vary.

*I was reminded of this rule when I happened to see the comments that had accumulated in response to mine at an old Huffington Post article. They gather the responses and put them in your profile pages under "My Comments". It was just disrespectful and incorrect stuff. I even went back and re-read one of the original articles to see if I had made a mistake, and I hadn't. I was right, they were wrong. Ugh. I need to stay away from that profile page.

Objectivist Round Up

This week's Objectivist Round Up is hosted by Trey Givens. The Round Up features posts by bloggers who advocate Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand. The range of topics includes immigration, treason, and a variation on hide and seek for kids. Enjoy!

Two Misses For Grassfire

Grassfire Nation has been very helpful for keeping tabs on legislative action such as this year's health care bill, and for providing an easy way to contact legislators during the bill's progress.

However, they are a conservative group, not libertarian or Objectivist, so inconsistencies in their platform are more common. Two recent misses are:

• Support Arizona’s Immigration Law
• Comedy Central Plans Mockery of Jesus Christ‏

The Arizona Issue

In the first, apparently I am being lumped together with President Obama and the Left, because I don't support the Arizona bill, but instead support open immigration and some form of amnesty.

Basically my position is that foreigners should be allowed to enter the US and work here, provided they have been cleared as a security risk. That's it. What "cleared" means at any given time, and for any given country is a matter to be decided based on a country's security needs. However, for nations and ethnic/religious groups that do not generally pose a threat, such as Mexico, the bar should be rather low. Commonly-cited problems such as drug violence and use of government benefits are due to other causes, and do not justify fanatically tight borders.

Good articles expressing my viewpoint on this topic can be found here (including comments) and here.

The problem with the Arizona bill is it does not address the real problem, but instead makes it worse, and violates the rights of American businessmen (to hire whoever they choose) and illegal immigrants alike. As Americans, we live in a country where our most important laws have a proper moral foundation, and without that foundation laws do not deserve to be defended. Bad laws need to be overturned, not enforced with ironic flag-waving fervor.

The fundamental problem here is that not everyone on the right has correctly identified the principle upon which freedom is based: individual rights. This means people should be free to act in any way they choose, provided they do not violate that right in others, i.e. they do not engage in violence or fraud. This means that even at our borders, and with regard to foreigners, government does not have a right to prevent movement unless a specific security threat can be identified. One example is if you are a drug lord or thug. Another is if you are a terrorist.

However, workers who want to harvest crops, or work at American businesses, should be granted the right to move about freely and work here. The fact that an estimated several million illegals are in the US is because the laws have not kept up with the times and the flow of people who want to travel here, not because they have done something wrong! Peaceful illegals should be given amnesty and an apology from our government for being treated so poorly.

Comedy Central And Christ

In the second campaign, Grassfire urges us to join the campaign to protest plans by Comedy Central to satirize Jesus Christ. From their email:

Comedy Central has decided to lower the bar even further by stepping up efforts to mock and defame Christians!

They recently announced that they are developing a cartoon series about Jesus Christ called "JC." According to Comedy Central, Jesus will move to New York City to "escape his father's enormous shadow" and to live a normal life.

The network says that God will be portrayed in the show as an "apathetic" father, obsessed with playing video games.

Folks, it's comedy. Shows like South Park ruthlessly satirize anything and anyone, they are not out to get anybody. Grassfire decries this as a double standard, based on the fact that South Park's Mohammed was covered up in cowardly deference to Muslims. So, rather than support South Park, apparently Grassfire is siding with Muslim extremists, and competing with Islam for the title of Best Religious Suppression of Free Speech*, and Most Thin-skinned Religion On Earth.

Sorry Grassfire, I'm not with you these campaigns. I'm too much of an advocate of freedom.

*Strictly speaking, "free speech" refers to the protection of speech by and from government, i.e. the First Amendment. I am using the phrase in the colloquial sense of allowing individuals and businesses to air ideas even if they are unpopular. The proper response to ideas you disagree with is not to try to suppress them, but to offer better ideas in the public intellectual marketplace.

Tenmile Range From Sapphire Point

Sapphire Point is one of those places that tempts you to take photos over and over, trying to get a new and interesting shot at different times of day and in different weather. Sunday was mostly sunny, but had clouds casting shadows over large parts of the landscape at times. The sun shined brightly on the snowy mountain tops, but clouds cast a shadow on the hills below.


This photo is looking west, with the town of Breckenridge several miles the left, and Frisco off to the right. The highway in the middle is Highway 9 heading towards Frisco.

The Arizona Litmus Test

There is a wide range of people associated with what is broadly called "The Right" nowadays, especially given the political wreckage of the last presidential election. There are Compassionate Conservatives, the Religious Right (often the same thing), libertarians, mere fiscal conservatives with no firm principles of liberty, Objectivists like me, and others.

The Tea Party movement, often derided by the left, which chooses only to show protest signs with poor spelling and protestors shouting racial slurs, is a similarly broad coalition with little cohesion other than a general appeal to limited government and freedom. Republicans are jockeying to gain support of tea partiers, while others like Objectivists are trying to spread principled notions of freedom, to counteract the unprincipled semi-fog that now pervades this well-intentioned movement.

One thing that seems to sort out those who have a principled approach to freedom and apply it consistently, is the issue of Arizona's recent immigration law.

On the face of it, this law may seem like an appeal to law and order, and to some extent it is. The StandWithArizona.org web site plays into this theme and has an imposing law enforcement officer on its home page, indicating a tough and unflinching stance. It suggests that if we oppose their plans, we are weak and put Arizona and the United States at risk.

Yet this appeal is an illusion. What if federal law said we had to execute every left-handed person? Would it then be a patriotic defense of law and order to support it?

What about security?

Advocates of tight borders talk about violent criminals and drug dealers. I would claim that those things have more to do with the utterly disastrous "war on drugs" than anything else. Nations always have the right to keep out those who are dangerous, but in this case, it is the nations that are creating the violent drug lords, by outlawing the sale and use of drugs. Check the history of Prohibition and the salutary effect it had on the careers of gangsters like Al Capone. If it's border violence you are worried about, then fight the drug laws.

Are illegals taking our tax money in the form of welfare? Public schools? Housing? Food stamps? If so, then end those programs, since they are wrong anyway.

Are illegals "taking" our jobs? Well, what of it? If they are willing to do the same job for less than Americans, they should get the job. This situation also shows the absurdity of wage laws and the fact that no matter how much Congress tries to legislate low labor prices out of existence, something always flows in to restore balance. Just because we have outlawed cheap labor does not mean it isn't useful and needed. Employers should be allowed to pay any wage someone will accept, and do it on American soil. To prevent it violates the rights of both employer and employee.

Being "tough" on immigration has a certain superficial appeal. However, I claim that to support bad and restrictive immigration laws, simply because they are laws and are seen as a limited solution to certain state problems (such as crime caused by drug trafficking), is a very short-sighted and misguided position.

Further, I claim that this results from not applying the principle of individual rights consistently, and being distracted by lesser issues at the cost of a real solution.

I think this is where the weakness of the conservative position (I'm not a conservative, I'm a laissez-faire capitalist) comes through clearly, precisely because the issue of immigration is colored by all sorts of inflammatory side issues such as race, law enforcement, drugs and so on. Only a principled approach will allow us to identify the correct solution to this complex issue, and the mixed bag of standard conservatism is simply unable to deal with this issue effectively.

For this reason, the Arizona law, as well as the complex issue of immigration in general, can be seen as a litmus test for principled support of individual rights.

Conservatism is typically a strange brew of Christianity, limited government, fiscal conservatism, welfare statism and corporate welfare. The religious element does not like so-called "vices", and so it cannot support legalizing drugs. The "compassionate conservative" element cannot relinquish social programs, even if it pays for them with vouchers. The fiscal conservative element clashes with compassionate conservatives' desire to be seen as their brother's keeper, and so conservatives keep voting for increases in government power in spite of claiming to generally support free markets. It is a mix that cannot arrive at a consistent solution, and I claim this conflicted nature is one reason why Republicans have been losing elections recently in spite of the fact that some of their platform points are correct and practically superior to the dismal progressive platform.

With regard to the immigration issue specifically, this means that conservatives must accept drug violence (because drugs are morally wrong), they cannot do away with the welfare programs that attract freeloaders, they cannot support free enterprise because they want to penalize employers hiring illegals, and they cannot support freedom with regard to immigration because they place law and order over the rights of peaceful individuals to travel freely. It's a complex catch-22 that has no solution, and is sending conservatives and some tea partiers down the wrong path.

If you are an advocate of freedom looking for the answers, there is one article that is very clear in its explanation of the proper stance on immigration for those who support freedom, and that is Immigration and Individual Rights at the Objective Standard. I was distressed to discover that the Tea Party Patriots support the Stand with Arizona initiative, and I hope that anyone involved in the Tea Party movement who supports freedom and limited government will read this article*.

I can understand if someone who advocates freedom currently thinks the Arizona law is a good thing; the issue is complicated, and we hear very little principled discussion of politics these days. We all make mistakes. But that's precisely what such articles are for: to expand our knowledge and hone our proper application of values and principles. I hope that tea partiers will seriously consider this essay and, if necessary, reshape their position on immigration.

Without principled and consistent positions, the Tea Party movement is in danger of being co-opted by those who do not understand freedom, but simply oppose something, and a vague something at that. America needs more; we need movements that truly stand for freedom, by defending individual rights.

*Note: I have seen a criticism of this article saying it advocates absolutely unlimited admittance into the country. That is incorrect; open immigration does not mean national suicide. Anyone who is an objective security threat is a candidate to be barred entry to the country. Exactly who that is remains to be determined based on the objective security requirements of a given nation. The point being made is that common arguments for limiting immigration are often merely thinly disguised protectionism or racism and violate the rights of peaceful individuals. Or they are a fallback position made necessary by bad foreign policy.

Vertical Rocks, Bear Canyon

The cool rocks below are the south end of the Flatirons in Boulder, CO, as seen from Bear Canyon. I like the trees sitting in the steep crags of the rock, eking out a living on whatever sand and organic matter has accumulated over the years. It doesn't take much for life to take root.


The purple photo icon below (center, lower part of image) shows the approximate location from which I took the photo. The yellow track is my run yesterday:


Both the photo and the Google Earth image show why the area is well-known for rock climbing. And hiking. And running :)

Standley Lake, Arvada, CO

These are some pictures I took after work last week at Standley Lake in Arvada, CO. It's one of the largest lakes in the Denver area, set in mildly rolling grasslands within view of the mountains. This is the same park in which I saw a coyote during the winter.

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Each type of natural environment has its own character, and this one consists of sandy grassland, punctuated with gullies containing trees like cottonwoods and willows.


Although the English countryside is much lusher, the rutted farm roads and statuesque trees make me think of John Constable, the archetypal British landscape painter, especially in summer when the leaves have filled in:


Here in semi-arid Colorado, grass, flowers, cactus and yucca fill the open spaces, which are dotted by prairie dog burrows.

It's often been windy here when I've visited, because it's wide open and this area and nearby Rocky Flats* is often very windy. In fact, several times in recent years, they've closed Highway 93 (along the mountains) due to high winds. Gusts of 100 were mentioned one time. You can see a bit of the breeze in the wave action, and a lone boat and water skier, in the image below. I like the zigzag lines formed by the shoreline and clouds:


The lake borders farm land as well as suburban neighborhoods, and often it feels like you're on a country farm when you're walking it:


These trails are nice and soft, and are good for running, but they are also rutted and uneven, so beware! And don't stray off-trail, since your foot might end up in a prairie dog burrow, or encounter one of the rattlesnakes that lurk in them.

*Also the site of a government weapons plant, which has since been closed and cleaned up.

Objectivist Round Up

This week's Objectivist Round Up is hosted by Erosophia. The Round Up features posts by bloggers who advocate Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand. Just a small selection of topics includes citizens as informers, Indian railways, homeschooling, and a commentary on Obama's call for civility. Enjoy!

Video Of Ptarmigan On Bergen Peak

I saw this bird while running the trail up Bergen Peak in Evergreen, CO on Sunday. I walked carefully along the trail trying to snap photos, but it kept waddling ahead of me, parallel to the trail about 15 feet away. For this short video, I would shoot, then run ahead some more and shoot again when it walked by. I cut out the sections where I was running up the trail to catch up.


It looks like at the end it got tired of my game, and decided to hide behind the rock. It kept sticking its head up like a periscope to see if I was still there.

I saw a bird here at this same trail bend last season, but like the swallow above my door, I have no way of knowing if it's the same bird. It does make me wonder.

Obama Punishes Non-Oil Spillers

In his unerringly erring manner, President Obama once again failed to weigh in on the side of justice, by proposing a 1% increase on the cleanup fund tax on all oil companies, and an increase in cleanup funds taken by force (taxes) from the American public.

He also said that BP will be paying for all cleanup, but that must have been a slip of the tongue, because that would entail individual responsibility, something he has opposed with every other policy, such as the health care bill, financial bailouts, and affordable housing.

Then again, BP is a wealthy corporation, so of course he thinks the same rules and moral rights don't apply.

Why are the first two proposals wrong?

1. Oil companies should not be taxed to pay for cleanup, because this penalizes companies that do nothing wrong. And it's stealing.
2. Taxpayers should not be required to float the cleanup, because that's also stealing. I did not spill any oil, did you?
3. BP should be held fully responsible for the cleanup in a way that does not cost anyone else or require taxpayer funds, and does not delay the cleanup. They made the mess, they clean it up, along with all the fallout and secondary ramifications. It's only fair.

Instead, government policies like Obama's dilute individual responsibility, put financial and legal pressure on companies, and make it more likely both that mistakes will occur, and that companies will be less able to deal with them when they happen. By pressuring companies that are acting properly, such policies artificially reduce the integrity and performance gap between those who have good records and those who do not, thus reducing the market incentive for them to excel.

Then, statists like Obama have the infernal gall to criticize free markets when things go south.

I have to point out in this connection the irony of the commonly-heard criticism of free markets that they would be too permissive. Actually, laissez-faire capitalism advocates individual responsibility for both good and bad; for the rewards of taking risks, and for paying for disasters that may occasionally result. Such is business, and such is life. Reality and causality demand that consequences be accepted -- and allowed -- whether they are positive or negative.

It is actually progressive policy that advocates, and results in, abdication of responsibility and bad behavior. It is progressive policy that advocates moral corruption, by severing the causal link between actions and consequences; by rewarding failure and punishing success.

Please ponder that, the next time you hear the Obama administration or Congress berating business. It is politics that creates the toxic climate of moral abdication, which results in both less wealth, and less owning up to failure. Only a policy of protecting individual rights will both allow us to flourish, and protect us from others when they fail.

Shared Doctor Visits vs. Progress

With one exception, the idea of shared doctor visits creeps me out, and it's not something I'm likely to take advantage of as long as other choices are available.

First, I'll tell you the one aspect of this idea that does make at least some sense to me: sharing ideas with other patients. From the article:

Wilson, a 52-year-old Littleton man diagnosed with high cholesterol a few years ago, learned a few things at his first group appointment last week. He'd never asked his doctor about drinking red wine before and hadn't known about a diet-assisting website that ranks sugary food on a glycemic index.

Adriana Fischer, a 46-year-old Centennial woman with high cholesterol, said she was thankful other people were there to ask questions — some of which she hadn't thought of on her own. She attended the group visit on her doctor's advice, and because she wanted to know what to do "to prevent any further damage" to her body.

I can see the logic in that. It's almost like a classroom. OK, I get that.

However, I'm a private person, so I'm not really keen on discussing my health matters with others, and overall this strikes me as cheapness disguised as good health care policy.

Ignoring The Costs

Group visits are often sold as part of a new payment paradigm: paying doctors based on performance, rather than services rendered:

Health care reform passed by Congress requires insurance companies to develop plans to reimburse doctors based on performance, not per service. The "medical home" concept is emerging as key to that transformation.

On the face of it, this may seem like a good idea. Who doesn't want better performance for their dollar?

To see one reason why this is a bad idea, simply apply the same principle to something else. Imagine if grocery stores were paid not by the food we take, but by whether that food makes us healthy (this may actually happen someday, if government gets even more involved in food and health). People would take lots of food, there would be shortages, fewer grocery stores, and there would be pressure within grocery stores to present you as being healthy, so they are paid. This in turn would lead to more government oversight of grocers, to make sure they aren't cheating, and so on.

This is exactly what will happen in medicine with the reimbursement by wellness model: shortages, and pressure to overlook actual health problems so the numbers look good and providers can get paid.

Fundamentally, this payment model does not allow insurers to take the actual costs of providing the service into account; it mandates that they provide something regardless of the cost. There is a word for this (hint: starts with "s").

A Shift In Role

Another reason this idea is suspect is that it distorts the nature of what insurance actually is, and more important, who is actually doing the shopping.

Insurance companies are not supposed to shop around and reward good performance, that is our job, when we shop for health care and doctors. Insurers are supposed to pay for the selections we have already made, after the fact. Their job is to reimburse, that's it.

So why is this shift in role from reimbursement to demanding shopper occurring? Because government is not a passive service provider, nor is it an insurer, nor is it a thinking private citizen. It is a pseudo-customer with the power of life and death over the industry, via the powers of licensing, for example. Or via the power to call medical industry executives onto the carpet and read them the riot act, like is happening with the finance industry right now. Their choice is to follow policy recommendations, or have laws rammed down their throats.

What we are seeing is the shift of power away from the public, and into government hands. We are seeing the replacement of individual judgment with bureaucratic judgment, backed by force.

So, let's call shared visits what they are: one more tightening of the noose.

This is the government moving in just a little bit more, making a recommendation here, passing a law there, in its drive for eventual ownership of the medical industry.

When we survey the wreckage our government has made of the industry so far, and consider its "innovative" and "progressive" policy initiatives, let's bear in mind that the general trend of civilization and industrialization has been from the public throng and towards privacy, not the other way around. As wealth has increased, we have been able to afford more elbow room, more privacy, and more of what we as unique individuals want, not what we are forced to have because we cannot afford our own, and must share with the tribe. This includes having private consultations with a physician.

Our medical industry has been so squeezed of funds by government pressure, disruptive taxation and regulation, and being forced to provide services without payment, that we are now reduced to sharing the products we buy. And that is why I cannot see shared doctor visits as a good thing.

Green Mountain/Bear Canyon Run

Saturday's run was at Boulder Mountain Parks, over the top of Green Mountain and then around the back through Bear Canyon, which I'd never been through before:


Run length was 8.6 miles, the maximum elevation was 8,100 feet and the total gain/loss (including ups and downs) was 2,700 feet.

Although 9 miles is not an insignificant distance, it doesn't quite convey the difficulty of the trail. The ascent is like a long, shallow set of stairs that only affords a few breaks during the 3 miles to the top. Those who run this trail 132 days in a row might dance up on winged feet, but I find "trail" sections like this put a faint burn in the quads a couple of miles into the run:


There are a few short stretches like that, as well as plenty of rock or log steps that require a bit of extra effort. However, a lot of the trail surface consists of runner-friendly dirt and pine needles, even if it is hilly. This is a view back down a typical section:


I was feeling good at the summit, and I had extra time, so I decided to explore a bit and lengthen the run by trying to run around the whole mountain. I wasn't exactly sure how to get to Bear Canyon, but the park has trail maps at many junctions, and I quickly found my way.

The downhill was a blast, consisting of rugged, rocky trail and great views west over the foothills. Below is a view from a clearing on the way down, during a section where the trail traveled along a ridge before descending again:


Going downhill always makes me a bit apprehensive, since it often means another uphill grind to get back out of a valley, but this time the descent continued all the way back to the front of the park. The trail exits the canyon on the left side of the GPS track above.

The Bear Canyon trail was a beautiful winding track through pine forest and rocky canyon. Below are some cottonwoods reaching like curling, ghostly white blood vessels over the green conifers behind them:


I realize now that one of the reasons I had never gone up Bear Canyon (from the low end) was the presence of electric infrastructure at the beginning of the trail, and the huge power lines strung all the way up the valley. It just seemed out of place and like it would detract from the beauty of the trail. However, I should have known better in this park. The canyon skirts the south end of the Flatirons, and is lined with dramatic slabs of red sandstone and granite, which is streaked with bright lichens:


My photos don't really convey the full effect of being surrounded by these monumental rock formations sweeping up the canyon side, with the trail, forest and Bear Canyon Creek all winding their way through below:


The photo seems so flat, whereas the actual experience was sensory overload from all directions, with scent and sound thrown in for good measure. I'm glad I decided to come down the back side of Green this time, and explore a new trail!

Pasque Flower

I saw this delicate flower on Saturday's run. Around here the Pasque flower is like the crocus, it is one of the first to show up in the spring. I see many more closed blooms than open, but hopefully I can capture an open bloom in the act at some point.

Financial Market Shock Doctrine

Readers may be aware of Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine, in which she claims that the forces of fascism (currently called "crony capitalism") fabricate systemic economic and social shocks such as financial crises to benefit themselves and increase their power.

I'm basing this summary on reviews and excerpts, since I have not gathered the intestinal fortitude to read the book myself. I don't know if I ever will. Therefore I will let the web site speak:

In THE SHOCK DOCTRINE, Naomi Klein explodes the myth that the global free market triumphed democratically. Exposing the thinking, the money trail and the puppet strings behind the world-changing crises and wars of the last four decades, The Shock Doctrine is the gripping story of how America’s "free market" policies have come to dominate the world-- through the exploitation of disaster-shocked people and countries.

What does Klein regard as these "free-market" policies?

The Bush administration, packed with Friedman's disciples, including his close friend Donald Rumsfeld, seized upon the fear generated to launch the "war on terror" and to ensure that it is an almost completely for-profit venture, a booming new industry that has breathed new life into the faltering US economy.

This reminds me of the left's claim that there is a connection between Alan Greenspan, free markets, and the housing bust, which is false.

And it's not capitalism.

I must comment here that destruction (i.e. dropping bombs and expending resources in an overseas war) does not create wealth. It destroys it. Defense is always a losing game economically. It is also not a free market activity. What else?

British companies bringing their experience in security cameras, Israeli firms their expertise in building hi-tech fences and walls. Combined with soaring insurance industry profits as well as super profits for the oil industry, the disaster economy may well have saved the world market from the full-blown recession it was facing on the eve of 9/11.

Again, this is destruction, not creation, and consists of government self-defense, not market activity. The fact that contractors and corporations are the ones who provide the goods and services is irrelevant. It is also just another variation on Bastiat's broken windows. All of Klein's examples are like this.

Oddly, Klein seems to be buying into the very thesis she decries, by saying this helped the economy. Destruction does not motivate the economy, production does. This can only be regarded as creation if you ignore the values that are destroyed in bombs, tanks, and human lives. In other words, by ignoring all the broken windows. From what I can tell, Klein has nothing to say about markets, and everything to say about fascism.

Moving on to the current financial situation, I see a sort of "shock socialism" being used by Democrats in pushing so hard for financial reform in the midst of a crisis. Of course I don't care one bit whether they are, or are not, profiting from this, in the manner Klein criticizes. My point is that all of the problems with the economy today are systemic problems introduced by government, including the housing crisis, and yet some are pushing for even more legislation. They -- by which I mean those who have helped to enact economic laws that hamper markets by violating individual rights -- caused the crisis, and yet they are using the crisis to create even more of such potential causes.

What is happening here is attention is being drawn away from the real cause, namely government domination of free markets, and towards spurious causes such as derivatives, trading software, and Fed chairmen. Don't buy into it.

Objectivist Round Up

This week's Objectivist Round Up is hosted by Rational Jenn. The Round Up features posts by bloggers who advocate Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand. Topics include the Goldman Sachs non-troversy, Islamic meddling, and non-punitive family discipline. Enjoy!

Mount Falcon Run

After skiing a half day on Sunday and escaping the snow storms, I couldn't resist the sunny weather back down in Denver, and hit the trails for a run. That's one of my favorite spring outings: ski in the morning and run in the afternoon. It's a plan that is enabled by the large differences in altitude in close proximity; it can be snowing in the high country 30 miles away at 12,000 feet, and still be 70 and sunny near Denver at 6,000 feet. Here is the GPS track for the run:


I turned around at exactly 4 miles, which happens to be a "T" in the trail near the upper parking lot. Total mileage was 8 miles; elevation gain/loss (including ups and downs) was 1,700 feet, ranging from 6,000 to 7,600 feet of elevation.

I'm working my way up to longer runs after taking time off, so I wanted to take advantage of the extra time on the weekend and do something more than 45 minutes or an hour, which is what I've been squeezing in after work. My goal was mainly to keep my legs relaxed the whole time, which is doubly important while I'm increasing mileage, to avoid injury and accustom my muscles and tendons to the stress of more frequent running.

What was interesting about the trail on this particular day was the weather. When I started out at the bottom of the trail, it was sunny and 60 degrees:


On the left side of the picture is Red Rocks, and out of sight on the right is the main drag of the tiny town of Morrison, CO. You can also see the same red in the dirt of the trails:


Spring is bringing splashes of color and bright white to the normally dry grasses around here, including the delicate sand lily below. Its petals are almost translucent and are easily damaged, so it's tough to find an instance of the flower that is not crumpled by wind, grass or animal.


About 12 minutes into the run, at the end of a long uphill section and at the one mile mark, you round a bend and start heading down Clear Creek canyon, parallel to US 6 (which is mostly out of sight and earshot). On this run, it revealed threatening clouds hovering over its rocky, sage-green hills:


The trail continues until it reaches a bit of a pocket in a canyon, and then ascends. I call this pocket the Corner of Solitude, because it can often be startlingly quiet. One day I was running and as I reached this corner, I stopped because of what sounded like an electric transformer buzzing. I looked around for some sort of mechanical device hidden away and finally realized I was hearing tiny gnats buzzing in the air above my head! That, and the sound of my breath and heart beat, was the only thing I could hear.

When I reached the part of the trail near a picnic shelter, at about 2.5 miles, all of a sudden it started to snow quite hard, with big flakes. It was odd to be running in fairly warm weather, in a sage green canyon with wildflowers, and feel like I was in a snow globe scene. This photo does not quite capture the oddly silent, peaceful nature of this snow shower, but the flash stops the motion a bit:


It was jarring, like a dream. Different shades of light filled the sky, including bright blue out on the plains behind me, where it was still sunny:


Many of the area trails have a nice payoff in terms of a view at the top, and this one is no different. The upper part of the trail ends at a parking lot above the town of Indian Hills, up on the foothills plateau. It opens up into a meadow overlooking the plains below, which will be full of wildflowers in another month:


The trail is visible on the left, and Mount Falcon is the rise on the right. You can see the heavy grey clouds above, which produced the brief snow shower one mile back down the trail. It was a peaceful and dry run all the way back down to the parking lot, in the waning light of day.

Tulips, Pearl Street Mall

This photo was taken on Saturday at the Pearl Street pedestrian mall in Boulder, CO. It was shot using my iPhone camera.


Someone, I assume the city of Boulder, does a nice job with the flowers every year, and starting in spring, the planters in the center of the mall are a riot of color.

The mall itself is a pleasant way to unwind, and there are plenty of shops and restaurants along the way. At a minimum I grab a coffee at Bookend Cafe, then walk or maybe just sit in the warm sun and enjoy the people show. I'm often here after a run in the adjacent mountains, so relaxation is in the cards.

Loveland Ski Day

This a quick post of some photos from my morning of skiing, at Loveland Ski Area on Sunday. The area sits above the Eisenhower/Johnson Tunnels on I-70. I recorded my outing on my GPS this time, so it shows up on my Garmin Connect calendar with my walks and runs. You can see the highway in the middle disappearing right under the mountains:


The photo below gives you an idea of the convenience of a "local" ski area vs. a superstar area like Vail. While Loveland has great skiing, it's also low-key and you can park a few rows from the snow and easily walk to the lift.


This is the view from the upper ridge off chair 9, which you can see in the track on the upper left. The misty appearance in the left background is an incoming snow storm. This view is looking east back down I-70, with Grays and Torreys Peaks in the back to the left:


The formation in the middle of this photo is called The Citadel, and is something I want to visit some time up close.


Below is the upper ridge with the snow closing in from the west. My path down off the ridge was somewhere down the left face of the ridge on the right. The snow was a bit compacted from re-freezing and wind action, but it was still fun. Obviously the view is great!


I left early to avoid traffic due to the storm, and it was a good thing. The highway was littered with accidents by the end of the day, as snow continued all day long. You can't take those snow tires off too soon, folks; there's snow in the mountains into June!

Online Comment Output - 1/2010-4/2010

Although I don't like to get into debates online, I do like to post one-shot comments on articles of interest. Some are just for fun, but often my purpose is to support those I agree with, or to set the record straight if I think there is misinformation involved. When appropriate, I sometimes supply links to other resources.

The quality of comments on high-traffic sites is as variable as the drivers during a big-city rush hour: there are multitudes of bigoted, thoughtless hit-and-runs, as well as respectful, thoughtful commentary.

I rarely check back unless I am seeking information, or it is a friendly site with like-minded people (such as some of the Objectivist blogs); I am simply trying to provide my viewpoint on some important matter.

When I do comment, I typically save what I write in a text file with a sortable date stamp, in case I want to re-use the verbiage some other time. I forget to save some of my communications, especially while getting ready for work, but I probably save 90% of them. I count 123 such communications so far this year.

I use abbreviations for some sites. You'll also see some of my favorite Objectivist blogs here, including NF=NoodleFood, GVH=Gus Van Horn, Rational Capitalist, and others. Some are news or political sites, including DP=Denver Post, 5290=5280 Magazine, HuffPost=Huffington Post (awful, but sometimes I feel compelled to set them straight).

• Post - 20100428 - GVH Islamic Junk.txt
• Post - 20100430 - Summit Daily Biden Job Creation.txt
• Post - 20100421 - Anne Heller Comments.txt
• Post - 20100421 - Electronista FCC Unused Bandwidth Ruling.txt
• Post - 20100423 - NPR Arizona Immigration.txt
• Post - 20100429 - 5280 Bennet Lobbying Bill.txt
• Post - 20100424 - HuffPost Arizona Immigration.txt
• Post - 20100420 - Anne Heller Why Not An Objectivist.txt
• Post - 20100420 - Rational Capitalist Goldman #2.txt
• Post - 20100420 - Rational Capitalist Goldman #3.txt
• Post - 20100416 - NPR Goldman Sachs.txt
• Post - 20100416 - OSNews Piracy.txt
• Post - 20100419 - Rational Capitalist Goldman #1.txt
• Post - 20100402 - Orlando Sentinel Doctor Refusing Care Over ObamaCare.txt
• Post - 20100415 - WSJ Internet Policy.txt
• Post - 20100416 - Market Watch Goldman Sachs.txt
• Post - 20100420 - Goldman Fraud #1.txt
• Post - 20100420 - Goldman Fraud #2.txt
• Post - 20100419 - CNSNews Obama Regulation Videos.txt
• Post - 20100407 - CNN Obama Success.txt
• Post - 20100406 - SlashDot Pfizer Too Big To Fail #2.txt
• Post - 20100306 - CNN Pfizer Drug Debacle.txt
• Post - 20100406 - SlashDot Pfizer Too Big To Fail.txt
• Post - 20100326 - Vancouver Sun Against Earth Day.txt
• Post - 20100326 - PJM Hsieh Health Care.txt
• Post - 20100326 - 5280 Bernanke Questioned By Perlmutter.txt
• Post - 20100325 - NF Bad Scandinavia Arguments.txt
• Post - 20100325 - NPR Doctors Don't Like ObamaCare.txt
• Post - 20100325 - 5280 Markey Threatened.txt
• Post - 20100323 - Rational Capitalist Health Care Irony.txt
• Post - 20100325 - 5280 Bennet Resisting Public Option.txt
• Post - 20100301 - 5280 Health Care Middle Class.txt
• Post - 20100323 - GVH Health Care Afterthoughts.txt
• Post - 20100325 - 5280 Qwest Exec Raise.txt
• Post - 20100324 - DP Qwest Exec Pay.txt
• Post - 20100324 - DP Hsieh ObamaCare Political Football #2.txt
• Post - 20100324 - DP Hsieh ObamaCare Political Football.txt
• Post - 20100323 - CNN States Sue To Block ObamaCare.txt
• Post - 20100323 - Rational Capitalist ObamaCare Silver Lining.txt
• Post - 20100322 - Daily Kos Financial Reg.txt
• Post - 20100322 - New Clarion Financial Act.txt
• Post - 20100321 - NPR Health Care Passed.txt
• Letter - 20100321 - Reps Against Heath Care Plan.txt
• Letter - 20100321 - White House Health Care.txt
• Post - 20100321 - WP Health Care Dem Price.txt
• Post - 20100320 - DP Dem Health Care Votes.txt
• Letter - 20100320 - Legislators Against Health Care Bill.txt
• Post - 20100320 - Ben Percent Rep Emails.txt
• Post - 20100320 - NPR Dem Health Care Votes.txt
• Letter - 20100319 - White House Health Care ugh.txt
• Fax - 20100319 - Grassfire Health Care.txt
• Letter - 20100318 - My Reps - Against ObamaCare.txt
• Letter - 20100318 - WP ObamaCare Deficit.txt
• Letter - 20100317 - White House Health Care Email.txt
• Post - 20100316 - Economist Texas School Board History Rewrite.txt
• Letter - 20100316 - White House Health Care Email.txt
• Post - 20100312 - DP Amazon Tax.txt
• Letter - 20100315 - White House Health Care Email.txt
• Letter - 20100316 - 5280 Dick Armey Immigration.txt
• Letter - 20100312 - White House Health Care Email.txt
• Letter - 20100316 - Against Obama Care.txt
• Post - 20100315 - CNN FCC Internet Bandwidth.txt
• Post - 20100312 - DP Dem Health Care.txt
• Letter - 20100303 - White House Health Care.txt
• Post - 20100205 - MacNN FCC Bandwidth.txt
• Post - 20100205 - NPR Developing Country Politics.txt
• Post - 20100311 - 5280 PETA CO Springs Trash Cans.txt
• Letter - 20100311 - White House Health Care Email.txt
• Post - 20100311 - Spectator UK Rand Daniels.txt
• Post - 20100310 - 5280 Dolphin Film.txt
• Post - 20100310 - DP Amazon Follies.txt
• Post - 20100308 - CNN Health Care Obama.txt
• Post - 20100308 - Summit Daily Health Care.txt
• Post - 20100309 - 5280 Mag Payday Loans As Theft.txt
• Letter - 20100309 - White House Health Care Email.txt
• Post - 20100309 - CO Biz Beer Laws.txt
• Post - 20100308 - A Pagan's Blog Rand Hickman.txt
• Post - 20100308 - DP Amazon Associates Tax.txt
• Post - 20100308 - Summit Daily Medical Industry.txt
• Post - 20100304 - RedState Gay Marriage - NOT POSTED.txt
• Post - 20100305 - Summit Daily Vail Jobs.txt
• Post - 20100305 - DP Bennet Lobby Laws.txt
• Post - 20100305 - Riding The Wind Knee Issues.txt
• Post - 20100302 - Vail Daily I-70.txt
• Post - 20100304 - Cynical-C Rand Hickman.txt
• Letter - 20100304 - Legislators Against Health Plan.txt
• Post - 20100302 - WSJ Google Antitrust.txt
• Post - 20100301 - RedState Space Funding.txt
• Post - 20100302 - Summit Daily Health Care.txt
• Post - 20100301 - Denver Examiner Rand Hickman.txt
• Post - 20100227 - DP Obama Health Care.txt
• Post - 20100226 - AlterNet Rand Hickman Rant.txt
• Post - 20100226 - Brew Bros CO Grocery Law.txt
• Fax - 20100223 - Grassfire Health Care.txt
• Letter - 20100223 - White House Health Care.txt
• Post - 20100222 - CNN Congress Gridlock.txt
• Post - 20100221 - Denver Post Lending Laws.txt
• Post - 20100218 - Summit Daily Immigraton.txt
• Post - 20100209 - Free The Animal Nopoo.txt
• Fax - 20100205 - Grassfire Health Care.txt
• Post - 20100122 - CNN Warming Article.txt
• Post - 20100204 - New Criterion Rand.txt
• Post - 20100204- New Criterion Rand.txt
• Post - 20100202 - FWG New Criterion Rand Screed.txt
• Post - 20100201 - NPR Bad Business Article.txt
• Post - 20100201 - DP Obama Spending Plan.txt
• Email - 20100129 - New Criterion Bad Rand Essay.txt
• Post - 20100129 - FWG Obama Speech.txt
• Post - 20100128 - Erosophia Avatar.txt
• Post - 20100122 - RedState Schumer Free Speech.txt
• Post - 20100122 - RedState Roe v Wade.txt
• post - 20100121 - CNN Glass-Steagall.txt
• Post - 20100121 - Superior News Beer Sales.txt
• Post - 20100120 - HuffPost Obama Poll.txt
• Post - 20100115 - DP Pot Legalization.txt
• Post - 20100115 - DP Huttner Kids Giving Away Halloween Candy.txt
• Post - 20100113 - Connect Savannah Public Trans.txt
• Post - 20100112 - Benzinga Rand Greenspan Reg.txt
• Post - 20100107 - DP Carroll Health Care Free.txt
• Post - 20100106 - Straight.com Greenspan Dumbness.txt
• Post - 20100104 - Bennet Economic Talk In Durango.txt
• Post - 20100105 - DP Pot Sale Murder.txt
• Post - 20100102 - Fredricksburg Bad Fed Article.txt

Crabapple Blossoms And Sky

Tree blossoms in my area have been making a cautious entrance over the last couple of weeks, perhaps genetically wary of the cutting hand of late frost, and finally came out in force this week. I was struck by the contrast between these pink blooms and the clear blue sky behind.


The shock of seeing this flood of pink against the azure background was a bit like the shock I remember from seeing color TV for the first time; a technological transition I'm old enough to have seen in person. For those of you who are younger, it was like staring at an LCD or plasma screen TV for the first time ;)