Blogs Sport Wallpaper

Have you ever noticed that half of the stories in endurance magazines sound like Mad Libs for people in recovery? Sometimes I swear they just plug in the facts:

"[Name] got into running after recovering from [near-fatal disease or accident] just [random number] years ago. "I was in bed, feeling sorry for myself, [another random number] pounds overweight, and my [body part] looked like [bad food or construction analogy]. I decided the best way to beat [near-fatal disease or accident] was to celebrate the health I had one day at a time. I trained for months and completed [major race]. I'm not embarrassed about my [body part] since it gives me a chance to educate others about [near-fatal disease or accident]. I've now hooked up with [charity of near-fatal disease or accident] to run more, and hope to inspire others with [near-fatal disease or accident] and be living proof it is possible to overcome."

Unfortunately it's easy to gloss over the message in these formulaic summaries. In truth, there is something very powerful at the heart of these tales. This is Part II of my long run revelations:


I've had the good fortune of losing some friends and family in the last six months. I know that sounds backwards, since the pain and loss that immediately accompanies such devastation is soul-crushing. But by embracing loss and authentically internalizing the myriad of feelings that surround it, life feels more precious. Life IS more precious. If we are living, we are survivors. We should all embrace life as fully as our formulaic heroes.

It's such a shame that most of us can easily avoid our own finality in day-to-day routine, distracting media, and pharmacologically-enhanced lives. Comfort is good, and probably necessary for some level of sanity, but it's important to regularly remind yourself not to take it all for granted. I often feel this is the reason many of us enter endurance events and push our personal limits - we surround ourselves in pain and adventure so thick that we can't escape asking ourselves the very basic questions of what makes us happy, what makes us tick, and what gives life meaning. Through the pain, we grow, and for days afterward, we cherish every breath, every sunset, and every laugh.

At the 2009 Western States, I got so deep it got scary. But the serenity that followed lasted for weeks, even months, and was nothing short of life-changing. If 27+ hours on the trail is all it takes to reach that level of enlightenment and peace, it may very well have been the easiest thing I have ever done.

Embrace your finality. Treasure the moments you have. See life in its fullest hue. It's the best way to honor those who left before you, and makes for MUCH better stories.

- SD


[You can also read Long Run Revelations, Part I - There Is No Such Thing As Work/Life Balance, Only Life Balance]

Sunday Morning PSA.........

For any of you that may need this help.


OK, have a good day and don't take any shit from anyone.

Gratuitous Picture for a Sunday Morning-

Saturday Morning........
And snow on the ground again when I woke up.
Just a little so that's not to bad.

Spent the day with the eldest son yesterday. Went out for lunch and caught a movie & generally just farted around.

Nice day all around.

Today & tomorrow it's back to work in the ER so I'll see ya Monday.

Gratuitous Picture for a Saturday Morning-
Tactical Cat will be watching the perimeter

Guitar Monster........

This guys technique is something else.


One hell of a lot of noise and music at one time there. Guys with this kind of talent make me realize how crappy I play.

And I want to feed his hands into a wood chipper.

Ok. Not really. To much.

Check out this one. Totally different style.


Beautiful song that one.

He's the kind of guy a geek like me would enjoy going to see.

Tip of the hat to that old Ornery Bastard for turning me on to this guy.

Gratuitous Picture for a Thursday Night-
Good catch.

Now What Do I Do???????

If you've been around here much, you may have picked up on my Hatred for Starbucks.

I was reminded of this while over at Ace of Spades this morning and reading Starbucks breaks with liberal orthodoxy. Allows guns in stores and tells Brady Campaign to get stuffed

This has been an ongoing thing in California where open carry advocates are causing leftist morons like This Guy to soil themselves.

Starbucks has handled this situation sensibly and even handed. The Bradys and like minded lefties are not handling this well at all.
I know this is a shocker for ya.

Where does this leave me?
A gun rights person who hates Starbucks.

Gratuitous Picture for a Thursday Afternoon-
Must think he's Buck Owens


Did someone say Buck Owens?

Trip to the Urologist.........

I went to see a urologist the other day. Turned out to be a female.

Best looking woman I ever saw..truly sexy.

She told me I had to stop masturbating.

I asked why?

She said "Cause I am trying to examine you"

Shamelessly stolen from Theo Spark

Gratuitous Picture for a Thursday Morning-
Is that a Raccoon in your pants or are you just happy to see me ?

The Haight Ashbury, a place in San Francisco known historically for freedom and "free love" is to get surveillance cameras because of an increase in crime, if the Haight Ashbury Improvement Association (HAIA) gets its way.

According to a discussion on "The Wall", a place where San Francisco political news is regularly posted, HAIA President Ted Loewenberg made that announcement this month (February) and posted it on the organization's website. The basic message on the page reads as follows:

On Wednesday, 17 February, 2010, HAIA announced the Street Safety Program, designed to help increase the public safety by increasing the presence of security systems cameras at Upper Haight merchant's storefronts. To reduce the cost to our merchants, HAIA will pay each of the first 10 merchants in the Upper Haight who respond, $100 toward the cost of a security camera / Digital Video Recorder (DVR) system. Having as many as 20 surveillance cameras watching day and night in our commercial areas will give the police the ability to catch criminal behavior in the act, and hopefully increase the successful prosecution of the perpetrators.

Whether it is recording graffiti vandals tagging private property or street thugs intimidating residents on the sidewalks, the cameras should act as a deterrent to illicit behaviors. HAIA recognizes both the problems seen on Haight Street recently, and the weakened economy causing local merchants to struggle to make ends meet. The HAIA Board feels this program is a good use of our resources to help in a substantive way. The technology of such DVRs and cameras have become reasonably priced, and can be applied on a large scale to help our community deal with the challenges of crime through deterrence and prosecution.

The discussion on the proposal over at Able Dart's Forum at SFWall.Net is starting to heat up. One question, not answered as of this writing, is who will pay for the smashed cameras?

Stay tuned.

Almost Missed.........

Mentioning that February is Black History Month

I've always loved Martin Luther King's, "I have a dream"
speech and wish more people would follow the advice given.

Here's a video of that speech if you need a reminder-


Gratuitous Picture for a Wednesday-

CVS Caremark Corp is a large national corporation which operated over 7,000 US drugstores under the name CVS Pharmacy. CVS Caremar Corp, or "CVS", or "CVS Pharmacy" for this blog post, has been the focus of lawsuits by state attorney generals in Connecticut and in New York for selling expired products, according to the Boston Globe.

In California, CVS Caremark was the focus of California Attorney General Jerry Brown, who in June of 2009, negotiated a $975,000 settlement of a civil lawsuit with CVS Pharmacy along with an agreement to give $2 coupons to anyone who found expired products on their shelves, and designates a toll-free number to call to report such items.

Now, there's a charge from a reliable source that CVS (formerly Long’s Drug stores in California) as well as Krogers, Ralphs, and other major chain stores are selling ‘diverted’ or grey market products that may counterfeited.

In some cases, the claim is the California consumer is even getting products that can be dangerous.

“Diverters” are companies are selling these stores products that have been diverted from their intended sales point or they may even be selling counterfeit products.

If this turns out to be the case, CVS will again be in violation of the same California laws under the Business and Professions Code 17200 and the Civil Code 1798.81 by misleading customers.

On August 14th of 2009, the Modesto Bee wrote wrote that a number of county district attorneys, including Stanislaus San Joaquin, Sacramento, San Bernardino and Solano counties have joined in the statewide lawsuit against several national retailers who stock beauty supplies alleged to violate California environmental law.

That lawsuit, originally brought by the District Attorney of Stanislaus County, sought penalties of at least $17 million, with amounts to be levied based on each day a prohibited hair product is offered for sale, according to court papers. The case also named Longs Drug Stores, Target, Rite Aid, Walgreens and Ralphs, among other defendants.

That lawsuit named a New Jersey company, Pro Choice Beauty Care Inc, that provides the products to the retail stores — without approval from the brand manufacturers. It is unclear how clear where Pro's Choice Beauty Care Inc. gets its products. It is believed to be a “diverter” of products.

The hair products that were being sold were found to contain elevated levels of smog-forming volatile organic compounds, state environmental authorities said, according to the Modesto Bee.
Stay tuned for more information as this story unfolds both here in the Bay Area and around California. I've made several calls to sources; I expect follow-ups soon.

Required Reading for Today.........

Via Western Rifle Shooters Comes this very interesting item from Karl Denninger -

How Long Before You Wake Up, Politicos?

"I'm going to write today about a very somber subject. It will be, as it usually is here in one form or another, about math.

First, some background. If you believe that we have "escaped" from the mess that gripped this nation in 2008 and 2009, or that said mess "suddenly appeared" and "nobody saw it coming", stop reading now and have your Thorazine dosage checked. It's way off.

Assuming you accept the truth - that this mess was 20 year or more in the making, that it involved creating credit (that is, debt) which the debtor could never pay, and that it still exists because our government policy has been to extend, pretend and allow lies that should be considered accounting fraud and result in prison sentences, then you're on the right page to understand the rest of this missive. Again, if not, go check your Thorazine dosage.

Yes, I know all about the stock market rally from last March. I know all about the claimed GDP "improvement." But I also know that we got both by adding more than $2 trillion in debt to the United States - or roughly 14% of GDP - over the space of the last 18 months. That's about 10% of GDP annualized, and incidentally, a 10% GDP contraction is the common economist's definition of an Economic Depression....."

I've been reading this guy for awhile now and though I can't always follow the in depth economic and market wonkiness I CAN understand that he's been making the correct calls about the economy for at least the last 3-4 years.

I figure that gives him credibility in my book.

You really should go read it.

In that same theme, Michael from Innocent Bystanders had this post-

Ruh Roh — People Are Worried About U.S. Bankruptcy, and Insuring the Risk

"The price of credit default swaps on U.S. Treasury securities is rising......"

Another, go read it and think about it post.

Here's a good song Mayberry had up yesterday.
This guy may be a new favorite of mine. Damn he can play.
Enjoy.



Gratuitous Picture for a Tuesday-

I Would Watch The Olympics........

If there were more events like this-


Gratuitous Picture for a Tuesday Afternoon-
Barney Frank?

Monday LinkFest...........

Busy Monday trying to keep my house & autos from sinking into the giant quicksand pit that has become my driveway.

No, seriously. It's unreal what's going on out there.

Here's a cool tale with a happy and very funny ending from Stormbringer - Honesty

"The following story is true, it took place 28 September 2006......"

Go read it. You'll be glad you did.

Via Ace of Spades comes this info that, hopefully, you'll never have to use - How to Fall 35,000 Feet—And Survive

You go first and let me know how it works out, Ok?

A BMW S1000RR out on a frozen lake-


And finally, a little musical relief via Buck Owens -



Gratuitous Picture for a Monday-
Zombie protest Group.

I've recently seen a large increase in traffic to this blog from blogger.com, meaning more and more bloggers are following me. Great to have you! Just in case it's helpful, I thought I would share a few tips picked up from analyzing traffic over the last few months.

We all have different goals for blogging, and it's totally fine if you don't ever analyze your traffic or try to boost your readership. But I will say once you start looking into it, you will be surprised how many people are connecting to your insights. Here a few quick and simple ways to boost your traffic:

1) Use an analytics service. Wonder how I knew about the increase in traffic from blogger.com? My analytics service helped me track it. If you aren't using one, I would suggest you do. Most of these services are free - StatCounter and Google Analytics being two of my favorites - and will start giving you fascinating data immediately after you add a few lines of code to your template or add a widget. Imagine being able to see who sends the most traffic, which search words bring people to your site, and how folks navigate your blog. This week my top referral sites were run100s.com (Stan Jensen's encyclopedic site on ultrarunning), wikipedia (largely on Dean Karnazes inquiries), and forum.somethingawful.com (from a forum conversation that linked to toenail removal), and my top search terms were "caballo blanco", "coconut water", and "cross country championships". It's a fascinating time suck. ;-) Once you get some analytics, a few of these other suggestions will make sense.

2) Add the LinkWithin widget. If you look at the bottom of my blog entry, you'll see a thing that suggests other blog posts you might like. That's LinkWithin, and it's a very simple free widget to add. On average, it has increased my traffic 18% without having to do a thing. But more importantly, it helps convert a lot of first time visitors into reading 2-3 pages. Odds are a few of them will be more regular readers.

3) Bring on the pics! Behind Google, my #2 contributor of traffic is images.google.com. This is from people looking for pictures of trail running, parks, people, etc., and has continuously been one of the big attractors of new readers to my blog. You can help Google figure out what your pictures are about with some clever image naming, such as "2009_xterra_trail_running_world_championship_hawaii_max_king_winning.jpg". Think about how many image searches might hit that - xterra, max king, hawaii trail running, etc. - especially over time. I've found a direct correlation to the number of pictures in a blog entry, and the number of visitors over time. Basically you can't ever have too many and if you name the images correctly, they will pull readers in for years to come.

On the flip side, I recently tried out "Snapshots", a widget that popped up a pre-link window that did not do much for traffic so I turned it off. I've also added "recent comments" on the right, but haven't seen a noticeable change in traffic. But I find it useful, so I will leave it up a bit longer.

Got a great tip? Let me hear it! It's how we all get better.

Thx, SD

The YouTube video channel Zennie62 has reached 12 million video views and 200,000 channel views as of Saturday, February 20th, and continuing a pattern of rapid growth that started in 2009 and has continued through 2010. Zennie62 on YouTube also has over 4,000 subscribers.

The YouTube video channel Zennie62 consists over 800 videos covering everything from politics to news, sports, tech, and entertainment and celebrity gossip. Zennie62 on YouTube is connected to the blog Zennie62.com, also at Zennie2005.blogspot.com. The Zennie62 blog is the center publication of a network of 100 blogs ran by Zennie62.com, of which this blogger, Zennie Abraham, is the executive producer.

The idea of Zennie62 is to bring "pure form video blogging" to the viewer. It's the simple practice of talking to the audience through a camcorder to tell a story or share a point of view, or as part of an interview with someone else. As video-blogging does not call for an elaborate set or expensive equipment, it can be done anywhere, at any time.

Here's one of Zennie62's most popular videos, this one on Susan Boyle:



And here's another one called "Fight in SF Fillmore":



Some of the videos are used for his national TV show The Blog Report with Zennie62 on CoLoursTV, DISH 9407.

Plans for 2010 include the upcoming NFL Draft Combine and The Academy Awards. Zennie62 has its first designated Associate Video-Blogger and seeks to form a team of video-bloggers in different cities. If you're interested, send an email to zennie@zennie62.com

The Citroen DS3 Antagonism copy is a bound run archetypal of alone 1000 units to be produced that will get apparent abutting ages at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show.

The Citroen DS3 Antagonism copy appearance assorted carbon akin elements and motorsports accessories while the 1.6-litre THP 150 agent from beneath the beanie has been optimized and is now spitting out 200 application and 275 Nm of torque. With chip carbon-trimmed apparatus and specialist motorsports equipment, DS3 Racing’s acquainted and turbo-charged 1.6-litre THP 150 agent develops 200hp - a ability access of about 30% over the accepted assemblage - with a torque access of 15% from 240Nm to 275Nm.

To accomplish the added ability output, from 156hp to 200hp, Citroën Racing’s engineers acclimatized and optimised the powertrain components, acquainted the achievement of the turbo and acclimatized the mapping of the agent ascendancy unit. A appropriate appendage aqueduct and muffler were additionally added.

Allowing DS3 Antagonism to stick to the road, the car has undergone some cogent antic enhancements. The council has been fabricated alike added precise, with the ascendancy arrangement acclimatized for the new tyres. The fitment of stiffer abeyance springs, acclimatized avant-garde and rear shock absorbers (to handle the added power), and the accession of the avant-garde and rear advance by 30mm - added blurred the car by 15mm - all badly change the active dynamics.

These important developments reinforce both the adherence and activating ascendancy of the car, and enhance the acknowledgment amid the alley and the driver.

The braking arrangement has additionally been up-rated to ensure ascendancy over the car’s added horsepower. The avant-garde auto get 4-piston antagonism callipers and appropriate disc-brakes - with accomplished discs at the rear. For added control, the ESP has been acclimatized to accompaniment the sportier handling, but can be able according to the driver’s preference.

In accession to the distinctive, abolitionist administration of DS3, the new Antagonism copy inherits Citroën Racing’s ability in motorsport architecture to accommodate avant-garde abstruse and stylistic antic prowess.

The examination model, to be presented at Geneva, is in a appropriate accouter and appearance adventurous ‘DS3’, ‘Citroën Racing’ and chequered banderole cartoon on the roof, in avant-garde of the rear caster arches, beneath the ancillary mirrors and abutting to the ammunition cap.

Measuring 3.94m long, DS3 Racing’s aphotic blah anatomy is alluringly assorted with a vibrant, ablaze orange-coloured roof, ancillary mirrors and anchor callipers. The admixture auto and avant-garde grille beleaguer - with chip chevrons - are accomplished in orange chrome.

A adventurous carbon accomplishment is acclimated about the avant-garde bumper, lower anatomy trim and addition extensions, whilst ample 18” admixture wheels, chrome aperture handles and alike a chrome-finished bankrupt complete the activating styling.

Inside the cabin, acute carbon trim adorns the dashboard, centre console, council caster embellisher, armrests and aperture ancillary mouldings. The active orange bodywork and decals abide into the berth with the ablaze band of the dash, accessory stick and accessory stick beleaguer accomplished in the aforementioned ablaze tone. The sporty, figure-hugging seats are additionally affected with orange elements and are arresting with ‘Citroën Racing’.

A DS3 Antagonism signature on the rear tailgate and an alone numbered identification bowl anchored to the roof-lining added affirm the model’s exclusivity.

On the road, DS3 Racing’s WRC full-blooded is evident. Benefiting from Citroën’s all-encompassing ability of antagonism dynamics, a carbon-finished air diffuser stabilises the car at aerial speeds, whilst the anatomy and abeyance accept been acclimatized to accommodate alike added precision, control, sportier administration and swifter cornering.

Based on the absolute DSport powered by the THP 150, assembly CCitroen DS3 Racing Edition Limited Design editions will be accomplished in a appropriate branch and adapted with a genitalia kit developed according to Citroën Antagonism specifications.

Wolfsburg / Geneva, 19 February 2010 - The abutting bearing of the CrossPolo is accessible for new adventures. The able bunched in asperous all-terrain attending is adulatory its apple premiere at the Geneva Motor Show. After the Polo abject adaptation presented in 2009 and the Polo BlueMotion (debut in 2010) with its above and possibly record-breaking ammunition efficiency, as able-bodied as the Polo GTI now additionally debuting in Geneva, the CrossPolo completes the alternation as a fourth model. With its refreshingly bold design, unique

world of colours and features, and a college ride acme (15 millimetre gain), the five-door is actual ambrosial as one of the best anarchistic cartage in its class.

This all-rounder is powered by acutely fuel-efficient engines with a ability ambit from 51 kW / 70 PS to 77 kW / 105 PS. Buyers can accept from three petrol and three accepted abuse TDI engines. Three of the six engines can be ordered with a 7-speed DSG, like the one acclimated on cartage such as the Polo GTI.

Fun and Cross: From appropriate copy to assembly model

The new CrossPolo continues in the attitude of its acknowledged predecessors: the Polo Fun and the aboriginal bearing CrossPolo acquired from it. Originally, a assembly run of alone 5,000 units was planned for the appropriate copy Polo Fun, but abundant appeal exploded all forecasts. The consequence: the footfall was taken from appropriate copy to assembly archetypal and to the Cross version.

Exterior: Boxy qualities and affairs character

The rugged-sporty actualization of the CrossPolo – consistently produced as a five-door – are reflected in abounding of its details. Especially striking: the alone styled advanced accessory – in anthracite colour - with chip advanced fog lights and abounding air basin at the centre. It gets a atramentous bore admit belted by accomplished chrome trim. Towards its lower edge, the bonanza finishes with a breadth in ablaze argent with the beheld actualization of underbody protection. Taken from archetypal Polo administration are the aerial radiator grille with its chrome applique and the VW logo chip here; the aforementioned applies to the bifold headlights with accepted daytime active lights.

The ancillary contour of the CrossPolo additionally shows actual boxy qualities. Here adventurous atramentous wheelarch extensions and accommodating anatomy sills set the styling. The closing abide visually into the lower aperture area. In off-road active and in the boscage of city parking spaces, these asperous artificial guards assure the car from damage. Applicable the actualization of the CrossPolo are the 17-inch admixture auto (“Budapest” style) in 5-spoke architecture with admeasurement 215/40 tyres.

Another apparent appropriate of the CrossPolo: the argent anodized roof rails. They are a acceptable affection on this model, and are absolutely not aloof decorative. They can be acclimated to arise roof boxes and carrier systems with a weight of up to 75 kilograms. Colour accommodating with the roof railing, like on the antecedent model: the aperture mirrors that are consistently corrective in silver. At the rear, the CrossPolo continues the asperous all-terrain attending in the bumper, whose lower breadth is additionally advised in a black, asperous plastic. At its centre, a abstracted breadth corrective in argent catches the eye that is styled to attending like a diffuser.

Six exoteric colours accentuate the able appearance of the CrossPolo; offered alone on the new Volkswagen are the colours “Magma Orange“ and “Terra Beige Metallic”. Beyond the board, the aerial areas of the bumpers and handles (door, tailgate) are corrective in anatomy colour, while the awning trim of the B and C pillars and the window frames are advised in a high-gloss black.

nterior: Exciting and versatile

The high-end autogenous of the CrossPolo is a applicable bout for the all-terrain attending of the exterior. Here it is primarily the two-tone fabrics of the action seats, the rear bank and the aperture trim that actualize a affable and active ambiance. Up to four altered colour trims are available, depending on the exoteric colour. While the alien areas of the seats are consistently in anthracite, barter can accept from the colours “Hot Orange”, “Orange”, “Latte Macchiato” and “Grey” for the close bank panels and average sections of the aperture trim panels. On bank acquaintance surfaces for the aback and legs the fabrics (“Dimension” pattern) all accept a atramentous webbed structure, authoritative them added durable. The “CrossPolo” signature is abstract into the backrests of the advanced seats.

Throughout the cockpit abstracts are affable to the touch. Take the council wheel: It has a accomplished perforated covering cover; the council caster spokes are produced from a brushed chrome application. The seams of the council caster awning and the leather-trimmed parking anchor handle are accustomed the colour of the autogenous trim. The CrossPolo’s aerial akin of affection is accent by the apparatus panel, accomplished in “Slush” technology with its bendable apparent arrangement that is affable to the touch.

The CrossPolo has an abounding arrangement of accepted equipment. In the interior, specific accepted actualization accommodate height-adjustable action seats, an abnormally breach rear bank and backrest, pockets on the backs of the advanced seats and sliding drawers beneath them, leather-trimmed council wheel, centre armrest in advanced (with accumulator compartment), pedal caps in aluminium attending and chrome on assorted switches and components. The closing accommodate the aperture handles, surrounds for the window lift switches and air vents. Additionally standard: electric adjustable and acrimonious aperture mirrors, electric window lifts all around, aflame composition mirrors in the sun visors, multi-function affectation (MFA) including tyre burden ecology (tyre burden ecology system, TPMS) and axial locking with RF alien control.

Estate car qualities: Burden amplitude increases up to 952 litres

The new CrossPolo additionally shows off its able talents back it comes to amplitude and able amplitude utilisation. As mentioned, the rear bank can be bankrupt with a accepted 60:40 split. Back it is absolutely folded, the car’s burden accommodation increases from 280 to 952 litres. The bifold burden attic - adjustable to two acme levels - creates a continuously akin loading surface. Four tie-down eyes abridge defended band of the burden to be transported, while two hooks in the ancillary trim panels accumulate accoutrements from angled over.

Engine variety: Three petrol, three agent and one 7-speed DSG

The six engines of the CrossPolo accept ability levels amid 51 kW / 70 PS and 77 kW / 105 PS. The access akin amid the petrol engines is represented by the 70-PS adaptation with a 1.2 litre displacement. Following at the abutting akin is a 1.4-litre agent with 63 kW / 85 PS. The top petrol agent is the new 1.2 TSI with the mentioned 105 PS. This turbocharged direct-injection petrol agent accelerates the CrossPolo to 100 km/h in 9.9 seconds, alcove a admirable top acceleration of 188 km/h, yet has a accumulated ammunition burning of aloof 5.5 litres of ammunition (equivalent to 128 g/km CO2). The highlight here: The Volkswagen not alone attains these ethics in affiliation with the accepted 6-speed gearbox, but additionally with the alternative 7-speed DSG, an automatic. Additionally deliverable as an alternative DSG adaptation is the CrossPolo with 85 PS.

Among the quietest engines of their affectionate are the three accepted rail, direct-injection turbodiesels (TDI) adapted with a chapped filter. All engines accept 1.6 litre displacement and are accessible at the ability levels 55 kW / 75 PS, 66 kW / 90 PS and 77 kW / 105 PS. All three variants charge aloof 4.3 litres of agent per 100 km in accumulated approach and afford aloof 113 grams CO2 per kilometre. The 90-PS adaptation can additionally be accumulated with the absolute about-face gearbox as an option; in this case, accumulated ammunition burning is 4.6 l/100 km. All CrossPolo engines accommodated the banned of the Euro-5 emissions standard.

Advance sales for the new Volkswagen are alpha in march. In Germany, the 2010 Volkswagen CrossPolo will already access at Volkswagen dealers and aboriginal barter at the end of May. Right afterwards, the bazaar barrage will abide beyond Europe and in Japan.

The Winter Olympics has given new light to American athletes who have a good Internet footprint. One of them - Olympics star Gretchen Bleiler - calls her social network home MakeItPro.com.

To be sure, the super-hot, super sexy, super athletic and newly married snowboarding star that is Gretchen Bleiler has her own website and any number of blogs, but it's at MakeItPro.com where Bleiler best connects with her fans and friends.

But what's MakeItPro.com?

MakeItPro.com is a one-year-old Facebook-style social networking website that's specifically designed for athletes. The site is ran by Founder and President Jill Osur and a 15-person staff based out of Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area. This blogger has known Jill since 1991 and watched her build the social network from a few pages in a beta format to where it is today.

From the start, Jill wanted to feature Olympic athletes, and really admired Gretchen Bleiler. Now, Gretchen Bleiler's featured at MakeItPro.com and was the first athlete to be placed in the site in 2009.

Bleiler's also part of MakeItPro.com's "Olympic Zone" which is billed as a place that "features the latest Olympic coverage from Vancouver, as well as schedules, team rosters and more." But what's really just plain neat about MakeItPro.com is it's free to join and you're just a click away from the awesome American athlete and Olympics hero that is Gretchen Bleiler. Check her out at out and send her a message of thanks for representing the U.S.A.

And if you need direction by now, just click here: Gretchen Bleiler at MakeItPro.com.

While I'm Thinking About It............

Is it just me or does Bill O'Reilly need a good swift kick in the nutsack?



Damn, that is one ignorant asshole.

Instapundit makes an interesting observation about this

"BILL O’REILLY SUPPORTS GUN CONFISCATION DURING WEATHER EMERGENCIES? That’s funny. O’Reilly calls the opposing position “extreme,” but such gun confiscation is illegal under federal statute, and as a matter of constitutional law; in fact, the city of New Orleans lost a lawsuit over gun confiscation during Katrina. But then, O’Reilly’s no libertarian, to put things mildly. And he’s consistently weak on the law, also to put things mildly. Still, he should have been better briefed for this show, as he came across looking like a fool, and making his “extreme” guest look sober and well-informed by comparison."

O'Reilly isn't stupid. No real excuse for this shit.

Another Gratuitous Picture-

Now This is Gonna Get Interesting..........

From Climategate.com

World’s biggest coal company brings U.S. government to court in climate fraud

"The world’s largest private sector coal business, the Peabody Energy Company (PEC) has filed a mammoth 240-page “Petition for Reconsideration,” a full-blown legal challenge against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency."

Mr. Peabody's Coal Company is gonna start some real shit with this.
And that's a good thing.

The last paragraph is my favorite part -

"Thereby, from accomplishing their civil task Peabody will lend further weight to the likelihood of criminal charges being brought against those individuals implicated in international fraud on the largest scale ever known."

Maybe I'll get to see some of these frauds do the perp walk yet.
I seriously doubt it but a boy can dream.

Here's John Prine and his song about Mr Peabody -
Nice intro on this.


Maybe Mr Peabody is now making up for hauling that part of paradise away.

Gratuitous Picture for a Friday Night-
WWII Russians w/ gasmasks a squeezbox and Mosin Rifles. Nope. No friggin idea either.

So Tiger Woods Had a Press Conference Today???????

Who the hell cares?

I'm pretty ambivalent about Tiger and his fidelity problems. No. That's not entirely correct. It's more like, I could give less than a shit about anything Tiger Woods does or says.

He's a non-factor for me. In my life, he doesn't effect anything in anyway.
None - Zip - Nada & I suspect that's true of 90+ percent of the population.

So why the big deal about Tiger Woods?
Who really gives a shit about his personal problems?

And WHY would anyone care?

That's the part that makes no damn sense to me. He cheated on his wife.
OK. What the hell business is that of anyone else?

This kinda weird celebratory infatuation has to be a symptom of some sort of sickness.
I'm sure these guys have it covered somewhere
According to the APA, everyone's got a zillion billable diagnoses so there has to be something in all that BullShit of theirs to cover this phenomena.

But hey. I could be wrong about that.
Not real likely but possible i suppose.

Just an observation here on my part about, what seems like, the only topic or news in the entire friggin world today.

Yes, I know I've asked about this before, but I get an excuse to use my great demotivator again today!

As always - Click to embigginate picture.

You REALLY Didn't Do That, Did You??????

School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at school and home -

"According to the filings in Blake J Robbins v Lower Merion School District (PA) et al, the laptops issued to high-school students in the well-heeled Philly suburb have webcams that can be covertly activated by the schools' administrators, who have used this facility to spy on students and even their families. The issue came to light when the Robbins's child was disciplined for "improper behavior in his home" and the Vice Principal used a photo taken by the webcam as evidence. The suit is a class action, brought on behalf of all students issued with these machines."

And if you're thinking, "No way. Nobody is that stupid". You'd be wrong.

School district admits installing covert webcam activation software on student laptops, denies wrongdoing

You can see the the actual lawsuit here

That school system better hope that someone from IT got to the server with a big scrub brush and a shitload of bleach because you just KNOW somebody has been misusing this feature.

They won't be able to throw money at these folks fast enough.

Hat Tip- The Market Ticker for this.

Gratuitous Picture for a Friday Afternoon-

Agostini Doing what he did so well.


And for no other reason than it's Friday.

Ray Wylie Hubbard doing, "
Snake Farm"

Some Push Back Beginning. Finally...........

From SondraK- OMG! The People Are Revolting!

States are figuring out that the EPA findings regarding climate change is gonna cost a bundle and are pushing back.
Go read.
Then go call your state governor and ask them what's taking so long.

Yes. I admit that I am getting a lot of pleasure in seeing this scam unveiled.

Billions of our tax money has been funneled to these crooked bastards and I'd like to see some of these lying bastards doing the perp walk on the news.

Gratuitous Picture for a Thursday Evening-

In today's running news, the Oakland Running Festival and Oakland Marathon are set for March 27th and March 28th in Oakland. Oaklanders know that Oakland's had a rich tradition of housing great runners and fostering a healthy running culture. Some, like runner Regina Jacobs, have achieved Olympic fame and stardom. But only once in over two decades has Oakland been the location of a major running event. The Oakland Running Festival and Oakland Marathon will change that when they get going in March.

This blogger recently video-interviewed Oakland Marathon and Oakland Running Festival Producer Gene Brtalik at the columns at Lake Merritt on a windy Sunday, and learned about the origins of the running event. Gene Brtalik is from Baltimore and moved in Oakland last year. He worked for running race producer Corrigan Sports in Maryland and wanted to maintain employment with them.

Corrigan Sports's representatives told him to check out the running scene in Oakland, so he "made some calls to city officials and asked around and within three months of moving here the city essentially greenlighted the event. In June, the City Council passed a resolution that the city was going to have a running festival."

While the centerpiece event is the 26-mile Marathon, all of the courses, from the 5K to the half-marathon are "walker friendly". The marathon course (PDF here) itself will take the runner from downtown Oakland through West Oakland and Lake Merritt, then up to the Rockridge District, before winding back through Montclair and the Fruitvale and back into downtown Oakland.

Gene's plan is to steadily grow what could become a really huge event in the Oakland Running Festival and Oakland Marathon. He doesn't want to overload the City's public works staff with the additional work that comes with a lot of people at once in one year.

Here's the full schedule of Oakland Running Festival and Oakland Marathon events according to its website:

Saturday, March 27th
9am – 6pm Packet Pick-Up, Sports Expo, and Late Registration
6-8pm Kick-Off Party with Live Music and more! at Lake Merritt
6:30pm Twilight 5K Race at Lake Merritt
8pm Twilight 5K Awards Ceremony
Sunday, March 28th
7:15am Opening Remarks and National Anthem
7:30am Marathon and Team Relay Races Start
8am Kids' Fun Run Start
9am Half Marathon Start
9am – 2pm Sports Expo and Celebration Village Activities
10am - 2pm Live Music on the Stage
12:00pm Awards Ceremony

Gene's always looking for volunteers, so you can help out here: http://www.oaklandmarathon.com/Volunteers.htm

Last weekend, UC San Diego was the site of an off-campus party held that mocked Black History Month. The Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity was pointed to as the organization that held the party, but its president says that's not the case.

California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass called for an investigation and issued this video statement:



In the video, Bass said "It seems as though every single year this situation happens." That, in itself, is a chilling report on the state of race relations on California's college campuses.

At the party, called "Compton Cookout" women were given these instructions:

"Ghetto chicks have a very limited vocabulary, and attempt to make up for it, by forming new words, such as 'constipulated', or simply cursing persistently, or using other types of vulgarities, and making noises, such as 'hmmg!', or smacking their lips, and making other angry noises, grunts, and faces."

Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity President Garron Engstrom released this statement:

The UCSD chapter of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity denies any association with the controversial "Compton Cookout" party held by a "group of [UCSD] students", identified by the University. Pi Kappa Alpha (Pike) strongly condemns such actions and prejudices as the fraternity prides itself of representing a diverse cross-section of the UCSD student body.
This party was not a Pike event, nor was it endorsed by the fraternity. The fraternity regrets the display of ignorance and error-of-judgment made by any individual members who may have attended or were associated via social-media with the racially-offensive party. These actions are in direct violation of Pike's code of conduct, and appropriate disciplinary actions will be taken with such members.
While Pi Kappa Alpha accepts no direct involvement in the planning of this party, the fraternity encourages all in attendance to reach out to the African American community, as well as the UCSD community at large, with a sincere and effective reconciliation program. Such a program will be focused toward the education and individual growth of the chapter members relating to cultural awareness at UCSD.
The Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity at UCSD has proudly represented the ideals of diversity, scholarship, leadership, athletics and gentlemanly conduct on the UCSD campus since 1997.
Garron Engstrom
President, Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity - UCSD Chapter

This is the statement issued by UCSD Chancellor Marye Anne Fox:

OFFICE OF THE CHANCELLOR
OFFICE OF THE VICE CHANCELLOR - STUDENT AFFAIRS
February 16, 2010
ALL ACADEMICS AND STAFF AT UCSD ALL STUDENTS AT UCSD
SUBJECT: Condemnation of Off-Campus Party and Affirmation of Principles of Community
We were distressed to learn that over the weekend an offensively themed student party, mocking the commemoration of Black History Month, took place off campus. We strongly condemn this event and the blatant disregard of our campus values. Although the party was not a UC San Diego student-organization sponsored event, participants did include UC San Diego students and that causes us great concern.
As stated in our Principles of Community, http://blink.ucsd.edu/HR/policies/POC/principles-of-community.html, we reject acts of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, and political beliefs, and, we will confront and appropriately respond to such acts. We reaffirm our Principles of Community http://blink.ucsd.edu/HR/policies/POC/principles-of-community.html and encourage the campus to join us in our affirmation.
In addition, we invite students, staff and faculty to participate in a teach-in from noon to 2 p.m. on February 24 in the Price Center East Ballroom to explore how such incidents continue to occur today and to discuss the importance of mutual respect and civility on our campus.
Marye Anne Fox
Chancellor
Penny Rue
Vice Chancellor - Student Affairs

The bottom line is incidents like the racist party happen when diversity is not promoted. No teach-in will solve the problem. Parents insisting that their kids have racially diverse friendships will solve the problem. Pushing diversity must be done, but the job is not taken seriously, even by those who should. The result is a generation of adults who grow up without the intellectual and emotional experience of having friends who's skin color is not like their own. So, absent anyone to counter them, they make up offensive images of "the other" and that take is expressed in public.

The AC Transit Bus Fight, and some of the really awfully racist views expressed, is but one example of this problem.

Stay tuned.

YouTuber iyannaw08, who filmed the AC Transit Bus Fight video, makes a new video blog to time to clear up some misconceptions in the wake of the video's viral status.

First, she says that she did not take the bag that belonged to the Old White Man. iyannaw08 says that she took the bag to the front of the bus and left it for the authorities when they arrived.

Second, she says was not dating or related to the black man in the video "I've never seen these two gentlemen in my life."

She ends the video by apologizing to anyone who was offended. But what's offensive are some of the comments left on her video page. They call her terrible names and racial slurs, and present the very racist, crazy people I complained about. YouTube should step up efforts to have settings that erase those words all together if the channel manager so desires.

It reenforces a statement I've made that if you want to see just how sick, just how screwed up some people really are, take up the occupation of online community management.

Something else, many, including myself, called the black man in the video "young" - he's 50-years-old.

Stay tuned.

I Got Nuthin'.........

To say lately.
So things have been a bit sparse here as of late.

Not that there's any shortage a shit going on I could rail about.
There's always plenty of that and more everyday. I'm just in one of those midwinter low spots right now and will probably stay that way till we get some regular sunshine back.

I'm getting the seed starting program setup tomorrow. Maybe if I lay under the grow lights it'll perk me up some!

Spring is coming soon and I'm going to have to figure out a way to effectively utilize the HoopHouse this year. Some minor modifications are in order when the weather gets better. We'll see if I can do a little better this year. I may even move the HoopHouse out to the new area.

A garden plan and a log book is in order this year also. I generally just start planting things without any real plan and wing it. I'm gonna try to keep a log of what and where I put things.

As an example of why I need this, I already forgot which trees are planted where from 2 years ago. Sure I can tell an apple tree from a peach tree but which type of apple or peach is it?

Damned if I know now.

Just one more area of self improvement on my part to be addressed.

There's going to be a lot more area in the garden this year too. I don't know that I really need it all but I'm going to use it anyway.
I'm thinking that most of this area will be used for semi-permanent things like berries, grapes, rhubarb and the big row of asparagus I planted last fall.
Getting those things out of the raised boxes will free up a lot of room in the main garden area.

Thinking of Spring a lot here today.

I fired up the BigBluePlasticMotorcycle today and let it run for a bit. I should order a rear tire now and have it ready for when the weather breaks. A good rear tire is all it needs.
Lord knows, I could use a good long ride.

Gratuitous Picture for a Wednesday Night-
I wish there was a way to afford a trip out West again. The BigBluePlasticMotorcycle with the mountains of Northern Wyoming as a background.
Beautiful.

According to the Daily Cal, and the The Blum Center for Developing Economies, Former President Bill Clinton will visit U.C. Berkeley. February 24th at 3:30 PM at Zellerbach Auditorium. Tickets for President Clinton's speech are available only online and one has to be either a student at Cal, or a faculty or staff member to obtain them.

So if you're not any of the three, and know someone who is and haven't been nice to them you might consider getting on the phone to apologize to them first (no texting). Then ask for help with the Clinton tickets.

Seriously, their are 2,000 tickets available, 1,200 free for students.

You can get them here: berkeley.edu/clinton.

The title of President Clinton's speech is "Global Citizenship: Turning Good Intentions into Positive Action"

If you're reading the name "Blum Center for Developing Economies" and wondering who "Blum" is, it's Richard Blum, who's married to U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein and is also a person who's a San Francisco developer, financier, and political activist with close ties in the Tibetan community.

I think President Clinton had Blum in mind when he created the speech he's going to give on February 24th.

Here, on the eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympics Torch Run and during the San Francisco Protest of it, Richard Blum talks about his work in trying to get the Chinese Government to engage with The Dalai Lama:



Stay tuned.

A AC Transit Bus Fight near Lake Merritt, in Oakland, California was captured on video and from two different perspectives. The AC Transit Bus Fight, which this blogger recognizes as starting on the AC Transit "N" route that serves the heart of Oakland into downtown Oakland, caused the bus to stop at the corner of Harrison and Webster Street, just one long block away from Lake Merritt and at the Kaiser Center's shopping mall area.

The first AC Transit Bus Fight video below shows an at first, seemingly harmless and rather misguided and silly conversation apparently about what someone would do based on their race. One young man, black, said the older man white, should get "yo ass back up in there", meaning the front of the bus. Apparently the older white man came to the back of the bus to confront the younger black man. "Why you being so hostile man", was what the older white man said to him.

Then the older white man went back to the front of the bus as the young black man was on his way to his seat at the back of the bus.

Here's the first video:



Then words were exchanged and after the young black man was on his way to the back of the bus. But when the older white man said "I can kick your ass", the young black man turned and went back to the front of the bus where the older white man was.

In the AC Transit Bus Fight, it's hard to tell exactly what happened for the first two seconds, but then it was obvious the two traded slap-punches. The older white man did get in one good left hook, and that was enough to drop the young black man.

The older white man said "See, you mess with me" as the younger black man was on the floor. (And the back of his shirt reads "I AM..a motherfucker")

 Then, as the young black man was collecting himself at the back of the bus, and the camcorder operator was talking to him, the older white man had started to just "go off" on a weird rant at the corner of Harrison and Webster.

This is that video:



What does this AC Transit Bus Fight prove? Well, it proves why cars and taxi cabs are a more desirable form of transportation than AC Transit buses in Oakland.

This is why Oaklanders rail against those who support higher parking fees, heavy-handed parking enforcement tactics, and tow-happy city administrators. It's also why some Oaklanders, like this blogger, support a BART Airport Connector rather than being forced on to AC Transit. For all of its woes, BART at least has an active police force.

Sorry, but you've seen the one reason why this blogger avoids AC Transit whenever possible. Both men were wrong and both should be charged with assault. But the overarching issue is that good working citizens of Oakland should not have their time wasted or their safety threatened by people who act like that. It's better to be able to avoid them.

The discussion about the AC Transit Bus Fight will break down to "Old White Rambo Dude versus Young N-word kid" and few will see the bigger picture. The kid should always respect his elders, regardless of color or behavior of the elder (within reason, of course), and the older man should know better than to go and pick fights because he's unhappy with his own life. And none of us should have to be subjected to their issues.

With that, the YouTune video takes on this are really worth watching:

Video: explaining the AC Transit Bus Fight:



Video: Another take on the AC Transit Bus Fight:



NOTE: In the first video, the young women who filmed the event noted that the older white man left his bag. I hope she returned it to him.

Stay tuned.

Once Again, Global Warming is Trying to Cripple Me...........

I just finished shoveling all the Global Warming Residue from the driveway again & my back is protesting about it.

But thanks to Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, at least I won't make the mistake of confusing things like this-
"weather is not the same thing as climate"

15 years of declining temperature "is not the same thing as climate".

Thanks for clearing that up for me, Jane. I feel a hell of a lot better now.

Not really.
My back is getting "stiffer than a wedding pecker" from all the shoveling.
At least that's how My Old Man would have said it.

Gratuitous Picture for a Tuesday Afternoon-

President Barack Obama announced approval of $8 billion in loan guarantees to build the first nuclear power plant in over 30 years. According to the Huffington Post, Obama said "On an issue that affects our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, we can't continue to be mired in the same old stale debates between left and right, between environmentalists and entrepreneurs."



President Obama is correct. But while Obama's working on the revival of nuclear power, some aren't happy with his efforts. Take Mother Jones, which reports that nuclear power plant cost overruns should give Obama and others pause because it takes taxpayer dollars to overcome the cost problem.

But that's the whole point of Obama's program - to use government loans and subsidies to make creating nuclear power plants more feasible. So in pointing out what they don't like about Obama's program, and reading like a Republican publication in the process, Mother Jones just explained why government subsidies are necessary in American Industry: to stimulate construction and industrial revival.

This is why it's never good to be an ideolog regardless of political leaning, left or right. A logical thinker would conclude that government subsidies were necessary to jump start an industry - The Nuclear Industry - that has made massive technical advances in 30 years. But rather than look at it that way, Mother Jones holds on to liberal ideological prejudices against nuclear power and wrongly assumes that because an expenditure is made for nuclear power, renewable energy efforts will suffer.

Fortunately, President Obama's not paying attention to them.

Doc Gurley, the San Francisco-based physician and public health expert blogger, has made the greatest donation one can give to the effort of helping Haiti after the massive earthquake: herself and her time.

Doc Gurley blogs about her first day on the ground in Haiti, and talked with this blogger about her planned Haiti relief trip before she left when we met for lunch at the Lake Chalet in Oakland:



Doc Gurley will be posting updates on her Haiti relief trip. Stay tuned.

Joining Dathan (34:34 for 12k) on the national team are Minnesotan Patrick Smyth (34:52), Chico, CA's Scott Bauhs (35:01), fellow Eugene, OR runner Ben Bruce (35:16), Admore, PA's Bobby Curtis (35:22), and Gresham, OR's Ryan Vail (35:25).


Shalane (25:10 for 8k) led by 51 seconds, with 10k superstar Molly Huddle (26:01), Flagstaff, AZ's Amy Hastings (26:09), Olympian Magdelena Lewy Boulet (26:09), Boulder's Rene Metivier Baillie (26:26), and Mammoth Lake, CA's Sara Hall (26:27) rounding out the team.

RunOhio does an awesome job recapping the races if you would like to read more.

- SD