The Tragedy in Haiti

And the Spin put on it.

I have been appalled to see the usual suspects using the death and destruction to try and garner political points. While the thugs on the Right have been most egregious, the Left hasn't been all that far behind.

I am pretty sure there will be a special place in Hell for people like Pat Robertson, who used the suffering and misery to manipulate his minions into giving him more money.

As usual, Jon Stewart sums it up more honestly than any "real" newscast.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
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In honer of this latest foray into new depths of slime, I have started a poll to examine the one thing that I think should be on everyone's mind just now, do please vote.

And do please feel free to mention the people of Haiti to the deity of your choice, or the universe, or the clockwork mechanism that keeps everything running, or the small quiet place in your own heart. It won't hurt and ya never know, it just might help.

Three days of snow......

Then the sun comes out.


It Doesn't get much better than this.

The temperature on Saturday morning was around 10 degreed F, and the snow was just about perfect.

So I grabbed my skis and hit the trail for the best day of gliding over the snow yet this season.

Once we were off the main trail the snow was mostly completely fresh. There were remarkably few skiers out for some reason, I think we saw only three other people on the trails all day.

We did however share the trail with all manner of wildlife, most notably ducks who didn't bother going south for the winter. (I guess they heard about the temperatures in Florida)

While the Grand River is still flowing, all the ponds and small lakes in the area are frozen over.

Making for the spectacular winter scenery you get here in West Michigan.

The rare Michigan Snow Gnome

After about two and a half hours of skiing we still didn't want to come in from the cold

Me, not wanting to stop for the day, even though I know I am going to pay for it tomorrow

I'm already hoping for the next snowstorm, though the law of perversity seems to be holding sway and all the really fun weather is going elsewhere. With any luck, there will be more snow soon, and what we have will stay for a while.

The Christian Taliban rears its ugly head again

With death threats against cartoonists no less.

It turns out that Mark Fiore, a political cartoonist and animator has been getting death threats from the Tea Baggers over a little piece he did a little while back.

Here it is...
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As you can see, it does (deservedly) treat the tea baggers a bit honestly unkindly.

The tea baggers and other Right wing extremists respond in true form, with death threats, just like the Right Wing Muslim extremists who wanted to kill the cartoonist who did the caricature of the Prophet Muhammad (saws).

As I have said before, the only difference between Christian Right wingers and Muslim right wingers (and Hindu, Buddhist, and Atheist right wingers) is the team they are playing for, it's still the same league and the same game.

So check out Fiore's blog, and his Youtube channel.

And remember the Right Wingers, whatever their "team affiliation" are a bunch of murderous morons.

Boring jump rope?

Perhaps not.

Sabi Honom mentioned jump rope as a way to keep in shape over the winter, so this post is for her and others who might want something by way of exercise that takes up small space but gives good result.

Back in the last century, when I was young, I, like so many of the boys where I grew up, studied some boxing. Of course, along with the speed bag, heavy bag, road work and sparring, we had to jump rope.

We all wanted to master the speed bag, as it had the greatest kewl factor (Think Joe Palooka, opening titles) and I think we all hated jumping rope (it was viewed as being just a bit "girlie". Hey I was about 10 at the time, wadaya expect)

Over the years I had kept up with my rope jumping somewhat intermittently, but it would tend to get a little on the boring side for me.

This all changed about three years ago when I got a call from my friend Steve Barnes. Steve keeps an eye out for anything interesting in the area of fitness and he often finds some real gems.

He asked me if I had ever heard of Buddy Lee. I hadn't.

Lee was an Olympic wrestler who had developed an interesting approach to his conditioning based on jumping rope, after retiring from competition he began teaching his method.

I was intrigued enough by Steve's description that I looked into what Lee was doing.

Here's a taste.
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I got hold of his book and video and began incorporating some of his material into both my workouts and those of my students, with very good effect.

One of my favorite things to do is to use the rope with Tabata sets, that'll give you a quick burn.

Check out Buddy Lee's website.

There have been others who have built on Mr. Lee's work, this being a case in point.
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So enjoy your jumping!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

But we could use some more snow.

Temperatures have been down in the single digits, but the sun has been out and there has been very little snow.

The trails are quite rough.


There's lots of lumpy ice just under the surface, as well as ruts and such.

But the river is quite lovely.

And the sunset is as well.


So the only thing to do is grab the skis and get outside.

So with my friend Janet, who is one of the few people crazy enough to be out int this weather with me, we tackled the trail.


It was worth the effort, and we pretty much had the trail to ourselves.

Personally, I think cross country skiing is the best winter exercise to keep you in shape for running in the other three seasons. So here's hoping for more snow.

For today's theme music here's one of the very best renditions of "Baby it's cold outside" done by Margaret Whiting & Johnny Mercer in 1949

Seems to be the New Year's Theme

With a tip of the hat to Janet

Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper's
"I Hate Banks"

Something to look forward to

This would be funny if it weren't true.
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Makes ya wonder why all the "no tax tea baggers" are sitting on their hands as the banks and credit card companies take everything they have.