Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Not My Nano

As you may have guessed, I run with an iPod. I'd like to be a purist, but ... eh. If a race has a very strict prohibition against them, I'll respect the ban. Grudgingly. Very grudgingly.

November 1, 2007
Rule for Marathoners Who Run to Their Own Tune
By
JULIET MACUR

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 — At the peak of the marathon season, with one of the year’s biggest races set for Sunday in New York, a worry has emerged among some runners, and it has nothing to do with hitting the wall at Mile 20: Will BeyoncĂ© be there to push them to the finish? Will they be able to call upon Bon Jovi for support when there is no one else to turn to?

USA Track & Field, the national governing body for running, this year banned the use of headphones and portable audio players like iPods at its official races. The new rule was created to ensure safety and to prevent runners from having a competitive edge.

But trying to enforce such a rule on a 26.2-mile course filled with thousands of runners may be futile. The New York City Marathon, which strongly discourages the use of audio players, will not attempt to police its field on Sunday for lack of a surefire way to carry out the ban.

Technically, at last weekend’s Marine Corps Marathon here, and even at much smaller events like the Creaky Bones 5-kilometer race in Florida and the Corn Maze 4-miler in Tennessee, runners should not have had the luxury of listening to their favorite songs along the way. Marine Corps Marathon officials threatened to disqualify runners using headphones, but did not follow through.

“To ban them outright is just stupid, and if they want to disqualify me, they can,” Jennifer Lamkins, a teacher from Long Beach Calif., said before running the Marine Corps Marathon. “If they are banning them because we can’t hear directions, does that mean they should ban deaf people, too?”

Elite runners do not listen to music in races because they need to concentrate on their own bodies and hear their competitors, and some die-hard, old-school runners follow suit. Those runners — purists who prefer the sound of the crowd or their own breathing over, say, “Fergalicious” — cheered the headphone ban.

But for competitors who use music as a motivational tool while training and competing, the ban was frustrating, as if the race directors were forcing them to run barefoot.

With technological advances leading to smaller and smaller audio players that are easier to carry and conceal during races, the rift in the sport and the debate over the issue seems to be here to stay.

“They can ban iPods all they want, but how do you think they are going to enforce that when those things have gotten so small?” said Richie Sais, 46, a police officer in Suffolk County on Long Island, before running the Marine Corps Marathon.

“I dare them to find the iPod on me,” he said, adding that he had clipped his iPod Shuffle, which is barely larger than a quarter, under his shirt.

Some events strongly discouraged the use of audio players in the past, but the track and field federation’s new rule mandated an outright ban so that runners would be more aware of their surroundings and be able to clearly hear race announcements or warnings from other runners.
Jill Geer, spokeswoman for USA Track & Field, said the ban was “basically an insurance issue,” because rates rise substantially if headphones are allowed. Each sanctioned race receives liability insurance from USA Track & Field, and it would be up to each race director to enforce the ban. If the ban were ignored, the races would be liable in the event of an accident caused by someone using headphones, Geer said.


While race officials could not cite specific incidents caused by headphone users, they did say that the new rule would make races safer because it improves communication. Still, they fear that banning headphones may alienate some recreational runners.

“Years ago, the picture of people running marathons was these lean, mean Type-A male running machines, but today people running are your neighbors, just regular people,” said Tracy Sundlun, executive vice president for Elite Racing, which organizes marathons. “It’s a different sport now and we have to cater to these new people, not exclude them.”

Probably True. Except For My Kids.

American kids, dumber than dirt
Warning: The next generation might just be the biggest pile of idiots in U.S. history
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist
Wednesday, October 24, 2007

I have this ongoing discussion with a longtime reader who also just so happens to be a longtime Oakland high school teacher, a wonderful guy who's seen generations of teens come and generations go and who has a delightful poetic sensibility and quirky outlook on his life and his family and his beloved teaching career.

And he often writes to me in response to something I might've written about the youth of today, anything where I comment on the various nefarious factors shaping their minds and their perspectives and whether or not, say, EMFs and junk food and cell phones are melting their brains and what can be done and just how bad it might all be.

His response: It is not bad at all. It's absolutely horrifying.

My friend often summarizes for me what he sees, firsthand, every day and every month, year in and year out, in his classroom. He speaks not merely of the sad decline in overall intellectual acumen among students over the years, not merely of the astonishing spread of lazy slackerhood, or the fact that cell phones and iPods and excess TV exposure are, absolutely and without reservation, short-circuiting the minds of the upcoming generations. Of this, he says, there is zero doubt.

Nor does he speak merely of the notion that kids these days are overprotected and wussified and don't spend enough time outdoors and don't get any real exercise and therefore can't, say, identify basic plants, or handle a tool, or build, well, anything at all. Again, these things are a given. Widely reported, tragically ignored, nothing new.

No, my friend takes it all a full step — or rather, leap — further. It is not merely a sad slide. It is not just a general dumbing down. It is far uglier than that.

We are, as far as urban public education is concerned, essentially at rock bottom. We are now at a point where we are essentially churning out ignorant teens who are becoming ignorant adults and society as a whole will pay dearly, very soon, and if you think the hordes of easily terrified, mindless fundamentalist evangelical Christian lemmings have been bad for the soul of this country, just wait.

It's gotten so bad that, as my friend nears retirement, he says he is very seriously considering moving out of the country so as to escape what he sees will be the surefire collapse of functioning American society in the next handful of years due to the absolutely irrefutable destruction, the shocking — and nearly hopeless — dumb-ification of the American brain. It is just that bad.

Now, you may think he's merely a curmudgeon, a tired old teacher who stopped caring long ago. Not true. Teaching is his life. He says he loves his students, loves education and learning and watching young minds awaken. Problem is, he is seeing much less of it. It's a bit like the melting of the polar ice caps. Sure, there's been alarmist data about it for years, but until you see it for yourself, the deep visceral dread doesn't really hit home.

He cites studies, reports, hard data, from the appalling effects of television on child brain development (i.e.; any TV exposure before 6 years old and your kid's basic cognitive wiring and spatial perceptions are pretty much scrambled for life), to the fact that, because of all the insidious mandatory testing teachers are now forced to incorporate into the curriculum, of the 182 school days in a year, there are 110 when such testing is going on somewhere at Oakland High. As one of his colleagues put it, "It's like weighing a calf twice a day, but never feeding it."

But most of all, he simply observes his students, year to year, noting all the obvious evidence of teens' decreasing abilities when confronted with even the most basic intellectual tasks, from understanding simple history to working through moderately complex ideas to even (in a couple recent examples that particularly distressed him) being able to define the words "agriculture," or even "democracy." Not a single student could do it.

It gets worse. My friend cites the fact that, of the 6,000 high school students he estimates he's taught over the span of his career, only a small fraction now make it to his grade with a functioning understanding of written English. They do not know how to form a sentence. They cannot write an intelligible paragraph. Recently, after giving an assignment that required drawing lines, he realized that not a single student actually knew how to use a ruler.

It is, in short, nothing less than a tidal wave of dumb, with once-passionate, increasingly exasperated teachers like my friend nearly powerless to stop it. The worst part: It's not the kids' fault. They're merely the victims of a horribly failed educational system.

Then our discussion often turns to the meat of it, the bigger picture, the ugly and unavoidable truism about the lack of need among the government and the power elite in this nation to create a truly effective educational system, one that actually generates intelligent, thoughtful, articulate citizens.

Hell, why should they? After all, the dumber the populace, the easier it is to rule and control and launch unwinnable wars and pass laws telling them that sex is bad and TV is good and God knows all, so just pipe down and eat your Taco Bell Double-Supremo Burrito and be glad we don't arrest you for posting dirty pictures on your cute little blog.

This is about when I try to offer counterevidence, a bit of optimism. For one thing, I've argued generational relativity in this space before, suggesting maybe kids are no scarier or dumber or more dangerous than they've ever been, and that maybe some of the problem is merely the same old awkward generation gap, with every current generation absolutely convinced the subsequent one is terrifically stupid and malicious and will be the end of society as a whole. Just the way it always seems.

I also point out how, despite all the evidence of total public-education meltdown, I keep being surprised, keep hearing from/about teens and youth movements and actions that impress the hell out of me. Damn kids made the Internet what it is today, fer chrissakes. Revolutionized media. Broke all the rules. Still are.

Hell, some of the best designers, writers, artists, poets, chefs, and so on that I meet are in their early to mid-20s. And the nation's top universities are still managing, despite a factory-churning mentality, to crank out young minds of astonishing ability and acumen. How did these kids do it? How did they escape the horrible public school system? How did they avoid the great dumbing down of America? Did they never see a TV show until they hit puberty? Were they all born and raised elsewhere, in India and Asia and Russia? Did they all go to Waldorf or Montessori and eat whole-grain breads and play with firecrackers and take long walks in wild nature? Are these kids flukes? Exceptions? Just lucky?

My friend would say, well, yes, that's precisely what most of them are. Lucky, wealthy, foreign-born, private-schooled ... and increasingly rare. Most affluent parents in America — and many more who aren't — now put their kids in private schools from day one, and the smart ones give their kids no TV and minimal junk food and no video games. (Of course, this in no way guarantees a smart, attuned kid, but compared to the odds of success in the public school system, it sure seems to help). This covers about, what, 3 percent of the populace?

As for the rest, well, the dystopian evidence seems overwhelming indeed, to the point where it might be no stretch at all to say the biggest threat facing America is perhaps not global warming, not perpetual warmongering, not garbage food or low-level radiation or way too much Lindsay Lohan, but a populace far too ignorant to know how to properly manage any of it, much less change it all for the better.

What, too fatalistic? Don't worry. Soon enough, no one will know what the word even means.

Widget


Friday, October 26, 2007

Slouching Toward Sustainability


A banner day on the egg front yesterday; a dozen eggs. Three green eggs, nine brown eggs. On the downside, the turkeys and one of the ducks got into a bit of a rumble. The turkeys damn near killed the duck. I had to take it out of the run and put it in a crate while it recovers. A few of the roosters joined in the fun, too.


I'm thinking suspensions for all involved.


Took Will into Keene to get his Halloween duds last night. I think he's getting a bit long in the tooth to be trick-or-treating (13 years old), but whatever makes him happy.


The fun continues. The WSJ notes that it's got peak oil people's knickers in a knot:


Oil Tops $90 on Range of Worries
Tensions in the Mideast

And Tightening Supplies

Push Crude Prices to Record
By NEIL KING JR. in Washington and SHAI OSTER in Beijing

October 26, 2007; Page A3


Oil soared past $90 a barrel to a record on a mix of unsettling news that ranged from Middle East tensions to supply concerns, demonstrating the delicate state of world petroleum markets heading into the energy-intensive winter months.

The events -- which included a statement by a top OPEC official to The Wall Street Journal that the world's oil cartel doesn't see a need to check the price surge -- might not have moved oil markets dramatically by themselves. But oil's 3.9% rise yesterday to an exchange high of $90.46 a barrel shows that prices are responding to a slew of economic and geopolitical forces and suggests further big swings could lie ahead.


Abdalla Salem El-Badri, secretary-general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, told the Journal yesterday the cartel isn't worried about prices hovering around $90 a barrel as long as global economic conditions are good.


"We have no price band or price target," Mr. El-Badri said on the sidelines of a meeting with Chinese energy officials in Beijing. "If it persists for a longer period, then we start worrying. But at this time, we don't know what's going to happen next month."


Here's what OPEC has to say:


OPEC is carefully watching developments in the oil market and has observed with concern the recent escalation in oil prices.


While the Organization does not favour oil prices at this level, it strongly believes that fundamentals are not supporting current high prices and that the market is very well supplied. There has been no interruption in crude supplies and OECD commercial inventory levels remain above five-year levels. Forward cover, which stands at 53.5 days, is at a comfortable level.


The rising oil prices which we are currently witnessing are, however, largely being driven by market speculators. Persistent refinery bottlenecks and seasonal maintenance work, ongoing geopolitical problems in the Middle East and fluctuations in the US dollar, also continue to play a role in pushing oil prices higher.


Additional political tensions, seen during recent days, are also pressurizing oil prices upwards.


OPEC continues to strive for a balanced market and a fair price that is favourable for both consumers and producers. As part of its mission to keep the market well supplied, and as agreed in September, the Organization will raise output by 500,000 b/d from 1 November 2007.


Member Countries are in the process of implementing their share of this increase. OPEC will continue to monitor the global oil market and will respond to any supply disruption, so as to ensure the market remains well supplied during the winter months.


It's a little more reassuring than "Holy crap! We're out of oil!"


And on the reassuring front, oil prices always drop in early winter. Then again, my dad also came home from work one day and announced the U.S. had hit peak. This would've been in 1970. Which, 37 years after the fact, is pretty much what everyone now admits. Haven't quite worked up the nerve to see what he thinks of the current mess, but I have a feeling it's not too good.


Speaking of not good: This lack-of-rotator-cuff thing is really getting old. If I roll over in my sleep on my right shoulder, I'm no longer asleep. I don't think physical therapy is going to get it done, and I will never do cortisone shots again. It's not just that I'm a wimp (I am! And pain shots that require a pain shot so you don't feel the really good pain shot should be illegal!), but the last time I did cortisone, I had a terrible reaction and wound up in a hospital on Christmas Eve with a 106.5 degree fever and room full of ER doctors who seemed convinced that I'd gotten a bad dose of heroin.


Of course, surgery isn't a cakewalk, either. Two weeks of no work, four weeks in a sling, eight weeks to lift arm above head, and six months to full recovery. I think I'm going to plod along and see if it doesn't magically repair itself, but I'm not terribly optimistic.


Read of the Week: The Coldest Winter, by David Halberstam.


I believe we're just past peak foliage. Quite a bit of frost on the ground this morning, but not as cool as it was when we moved here in 2001. I still remember driving south on Route 100 during the first week of October and seeing little flurries start to fly. Felt like one of Napoleon's people in Russia:


"Uh, boss, you might want to come take a look at this ..."



Better get back to plugging away on the day job. It could be worse; I came across a 1999 Onion article that makes me want to gargle with razor blades. For 99.9 percent of the population, this is not satire:





The wall-eyed, slack-jawed U.S. populace, beaten down into a state of near-catatonia by the relentlessly deadening banality of their joyless, insipid lives, dutifully trudged through the motions for yet another emotionally blank day Monday, sources reported.



Take the sting out of it with a DIY Demotivator, from the good people at despair.com.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

I'm Spooked

Had a half-dozen eggs in the basket before lunch!

Lots going on with the day job. Lots going on with the kids.

Here's the spooky news du jour. This is from the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas, or ASPO. Here's a quote from T. Boone Pickens:

``As this unfolds, you're going to have to find alternatives that are going to do the job that oil is doing,'' Pickens said. ``Everyone is going to have to come to grips with this in the next two or three years. People are going to have to figure it out.''

Well, we hope to find alternatives to oil.

Here's an excerpt from the weekly ASPO report, available from the above link:


1. New record prices.

The week started with predictions that oil prices would soon fall as US oil inventories were
forecast to start building again. Many analysts believed a slowing US economy and relatively
low gasoline prices do not support oil above $80. Oil has fallen in the fourth quarter during 13 of the past 20 years after peak summer demand was over.


On Tuesday, however, prices started to rise on concerns that there will be a big shortfall during the Northern Hemisphere heating season this winter. For the next four days, oil continued to rise until it hit an all-time peak of $84.05 on Friday and closed at a record $83.69.

Two reports issued on Thursday were the key reasons behind the price increases. In its monthly Oil Market Report, the IEA in Paris stated that crude oil stocks in the OECD countries around the world continued to fall in September at a time when they typically increase in preparation for the winter heating season. This report was followed a few hours later by the weekly US stockpiles report which showed US commercial crude oil stockpiles dropping by 1.7 million barrels as compared to analysts’ predictions that there would be a 1 million barrel increase.

While US stockpiles are still above average for this time of year, they have dropped by 10
percent since June.


Last week also saw renewed threats by Turkey to launch military operations against Kurdish
insurgents in Iraq. Most analysts believe that the state of OECD inventories, which have now
fallen below five year averages, is more important than geopolitical factors in the recent price
increases.


On Friday, Energy Secretary Bodman told reporters that high prices are being driven by
fundamental supply and demand imbalances and not speculative investing. The head of the
EIA, Guy Caruso, told a conference last week that he foresees that gasoline prices will continue to climb in 2008.


2. The International Energy Agency’s monthly report

As the world approaches peak oil production, the IEA’s Oil Market Report that is released
around the middle of each month is becoming a key document in understanding the
supply/demand situation. In this month’s report, the Agency still sees “falling US, European and Japanese crude and product stocks, and expectations are that tighter conditions will be seen in the fourth quarter.” OECD stockpiles are estimated to have dropped by 21 million barrels in August and another 27.4 million in September which implies a counter-seasonal 360,000 b/d drawdown during the 3rd quarter.


Peak Oil Review

Although world demand for oil is seen as slowing a bit due to high prices, the financial crisis,
and slowing economic growth, the Agency still believes that world demand for oil in the 4th
quarter will increase by 2 million b/d over last year and will increase to 88 million b/d next year.


The IEA calculates that world oil production increased by 415,000 b/d in September to 85.1
million b/d. Although OPEC is still on record as planning to increase production by 500,000 b/d on 1 November, many remain skeptical that world production will increase as rapidly as required to meet demand. The price increases of this past week may be a reflection of this imbalance.


To summarize: When there's more demand than supply, we're in a world of hurt.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Here We Go Again ...

Board eyes nudity rule
By BOB AUDETTE, Reformer StaffBrattleboro Reformer


Tuesday, October 23BRATTLEBORO -- A nudity ordinance that will be presented to the Selectboard tonight might be too vague to be enforced. In fact, said Bob Fisher, attorney for the town, it might even be unconstitutional.

"This ordinance is subject to challenge for vagueness," said Fisher, because it has no definition of nudity.

Fisher was asked at the board's last meeting to craft an ordinance based on language proposed by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., in 1971. At the time, Leahy was the state's attorney for Chittenden County.

"A number of law-enforcement agencies have asked this office for advice in view of the revival of the time-honored practice of unclothed swimming known colloquially as 'skinny-dipping,'" wrote Leahy in 1971.

Even though Leahy was concerned that spending time crafting an anti-nudity ordinance might take away from the more important duties of his office, he said "I have been reminded that in the past the plethora of paper from this office has included such legal landmarks as my position on the use of sparklers on the Fourth of July (a position hedged with great patriotic fervor) and the validity of upside-down license plates (complete with instructions on how to determine the sobriety of the operator at the time he attached the plate)."

With tongue firmly in cheek, Leahy said he researched the nudity issue by viewing Normal Rockwell paintings and interviewing, "after grants of immunity, experiences of this nature enjoyed by some of Vermont's prosecutors, judges, law-enforcement officers and sailboat operators."

"It appears that most Vermonters I've talked to have engaged in such scandalous activity at some time in their life (with the exception of a couple I didn't believe who claimed to have done so in May in Vermont)," he wrote.

To guide any law enforcement officer "so lacking in other criminal matters to investigate," wrote Leahy, he proposed that nude bathing in public and semi-public areas should be prohibited.

"The officer receiving the complaint should order the person to dress. Failure to stay clothed should result in a summons to Court."

On private land or out of the view of the public, he wrote, "the State has no legitimate interest and swimmers should be left alone."

Even though the Leahy language was written with all this in mind, Fisher said it may not be clear enough to be enforced.

"Does the ordinance give enough direction so the average ordinary person knows what's legal or illegal?" asked Fisher.

According to the draft ordinance, "nudity is not acceptable."

That's definitely not enough for police, said Capt. Eugene Wrinn, the acting chief of the Brattleboro Police Department.

"We like definition," he said. "We need it in black and white."

According to the draft ordinance, those found wandering the streets of Brattleboro without clothing would first be told by police to don appropriate garb. If they don't don appropriate garb, they could be fined $100.

Nudity would not be prohibited in one's own backyard under the draft ordinance. It would also be permitted at local swimming holes "if no member of the public is offended (or) no disorderly conduct has taken place."

There are two versions of the draft ordinance, said Fisher. The first treats nudity as a civil offense. The second version treats nudity as a criminal offense, which would require police to issue a citation and the local district court to have a hearing.

This version could cross over into state statutes defining lewd and lascivious behavior or sexual misconduct and could cause those found guilty to be placed on a sexual offenders watch list.

An emergency ordinance prohibiting nudity in certain areas of Brattleboro was in effect during the summer. It expired in August after the Selectboard voted not to make it a permanent ordinance.

The Selectboard can't reimpose the emergency ordinance, said Fisher, because "there is no new emergency."

To reintroduce the document as a permanent ordinance would require the board to hold public hearings again.

If the Selectboard fails to act on an nudity ordinance, said Michael Gauthier at the board's Oct. 9 meeting, he will collect signatures on a petition to put the issue before voters in March.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

This, That, and Some Other

Slow day today. Beautiful outside. Did some odds and ends around the house -- laundry, cleaning, grocery run for Diet Coke.

Good news, bad news on the chicken front. One of the New Hampshire Reds is sick, wheezing a lot. I put him in a separate cage and will keep my fingers crossed that he doesn't pass the crud along to the rest of the flock.

Got two eggs today, one of which is a green egg! The Aruacanas are finally coming through.

Dug out the last of the potatoes. There weren't many. Had a couple of frosty tomatoes on the vine that I tossed to the peeps as a reward for the green eggs.

Lot to do this week on the day job front. And run, bike, swim. Etc.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

A Quick Update

So John's interviews went well, even though he flat-ass refused to put his hair up in a ponytail or somesuch. He was polite, had his spiel down ("I just really want to be part of a great place to work"), and kept eye contact. The recruiting head told me they'd call Monday, but by the time we got back, there was a message from one of the managers. We'll know more on Monday.

Did six miles, mostly uphill, today. And -- bonus! -- got two eggs. Made the near-fatal mistake of setting them by the coop, and Stink, The Original Egg-Sucking Dog, almost got them.

Hoping for decent weather tomorrow. I'd like to dig up the last of the potatoes. I made some bread this afternoon that came out OK; the leek-and-potato soup, not so much. Not sure if it's dog food or chicken food for tomorrow.

Waiting, Worrying

... in more ways than one.

Sitting in the ski resort hotel, waiting for the job fair to start. John has decided he, by God, wants a job. And since the ski resort is about the only place hiring, here we are.

I'm trying to talk him into pulling his hair back a bit, but it's a tough sell.

"Why do I need to have short hair?"

"Because that's what employers look for."

"What does that have to do with who I am, and how hard I work?"

"No one says employers make sense."

Sigh. I hope he gets something. And that I can get him to pull his hair out of his face.

Beautiful day. Leaves are peaking, it's cool -- but not too cool -- outside. I may go for a long-ish run later.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Good News, Good News

So I was really pleased (for fairly obvious reasons) to see this. If you've ever been wandering in the woods with an autistic child, you know what I'm talking about:

Autistic hiker back with family in W.Va.
By VICKI SMITH and KELLEY SCHOONOVER, Associated Press WritersFri Oct 19, 10:17 AM ET
An autistic teen found underneath an umbrella of dense brush after four days in the wilderness was doing well at a hospital Friday, asking for food and smiling at relatives who came to visit him, his family said.


Jacob Allen, 18, was discovered Thursday sleeping under a thicket of laurel in the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area, part of the Monongahela National Forest. He had survived four cold days and four nearly freezing nights.

His mother, Karen Allen, spent the night in the hospital, keeping watch over her son.

"He was alert, asking for food and wanted to get out of bed and walk around," she told NBC's "Today" on Friday.

It was the wilderness — a cascade of mountain laurel and rhododendron flowing over loose rock and steep cliffs — that posed the greatest danger to Allen while he was lost. But in the end, it was the one thing that kept him safe.

Though Allen was less than a mile from the spot where searchers had found his hat Monday, the brush kept his location hidden until Thursday afternoon. State Police 1st Sgt. Jim Wise said he believes it also may have kept the teen from wandering toward 20- to 30-foot cliffs.

"It made sort of like an umbrella, but underneath it was bare and open," Wise said. "It made some type of shelter."

Allen opened his eyes, then rolled over to meet his rescuers when Jeremy Reneau called his name.

"He was very quiet," said Reneau, 25, the first to spot Allen. "But you could tell by his body language he was hungry."

After a quick meal of candy bars and peanut butter sandwiches, Allen tried to walk with rescuers but tired quickly. Reneau, Wise and others carried him on a litter to a trailhead where 50 people, including his parents, awaited.

"There were tears. There was clapping. I was crying. Other people were crying," said Tiffany Curran, a volunteer firefighter.

Allen was in good condition at Davis Memorial Hospital in Elkins, where officials said he remained under observation. His parents, 14-year-old brother, Micah, and 22-year-old sister, Brittany, were with him.

"We are just relieved and just so happy, happier than in the past couple days, that's for sure," Micah Allen said Friday morning.

He said that even though his brother is nonverbal, "he's obviously 10 times happier. You can tell he's happy to be with us, he's smiling when we walk into the room."

Micah Allen said he expected his brother to be released from the hospital Friday.

Jacob Allen wandered away from his parents Sunday afternoon on the Boar's Nest Trail in Randolph County. Hundreds of volunteers and trained professionals had been combing the woods, calling for him to come to them for candy bars, ice cream and other food. After each shout, they listened closely for rustling brush.

Overnight temperatures dropped to as low as 38 degrees the first night Jacob Allen was in the woods, wearing only a wind jacket and wind pants over his T-shirt and hiking boots. However, rescuers said hypothermia was not a concern as long as he stayed dry. Some scattered showers hit the region over the four-day period, but the search area remained dry and temperatures slowly began to rise.

"Every day, it just got warmer and warmer and warmer," Karen Allen told "Today." "It was like God breathed some warm breath on us here in the mountains."
___
Schoonover reported from Charleston. Associated Press writers Tom Breen and April Vitello in Charleston also contributed to this report.


And this seems really interesting. Gonna work? I don't know. But I'm hoping ...

OFF MESSAGE Deep Dive
By
William Powers, National Journal© National Journal Group Inc.Friday, Oct. 19, 2007

Some good news about the media has actually been making headlines. When was the last time that happened? 1974?

The bombshell is ProPublica, a brand-new investigative journalism outfit to be launched in January by one of the most respected figures in the newspaper business, longtime Wall Street Journal Managing Editor Paul Steiger.

Steiger will be able to hire top-flight investigative reporters who know how to do the 'deep-dive stuff,' as he puts it, that has real impact.

While ProPublica will be a nonprofit, it's backed by serious money: $10 million a year for at least three years from principal funders Herbert and Marion Sandler, California savings and loan billionaires. This means that Steiger will be able to hire top-flight investigative reporters who know how to do the "deep-dive stuff," as he puts it, that has real impact.

Culturally, Steiger is a bit of a throwback to the days when journalism was more of a righteous crusade. In an interview, he talked to me about his desire to drill into not just government and business but "any center of power," including unions, the media, lawyers, universities, and school systems.

ProPublica's website describes its mission this way: "We will do this by producing journalism that shines a light on exploitation of the weak by the strong and on the failures of those with power to vindicate the trust placed in them."

When I asked if there were any Wall Street Journal investigations he oversaw that might serve as a model for ProPublica, Steiger cited the paper's 2006 expose about the backdating of executive stock options, which won a Pulitzer Prize. Those stories "reminded people in positions of corporate power that when they abuse that power they can go to jail, or at least suffer public opprobrium, and that's what we should be doing."

He will be hiring two dozen staffers, which doesn't sound like a lot until you consider what a rare beast the investigative journalist is. The website cites a 2005 survey by Arizona State University showing that of the 100 largest daily newspapers in the United States, a majority had two or fewer full-time investigative reporters, while just 10 percent had four or more. The reason is pure economics: Hard-core investigative journalism is time-consuming and costly, and often the first budget item to be cut.

In addition to publishing stories on its own website, ProPublica plans to offer its work to mainstream news outlets -- for free. This is not a new concept: Other nonprofit news operations, such as the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting in Washington, shop their work to larger outlets. But nobody has ever done it with an annual budget of $10 million. Within a day of his big announcement, Steiger had heard privately from mainstream news execs interested in publishing or broadcasting ProPublica's work. "There were, like, eight or nine people, and not the Plattsburgh Daily Bugle, either."

Ambitious investigations are tricky enough when done by in-house reporters, and this would add a new layer of complexity. If all goes well, both parties will have something to gain: For the client outlet, groundbreaking work at no cost; for ProPublica, wider exposure. "And we always have the fallback of just putting [stories] up on our website," Steiger says. "It's not like if the editor of The New Yorker won't take this, we're toast."

I asked if anything is lost when you remove the profit motive from news. "One of the things the marketplace does is challenge you to perform. And here we are, we don't have to get circulation revenues and we don't have to get advertising revenues," he said. "On the one hand, it's liberating; on the other, it could be a curse. I feel an enormous challenge and an enormous responsibility to make this successful, and I'm going to try and recruit people who share that passion."

The passion, or at least a fascination with this novel concept, appears to be out there. A New York Times article on the venture was among the top 10 most e-mailed articles on the Times website earlier this week. ProPublica even made The Drudge Report.

"I think they're going to think of themselves as kind of the Green Berets of journalism," says John Carroll, former editor of the Los Angeles Times. "I think it will have a lot more energy than your normal journalistic operation. If it doesn't, it will sink like a stone."

-- William Powers is a columnist for National Journal magazine, where "Off Message" appears. His e-mail address is bpowers@nationaljournal.com.

Leaves are at peak. And, I got my second egg the other day! Translated: It's good to be off the road for a while. I spent exactly seven hours in Washington; just about right. It was 80 degrees and crowded. It is not 80 degrees here, and it is definitely not crowded.

Finally: Got a post wondering if I'm still training. Eh. Not so much. A little here, a little there. I'm waiting on two things to happen, the most important of which is my shoulder. Torn rotator cuffs will make you lazy. I need to get it fixed, and soon. Oddly enough, when I was in Washington, everyone told me I look really skinny, which isn't my usual condition (unless I'm working out heavily). So I guess I'm doing just enough to keep from becoming a blimp.


Tuesday, October 16, 2007

About Time

Busy weekend, but mostly good things.

Had to go to NYC on Saturday. Long day. Left for Albany around 6a, got back after midnight. Slept late Sunday and cleaned house. Busy as hell on Monday; grocery, CSA pickup, chicken feed, dog food, and ...

John's 16th birthday. It's today. Time flies.

Sigh.

I'll take him out for some new clothes he's been wanting when he gets back from school. I got a few video games and books for him, but he told me not to spend too much money on him. When was the last time anyone heard anything like that from a 16-year-old?

Sigh again.

Have to go to Washington tomorrow.

Triple sigh.

On the bright side, leaves are hitting their peak. One of my chickens laid an actual, real, live egg. It's small and brown (so I'm suspecting a Red did the deed), but it's an improvement. I'm very pleased.

Here's a picture of the driveway. Pretty leaves, no?
And I got leeks at the CSA! Mmmmmmm. Prepare for leek-and-potato soup. Good stuff when it gets chilly at nights.







Friday, October 12, 2007

A Good Idea

Good advice from today's NY Times:

October 12, 2007
Op-Ed Contributor
Running Into Trouble
By FRANK SHORTER
Boulder, Colo.


AT the 16-mile mark of a very hot and humid marathon at the Pan American Games in Cali, Colombia, in 1971, I looked over at my good friend and teammate Kenny Moore and noticed something.

“You’ve stopped sweating,” I said, trying to sound calm.

Kenny looked at his dry forearms, and then his eyes got very big. Ten minutes later he was in an ambulance, incoherent with heat stroke.

We had both expected extreme conditions and had prepared accordingly all summer. But it was not his day, and I went on the win the race. (The next summer, Kenny would finish fourth in the Olympic Marathon in Munich, which I won.) In Cali, my genetics had prevailed: some athletes simply handle heat and humidity better than others.

For many runners — especially non-elite runners who, after all, are on the course much longer — last Sunday’s Chicago Marathon was Kenny Moore’s Cali experience writ large: temperatures in the 80s, dozens hospitalized, one death and the race halted. I was in Chicago, and after watching the elite runners finish, I took off on a 1 hour, 50 minute training run to see for myself what it was like.

I think several factors combined to turn the race into a worst-case scenario.

Lake Michigan was like glass, and I realized early in my run that I wasn’t being cooled by any wind. Even though the temperature/humidity index was in the danger zone, it was the stillness that slammed the door on the runners, and ultimately on the race itself.

One theory I have is that when your body has to work so hard to get blood to your skin to cool off, the margin of error when you run above your level of ability shrinks substantially. Not being acclimated compounds the problem. Your perception of how much to slow down to avoid an emergency gets distorted. Blood flow that would normally be helping muscles recover from a pacing mistake is instead shunted to the skin for cooling.

The organizers in Chicago were prepared for a hot race, though not one this hot — no one had expected the record temperatures, not even the top runners, who hadn’t made getting used to heat and humidity a part of their training. (It takes about two weeks to acclimate to hot, humid conditions.) If the runners at the back of the pack in Chicago — whose flat course tends to attract first-timers — were physiologically caught off guard, so were some of the elite runners.
The weather was unique and dangerous, and as soon as that became apparent the organizers decided to get everyone to safety as soon as possible. To me it was obvious that concern for the runners came first and all other interests second.


How can marathon participants — runners and organizers both — prepare for such conditions? Some thoughts:

Make salt packets available at the start of races that are dangerously hot. In this context, salt is a good thing.

Strip down. At the expo before the Chicago race, I advised men to go shirtless and women to wear as little as possible in order to maximize the refrigeration effect of wind against sweaty skin. (Unfortunately, this time there would be no wind.) The elite runners have learned this. In Chicago, I would have gone shirtless, and explained to my sponsors later.

Have showers and misters at every aid station. In Chicago, drinking water ran out after runners poured hundreds of thousands of cups over their heads.

Talk. Run at what I call a “conversational pace.” As long as you can carry on a normal conversation and don’t have to pause to get a breath, you’re getting enough oxygen. This is your only real protection against going over the edge to the point where your body has to recover, because in extreme conditions, you might discover that it can’t.

Make clear to first-time marathoners what elite runners already know: in certain situations it’s important to back off from the gut feeling to exert yourself more and more just to maintain the pace.

Change the standard ambulance procedures so that only those truly in danger are transported. Doctors will tell you that dehydration can often be initially handled on the scene, but many ambulance protocols call for sufferers to be transported automatically to the hospital.

Make dropping out palatable. Runners, especially first-timers and those running for charity, should be given the option of getting their money back and perhaps a guaranteed entry at a major marathon in the near future. Race directors could easily cooperate on this. Peer-group and self-imposed pressure to follow through on months of training should be alleviated as much as possible. Fund-raising groups should underwrite a second try for those giving so much of themselves for the benefit of others.

If necessary, turn off the clock.


I hope the Chicago experience results in a more flexible attitude on the part of all race organizers in terms of giving runners the option of saving it for another day, and that inexperienced runners are motivated to learn all they can about what they’re getting themselves into.

As for the elite runners — for whom it’s less of a health issue — my advice would still be to think of my friend Kenny Moore in Cali. Because no matter who you are, it just might not be your day.
Frank Shorter, the 1972 Olympic gold medalist and 1976 Olympic silver medalist in the marathon, was the first chairman of the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Days of Madness

Ugh. Lisa's sick, and I'm getting there. Doubt that being in NYC on Saturday is going to help matters much. Assuming I make it.

Where to start?

Well, clearly, someone in Washington hasn't ever been on the infield at the Talladega 500, or they wouldn't be wondering why a battery of innoculations against infectious diseases are recommended for a NASCAR race. I think they forgot the penicillin, but maybe that's just me.

House aides visiting racetrackadvised to get immunized
LISA ZAGAROLI
McClatchy Newspapers


Inside Motorsports David Poole
Fan's Guide Race Week Events

WASHINGTON --NASCAR fans might seem rabid, but are they actually contagious?

Getting a hepatitis shot is standard procedure for travelers to parts of Africa and Asia, but some congressional aides were instructed to get immunized before going to Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord and the racetrack in Talladega, Ala.

The House Homeland Security Committee planned a fact-finding trip about public health preparedness at mass gatherings and decided to conduct the research at two of the nation's most heavily attended sporting events, NASCAR's Bank of America 500 event this weekend and the UAW-Ford 500 last weekend.

Staff who organized the trips advised the NASCAR-bound aides to get a range of vaccines before attending -- hepatitis A, hepatitis B, tetanus, diphtheria and influenza.

Rep. Robin Hayes, a Republican from Concord, took umbrage when he heard about it.

I'm just sayin', it seems like the least one needs for Talladega.

Here's some more outrage/fallout from the Chicago Marathon, soon to be renamed the Windy City Fiasco (hey! sounds like a soccer team!), courtesy of Salon:

StephanieL -- 05:40 am Pacific Time -- Oct 8, 2007 -- #859 of 929
The organization of the race was actually a total debacle. And the race organizers are out and out lying to the press about what went on.


It was hot. It was seriously hot. But that wasn't the problem. Despite putting out a heat advisory that suggested everyone stop at every water stop (thus suggesting that they have water for people at every stop), they ran out before I got to the second water stop along the way.

The second! There wasn't any Gatorade at the first one; at the second, the volunteers were standing by the side of the road yelling, "We're so sorry! We've called ahead so they can try to prepare for you further down! We told them you've had nothing!"

I was not running that slowly. I was probably 3/4 of the way back, running right behind a 5:45 pace team. There were thousands behind me. I had a friend who was running in front of me with the 5:00 pace team who experienced exactly the same thing, and talked to someone in front of that who also found no water at the stops.

Also, no misting stations, no wet sponges, nothing. My friends up ahead actually went into a 7-Eleven along the course to buy their own bottles of water at mile 4 or something when it became clear they weren't going to get any. They called friends who were there watching to ask them to bring more water along the way.

I was running with my camelback (best decision I ever made), and so I was hot, but I was really OK. And the people of Chicago? ROCK. People came out of their homes with little plastic pitchers and a hose and filled people's cups. (We had to run carrying them, because they'd run out of those, too.) They set up their hoses to spray us down. There were groups that had gone and bought whole flats of bottled water and handed them out to runners. Apparently runners early in the race were shouting to spectators that if they had someone they loved on the course they'd go get water for the runners. And they did. Seriously, I could cry thinking about how wonderful they were.

...

And then at mile 14 or so (past the halfway point, you'll notice) the cops along the route started yelling, "They've canceled the race! Stop running!" We kept running. Then there were helicopters above us (nice breeze) that were announcing the race was canceled due to the heat. "You'll still get your medals!" they kept announcing over and over. As if that was the point at all. Who wants a fucking medal if you haven't gone the distance? My running partner and I agreed we'd happily walk/run along the sidewalks in order to finish if they opened the streets to cars again. And then as we were nearing the 15-mile mark, they'd barricaded the route with fences and police cars and wouldn't let us through. They rerouted us, and we even had cops run up to us and yell at us to stop running and walk right that second.

We were forced to quit. It's going to be a while before I'm even sure what to do with that. Right now, I'm just pissed off. I talked to someone last night who was physically forced off the course by a cop at MILE TWENTY! I'd be more angry if I'd gotten that far.

The whole experience was just incredibly upsetting when it could have been amazing. Had the race organizers not been caught with their pants down (how did they not prepare for 45,000 runners needing water!?), that man might still be alive, half those people might not have ended up in the hospital, and we'd have finished the race. The call to cancel things that far along was, I'm pretty sure, a CYA move on the part of the race organizers when people started passing out from lack of water they'd promised to provide. I didn't feel remotely close to passing out (I was drenched and a little sloshy, but overall, pretty good). I don't think they saved me from a damn thing.

And so it's making me outraged that the race organizers are being quoted in the N.Y. Times as saying they didn't run out of water and everyone who was past halfway with the race was called was allowed to finish. I feel like the news coverage is focused on "Those who couldn't take the heat weren't able to finish" instead of "Chicago f --- ed up and it cost people who had spent the better part of the year training and a lot of money to get there."

So yeah. If I'd started the day preparing to run a half marathon in 88-degree temperatures, I'd be pretty sure I'd kicked ass. But I didn't. And so now I just feel cheated. And like I've wasted a whole year training. So I'm just not happy.

Maybe folks (runners and race organizers) will learn from this. My main takeaway is, don't run with more than 30,000 people. Hell, don't run with 3,000 people. I did the Key City (Burlington) marathon a few years ago; a good experience, but I was overwhelmed by the numbers. Just my antisocial nature, I'm guessing.

Moving on. I think everyone is going to feel really sorry for Al Gore if he doesn't score a Nobel tomorrow. I mean, look at the Financial Times article:


Gore tipped to take Nobel Peace Prize
By Edward Luce in Washington
Published: October 11 2007 23:27 Last updated: October 11 2007 23:27


Al Gore, the former US vice-president, on Thursday overtook Barack Obama in a closely watched futures betting market on the next Democratic nominee fuelled by speculation that he would pick up the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.

Although the Nobel committee never informs the winner in advance, online speculators drew energy from the fact that Mr Gore cancelled his attendance at a global warming event in San Francisco on Thursday night, citing an unspecified overseas event on global warming.

Mr Gore also cancelled his attendance as the keynote speaker at a Citicorp conference in Delhi in early December, which coincides with the Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo. Mr Gore’s odds of winning the Democratic nomination for president moved up to 13 per cent on Intrade, the online betting shop, against 11.5 per cent for Mr Obama and 47 per cent for Hillary Clinton.

I think it might suck to be Al Gore if you don't get a Nobel tomorrow. Not suck for tomorrow, but for all eternity. If he doesn't win, he'll probably have a permanent facial tic and go into convulsions when he's given an award from a bowling league.

"You're president!"

"Um, wait. Not so much."

"You're a Nobel laureate!"

"Well, um, you were the favorite to win a Nobel, anyway."

"You've got a winning lottery ticket ... oh, no. Sorry, Al. Thought you were someone else."

It's raining like hell outside, just in time to knock down all the peak foliage. Tourists are going to be pissed this weekend.

Made it the boys' teacher conferences tonight. Three hours of meetings. They're doing well. They could be doing better, but they're doing well.

A couple of Will's teachers told me they're getting ready to start a unit on energy, and isn't Will's grandfather an oilman in Texas? Perhaps I could share my thoughts on the energy business with some eighth graders?

"My view might be a little dark," I said.

And so it might. The latest from Queensland:

“If nothing changes in our energy mix and demand patterns after that point, we can expect significant liquid fuel price increases, and price increases in those things that are made from oil such as fertilizer and plastics and those things that rely on oil such as agriculture, construction and transport.

“The Taskforce sought to present the most likely time frame for peak oil, to assess its impact on the mining, transport and primary industry sectors, and then recommend options to minimise the impact on Queensland.

“The report concludes that the overwhelming evidence is that world oil production will peak within the next 10 years. "

I don't think this is wishful thinking from Earth First!

Can't get the song out of my head now:

I see the bad moon arising,
I see trouble on the way.
I see earthquakes and lightnin',
I see bad times today.

Like the man says, I hope I'm wrong. I was wrong once before, and it wasn't good.

Monday, October 8, 2007

Probably the Right Call. Probably.

Wow. Yikes. I'm guessing they'll want to start the Chicago Marathon a little bit later next year. Sounds pretty grim -- 88 degrees? Like running in Houston.

Re the water. Um. Hard to say, since I wasn't there. And 35,000+ runners need an awful lot of water. But here's my approach (and doubtless it's unpopular). When you're running a marathon, anything you get from the crowd or race crew is just gravy. You can't expect someone else to handle your nutritional/hydration needs.

Well, you can. But it's a lot more rewarding to take these things as "gifts." Kind of like the marathon equivalent of "trail magic," I suppose.

There's another thing about the Chicago Marathon. It's a fast course. I know people who run it simply because it's supposed to be easier than, say, Jay Peak. But if you're running any 26.2-mile race, thinking you'll be running an "easy" course, you're wrong. And stupid. And your mother probably dresses you funny. Ain't nothing easy about running a marathon. That's why finishing is an accomplishment, whether it's 68 degrees or 88 degrees.

Here's the top of the Chicago Tribune story:

Marathon cut short for first time ever
By Josh Noel, Andrew L. Wang and Carlos Sadovi
Tribune staff reporter
October 8, 2007

The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon was cut short for the first time in its history Sunday as hundreds of runners laboring across ovenlike streets were treated for heat-related illness.

The stoppage happened about 3 1/2 hours after the start gun on an abnormally sweltering autumn day, amid complaints of insufficient water for more than 35,000 runners who had come from around the world to compete in one of its pre-eminent marathons.

One runner, a 35-year-old Michigan police officer, died after collapsing in the race's 19th mile, but it was not clear whether the death was heat-related.

Chad Schieber of Midland, Mich., collapsed about 12 p.m. at 1500 S. Ashland Ave. and was pronounced dead on arrival at a West Side hospital at 12:50 p.m., the medical examiner's office said.

An autopsy will be performed Monday.

Despite the heat, executive race director Carey Pinkowski said race officials never considered canceling the race before it began because they believed the number of people running was manageable and that they could be cared for.

"In most cases they have trained for 25 weeks," he said. "Marathon runners are tough people. They train in difficult conditions."

Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said about 315 runners were taken from the course by ambulance with what he described as heat-related conditions. He said city and suburban ambulances took 146 people to hospitals, most in good condition, and the rest were taken to hospitals or medical aid stations along the route by private ambulances.

Five people remained hospitalized in serious or critical condition Sunday night, Langford said.

Runners described chaotic scenes of racers throwing up, passing out or being carted away on stretchers.

"There were people falling all over the place," said Rob Smith, 40, of Naperville, who was running his first marathon.

Though Schieber's death was not the first fatality in the race's 30-year history—the last was in 2003—it was the first time the event was cut short. Of 35,867 runners who started the race, just 24,933 finished, and by Sunday evening, the marathon's message board, along with Chicago hotels and restaurants, was buzzing with dissatisfaction.

An insanely busy weekend -- lots of cleaning and housework. Got little else done. Ton of day job-related stuff to do today. And still no eggs. Sigh.

Friday, October 5, 2007

What's Wrong Here?

So we're manufacturing meat now?

Maybe that's part of the e. coli problem ...

October 5, 2007
Meat Company Going Out of Business After Recall
By KEN BELSON and KAREEM FAHIM

Topps Meat Company, one of the country’s largest manufacturers of frozen hamburgers, said today it was going out of business after it recalled more than 21.7 million pounds of ground beef products last month.

The company, based in Elizabeth, N.J., said a few of its 87 employees will remain at the plant to help the United States Department of Agriculture investigate how the E. coli bacteria tainted frozen hamburger patties made there.

Anthony D’Urso, the chief operating officer at Topps, said the company was unable to withstand the financial burden of the recall.

“This is tragic for all concerned,” Mr. D’Urso said in a statement. “In one week we have gone from the largest U.S. manufacturer of frozen hamburgers to a company that cannot overcome the economic reality of a recall this large.”

A handful of workers trickled out of the company’s plant after being told that its doors would close. Vivian Quinones, who worked in the customer service department for two years, said employees were told this morning that Topps was going out of business.

“It was very emotional,” said Ms. Quinones, who has a 7-year old daughter. The news came “out of the blue. Everyone was somber.”

The company opened its doors in 1940 and was bought in 2003 by Strategic Investment and Holdings, an investment firm in Buffalo. Topps made branded frozen hamburgers and other meat products for supermarkets and mass merchandisers.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

My Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day

I was supposed to be a chaperone for Will's class trip to Mount Monadnock today, but the car began misbehaving rather severely (smoke coming from the exhaust, losing power going up hills) en route, so I turned around, went home and worked instead. Argh. Beautiful day, too.

Busy, busy, busy.

Day job, doing financial mess, cleaning house ... where, oh Lord, does it all end?

(Don't need the answer immediately.)

Pepper seems to have pulled a muscle. She's been gimping the last few days, but still acts hurt if I don't throw her the damn ball. Stink's been helping out by grabbing it and running away so she doesn't go as fast, but I'm still a little worried.

Going to have a chicken gang-pluck this weekend, hopefully. There might be some video in it if you're good. And no, I won't be letting headless chickens flop around the yard. Don't feel like cleaning the dirt out.

Interesting NY Times story today on running exercises to make you faster. I guess the NYT and I are back on speaking terms since they've removed the "All the News That's Fit to Blog" logo from their online masthead. Here's the first few grafs:

October 4, 2007
Basic Training
Feet Don’t Fail Me Now (Think Mind Over Matter)
By SARAH TUFF


IF Matt Fitzgerald was your coach, he would have you running against the grain. Squat jumps would be a weekly must: Crouch down. Leap into the air. Repeat.

To increase your running speed, he occasionally would have you deliberately pound the ground to prevent overstriding. And, every once in a while, he would recommend doing an extra-long run without ingesting Gatorade or energy gels.

No doubt Mr. Fitzgerald, a 36-year-old running coach and racer who has written seven training books in the last four years, three for Runner’s World, gives unconventional advice. That is because his exercises are not meant to train your body. They are aimed at training your brain.

If you can change the way your brain interprets the signals your body sends, such as the all-too-familiar “My quads are killing me,” then you will not slow down, Mr. Fitzgerald said. Instead, you’ll soldier on.

The workouts he creates for the more than 700 clients on TrainingPeaks.com, an endurance coaching site for runners, cyclists and triathletes, are based on the so-called central governor model, a controversial exercise theory that has been a source of debate among exercise physiologists for decades.

Developed by Dr. Timothy Noakes, a professor of exercise and sports science at the University of Cape Town, and his colleagues, the theory says that the brain has the final say in endurance efforts, not the muscles, heart or lungs. The theory was presented briefly in Professor Noakes’s book “Lore of Running,” first published in 1985.

Supporting data and evidence for the central governor theory have been a long time coming. But that hasn’t stopped true believers from spreading the gospel. To help take the program he believes is the future of running mainstream, Mr. Fitzgerald wrote “Brain Training for Runners” (NAL Trade), a 562-page tome, published last month.

I think there's something to the mental toughness concept. I'd worry that 45-year-olds with undiagnosed heart conditions would read this, sign up for a marathon, and think, "Oh, it's just about toughness."

Still, it's probably why there are more 40-year-olds running marathons than 20-year-olds.

Like Old Doc Windrow used to say: "It's all downhill after you're 16, anyway."

On the bright side, this bit of dialogue just really said something:

Jon Stewart: Life’s a Campaign. Now if I read this correctly, and I believe I read this book correctly, what you are saying is: People can use what politicians do in political campaigns to help their lives.

Chris Matthews: Yeah. It’s irony isn’t it?

Jon Stewart: It strikes me as fundamentally wrong. It strikes me as a self-hurt book, if you will. Aren’t campaigns, fundamentally, contrivances?

Chris Matthews: Yeah, campaigns can be. But politicians, the way they get to the top, is the real thing. They know what they’re doing. You don’t have to believe a word they say, but you have to watch how far they got. How did [Bill] Clinton get there? How did Hillary get there? How did all these guys get there? Reagan. They have methods to get to the top.

Jon Stewart: So you’re suggesting that even if no one believes a word you say, you can be successful.

Chris Matthews: Yes.

Jon Stewart: Now that seems to me to be a book about sadness. Is it not?

Chris Matthews: No.

Jon Stewart: How? In what world?

Chris Matthews is right. But Jon Stewart is righteous.

Finished the Kunstler book. May blog about it later. May not. And in one of those totally serendeptious moments, I was driving Will back from school (he enjoyed the field trip, even without me) and we began talking about farm-related issues.

We do this in Vermont. Bear with me.

Turns out my youngest son has been sneaking into the Bill McKibben book. He ran off a 10-minute riff about corporate farming, arguing we need to go all small-scale, organic farms and return to community-based agriculture. Didn't amaze me all that much that he believes it, but he really made a really cogent, well-organized argument for a 13-year-old.

Color me impressed, anyway.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Chickens Are Funny

We've been trying the light experiment for a week now; still no eggs. I turn on the coop light around 7p and off at 10p. Maybe another week.

The roosters certainly are crowing. My black one has the best crow; the rest are amusing. Most can start a good crow, but their voices break mid-crow. Think rooster puberty.

This offends me:

Lower right hand corner: All the news that's fit to blog?


Oh, please.

On the bright side, had one of those horrible parental things happen last night. Will came into the kitchen and gave me a list of questions to answer. The title of the paper?

How Well Do You Know Your Child?

Favorite TV show? Favorite actor or actress? Least favorite food? Thing that makes you angriest?

The last one was easy: Big Sister.

So I took the little quiz and scored about 12 of 15, which ain't too bad. Of course, he had to fill out the same questions about me, but wound up scoring 12 of 15, too. So we were both pleased.

And relieved.

Busy day today. Lots to do.


Monday, October 1, 2007

Ouch.

Tough day. Was working late last night (per the usual) and went downstairs for a slice of bread. Wound up with a slice of finger and blood-soaked bread instead. Chickens loved it; me, not so much. Especially when I got to change a flat tire this morning. Didn't help much when one of the baby peeps pecked it. Bleeding seems to have finally stopped tonight.

Today's sign of the apocalypse:


Family's Ninth Baby Born in SUV
Posted: 10:42 PM Sep 26, 2007Last Updated: 9:44 AM Sep 27, 2007Reporter: Laurabree AustinEmail Address: laurabree.austin@wsaz.com
VIDEO: Baby Born in SUV
A A A
If it's cheaper by the dozen, then nine still has to count for something.

A family in Kanawha County is enjoying the arrival of their ninth baby, but you won't believe how she was born.

This baby came into the world at speeds reaching 60 miles per hour. That’s the speed the family's car was going, not the baby and even though, the pedal was to the metal, it wasn't fast enough.

Their healthy baby girl came into the world while the family of ten was driving to the hospital.

These kids recently had quite the adventure in the families brand new SUV, but it didn't start that way.

When mom Sherry told her husband it was time to go to the hospital to have their ninth baby, everyone was pretty calm.

“I told her I had to get some coffee first,” father of nine, David Harrah, said.

Turns out you can be too relaxed, because soon after this entire clan loaded into their car, their little baby girl was ready to make her grand entrance.

“He’s like ’hold it, hold it.’ I’m like ‘I can't!’ He said hold your legs together and I’m screaming I got to push. I can't hold it,” Sherry said.

“All of a sudden when her water breaks, big gush of water, I thought ‘oh man there goes that car,” David said.

“Next thing I know she falls on the floor and I’m screaming where's my baby,” Sherry said, “I reach down, I’m trying to find her, so my husband pulls of to the side of the road on Corridor G and my 8 year old gets out of the car and he's running up and down screaming I’m scared.

Apparently you had to see it to believe it, because when the family finally made it to the hospital, not everyone was buying the story behind the birth.

“A lot of people have been joking to me about her. Joking she'll just spit it out; I said it's not quite like that, and literally it was exactly like that,” Sherry’s twin sister, Terry Westfall, said.

“My mom had a baby in the car. Everyone was like what, yeah, it's pretty cool cause we called it Carlee—Car-- Carlee, get it,” Carlee’s big sister Judy Harrah, 18, said.

We asked sherry if she'll have any more and she joked when they start coming out in the car, it might be time to quit, but you never know.

Sherry not only has baby experience because of her nine children, but she's also labor delivery nurse at Cabell Huntington Hospital.



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