Clipmarks | Dirt Clips

Another fellow POW remembers McCain's cross story

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:15:47 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Yesterday, I talked to Bud Day, a Medal of Honor recipient who was in a POW cell with John McCain in Vietnam. At the end of our conversation, I asked him about the cross-in-the-dirt controversy. He said he hadn't heard of any controversy. So I asked: When was the first time you heard McCain tell this story? His response: "I heard that story in 1970, 1971—back in that time frame. Anybody who says it's not true is full of..." Here he used some salty language.

Tags: mccain, cross, religion, politics, pow

Algemeen

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:01:26 GMT

clipped by: Hade19

Clip Source: www.utah.com

Option: For extended enjoyment, hike the Little Wild Horse/Bell Canyon loop. The trailhead is about 5 miles down a dirt road from Goblin Valley. This slot canyon is one of the most famous in Utah and is well worth a day hike. The narrows are long and tight, in several places only shoulder width. There is a parking area and outhouse at the trailhead, but no water. But avoid this hike if rain threatens. Flash flood danger is extreme in slot canyons when there is rain anywhere in the drainage!

State park fees: Day-use $7; Camping $16

Goblin Valley State Park is located in Emery County between the towns of Green River and Hanksville. From Green River, travel west on I-70 for 12 miles to exit 147 (Hanksville) and head south. After about 30 miles turn right at the Temple Mountain/Goblin Valley Junction. The entire road leading into the park is surfaced and improved. Travel west on that road for about 5 miles and then turn left (south) and continue to the park entrance.

Download Veronica Mars Episodes

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 08:18:09 GMT

clipped by: amorenox7

Clip Source: download-veronica-episodes.sampasite.com

Download Veronica Mars TV Show

By lorna smith

Veronica Mars TV Show (Kristen Bell) used to be the popular girl with the cool friends and the athletic boyfriend. But after Veronica’s best friend is murdered, and she experiences a series of other personal and family traumas, the former high school “it girl” becomes an outcast. Ditching the cheerleaders and the jocks, Veronica then teams up with her private investigator father (Enrico Colantoni) and digs up the dirt on the rich and famous in her hometown of Neptune, Calif.

Tags: download veronica mars episodes, watch veronica mars episodes, veronica mars episodes, veronica mars episode guide

Solzhenitsyn Cross-in-Dirt story never happened

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 06:46:39 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com

There's been a ton of buzz on the web for the last day or so -- beginning with this Daily Kos diary

But it turns out that this episode probably never happened to Solzhenitsyn at all, and according to a Solzhenitsyn biographer it appears nowhere in his published writing. Columbia University professor Michael Scammell, the author of Solzhenitsyn: A Biography, says the episode "never happened," and didn't appear in Solzhenitsyn's book, Gulag Archipelago, either.

One key source being cited on the internets right now for the story that this supposedly happened to Solzhenitsyn is this sermon by Luke Veronis, an American priest who preached it in Albania in March of 1997. It was reprinted in a journal called In communion.

He says Veronis' telling of the tale doesn't fit with what actually happened to Solzhenitsyn "in any way."

"Nobody who's read Gulag Archipelago knows that story,"

This never happened to Solzhenitsyn, and there's no way McCain could have picked it up from his works.

Tags: mccain, pow, solzhenitsyn, campaign, politics, religion

Don't blame the media

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:50:44 GMT

clipped by: lap322
clipper's remarks: The writer makes an excellent point.

Clip Source: www.worldnetdaily.com

Yet the media, the entity that is supposed to provide the news, is merely providing the public with a steady diet of what they gorge on at the trough everyday. The media stopped reporting news long ago and now reports on what many in this country want. Dirt, gossip, salacious details about who is sleeping with whom, who is the father of each new baby born out of wedlock or whether Britney is wearing underwear.

The day we, as a nation, find ourselves taking pleasure in the failures of others is the day we need to look in the mirror and ask ourselves how we developed such morbid appetites. We need to figure out how to stop the desire to fill that appetite. The fact that Maury and Jerry's guests entertain us should alert us that something inside of us is way off.

So don't blame the media for what they put on your table for dinner every night. You asked for it, and like any other business what you ask for they will always deliver.

Tags: media

Mountain Bike Trails - North Lake Tahoe

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:58:26 GMT

clipped by: bellapria

Clip Source: www.gotahoenorth.com

Mountain Bike Trails

Details: A rolling-hill, out-and-back singletrack ride. Follows Prosser Creek then turns uphill to the left, crosses several dirt roads on its way to Stampede Reservoir. Great ride for a novice with excellent views of the Sierra landscape.

Emigrant Trail
Take exit 188B off I-80 and head north on Hwy 89. Trailhead is just past the Prosser Creek Bridge on the right. If you reach Hobart Mills Rd. you've gone too far.
Truckee
Mileage one-way: 22
Easy/Moderate

Details: There are several mountain biking trails off the Flume Trail, but if you follow the Flume Trail the whole way you will be rewarded with magnificent views of Lake Tahoe and the surrounding Sierra. A shuttle bus at the northern end of the trail will take you back to Spooner Lake parking for $10.

Tags: mountain biking, trails, lake tahoe

Energy Versus Preservation in the West

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:02:16 GMT

clipped by: presohio

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The dusty documentation of the Anasazi Indians a thousand years ago, from their pit houses and kivas to the observatories from which they charted the heavens, lies thick in the ground near here at Canyons of the Ancients National Monument.

Or so archaeologists believe. Less than a fifth of the park has been surveyed for artifacts because of limited federal money.

Much more definite is that a giant new project to drill for carbon dioxide is gathering steam on the park’s eastern flank. Miles of green pipe snake along the roadways, as trucks ply the dirt roads from a big gas compressor station. About 80 percent of the monument’s 164,000 acres is leased for energy development.

The consequences of energy exploration for wildlife and air quality have long been contentious in unspoiled corners of the West. But now with the urgent push for even more energy, there are new worries that history and prehistory — much of it still unexplored or unknown — could be lost.

Tags: preservation, ancient history, western us

Better Report of Tucson Dog With Sunburn

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 01:24:32 GMT

clipped by: zippunkygirl

Clip Source: www.tucsoncitizen.com

Animal cruelty

Severely sunburned dog found with skin falling off

Chunks of bloody skin hanging boxer mix's head, back

Construction superintendent Wade Gardner went to work Wednesday only to be greeted by a horror show.

He and another superintendent arrived at the midtown site, at the corner of North Dodge Boulevard and East Hardy Drive, to find a bleeding dog cowering in a dirt trench.

Gardner and his co-worker filled a hard hat with water for the dog and then called the Humane Society of Southern Arizona.

Tie outs have been illegal in Pima County since the mid-1990s, Meyers said. They can be especially deadly in the summer.

"A lot of animals are found after it's too late," Meyers said. "Field officers tell me it's a grotesque find. The molecules that hold the tissues together starts to disintegrate in the sun. Literally, the skin starts sloughing off right in their hands."

Gardner, an avid animal lover

is toying with the possibility of adopting Bobcat.

Tucson Dog Severely Sunburned

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 01:07:10 GMT

clipped by: zippunkygirl
clipper's remarks: I honestly wonder where some people park their brains, poor baby.
Bobcat is on pain medication and antibiotics while his skin recovers.

Clip Source: www.kpho.com

Tucson Dog Severely Sunburned

TUCSON, Ariz. -- At first, it looked like a 2-year-old boxer mix, bloody and found in a Tucson construction site had been hit by a car.

But a closer examination revealed the dog was severely sunburned, his skin hanging loose and even missing from his head and back.

Two Tucson construction workers found the badly injured dog cowering in a dirt trench Wednesday, a piece of rope still tied to its neck.

Humane Society workers speculated the dog had chewed through the rope to escape intense sun rays after someone left him outside.

"This is a really dramatic example of how animals, like people, can burn," said Marsh Meyers,

"A common misconception is that animals have fur and its going to protect them."

The misdemeanor penalty can escalate to a felony if the animal suffers severe injuries or dies as a result of being tied up outside,

So far, no one has claimed the dog

the Humane Society staff has named Bobcat.

An End To Mountaintop Removal Mining?

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 03:36:16 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: good news if they can beat the coal co's

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

ABINGDON, Va. - Mountaintop removal could be ended by as early as next year, said a leader in an environmental group working to halt the destructive mining practices.

“Now there is an increasingly powerful and vocal national movement to stop mountaintop removal,” said Matt Wasson, an ecologist and director of programs for Appalachian Voices. “I’m saying we’re going to have it stopped by the end of next year … the end of 2009.”

“Mountaintop removal” is, to some, a controversial term. It refers to the blasting away of mountain ridges to get to the coal underneath, a process that evolved with technological advancements over the decades from traditional contour mining.

What makes this type of mining cost-effective is a valley-fill permit, which allows the overburden - dirt and rock removed to expose the coal - to be dumped into adjacent valleys.

“Mountaintop removal mining is a national disgrace,” said Aaron Isherwood

“If the American people knew what was happening in Appalachia

Atomic Bomb--the Cautionary Letters of Einstein and Szilard, 1939-1945

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:47:47 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08
clipper's remarks: God bless the truth and only the truth of the written word...

Clip Source: longstreet.typepad.com

Atomic Bomb--the Cautionary Letters of Einstein and Szilard, 1939-1945

Einstein's Letters of 1939 and 1945; Szilard's Petition of 1945; Groves' Letter to Cherwell Looking for Dirt on Szilard 1945; Cherwell's Unusual Response, 1945

AND

JR Oppenheimer signs off on the military use of the bomb

The First Einstein Letter to Roosevelt, 1939

Einstein's (Fourth) letter to Franklin Roosevelt, introducing Leo Szilard (with his letter following, below):

I am writing you to introduce Dr. L. Szilard who proposes to submit to you certain considerations and recommendations. Unusual circumstances which I shall describe further below induce me to take this action in spite of the fact that I do not know the substance of the considerations and recommendations which Dr. Szilard proposes to submit to you.

The Leo Szilard Petition, with the full text below:

Cherwel's response to groves was very interesting

Top Secret document recounting his overall impressions of Szilard (in regards to a security detriment)

Tags: atom bomb, nuclear warfare, roosevelt, us, sir albert einstein, szilard, j.r. oppenheimer

When the ground UNDER the ground is burning...

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 10:15:31 GMT

clipped by: papananook

Clip Source: www.venturacountystar.com

One theory behind the latest hot spot is that oil, gas or some other hydrocarbon deep in the soil caught fire and is burning.

It's being called a natural anomaly, a geological whodunit, a scientific puzzler. And it's the second time that scientists have been scratching their heads over the fact the earth under Ventura County is burning.

High atop a steep grass-covered mountain overlooking the Little Sespe Canyon near Fillmore, the earth is on fire.

Wisps of smoke rise from a brown patch of grass that looks like it was toasted under an oven's broiler. Deep down, under the dirt, rocks and grass, something is smoldering and burning, sending smoke through cracks in the parched soil.

Such fires aren't uncommon in areas where there is a high concentration of gas or oil underground, he said.

King stuck a thermometer 14 inches into the ground and got a reading of 550 degrees. One time, the ground was so hot, the glue holding the sole of his boots melted. Grass can burn at 300 degrees.

invisibleSHIELD screen/phone protector for LG Dare VX9700

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 16:45:33 GMT

clipped by: Lexica

Clip Source: www.zagg.com

invisibleSHIELD™ for the

LG Dare VX9700

exceptionally clear and virtually indestructible film that will protect your Dare VX9700 from unsightly scratches. Our exclusive, patented film – with nano-memory™ technology – covers and shields your device, keeping it as pristine as the day you took it out of the box

The precision pre-cut invisibleSHIELD applies directly to your Dare VX9700

has its origins in the military, where it was used to protect high-speed helicopter blades from dust, dirt and debris

only .2 millimeters thick making it the slimmest Dare VX9700 skin or Dare VX9700 cover of its kind

lifetime guarantee. So, if it ever does wear or scratch, we will replace it for free, for the life of your device

comes off clean and leaves no sticky residue

Tags: cell-phones, accessories, phone-cases

We must address deforestation - now!

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:36:20 GMT

clipped by: bs1999bs
clipper's remarks: The danger signs are very evident - we pursue rainforest destruction at our peril.

Clip Source: plentymag.com

Orangutans and palm-based biofuel don't mix

Crouching low in a canoe, my sneakers and socks are quickly soaked with river water. A stocky, shirtless park ranger in blue jeans pulls the boat across the river by rope-pulley rigged between trees. When we reach the opposite shore, we climb out of the vessel and walk along the muddy riverbanks and up through the rainforest until we reach a feeding platform. There, park rangers bang loudly on a plastic bucket. They are calling the orangutans.

I have come to northern Sumatra, an island in the Indian Ocean covered with twisting dirt roads and steep green mountains, to report on the orangutans because there isn’t much time. Experts say the world’s 30,000 remaining orangutans will go extinct in 3 to 20 years. The last of the hairy apes live on the islands of Indonesia and Malaysia, where they spend most of their time in the trees, eating fruits and leaves.

“The future for the orangutans is in the hands of the humans now,” said

a park ranger

Tags: environment, conservation, nature

Father and 13 Year Old Daughter Accused Of Dragging Their Horse Behind Truck

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 02:37:35 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: A father and daughter were arrested near their home in Florence after a Pinal County Sheriff's deputy saw them drag a horse tied to the back of a truck and then kick the horse in the head, officials said.

Gordon Allen Bates, 51, and his 13-year-old daughter, who has not been identified, were arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty on Monday in Florence.

Deputies were dispatched to E. Javelina Drive around 6:30 a.m. for a welfare check after a caller told them the owner of a horse was going to kill the animal.

The horse, now doing well in the care of the Arizona Department of Agriculture, was bleeding severely from his nose.

The horse also had road rash and multiple cuts and abrasions.

Bates then told the deputy that the horse would not obey and he needed to get it to another location, PCSO said.

Both suspects were arrested and released. Animal cruelty charges have been submitted to the County Attorney's Office.

Clip Source: www.azcentral.com

PCSO said deputies were dispatched to E. Javelina Drive around 6:30 a.m. for a welfare check after a caller told them the owner of a horse was going to kill the animal.

The caller said Bates drove off with the horse tied with a chain to the back bumper of his truck.

When a deputy arrived at the scene, he followed tire tracks on the dirt road and found the truck dragging the horse, PCSO said.

The deputy then witnessed the man and his daughter exit the truck.

The girl kicked the horse in the head and yelled at it to get up while Bates beat it with a pipe, PCSO said.

Both suspects stopped the beating once the deputy told them to.

Tags: animal cruelty, horse rescued, owner arrested, county attorney's office