The International Monetary Fund today added its weight to the growing calls for a comprehensive and coordinated international response to theglobal financial crisis, which it says has become disorderly and more damaging than it previously thought.
In its latest twice-yearly Global Financial Stability Review, the Washington-based institution dramatically raised its estimate of losses to the US banking system to around $1.4 trillion (£800bn), 45% up from the $945bn it estimated in April and reaffirmed just two months ago.
It also estimated that the major global banks need to raise some $675bn in new capital in the next few years.
The IMF noted that the United States remained the epicentre of the financial crisis, with its housing market continuing to decline and a wider economic slowdown contributing to a further deterioration in the quality of existing loans.
Drawing on its experience of earlier crises, the IMF recommends that national authorities consider five ways to help restore confidence in what it calls "these exceptional circumstances":
• employ measures that are comprehensive, timely, and clearly communicated
• aim for a consistent and coherent set of policies to stabilize the global financial system across countries
• ensure rapid response on the basis of early detection of strains in order to contain systemic repercussions
• assure that emergency government interventions are temporary and taxpayer interests are protected
• avoid losing sight of the objective of a more sound, competitive, and efficient financial system going forward.
(from the Guardian)

Here is the list of books that Palin tried to ban from the library, no shit...

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Blubber by Judy Blume
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
Carrie by Stephen King
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Christine by Stephen King
Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Cujo by Stephen King
Curses, Hexes, and Spells by Daniel Cohen
Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Decameron by Boccaccio
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Fallen Angels by Walter Myers
Fanny Hill (Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure) by John Cleland
Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Forever by Judy Blume
Grendel by John Champlin Gardner
Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Have to Go by Robert Munsch
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Impressions edited by Jack Booth
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
It’s Okay if You Don’t Love Me by Norma Klein
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Love is One of the Choices by Norma Klein
Lysistrata by Aristophanes
More Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher
Collier
My House by Nikki Giovanni
My Friend Flicka by Mary O’Hara
Night Chills by Dean Koontz
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
Our Bodies, Ourselves by Boston Women’s Health Collective
Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl
Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin Schwartz
Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
Separate Peace by John Knowles
Silas Marner by George Eliot
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
The Bastard by John Jakes
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Devil’s Alternative by Frederick Forsyth
The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Snyder
The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks
The Living Bible by William C. Bower
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
The New Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy and Charles Wibbelsman
The Pigman by Paul Zindel
The Seduction of Peter S. by Lawrence Sanders
The Shining by Stephen King
The Witches by Roald Dahl
The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Snyder
Then Again, Maybe I Won’t by Judy Blume
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary by the Merriam-Webster
Editorial Staff
Witches, Pumpkins, and Grinning Ghosts: The Story of the Halloween
Symbols by Edna Barth

This is very long and very informative. If you think it should go further, please take it onward.


Dear friends,
So many people have asked me about what I know about Sarah Palin in
the last 2 days that I decided to write something up . . .
Basically, Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton have only 2 things in
common: their gender and their good looks. :)

You have my permission to forward this to your friends/email contacts
with my name and email address attached, but please do not post
it on any websites, as there are too many kooks out there . . .

Thanks, **name removed**

ABOUT SARAH PALIN

I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992.
Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are
on a first-name basis. Our children have attended the same
schools. Her father was my child's favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a
first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended
more City Council meetings during her administration than about 99%
of the residents of the city.

She is enormously popular; in every way she's like the most popular
girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and
won't vote for her can't quit smiling when talking about her because she
is a"babe".

It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret.
She kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and
parents for seven months. She is "pro-life". She recently gave birth to
a Down's syndrome baby. There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.

She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the
gym.She is savvy. She doesn't take positions; she just "puts
things out there" and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.

Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a
champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin's kind of job is highly
sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his
work schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month
or so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their
major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything
like that of native Alaskans.

Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters.

She's smart.

Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about
5,000 (at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with
about670,000 residents. During her mayoral administration most of
the actual work of running this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been
pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she
had gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings
which had given rise to a recall campaign.

Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a "fiscal conservative".
During her 6 years as Mayor, she increased general government
expenditures by over
33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the
City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation
(1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a
regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she
promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than
they benefited residents.

The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral
administration weren't enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed
money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but
left it with indebtedness of over $22 million.

What did Mayor Palin encourage the voters to borrow money for? Was
it the infrastructure that she said she supported? The sewage
treatment plant that the city lacked? or a new library? No. $1m
for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a
multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a
piece of property that the City didn't even have clear title to,
that was still in litigation 7 yrs later--to the delight of the lawyers
involved!

The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the community but
a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it would be. She
also supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that could have been
done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing.
While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office
redecorated more than once. These are small numbers, but Wasilla
is a very small city.

As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget
surplus in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology
that will make us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor she
proposed distribution of this surplus to every individual in the
state.

In this time of record state revenues and budget surpluses, she
recommended that the state borrow/bond for road projects, even
while she proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend
today's surplus, borrow for needs.

She's not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside
ideas or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren't
generated by her or her staff. Ideas weren't evaluated on their merits, but on the
basis of who proposed them.

While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly
respected City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider
removing from the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents
rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin's
attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and
withdrew her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the
Librarian are on her enemies list to this day.

Sarah complained about the "old boy's club" when she first ran for
Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of "old boys".
Palin fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City
and as Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people,
creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and
eternally grateful and fiercely loyal--loyal to the point of
abusing their power to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged
happened in the case of pressuring the State's top cop (see below).

As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla's Police Chief because he
"intimidated" her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska's
top cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her
pleasure and she had every legal right to fire him, but it's pretty clear
that an important factor in her decision to fire him was because he
wouldn't fire her sister's ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation
for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen
contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that
she later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She tried to
replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been
reprimanded for sexual harassment; when this caused a public
furor, she withdrew her support.

She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to
her in help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around
town introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City
Council became one of her first targets when she was later elected
Mayor. She abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn't
like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness. Fear of
retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything
publicly about her.

When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah
got the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation
Commission:
one of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She
had no background in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great
job which paid $122,400/yr, she was complaining in the press about
the high salary. I was told that she hated that job: the commute, the
structured hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of
this Commission (who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party)
engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which
some undoubtedly cautioned her could be political suicide, Sarah solved
all her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated and
garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and
as a gutsy fighter against the "old boys' club" when she dramatically
quit, exposing this man's ethics violations (for which he was fined).

As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from
Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel
politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the
"bridge to nowhere" after it became clear that it would be unwise not to.
As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget
guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing
projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative
action restored most of these projects--which had been vetoed
simply because she was not aware of their importance--but with the
unobservant she had gained a reputation as "anti-pork".

She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party
leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and
humiliated them. Other members of the party object to her self-description
as a fiscal conservative.

Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah.
They call her "Sarah Barracuda" because of her unbridled
ambition and predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly
stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be
made point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah's
mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and
experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her.

As Governor, she stepped outside of the box and put together of
package of legislation known as "AGIA" that forced the oil companies to
march to the beat of her drum.

Like most Alaskans, she favors drilling in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge. She has questioned if the loss of sea ice is linked to
global warming. She campaigned "as a private citizen" against a
state initiative that would have either a) protected salmon streams from
pollution from mines, or b) tied up in the courts all mining in the
state (depending on who you listen to). She has pushed the State's
lawsuit against the Dept. of the Interior's decision to list polar
bears as threatened species.

McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will
be a heartbeat away from being President.

There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more
knowledgeable and experienced than she.

However, there's a lot of people who have underestimated her and
are regretting it.


CLAIM VS FACT
*"Hockey mom": true for a few years
*"PTA mom": true years ago when her first-born was in elementary
school, not since
*"NRA supporter": absolutely true
*social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships (said she did this because it was unconsitutional).
*pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to promote it.
*"Pro-life": mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life legislation
*"Experienced": Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska.
No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city administrator to run town of about 5,000.
*political maverick: not at all
*gutsy: absolutely!
*open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at explaining actions.
*has a developed philosophy of public policy: no
*"a Greenie": no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores
and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in
ANWR.
*fiscal conservative: not by my definition!
*pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a
city without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built
streets to early 20th century standards.
*pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden
on residents
*pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city
government in Wasilla's history.
*pro-labor/pro-union. No. Just because her husband works union
doesn't make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any
claim that she is pro-labor/pro-union.

WHY AM I WRITING THIS?

First, I have long believed in the importance of being an informed
voter. I am a voter registrar. For 10 years I put on student voting
programs in the schools. If you google my name (Anne Kilkenny +
Alaska), you will find references to my participation in local
government, education, and PTA/parent organizations.

Secondly, I've always operated in the belief that "Bad things
happen when good people stay silent". Few people know as much as I do
because few have gone to as many City Council meetings.

Third, I am just a housewife. I don't have a job she can bump me
out of. I don't belong to any organization that she can hurt. But, I am
no fool; she is immensely popular here, and it is likely that this
will cost me somehow in the future: that's life.

Fourth, she has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the
100 or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against
Sarah's attempt at censorship.

Fifth, I looked around and realized that everybody else was
afraid to say anything because they were somehow vulnerable.

CAVEATS
I am not a statistician. I developed the numbers for the
increase in spending & taxation 2 years ago (when Palin was running for
Governor) from information supplied to me by the Finance Director of the City
of Wasilla, and I can't recall exactly what I adjusted for: did I
adjust for inflation? for population increases? Right now, it is
impossible for a private person to get any info out of City Hall--they are
swamped. So I can't verify my numbers.

You may have noticed that there are various numbers circulating for
the population of Wasilla, ranging from my "about 5,000", up to
9,000. The current population is about 7,000. The official 2000 census
count was 5,460. I have used about 5,000 because Palin was Mayor from 1996 to
2002, and the city was growing rapidly in the mid-90's.

**name and email address removed**
August 31, 2008

Today I realized that my anger, since I cut down on smoking has really gotten crazy. This is a personal note, not much on biking... just cathartic...

I am angry a lot of the time, perhaps before I just did not realize it or buried it, but lately with all this insane political crap I am hearing spewing like sewage I am really getting irritated. I guess politicians depend on the fact that people are too lazy to read the news or fact check, especially when the "elite" media backs up the lies. Well this misleading pisses me off, because people are willingly giving away what is theirs and cheering it on as if it were a blessing but at the same time cursing and attacking those who are fighting to stop this from happening. The worst part is that they want to argue with me about politics whenever I am out... annoying. So I was just daydreaming... wishing that this were actually true in the bible, but it is not but for perhaps the last verse... but yeah, I wish all this NLP using idiots would all suffer this...

"Ezekiel 25:17. The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."Samuel L. Jackson (line in Pulp Fiction)

I am going to cut down on reading the news because it is just too much bullshit...

To all those who HATE LIBERALS... what is your definition? Here is Websters...

Liberal: from Latin liberalis suitable for a freeman, generous
or befitting a man of free birth
marked by generosity : openhanded
given or provided in a generous and openhanded way
broad-minded; especially : not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or traditional forms
or associated with the principles of political liberalism; especially : of or constituting a political party in the United Kingdom associated with ideals of individual especially economic freedom, greater individual participation in government, and constitutional, political, and administrative reforms designed to secure these objectives

To all those who are not a liberal, what are you>>>? If you say you are the opposite then basic logic would say you:
hate freedom,
the Constitution
and other people (I am with you there)
and are very selfish.

Legs shot... I went out to get my ass kicked..
The Wednesday night racers pace and sprints..

Wednesday, July 16, 2008
5:44:48 PM
Road Biking
Ave Cadence 76 (good)
Distance: 37.47 mi
Time: 1:52:04
Ave: 20.1 mph
Calories: 1544
Rest Time: 0:07:09
Uphill: 2075 ft
Downhill: 2115 ft
Elev. Net: -39 ft

Did OK for being spent (no reserves,)
some of those chicks can really ride.

http://allsportgps.com/Data/ActivityDisplay.aspx?tripId=180105

Thanks Gunn4r for that map.

Put on one of my new wheels, the back one. Power transfer is noticeably improved,
also much stiffer. Gears need some adjustment. Might change the setup if I have time and
some parts come in tomorrow.

Did this ride today, man was hurting from yesterday, and possibly the day before too.
Hit a wall where my muscles really started hurting.
Fought through but took it easy.
I have to ride tomorrow with the sprinters on the competitive ride,
then on Thurs a 70 or so mile ride.
I will be ready for a break I think, get out the bag balm.

The ride today was solo,
I love to ride solo, most of the other guys detest it.
Am not sure why... all of me are pretty good company.
I also talk to my bike when I am not expunging mental diarrhea.

Mostly it is extreme focus on getting better, smoother, stronger.
And working on staying focused when exhaustion settles about.
That is really one of the harder parts, keeping form and cadence when
tired.

Anyway...
2 Hr
31 Miles
15.5 Avs
Ave Cadence 64

Weighed in at 199

Did this climb today.

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/wv/morgantown/401509858718

I wanted to do it on my own today before going with a group to avoid embarrassment. My only goal was to not stop the whole way up. There is a stretch there that is very steep, for a good long ways. I succeeded with flying colors. No heart attacks or anything, but OK that hill is tough. I plan to do it...

LINK


and this...
http://allsportgps.com/Data/ActivityDisplay.aspx?tripId=180105

I wanted to do them all at once but I got a late start today and the road coming back in is not a good one to do in the twilight. Again, I am a puss.

Thanks to FiendRacer for the map and the Tuesday Grimpeur for the Brakeiron climb map.

Gunnar, I think that is spelled correctly, is fiendracer and is a pro racer who seems out to get me. Every time I post he attacks. This time I made the mistake of responding with a jab or two and am pretty afraid... well OK very afraid... His name has the word "Gun" in it and he is aggro and seems unstable.

Well anyway, a ride for later...
Ave Cadence 58
Time 1Hr15min
Distance 18.25mi.
MaxS 29mph
Avs 14.6

Tested my metabolism theory last night and I was right.
Weighed in at 101.5lb **EDIT OOP 201.5lb, thanks LaliaTK**

Time to get serious.
But not that serious LOL.

Rode a few miles with the group ride today, around 47mi.
Coming down Fort Martin Rd. We just crossed in front of an oncoming train.
I wanted to race the train to the pass where we cross the tracks again and be in front of it so I took off hoping the others would pace hard to catch up.
I was well in front of the train moving along at about 25, it started pouring slowing me a little, the train caught up and was passing...
I stepped on it, my guys were not in sight. I did not make it but had a hell of a 5 mile sprint. I felt possessed and it was good.

I have a passion for machines that encompass the human. Wind boards, bikes, where the human is a quintessential element. The point where you have synergy and things start shooting off the charts I find very addicting. So pretty much all my practice surrounding these two machines is given to learning to work with the machine in harmony in all situations. When you become one, it is sweet. Like a Borg!

Well, I then passed the other group of riders by shouting "car back" to move the cows out of the way and zipped by (there was a car back btw, so I did not feel bad.) Some gave chase but I was on a mission and was not going to be caught..
I stopped at the crossing while the train was crossing in front. I think if I poured it on sooner I could have had him, I did a half assed start, sprinting and faking to take the first cutoff that crossed the track to make the engineer poop himself. I should have just dropped the hammer.
Grah, would have been a nice boost there to put the lid on the weekend.

The ride was very nice, the group was a nice group of people with the most aggro competitive being an older fellow who has some sprinting skills and can downhill like a demon. (I am still learning to rip on the turns but this guy has it down)

http://tuesdaygrimpeur.blogspot.com/ is the site of the some of the other guys. These older guys are way hard core and are strong bikers who eat up the hills and miles.

They wore out a few of the younger guys with us. I am glad I am more in shape and can kick it. Even got invited to ride now that they think I might be able to hang.

Stats:
Weigh in 198.75
Avs 15.5
Time 3hr
Dist 46.5

Downhill (hopefully soon turns too) and flats (that can include minor rollers) are my specialty.
Flats I have not found any to take me yet and I have toasted a couple guns.
I am working on my hilling and had no trouble today keeping up on the ups today. Progress. Sweet.

pretty much did this http://allsportgps.com/Data/ActivityDisplay.aspx?tripId=179002
without the double back past mt. morris
(thanks Gunnar)

2hr
32mi.
Max Speed 52Mph (grrr)
Avs 16 (nice for hills)
63 Ave Cadence (still needs work)

Weighed in at 199lbs
Hopefully only a month or so from my goal.
I should be in good shape for the race.

ride, Dilliner loop
1:58
32.41
64 ave cadence (working on that)
16.4 Avs

Oh, weighed in at 200lb. Goal of 187-190 weight is in site.

cons: my tv broke the other night, it is like a super nice tv, i love it... and i only watch tv maybe once a week and have had it just over a year... the warranty is for a year... fuck!

OMG Hot Mexican food yesterday. Yup to celebrate the 4th we went to Mad Mex! You know its hot when the next morning (this morning) it popped out so fiery that it HISSSSSSED loudly when it plopped in the water.. not only that, the water was about to boil as I flushed. That is some spicy food!

A friend from college found me on Facebook. I cannot find anyone from my past lives. Nice to know people are still alive. Most of my generation are probably not computer kind of people. (I had a typewriter in college.)

202 This morning, 203.75 tonight after dinner and an extra glass of water...

Working on getting down to 185-190, I am hoping that will fix my problems with the long hills, hopefully the steeps too. Seems like everything else I can blast on, the rolling hills, the flats, the downhills.

I have studied a lot and am continuing to do so on physiology and losing weight and all that stuff and think I am getting somewhere finally and there are some pretty easy secrets to losing weight.

Char is a little overweight and I am working on getting her to be my guinea pig for the program; if it works look for the e-book. She is not too psyched and detests physical activity so if she can do it, I think 95% of the population can as well. That would be swell because there is nothing but (predominately) lazy fat assed miserable people that I have seen in West Virginia and Lower PA.

Well anyway... rode today with a group. It is a Wednesday group that rides from downtown at a very high pace, competitively too, not just a pace line but racing a good bit. I have been doing solo rides, longer and longer, but also training on hills and doing a lot of all out short rides where I am focusing on quick recovery, or recovery while pushing it, or the opposite, taking a short ride at a slower pace as if I am doing a long ride and just focusing on the muscles, kinda working the outside layers of them which are the engines, the inner layers give the intense power, so it is good to work just the outer layers to have very strong steady power.

But digressing because I am pretty tired after the ride... I really wanted to ride to gauge where I am right now with my biking and see if I can even call myself a biker. Well I fell in the median of this group which was awesome, I was prepared to be swept away and dusted (this group will drop you they don't wait for anyone.)

I have the power and endurance to make it with these guys, I just have to ride smarter. Chris, a friend I met yesterday was really nice and took me under his wing a bit and gave me tips. I feel pretty bad because we made a move to break away from the pack at one point and got out 50 yards but my sucky virginal pace line skills totally baked him and left him dead as the pack flew by. So bad that I sprinted and was able to stay within sight but he died back there and it was my fault... oh well. Sorry Chris, maybe you won't be so nice to me now...

We rode 35 miles competitively, I got dropped a couple times but ended up with a respectable 19.7mph average, which is a record. (yeah hills involved... so that is good.) Total ride for me back to my house was around 42 with an 18.7 mph ave. Not bad for an intense couple of hours, and the guys seemed honestly impressed. It felt great. (one of the regulars dropped and was seen no more.)

At certain points, 4 or 5 they stop to wait for people dropped, the more in the line the more fun and speed you can obtain over distance. I was amazed how easy it is to clip along at 26-27 behind another rider, effortless. The hard part is being in the lead and transitioning back to the rear, that takes practice. The best rider was always right behind me so he would get in the lead and step it up and catching on to the back of the pack after tiring out on the front was very difficult.

Link to map

Sorcery...

Propagandist Fox news...

Just got something interesting, yeah it is wacky but they do this symbol. It looks like the OK symbol and they subconsciously direct you to look at the symbol.

The symbol is really a symbol of 3 sixes and it represents absolute control and is a power gesture to take control of who you are relating to.

It is also advertising, in numerology FOX news is 666.

FOX
F = 6
o = 15 = 1+5 = 6
X = 24 = 2+4 = 6

Watching some stuff about how propagandists direct attention and plant their ideas while discrediting people who speak the truth. This is a minor point part of the whole package but part of what is termed sorcery, (the hand gestures they use to distract and confuse the interviewee that are believed to take away and gain power over them)

Very interesting stuff..
http://hypnlp.com/nlp-in-the-media#more-26

Doing the 2 Birds ride.
Pt. Marion to Waynesburg, Mt. Morris, Home.
Looks to be about 66mi. Will be way over 70 after all my street mistakes.
Will append later...


Open up browser all the way to see this map.
The Ride


Ok, when plotting routes in PA... IE Walnut Hill, well it was like scaling a rock face, it went straight up and up and up, then it was in the sticks... for a while... nothing... I was afraid a bear was going to eat me... Then it turned to gravel and gravel it was for 4 miles.

After that things got better. Except for the getting lost.

I just weighed in at 202.75lb, a new record for me. YAY.

Ride took 5 hours.
Distance 75mi
Ave Speed 14.3
Ave Cadence 51
15400 Total Spins

Going to take a break from cycling tomorrow


Updated Ride Map with blog

Was a great moon last night.
This was around 11:30.

Felt pretty magical out, was all I could do not to pull out the drum and piss off all the neighbors.

View Larger Map

Ok am getting in a bit better shape now maybe...
Kirby ride was easy.
Well I took it easy too but feel like I could ride it again.

2hr 39mins
44.4mi
16.5Avs

Now, if I can just eat lean the rest of the day, I might be able to drop a few ounces.

Don't know if we are playing tennis or not today, clouds are building... I was lucky not to get stuck in it. Thanks Bike Gods...

Back from my ride. Is very strange out today. I saw everybody and their brother walking dogs. I have never seen so many. Weird day anyway, after eating that jumbo burrito I really did not have the energy for much of a ride but I pushed through an hour and am happy for it.

Have met some really nice people lately, that is cool. Things are going well, need to take it up a notch, I will start tomorrow! J/K

Doing good in shittown. O/O

OK, so I want to lose 19 pounds... (that sounds so much easier than 20lbs)
I want to be at 189 and that is it and right now I am a fat 208.

Cut down on the portions of fatty shit, whatever... Who cares,
I know what I have to do...

It is time for action, and dedication and that one I hate...
sacrifice..

:-(

I am going to cut my hair, that must weigh a lot right?

Ok so I am a nerd, I have to get an accurate reading on my cyclocomputer because right now it is off... currently under the distance.

I have achieved great results before and anyone who has an odometer on their bike and likes to tinker with precision can take note... (the rest can move on to the next thread now)

1. You want to have a flat area, like a ball court, something with white lines on it.
2. Paint a thin line of paint perpendicular on the white line, (thin layer, you don't want it to splatter on the bike, if it is insufficient you can add a bit more and try again, odds are you won't be able to stay straight on the first try.)
3. Get up to about 10 or 15 MPH and look straight in front of you and keep the bike dead straight, riding through the paint and staying on the line for a few revolutions. This part has to be smooth and straight as an arrow.
4. Take out a long tape measure and extend it out as far as it can go and take a measurement from the first line to the furthest tire printed line you can reach to making sure it is as accurate as possible.
5. Divide the measurement by the number of revolutions that the tire made (how many prints are on the line) and you have a very accurate measure of your tire circumference.

Convert this measurement to whatever your cyclocomputer will accept and I guarantee you that you will be golden with your mileage readings.

Nice weekend, I freaked out on my golf partners who aren't calling me to play on Monday... I ditched them after 9 on Saturday because I was freaking out over work I needed to get done. (I goofed on planning and did not have time to finish up on Friday due to a birthday party I forgot about.) Why can't I call and just cancel shit? I am such a boner sometimes. But other than that everything is normal... normal as in I am the last person to find out that band practice has been canceled. It was a nice weekend though, Friday saw a 50 mile ride through the Allegheny highlands, which was spectacular. What can I say, I am spoiled... spoiled rotten and I have the best little girlfriend in the world to boot.

So Early tomorrow morning I am going to do a roll out and take a ride, then I am going to get through my to do list that is a mile long.

Boring post but yeah...

Spying Telecoms Receive Billions in Government Contracts

Posted by Kurt Opsahl

The telecoms who are being sued for their cooperation in the government's illegal warrantless surveillance program have received billions in government contracts. According to Washington Technology magazine, Verizon received $1.3 billion, Sprint $839 million and AT&T $505 million in federal prime contract revenue for fiscal 2007, for a total of $2.6 billion. While the companies have been government contractors for a long time, it still represents a significant increase in revenue.

Telecom apologists like to suggest that the communications companies' motivation was not financial. As Judge Walker noted when examining EFF's allegations of dragnet surveillance: "AT&T cannot seriously contend that a reasonable entity in its position could have believed that the alleged domestic dragnet was legal." Yet, the prospect of $2.6 billion per year can go a long way to explaining why an industry might cooperate with a program far outside the limitations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), despite the difficulty of believing it was legal.

Note that the numbers represent publicly available information for prime contracting only and do not include subcontracting revenue. Any monies paid for the secret NSA surveillance program would be in addition to the public contracting numbers.

According to former Qwest chief executive Joseph Nacchio "the government withdrew opportunities for contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars after Qwest refused to participate in an unidentified National Security Agency program that the company thought might be illegal." In light of these allegations and the vast sums awarded to the participating telecoms, before Congress votes on the pending FISA legislation or considers any form of immunity for the telecoms, it should hold thorough hearings, and find out if there was any quid pro quo.