Manifesto

RFK jr. has a damn good plan.

The United States has far greater domestic energy resources than Iceland or Sweden does. We sit atop the second-largest geothermal resources in the world. The American Midwest is the Saudi Arabia of wind; indeed, North Dakota, Kansas, and Texas alone produce enough harnessable wind to meet all of the nation’s electricity demand. As for solar, according to a study in Scientific American, photovoltaic and solar-thermal installations across just 19 percent of the most barren desert land in the Southwest could supply nearly all of our nation’s electricity needs without any rooftop installation, even assuming every American owned a plug-in hybrid.

Fattest

Calorie Lab reports on the fattest states of 2008.


Mississippi wins.

West Virginia passed Alabama to become the second fattest state in 2008. The four states of Mississippi, West Virginia, Alabama, and Louisiana have obese populations that exceed 30 percent over a three-year average and two-thirds of the citizens of Mississippi and West Virginia were either overweight or obese by CDC standards in 2007.

Wet Exits

I used to teach whitewater canoeing, but a never had the kayak bug until a few years ago. My friend Hunt tried hard to teach me the eskimo roll, but as of today, no good.

I really do want to learn it, as a good "combat roll" is needed before someone can really do decent whitewater kayaking. I've had luck roaring through waves, doing class III drops and surfing som small waves. When I screw up, wet exit.

So here I sit, a perpetual advanced beginner kayaker. Maybe I should stick to canoeing.

At least I'm not alone. Check out this link and it's attached video, where all of the kayakers make it look so easy...

Hitting back on Email

How many emails do you go through every day? Cutting into your time a bit too much? You can break the vicious cycle and pull back. I try to use the phone more as it provides personal contact and eliminates those little misunderstandings that a poorly or hastily crafted email can bring on you.

My wife has a better method, she refuses to use it. But she is a dying breed.

The Times has a good article today on how someone was able to cut back email considerably. Check it out here.

I stopped using e-mail most of the time. I quickly realized that the more messages you answer, the more messages you generate in return. It becomes a vicious cycle. By trying hard to stop the cycle, I cut the number of e-mails that I receive by 80 percent in a single week.

Pyle Update

Orion has the latest post from Bob Pyle.  Here.

Pluggin in to the Outdoors

Good post from a young leader of the Movement.

Today, Louv and others, including The Conservation Fund, are leaning heavily on a budding network of individuals and corporations aiming to get kids back outside. Dubbed the “National Forum on Children and Nature,” this motley crew of governors, CEOs, real estate and technology developers have rallied to reposition the issue of children’s health as front and center in the environmental movement.

Camp Season 2008

Summer camps are up and running.

Here's a shot taken a few days ago at my friend Rob's camp, up in the White Mountains.

A bonfire like this beats the tube every time.

Wish I was there.