If you don't shut up, you don't love your country

I received this email from a colleague today. My colleague is a great person, so this by no means is meant to put them down. I guess I'm just blown away by how some people perceive our world. That being said, I too am limited by my perceptions so I'm anxious to hear what all of you have to say about this subject. Maybe we can all come to some sort of weird consensus. Please read the email and then read my response below it. Once you have read everything, go to the Blog and POST A COMMENT!

ORIGINAL EMAIL FROM FRIEND:

This is a very special email. I don't care what party you are, we should all read it and think about how good we have it. No matter how we feel about the war, at least it isn't on our shores; not yet, anyway

Jay Leno on President Bush (Surprising)

"The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some Poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true given the source, right?

The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country Is unhappy with the performance of the President. In essence 2/3s of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change

So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, ''What we are so unhappy about?''

• Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 Days a week?

• Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?

• Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?

• Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?

• Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state?

• Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter?

• I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough.

• Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.

• Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home.

• You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings.

• Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes , an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.

• This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers.

• How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world?

Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy.

Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. , yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have, and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.

I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan to get us out?

The president who has a measly 31 percent approval rating?

Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11?

The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession?

Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks?

The comm!nder in chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me?

Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show?

Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad?

Think about it......are you upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it because the "Media" told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day. Make no mistake about it.

The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go. They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an ''other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable'' discharge after a few days in the brig.

So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans?

Say what you want but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds it leads and they specialize in bad news.

Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner?

the media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells , and when criticized, try to defend their actions by "justifying" them in one way or another.

Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to write a book about how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way......Insane!

Stop buying the negativism you are fed everyday by the media.

Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage.

Then start being grateful for all we have as a country.

There is exponentially more good than bad.

We are among the most blessed people on Earth and should thank God several times a day, or at least be thankful and appreciative." "With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, "Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"

Jay Leno

Please keep this in circulation. There are so many people that need to read this and grasp the truth of it all.

MY RESPONSE:

Most of the claims in this are either false or simply misleading. The people are upset because America has the ability and potential to do MUCH more than this. We have the potential to eliminate poverty in our country and others throughout the world. We have the potential to stop wars over oil that we DON’T NEED. We have the potential to make everyone safe and Healthy. Sure, you can get an emergency vehicle delivered to your door right away. What was left out of this email is that if you will get charged thousands of dollars for that ride, be taken to an Emergency room where you will be charged another few thousand, and then depending on what happened to you another few thousand to make you better. If you don’t have health insurance (like many Americans), you are screwed and will probably have to file bankruptcy. If you DO have health insurance (no matter how much you pay for it), your insurance company will most likely deny payment for some part or all of your coverage by digging in to your history to find some reason why you don’t deserve the insurance you have been paying for.

Some of the major points I take issue with:

1. Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? - Are you freaking kidding me? Even if the president was concerned about our nation’s people (which I don’t think he is), you can’t make the argument that he “guided our nation in the dark days after 9/11”. If he did that, we would be fighting terrorism and would have caught Osama Bin Laden. Let me remind you that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 yet for some reason everyone has been coerced in to thinking it does.
2. The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? – Again, you have got to be joking…. Sure, he cut taxes. For the rich that don’t need it. I haven’t seen any bigger return on my taxes since Bush has been in power. Have you? Every president in our history has contributed to paying DOWN our debt with the exception of Regan & Bush. Bush has added to our national debt in the TRILLIONS of dollars with no sign of stopping. Gas prices have increased over 100 percent since he took office (Energy Information Administration, Household Vehicle Energy Use: Latest Data and Trends, and Weekly Retail Gasoline and Diesel Prices). Health care premiums have increased by over 70 percent (Kaiser Family Foundation). College tuition has skyrocketed by as much as 57 percent (College Board Foundation 10/05) and Housing affordability has reached a 14-year low (U.S. Census Bureau; Wall Street Journal, 12/22/05) - EVEN IF the economy is better as this letter claims, it is certainly at the expense of you and I.
3. Don’t even get me started on the Media and the spin. Unfortunately the Media is as disjointed as our politics. Some organizations catering to the “left” and others to the “right”.

I could go on and on with most of these points but I’ll stop there.

So, all you idahorocks readers. What do you think? Go to the website and post a comment. Lets talk about it!

Leave No Trace Children's Book

History of Religion - The Map

I found this map the other day (If you can't see the video, click on the subject link in the email to view it online) after reviewing an article on Current.com. It is very interesting to get a visual of how the "Big 5" Religions have spread throughout history. Of course it would be impossible to create a map with ALL the worlds religions. Especially when you consider that thousands of new religions are created every year. The most interesting thing to me is considering all the war that has ensued as part of each religion's expansion.

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Many of you who read our blog are savvy enough to know about these concepts, but this is new to a lot of you. You are just getting used to the concepts of email, let along blogs, and RSS. Don't fear though. You can read more about RSS by visiting this Wikipedia Entry. Once you have read about RSS, check in to getting yourself a FREE web based RSS Reader from Google or someone else.

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Back to Reality!

Wow, when I look through my posts, I have been really pathetic on keeping this blog up to date. Thanks goes out to The Law who has been carrying this blog for the past few months.

I guess I have had good excuses. As most of you already know, Amie & I were married on September 22nd. It was the happiest day of our lives. Thank you to everyone who came and made it all possible. We couldn't have done it without the support of all of you! Luckily we also had an amazing photographer, my sister Amanda Norton. If you need anyone for your own wedding photography in the future, just let me know and I can put you in touch with her. Here is a link to the pictures she took for us on the big day. Make sure you have a cup of tea ready because there are a lot of them!

We had a great time on our honeymoon as well! The humidity is a bit much for me, but it was nice to have a change for a week. We were fortunate enough to meet up with some of my family while we were down in West Palm Beach. Unfortunately it rained a lot, but we did get a few days of fun in the sun.

Other than that, things are really going great. We are working hard to get the house all sealed up for winter time. As you can see here, the snow is already blanketing our peaks every night almost! When we got back from Florida, the first thing we did was drive to the top of Soldier Mountain! We are definitely not flat landers!

Thank you Boise State Broncos

So I could mostly care less about football; I've never played it and rarely ever watch it, generally I have no strong feelings either way about football. Not to say that I do not like football, but I'm not going to go out of my way to see a game or get some shwag. I do own a BSU Broncos shirt though, but only because the bright orange colors would protect me from myopic hunters when I went hiking last fall, now I call that school spirit! The great thing for me about the BSU games is that Boise basically becomes a ghost town during the home games; every one is either at the stadium or at home watching the game. I love it ! I took the pup running today during the game on the Table Rock trails and where it would usually be crowded with cars filling the parking lot on a warm fall day; today there where only three cars. It made for a great quiet run where I only saw one other person. So I just wanted to say thank you Broncos, finally your good for something other than jacking up tuition.

I wanted to do one last hardcore adventurous thing before school started; I had to get it out of my system you could say. Originally I was going to climb Baron Peak up near Grandjean, but there is a large fire near there and I didn't really feel comfortable hiking around there; so that climb was out of the question. I needed something else to do, preferably somthing close though epic, safe but dangerous enough too have some adventure in it. So I decided to do the Boise Ridge Traverse, which is considered to be the ultimate long distance mountain bike or trail run in the Boise area. It stretches all the way from Lucky Peak to HorseShoe Bend, a total of 39 miles....I did it all in one big long day. Now you might be either saying "yeah right" or that I am "some sort of sick masochistic freak." Well either way you would be right, because I finished my trek at Bogus Basin which is still a rather respectable 21 miles. Regardless it was still a pretty long day and my feet where pretty tired at the end of the day.

Llama Trip

Yeah so I know that this is the Idaho Rocks blog and all of my recent posts have been from places other than Idaho, but that is what happens when you work out of state all summer and have family scattered through out the country. Hey, also Colorado is rainy and cool, while Idaho is hot and everything is on fire.
So the Lawellin family for the past couple years has been trying to have a little get together every year, some times it works out and some times it doesn't. Last year we went to Lake Powell, but Mark and Kelsey couldn't join us; the year before that I was in Iraq and the first year after I got back from Korea and before I came to Idaho; Dad, Sara, Troy and myself went backpacking down by Bluff, Utah. This year we went llama packing in the Gore Range in Colorado, unfortunately not everyone could make it this year either, but it was still a great trip. So on the 13th Jennifer, my Dad, Cathy and myself headed out of the Rock Creek trail head and began the trek to Boulder Lake. We set up camp in the fading light and had a great dinner by of fresh salad and spaghetti by headlamp. The next morning I woke up and enjoyed the wonderful view you can see in the bottom
picture. After having a awesome alpine start of noon we started hiking to our next destination; Slate Lake. We where hiking right along

enjoying the trail, the dogs-well Kulgogi was- were more or less behaving themselves, and the scenery was amazing when we got to Slate Creek which turned out to be pretty sizable creek crossing. Almost as soon as we got there so did the rain; not just any rain either, big fat rain drops that hurt when they hit bare skin, the kind of rain that makes a person start thinking about heading to higher ground, or in my case start cracking jokes about Noah's Ark. After crossing the creek a couple times to shuttle llamas, scared dogs and trekking poles, Jennifer and I took shelter under a large pine to get out of the rain a bit. A half hour later Dad and Cathy crossed the creek which was rapidly becoming a river and we all decided to continue up the trail some more since the rain had slackened off a little. We trudged through the rain and mud for a couple more miles before making camp and falling short of our goal of Slate Lake, since it was getting dark.
We woke up to more rain, but it had slackened off immensely so after discussing our options a bit we decided to head back to Boulder Lake so we could meet Mark and Kelsey and get out on our planned date. The rain gradually began to disappear and by the time we made it back to Boulder Lake the sun was out. We spread out our gear to let it dry and grabbed the fly rods to attempt to land some yummy fish for dinner. Unfortunately the fish where not interested, but they where also very small as the lake was pretty shallow. So after being defeated by the fish we retired to camp and wined a bit before bed. The next day we hiked out back to the truck and met Mark and Kelsey on the trail. All in all it was a pretty great and relaxing trip up in Colorado's wilderness.

The Newest Editon

This is Kulgogi the newest edition to the Jenjamin Lawkers; she is a 6 month old mix of supposedly German Shepard/Husky, but I think we can agree that there is more Lab than Husky in her. We think that she is going to be a great dog for she is very loving and pretty mellow for being a puppy. Yes I did name her Kulgogi which in Korean means barbecued dog meat. There is also a picture of Scout and the mountain goat.
Cheers
Ben and Jen

Climb the Pfeifferhorn

On Thursday I climbed the Pfierfferhorn, an 11237 foot peak in the central Wasatch mountains.  After getting a typical non-Alpine start at 10 o'clock I started up the trail towards Red Alpine Lake about five miles away.  Two hours later I arrived at this beautiful little lake set in a small glacial valley.  Filling up with water I began the slog up to the ridge line that would connect me with the final climb to the summit.  Once I got to the final little bit of ridge before the summit I got a little freaked out because the scrambling that layed before me looked quite exposed and too be honest scared me a little bit; especially because I was all alone.  So I sat down on a rock and took in the view while I thought about what I was going to do.  Shortly a group of Canadian tourists came along and I hooked up with them and we all scrambled through the large boulders on the ridge and up the steep slope to the summit, where we all took in some magnificent views.  I was pretty happy that Andrew, Sara, and Cameron from Toronto showed up because I might have chickened out otherwise.  Later we scrambled down the hill and about an hour and a half later arrived back at the trail head.  It was truely a great day in the mountains, the craziest thing was that this guy Cameron did the entire thing in flip flops!

 

 

*Note I didn't take the pictures, they are from SummitPost.com*

 

Red Alpine Lake looking towards Little Cottonwood Canyon

A look at the summit from the east

West Face, looks kinda like the Matterhorn huh?

Jagged ridge on the way to the summit.

A look at Lone Peak from the summit of Pfierfferhorn

Route up to the summit, notice the nasty boulders on the ridge.

WorldFire Map

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/05/060524093839.htm.  This is a composite satellite image of all the fires or major hotspots that have occurred in the last couple years.

 

Nebo Mountain Hike

So this post is a little time delayed but, I've just now finally gotten around to posting it.

 

    On the 4th I went and hiked Mount Nebo, a 11,928 mountain which is the 21st most prominent summit in the lower 48 states.  It was a really fun 10 mile hike, it was also one of the hardest hikes I have done yet as there was about 3,000 feet of elevation gain every 5 miles, the terrain was also quite challenging as it was Class Three on the Yosemite Decimal System near the top.  That was the most challenging summit I have done to date, but look forward to doing more, though with other more experienced climbers than myself.

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Ultra-Light Drinking

So the problem with bringing booze with you when backpacking is the weight, a gallon of adult liquids weighs roughly 8 pounds; a major limitation if you want to have a light pack weight and still stumble through the camp fire. Luckily a group of Dutch students have come the rescue with powdered alcohol, yes a powdered alcohol called Booze2go. Just pour a packet of Booze2go into your Nalgene, add water and BAM you've got 12 year old scotch; well actually it is some fizzy, lime colored, tasting drink with about 3% alcohol. This is probably the best thing to happen to backpacking and mountaineering since sil-nylon.

Skillern HotSprings

As Memorial Day weekend is only hours away, I thought I should send some of the great pictures we took LAST weekend before it was too late. We camped at Big Smoky creek like we did last year and did our annual hike up the river to Skillern Hot Springs. We had a GREAT time and this year Skillern has been fixed up very nice. Complete with a drain pipe and plug to fill the pool up much higher than has been possible in the past. I've included some pictures for your viewing pleasure. Click here for a map from Fairfield to the Big Smoky Camp ground.

When a corporation has a monopoly on your LIFE!

The war on vitamins is about to start. Just wait. This is the beginning: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070516/ap_on_he_me/vitamins_prostate

Now that the FDA has the power to “regulate” vitamins, expect to see a lot more press about how Vitamins are bad and Pharmaceuticals are good. Vitamins are bad because they are made by god and perfected by nature in every way. Pharmaceuticals are good because scientists make them and they are good for our “economy”. They also help finance lobbying organizations that make it possible for 1% of our population to get rich beyond belief. Woohooo!!! FDA good! Nature bad! Oh, and the bonus is that it is ILLEGAL for our government to negotiate with Drug companies on prices. Therefore these for profit, public companies are left with the responsibility of giving us a fair price, which currently is over a 3,000% mark up! Oh, and some might say, “oh well, if the prices are too high here, I’ll just buy them from Canada”. WRONG. It is also illegal to purchase drugs from any other country except the USA. So much for freedom eh?! Talk about a monopoly on your LIFE!

Big News!

Reporting from the top of a beautiful Idaho mountain, Bryan and Amie are getting hitched! That's right ya'll, she said yes!

Daylight exacerbates Global Warning?

I'm not sure if there is any one who reads this blog who thinks that this whole global warming this is just a bunch of baloney, but if there is and you are reading this; this is for you.

Dry Creek Marathon

So in case everyone does not already know I am running the Dry Creek Half-Marathon on the 28th of April. I would love it if people came down and cheered me on during the race, I could really use the support. No worries if you can't make it, but it would be great to have a cheering section. Any way if your interested check out http://www.cityoftreesmarathon.com/dry_creek_half_marathon.htm for more info.
the course map can be found at http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=121025. I'm betting on a roughly two hour race time, a bit slower than my past races, but this is supposed to be a pretty challenging course; I'll find out tomarrow since I'm going to go give it a test run. Any way I hope to see lots of people there!

Honda Ski Tour - Sun Valley Idaho

For those of you that weren't able to check out the Honda Ski Tour in Sun Valley this year, it is definitely worth watching this video to see what it was all about. Great Skiing, Great music and great fun. Something Sun Valley has long been overdue for! Mark your calendars for next year!

Ode to a running shoe

Oh running shoes you have hurt me, hurt me deep, deep in my feet specifically. I'm afraid this last episode is the straw that broke the camels back. You got me to the top of the mountain fine, but on the way down you where a great disappointment; you know what I'm talking about, don't deny it. The big blister on the big piggy that went to market, the one on my heel (I thought it was a rock in my shoe at first!) and the other little ones around the ball of each foot; yes you did that. Yes it could be my running style-not as smooth as it could be- or I might not be the best shape for such a long run, but I still think it is you running shoe, not me. You are the reason why this running relationship isn't working out. Sure its bad now, but it would just get worse if we stayed together; its blisters today, tomorrow its blood blisters. But think of all the good times we had! Remember running the 8th St. loop? Getting stalked by a mountain lion? Hahahha that was a good time wasn't it. Hiking in Moab? Yeah that was great, but it was then that I knew our time was coming to an end, yes you started to hurt me then, and you can't blame that on me, that is for damn sure. You've had a good life though running shoe, I mean your almost a year old and that is a long time to be with the same shoe. You can look at me all mournfully with my Wright Socks (synthetics only, cotton kills!) stuffed inside you, but that won't change my mind, we are through. So tom arrow you go to GoodWill and I go to the running store to find a newer hotter model that will treat my feet right. Those new Salomon XAs or the Inov8 Roclites look really hot, maybe I'll give them a spin. I'll miss you running shoe, good bye.