Big weekend. Spent most of Saturday prepping for a little birthday celebration for Alexis. Other than the usual last-minute hustle, things came together in fine style with a small group of 10 friends.

Rose the next morning for a hike near Ridgefield, WA with a good friend. Got to the wildlife preserve mid-morning and proceeded to reacquaint ourselves with the local flora and fauna. Saw three deer and multitudes of sandhill crane, turkey vulture, sparrow and duck. Spent most of the day in one area of the preserve - a small hill overlooking a marshy basin full of iridescent greens and yellows. Eventually the weather chased us out, as impending thunderheads rolled in. Got some rain, but had plenty of sunshine to balance the day. Fall has officially arrived.

Today has been a bit of a blur. At lunch, I drove through Northwest Portland and had a hard time processing the transformation. Apparently, no one has a job over there, because the place was crawling with people. No parking as usual and an unusual display of well-groomed idiot drivers. Not that I dislike Northwest Portland. The scene can be interesting, but development has created a monster on that side of the river. At least the drugstore on 21st hasn't been razed.

In other news...

Apparently dissent is now illegal in Bush's backyard. Police decided to preempt the IMF protests by arresting everyone (including the press) without legitimate cause. Since when was it legal to be arrested with having charges brought? Regardless of the police offensive, about 2,500 people showed up the next day and marched to Dick Cheney's residence in protest.

Rumblings of discontent in the U.K. 400,000 march for peace.

80's American foreign policy catches up with Bush. This issue has the potential of causing a serious stink if the corporate media decides to run with it.

More evidence of two-sided American mucking in the Mid-East. Did Rumsfield really shake hands with Saddam? Will anyone care or spend a moment to ponder our foreign agenda while Nero fiddles and the market continues to tank.

This is creepy. George W. Bush told Rudy Guliani that he could have the privilege of executing Osama Bin Laden if U.S. forces ever capture him. Great. Do you get fries with that?

New Jersey Democrat Robert Toricelli bows out of the Senate race due to ethics controversy. Dems want to run Bill Bradley in his place, but the GOP says it will fight an appointment of any new candidates so close to election day. According to New Jersey law, the governor can appoint a new senator if they resign 30 days before an election. Toricelli's resignation comes just 36 days from the November elections. We'll see what happens...

Big noises in our nations capital today.

The IMF / World Bank are in D.C. to mull over the next phase of globalization. Thankfully, the people are showing up again to take a stand against economic tyranny and terrorism.

As of 10am this morning, police are reporting the arrest of up to 500 protesters. Indymedia DC is reporting the usual police malfeasence - and the mainstream media (with the exception of CNN) looks to have missed the boat again.

* It's 1:30 and the mainstream press has chosen to cover the big slump in the stock market (the Dow taking a 295 point plunge) instead of the dissent in D.C. Local station KGW (NBC affiliate) was leading earlier in the day with the IMF protests. There has been little follow-up on CNN. The place to get updates on the protest is IndyMedia - lots of details on arrest numbers and on-the-scene reporting.

Going to be checking out Critical Mass this afternoon to see if anything has changed with the police.

Rafting went well on Saturday. Only dumped three people in four hours. The rentals take the larger rapids in style.
Had friends over on Sunday night and family on Tuesday. Alex's birthday is getting stretched over a week of parties and dinners. Hope I've still got my head on straight when it's over.

Today was a drag.

I don't usually bitch, but today, all was required to remain patient. Nuff said.

Might have been a little rash with my war prediction. If Congress shows a little backbone and the military buildup in the region continues to lag, we may have to wait until next year until W can pop his cookies.

Slumping in my cube today....can't wait for tomorrow.
Whitewater on the Deshutes for the first time in two years. The perfect way to end the summer.

Of course, this would be the weekend that someone would offer me tickets to a Ducks football game. Why can't it be some other weekend? No worries though. Oregon will paste PSU on Saturday, so all I'd really get to see is a slaughter.

In other news...

Get ready for war....I give it a month. The GOP has a major election coming in November, and they need to get their numbers up again.

Nutty week...

Been up to my eyes in planning for The Cube - a geocaching event that takes people on a caching tour of the Eastside. Finally let it roll last night to some fanfare - and much relief. Weather was good and no one got in an accident while driving pell-mell across town. Everyone had a good time and cozied up with a pint or two at the Lucky Lab to celebrate afterwards.

Helping to lead a rafting trip down the Deshutes this weekend....the fun never stops.

In light of all the mourning and emotion of 9/11, I am providing some links to a few opinions that I find interesting.

Real Battles and Empty Metaphors

Noam Chomsky on Middle Eastern perceptions of the U.S.

UK Opinion

News about the buildup for Iraq

Your tax dollars at work...

Been a little while since the last blog. The usual excuses still apply.

The Iraq anti-war protest came and went without much furor. About 300 people gathered outside the Federal building and marched to Pioneer Square. No confrontations with police. Apparently, they had their hands full with the Critical Mass downtown bike event. Police arrested nine bicyclists and pepper-maced many more - in yet another example of excessive tactics.