Probably Never Again

How The River Feels

From there we headed south on U.S. 1, to south of Princeton where a $3 million pedestrian bridge is being built to enable towpath users to cross the 6-lane divided highway. The bridge is in the middle stages of construction. I'll have to leave the towpath and ride along the highway shoulder for about 1000 yards. Joy. At least if the traffic's as busy as it was today, I won't have to worry about moving vehicles.

Then we went to Trenton, for what I expect to be the single scariest part of the ride.

When I talked to the Delaware & Raritan State Park office Wednesday and told the nice woman I was going to ride the towpath — Yes, the whole thing! — she made sure I knew that a 1.5 mile section of the canal in downtown Trenton had been paved over back in the 1930's. Actually, I hadn't known that (the Park doesn't highlight that fact on their website). She told me that few people do that section of the towpath, and that she couldn't recommend a detour.

I turned to MapQuest, and found a simple street route across the break. Today, we went and checked out that route. It's scary! Lots of young men standing around on street corners in a poor neighborhood. At least the traffic didn't look that bad.... I decided I'm going to stow my helmet and my camera, I'm going to ride fast and keep my mouth shut. I have high hopes that I can survive that part of the ride!

Finally, we crossed the river into PA on 1, just south of the famous "Trenton Makes, The World Takes" bridge. We found a lovely little pizza shop for lunch. The owner lit up when I asked about the canal towpath — he's ridden on it before, and thinks it's wonderful! He was happy to tell us about a number of access points, one of which I chose for my starting point.

I'd planned to start further south, in Bristol, but currently, although the path has a lovely new surface, a number of significant obstructions still block the path. A local expert on the canal who was kind enough to reply to my e-mail described that section as an "urban safari." Like its NJ counterpart, Pennsylvania's Delaware Canal doesn't get much of a send-off as it rejoins the river.

Now all I have to do is ride it. Should be an interesting day....

I once heard a country song in which the singer sang "I want to know how the river feels." I spent weeks thinking about that line. What a concept, I thought - what would a river feel, as it flows inevitably to its meeting with a larger river or the ocean? That's a metaphor for a lifetime, I thought. Yeah, I want to know how the river feels, too. Finally, a country music song lyric really spoke to something deep inside me!

I mentioned to a friend of mine, a serious country music fan, how much I loved that song, and that lyric. He laughed for about 2 minutes. Turns out the line is actually "I want to know how forever feels"! Oh. well! I figure I'll find out about forever soon enough. Isn't right now part of forever, anyway? I'm still a lot more interested in the river. Maybe tomorrow I'll know a little more about that. I'll let you know.

Give the people what they want

Yahan dulha hai
Barathee hai
  (Feeling hot hot hot)
Ab kaniya kyon nahati hai
  (Feeling hot hot hot)
Are Auntie ko chilao, kaniya ko bhi bulao
Yeh to hai badi mushkil
Dekho tute na dulha ka dil
  Kuch gadbad hai
  Kuch gadbad hai

Olé Olé, Olé Olé
Olé Olé, Olé Olé
Sab doondho
Sab doondho
Feeling hot hot hot
Feeling hot hot hot

How you feeling ?
  (Hot hot hot)
How you feeling ?
  (Hot hot hot)
How you feeling ?
  (Hot hot hot)

Beta iska to gora hai
  (Feeling hot hot hot)
Papa iska kyon kala hai
  (Feeling hot hot hot)
Na Na Na Na pucho na aise baath
Chale jayegi yeh barat
Yahan gadbad ghotala hai
Baby daal mein kala hai
  Kuch gadbad hai
  Kuch gadbad hai

Olé Olé, Olé Olé
Olé Olé, Olé Olé
Feeling hot hot hot
Feeling hot hot hot

Olé Olé, Olé Olé
Olé Olé, Olé Olé
Feeling hot hot hot
Feeling hot hot hot

Olé Olé, Olé Olé
Olé Olé, Olé Olé

All Systems Go

Commencing countdown....

From MoveOn.org:

President Bush demonstrated in his speech to the United Nations yesterday that he's still unwilling to admit anything's wrong in Iraq, or to seriously ask for help in rebuilding it. With an $87 billion request for more Iraq funds on the table, we need Congress to make the President face up to the facts. Help us reach 250,000 signers on our petition calling on Congress to hold the President and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld accountable at:

   http://www.moveon.org/firerumsfeld/

We're already at 196,000 signers -- if you sign yourself and pass this message on to friends, we can make it to 250,000 by the end of the week.

Costs in Iraq are spiraling -- a Congressional estimate now places the full cost of the war for the U.S. in the hundreds of billions of dollars. (1) Months after President Bush landed on an aircraft carrier and declared "Mission Accomplished," soldiers are dying by the day. (2) Attacks are increasing, and a recent Defense Department report leaked to the New York Times indicates that they are fueled more by the resentment of ordinary Iraqis than by Saddam loyalists. (3) And many Iraqis still lack the electricity and security that they had before the war. (4)

If President Bush and his administration won't face up to the egregious mistakes they've made in Iraq, it's Congress's responsibility to hold them accountable. Congress can't fire the President, but it can condition further funding of military occupation and reconstruction on a real plan that will get us out of this mess. That should include finding a Defense Secretary who is up to the job and willing to work with the international community.

You can tell Congress to do its job now at:

   http://www.moveon.org/firerumsfeld/

A brief survey of the press on the President's speech provides a clear picture of how big an opportunity the President has missed.

AT U.N., BUSH IS CRITICIZED OVER IRAQ

Washington Post, 9/24/03
Bush's remarks, which barely mentioned the U.S. need for additional funds and troops in Iraq, were an indication that the administration has reduced its hopes that a new U.N. Security Council resolution would bring it substantial relief. The administration proposed a new resolution last month, and the White House had planned today's speech by Bush to mark its passage. But the U.S. draft has run up against strong opposition, and France and other nations have used its appearance as an opportunity to reopen a debate on the administration's policy of preemption.

--------------------------------

BUSH'S U.N. SPEECH GETS SCATHING REVIEWS ON CAPITOL HILL

New York Times, 9/23/03
"I think the president lost an opportunity," Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the minority leader, told reporters. "He came before the international community and he could have made the case for more troops, for more resources. He didn't do that."

Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, another White House hopeful, called the speech an "11th-hour, half-hearted appeal" delivered in an "I told you so" tone that makes it more difficult to secure international help in Iraq.

"He missed an opportunity once again to unite the world against terrorism and rekindle relationships with our longtime allies," Mr. Graham said.

--------------------------------

U.S. URGED TO MODIFY APPROACH TO POSTWAR IRAQ

EXPERTS FAVOR STRIPPING PENTAGON OF CONTROL

Washington Post, 9/24/03
"Proceeding on the current path will mean throwing good money after bad," testified J. Brian Atwood, head of the U.S. Agency for International Development in the Clinton administration. "We already have wasted precious moments. The only way to overcome the very poor beginning we have made in Iraq is to fundamentally change our approach."

Atwood favors giving the United Nations responsibility for key civilian operations and transferring control over reconstruction from the Pentagon to the State Department and USAID. Reconstruction and political and economic development, he said, "are not part of the Pentagon's playbook."

James Dobbins, a former U.S. emissary to Bosnia, Somalia and Afghanistan, called the Defense Department's responsibility for civilian efforts an "obstacle" to the international contributions the administration wants.

--------------------------------

We need Congress to make the President face the facts on Iraq. Join the call right now at:

   http://www.moveon.org/firerumsfeld/

Sincerely,
--Carrie, Eli, Joan, Noah, Peter, Wes, and Zack
  The MoveOn Team
  September 24th, 2003

Sources:

(1) Republicans Look for Ways to Cut Iraq Costs
(2) Forces: U.S. & Coalition/Casualties
(3) Iraqis' Bitterness Is Called Bigger Threat Than Terror
(4) Iraqis Negative About Bush's U.N. Speech

Let Your Soul And Spirit Fly

Too late to stop now....
Van Morrison "Into the Mystic"

We were born [borne?] before the wind
Also younger than the sun
And the bonnie boat was one [won?]
As we sailed into the mystic

I rode a few miles today in Winston-Salem in preparation for this weekend's towpath century. I'd planned to ride 25-35 miles, but mother nature had other ideas:

That was around mile 3 of my ride! The streams are all swollen around here right now, so I might have known, but my weather check had come up clean, so I was a little surprised! I thought of backtracking to the last road crossing and trying to go around, but I met some other riders who told me the rest of the trail would also be either submerged or a mud pie.

Fortunately, I noticed a sign on my way back. The sign read "Strollway". I stopped. I read more. Turns out, it's a bike/pedestrian path connecting Old Salem with downtown Winston. Why not? I thought. Turns out it's kind of steep*. And features a number of dangerous road crossings, all without any kind of signs. Still, it's pretty! And I did put in a few miles, even if they weren't at all what I was expecting.

Afterwards, I went to Sears and got the remaining tools I'm supposed to have (but didn't). Tomorrow I'm going to the bike shop for a final check-up. Then, there'll be nothing left but to drive 600 miles — and to ride 100.

Could be worse

* Welcome to Midwestern Humor 101 - Understatement. Maintain deadpan tone at all times. No matter what you're describing, play it down. Example:

Farmer 1: I heard you guys had some rough weather last night.
Farmer 2: Yep, it was a little bit windy. Took the roof off the house. Still, not much of a twister, though.

The News Today, Oh Boy

Arctic Ice breakup

The largest ice shelf in the Arctic, a solid feature for 3,000 years, has broken up, scientists in the United States and Canada said Monday. They said the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, on the north coast of Ellesmere Island in Canada’s Nunavut territory, broke into two main parts, themselves cut through with fissures. A freshwater lake drained into the sea, the researchers reported.

[full story]

Desert Storm Vets Face Increased Risk Of ALS

Veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf War were at least twice as likely to be diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease as non-Gulf veterans or other people younger than 45, according to studies published Monday.

The findings, reached separately, came almost two years after Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi decided, based on early findings, that the VA would offer health care and other survivor benefits to Gulf War veterans with Lou Gehrig's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. That marked the first time the government acknowledged a scientific link between service in the Gulf and a specific disease

[full story]

How a regular guy gets homeless

This story gave me the chills. But don't worry, folks. The stock market's doing fine!

It's not all gloom and doom. Really! Here's one other bit of good news:

Clark tied with Bush in poll

Retired Army Gen. Wesley K. Clark, who jumped into the presidential race just a week ago, is leading the nine other Democratic candidates and tied with President Bush in a head-to-head matchup, according to a new CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll.

[full story]

Music In My Head

• Split Enz — "I Got You"
• Banda Blanca — "Hot Hot Hot" (12" remix 4:55)
• Bina Mistry — "Hot Hot Hot" (Hindi mix 4:05)
• Prince — "When Doves Cry"
• Rob Zombie — "Dragula" (Hot Rod Herman remix 4:35)

I checked out the news, but didn't feel compelled to comment on much. I'll make but one exception.

R.I.P. Galileo, 1989-2003