Island Richards

A mentor once told me, speaking of the Republican Party, “This isn’t a religion for me. I’m a Republican because it’s the party that I believe is best suited to promote my values and my vision. If it stops being that party, I’ll find another one.” The abandonment of Dede Scozzafava by the conservative voters in her district is that threat put into action. If the Republican Party has moved so far away from its conservative base that it has turned to promoting liberals like Scozzafava over real conservatives, simply because they think they have a better chance of winning an election, then it is time for a change.

One of the fundamental issues that I have with today’s Republican Party is that we allow ourselves to be defined by liberals and the liberal press rather than defining ourselves. As a former county party chairman, I had to live with county and state by-laws that forbade party officials from endorsing candidates in the primaries. It never happened in my county, but the fact that I might have one day been forced to officially support a liberal candidate always festered in the back of my mind.

The problem is that the National Republican Party, together with state and local parties, spend more time, money and effort trying to include everyone in the “big tent” than they do standing by the core conservative values that should be guiding them. I can understand how easy it is to fall into the trap of believing the goal is to elect people with R’s at the end of their names. Obviously, without enough R’s the party loses majority control of government, but this ignores the reality that control by Republicans isn’t the real goal. The real goal is holding our nation true to the conservative principles by which it was created.

Talk Radio personality Andrew Wilkow likes to say, “Individual Patriot first. Conservative second. Republican third.” What he means is that it is our first duty to be individuals who support our country, that we can do that best by living and promoting our conservative principles, and that the Republican Party is the currently the best tool that we have to do it with. If the Republican Party ceases to be the best tool for that job, then we are left with a couple choices. We can throw out the tool and get a new one, or we can refurbish our current tool and make it work how it’s supposed to.

Throwing out the tool would mean abandoning the Republican Party altogether and forming or joining a third party. This is a difficult course to follow, but it isn’t unheard of. There have been several ruling political parties throughout our history including Democrat-Republicans (one party, not the same as todays), Federalists, Whigs, Democrats, Republicans and dozens of smaller parties that exist in smaller numbers around the nation. It might be rare in our national history for a new party to come out of obscurity and take power at the federal level, and it is a difficult proposition, but it’s not impossible.

Refurbishing the current tool is the more likely scenario and would mean bringing the Republican Party back into line with its historical conservative principles. In order to forward those principles, we need to elect conservative Republicans. Not liberal Republicans. Not moderate Republicans. Conservative Republicans. Conservatives must retake control of the Party at all levels — from local precincts, to the statewide parties, to the National Republican Party. To succeed, we will have to make a stand against mediocrity, and so called moderates, and refuse to vote for or fund candidates that don’t truly represent us, regardless of whether or not they registered as Republicans. The first battle we face is to get conservative candidates nominated in the primaries, and only then can we carry those candidates through to victory in the general elections. We have to make our voices be heard loud and clear, and not allow the biased liberal press agencies decide which candidates are going to win our support.

I think that conservatives will benefit most by using third parties to force change in the Republican Party. By selectively abandoning the Republican Party, conservatives can bring about enough pressure on party leaders to force them to rethink which candidates they will endorse and support in the future. By supporting independent and third party candidates that more accurately represent our conservative values and principles, as the people of New York’s 23rd Congressional district have done, we can send the GOP a message about what kind of candidates we will accept. Give us a real conservative candidate to support, and we will. Send us a wishy-washy liberal like Dede Scozzafava? We’re gone. If we do it consistently, each and every time, the Republican Party will figure out that they should only send us candidates that share our values. Anything else will be a waste of our time, their money, and an erosion of their power base.

By regaining control of our party, and only supporting candidates that we want to support, we can define the Republican Party ourselves instead of letting the liberals and the liberal press define it for us. If the Republican Party continues to allow the likes of Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe to carry our endorsement, then there is no reason for us to continue to be Republicans. We can throw our support behind a third party like New York’s State Conservative Party, or start a new one. If the Republican Party can retool, however, and show us that they can send us honest-to-goodness, conservative candidates, then we can continue to be part of the Grand Old Party. If we lose a few races in order to cement that position, then so be it. I would rather have a Democrat in office that we can challenge straight up in the next election than a sponge like Arlen Specter who sucks the party coffers dry, while voting with the Democrats anyway, and keeping the party from endorsing a real conservative candidate.

Conservatives are going to regain control of this country’s future and hold our country true to its conservative roots, regardless of the tools we use. The Republican Party just needs to decide whether it’s going to be the best tool for that job, or just a tool.

President Obama recently commented that the reason American K-12 education is falling behind other industrialized nations is because kids don’t spend enough time in school. His plan to save our education system from its slow death spiral is simple: on a national basis we should make school days longer and extend the average school year into more of the summer months. Really? The answer to returning our school systems to their once greater glory is to force our children to sit through even more hours upon hours of the liberal indoctrinal drivel that has displaced real teaching in our nations schools? Give me a break. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The spine of our public education system is broken, and no amount of Federal intervention is ever going to fix it. Why? Because it is the full weight of the U.S. Department of Education riding our education system pony style that broke it in the first place. Want to know how to fix it? Read on.

Primary school in open air. Teacher (priest) with class from the outskirts of Bucharest, around 1842.

Before we do anything, we as parents must step back and take stock of the fact that it is our individual responsibility to provide a quality education to our children, not the responsibility of the government. School districts were formed as tools to allow communities to pool their resources in order to assist parents in meeting that responsibility. The current system, which is governed by federal regulations and union contracts, has perverted that original purpose and replaced it with a behemoth of a machine whose goals have more to do with societization than education. The very school systems that we created to assist us have now usurped us, and dictate to us how our children should be taught instead of the other way around. The education of our children is our own individual responsibility. It easy to ignore that fact, but until we face it again as a people our education system is doomed.

What do we do about it? Simple. We take it back.

First of all, the U.S. Department of Education as it exists today needs to be abandoned. The federal government has no place in our public education system, and the very existence of this bloated, rotting bureaucracy is a slap in the face of every student, parent, teacher, administrator and locally elected school board member in America. Our school boards are elected by us to manage a school system that is owned by us, and they need to act that way. When the federal government decides that they are in charge, the elected members of our school boards have to stand resolute and do what they were elected to do. Represent us. If they won’t, they must be replaced. The U.S. Department of Education won’t go away on its own, but if communities across the nation turn their backs on them, and ignore them, they will become functionally impotent, with no more hold on our schools.

Part of the reason the U.S. Department of Education has gained such a stranglehold on our failing school system is that we became lazy. It’s too easy to sit at home, complaining that the system is a mess, and wondering when the government is going to fix it. As parents we have to hold our schools accountable again, and not to some federal agency, to us. We entrust our children to the school system because we believe that the specially trained teachers employed there are better able to teach our children, but how do we know? What do these people actually teach our kids? Reading? Writing? Math? Arguable considering the trending test results. Volunteerism? Activism? Socialism? Those seem to be common themes, but again, how do we know?

It is time that we demand an accurate accounting of everything that our educators are teaching our children. Every teacher must be required to inform every parent of what they intend to teach our children in their classrooms. Their syllabuses and talking points should be posted publicly, and be subject to parental review. If a teacher plans to spend their hour teaching my child how to solve simple algebraic equations, then the pre-class report will be nice and simple. A copy of the worksheet can be posted online on that class’s web page. If a teacher plans to explain to my child why a single payer health care system is preferable to a free market system, then they can post those talking points to the website as well. If the teacher plans to spend their hour teaching the proper construction of a functional irrigation system and instead the conversation turns to the effects of federal endangered species regulations on the local economy, that can be posted to the online class notes, too. These online class notes can be preserved year to year and be a tool for parents to decide what kind of a person they want teaching their kids. If we read them and find that a particular teacher manages to turn daily discussions of Shakespearean literature into daily discussions about the benefits of strong labor unions, we will be able to make educated decisions as parents as to whether or not this is the kind of person we want educating our children.

I know…you teachers out there are reading this and are up-in-arms right now screaming at me that we have no right to hold your occupation under a microscope. Too bad. You chose a profession where your actions will have a profound effect on the direction of the lives of our children. My children. And I want a say in how that education is provided. If putting your occupation under a microscope is the only way to do that, then so be it.

These are simple but important things that we can do to return our education system to its greater glory. Take back control of our childrens’ education from the federal government. Require adequate representation from the school board members that we elect to steward our schools. Demand accountability and transparency from our teachers. Not so tough, right?

Remember, your child’s education is your responsibility, and the school system is nothing more than a tool to help you provide your child the best education that you can. We can sharpen that tool, we can throw the tool out and get a new one, or we can throw the tool out for good and teach our kids at home. In the end, it’s our call. Either way, arbitrarily lengthening school days and school years on a national basis is just face makeup and yet another ploy to keep the power out of our hands and keep it in the hands of government.  That’s what got us into this educational conundrum in the first place.

First of all, Teresa and I planned to do this ride on Saturday, September 26, but we got lost. Well, we weren’t actually lost, we always knew where we were, but I made the mistake of trusting the navigation system in Teresa’s Cadillac to get us to the trail head. It took us on the South side of the Mountain that the trail is on top of to within 5 miles of the trail head, but where it fell short was in the fact that there was no road from there that would take us straight up into the wilderness to where we were going. Then, when I asked it for another route, it took us 20 miles or so around the West side of the mountain, where it directed us to get on a primitive Jeep trail that would take us up to the top. That wasn’t going to happen, and now we were some 60 miles out of our way. So we backtracked along the way we had came, and decided to try another high country trail instead that was closer to where we actually were. To make a long story short, we never found that trail head either and ended up just spending an hour or so riding some ATV 2-track. We saw some beautiful country, found a few new places, but overall it was not a good day for riding

Day two went a little better. Coming from the North side of the mountains you get to Turkey Flats by going through the Colorado National Monument and through Glade Park. From the Glade Park Store you head South on 16 1/2 Road for 10 miles to the trailhead, which is really pretty easy to find if you start out on the right side of the mountain.

The trail route that we took started at the Turkey Flats trail head and followed varied single track for about 3 miles where it intersected a fire road. Most of this is a steady climb, with a few spring crossings, and some rocks and roots. The only real bad part of this section of trail is where it is worn down 8-10 inches below grade with only a 8-12 inch wide path which made pedaling all but impossible. At about 1 1/2 miles, the trail forks in Haypress Meadow. We stayed left here, and returned on the right hand spur. At about three miles we intersected with the fire road. A right turn and a mile of climbing on the fire road took us to a reservoir that is currently being rebuilt and the Glory trail head. This is where this trail gets nasty. Can you say hike-a-bike? These next couple of miles were basically a grueling hike up the side of a mountain.

Climb. Climb. Then more climbing for two miles. I have to give Teresa credit — she never cussed at me one time, and she didn’t call me one nasty name. One time, she came around a bend and saw yet another climb and said, “You have got to be kidding me,” but she never resorted to violence. At the top (finally) the trail intersected with an ATV road that meandered for about a mile before intersecting with the Haypress trail head. From here it is 1 1/2 miles of screaming downhill to the Turkey flats fork in Haypress meadow, and then another 1 1/2 miles of downhill back along the Turkey Flats trail to the trail head for a total ride of about 10 miles.

Overall this was a fun trail, but it is a long grueling climb for the short payoff. Technically, I would call this an intermediate level trail, but you better be in pretty good shape if you want to enjoy it, because this is anything but a leisurely ride through the woods. Also keep in mind that you will be in the wilderness, and far from civilization. Supply yourself accordingly. I’d recommend a flashlight, a two-way radio, a hand held GPS and a space blanket, because you don’t want to be caught out here unprepared.

On the upside, this place is absolutely beautiful. The trail took us through miles of aspen groves in full fall color, along with gorgeous meadows and dark pine forests. While we didn’t see much wildlife on the trail, we did see deer, wild turkey, and big horn sheep in the surrounding area, and the drive in and out through the Monument is also enjoyable.

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Turkey Flats Trail These pics are from Turkey Flats Trail and the surrounding area.

– 27-Sep-2009 11:23 – SAMSUNG SCH-i910, F 2.8, 4.507mm, 0.00255102 sec, ISO 50	– 25-Sep-2009 04:24 – , F 3.5, 6.18mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 80	– 25-Sep-2009 04:25 – , F 4.5, 6.18mm, 0.0025 sec, ISO 80
– 25-Sep-2009 04:25 – , F 4.5, 6.18mm, 0.0025 sec, ISO 80	– 25-Sep-2009 04:26 – , F 5.6, 6.18mm, 0.0025 sec, ISO 80	– 25-Sep-2009 04:28 – , F 4.5, 11.75mm, 0.0015625 sec, ISO 100
– 25-Sep-2009 04:35 – , F 4.5, 6.18mm, 0.003125 sec, ISO 80	– 25-Sep-2009 04:40 – , F 5.6, 6.18mm, 0.0025 sec, ISO 80	– 25-Sep-2009 04:41 – , F 5.6, 24.7mm, 0.003125 sec, ISO 80
– 25-Sep-2009 06:26 – , F 4.5, 11.75mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 80	– 25-Sep-2009 06:26 – , F 3.5, 6.18mm, 0.0015625 sec, ISO 80	– 25-Sep-2009 06:27 – , F 3.5, 6.18mm, 0.0125 sec, ISO 80
– 25-Sep-2009 06:27 – , F 3.5, 6.18mm, 0.0125 sec, ISO 80	– 25-Sep-2009 07:14 – , F 4.5, 6.18mm, 0.0015625 sec, ISO 100	– 25-Sep-2009 07:15 – , F 4.5, 6.18mm, 0.003125 sec, ISO 80
– 25-Sep-2009 07:15 – , F 3.5, 6.18mm, 0.0025 sec, ISO 125	– 25-Sep-2009 07:15 – , F 5.6, 11.38mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 160	– 25-Sep-2009 08:22 – , F 4.5, 6.18mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 80
– 25-Sep-2009 08:22 – , F 4.5, 6.18mm, 0.003125 sec, ISO 80	– 25-Sep-2009 08:22 – , F 5.6, 6.18mm, 0.0025 sec, ISO 80	– 25-Sep-2009 08:23 – , F 4.5, 6.18mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 80
– 26-Sep-2009 07:44 – , F 5.6, 6.18mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 80	– 26-Sep-2009 07:44 – , F 5.6, 6.18mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 80	– 26-Sep-2009 07:44 – , F 7.1, 6.18mm, 0.0015625 sec, ISO 80
– 26-Sep-2009 08:34 – , F 3.5, 6.18mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 80	– 26-Sep-2009 08:34 – , F 3.5, 6.18mm, 0.01666666 sec, ISO 80	– 26-Sep-2009 08:35 – , F 4.6, 24.7mm, 0.00625 sec, ISO 125
– 26-Sep-2009 08:48 – , F 4.5, 6.18mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 80	– 26-Sep-2009 08:49 – , F 3.5, 6.18mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 80	– 26-Sep-2009 08:49 – , F 4.5, 6.18mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 80
– 26-Sep-2009 09:14 – , F 5.6, 24.7mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 80	– 26-Sep-2009 09:14 – , F 5.6, 24.7mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 80	– 26-Sep-2009 09:15 – , F 5.6, 24.7mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 80
– 26-Sep-2009 09:54 – , F 4.5, 6.18mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 80	– 26-Sep-2009 09:54 – , F 4.5, 6.18mm, 0.00625 sec, ISO 80	– 26-Sep-2009 09:55 – , F 4.5, 6.18mm, 0.0025 sec, ISO 80
– 26-Sep-2009 10:02 – , F 3.5, 6.18mm, 0.0125 sec, ISO 80	– 26-Sep-2009 10:02 – , F 4.5, 6.18mm, 0.003125 sec, ISO 80	– 26-Sep-2009 10:03 – , F 4, 15.01mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 100
– 26-Sep-2009 10:03 – , F 4.6, 24.7mm, 0.00625 sec, ISO 200	– 26-Sep-2009 10:14 – , F 4.6, 24.7mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 400	– 26-Sep-2009 10:14 – , F 4.6, 24.7mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 400
– 26-Sep-2009 10:16 – , F 3.5, 6.18mm, 0.00625 sec, ISO 160	– 26-Sep-2009 10:17 – , F 4.6, 24.7mm, 0.02 sec, ISO 400	– 26-Sep-2009 10:17 – , F 4.6, 24.7mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 200
– 26-Sep-2009 10:18 – , F 4.6, 24.7mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 200	– 26-Sep-2009 10:27 – , F 4.6, 24.7mm, 0.01666666 sec, ISO 400	– 26-Sep-2009 11:16 – , F 5.6, 24.7mm, 0.003125 sec, ISO 80
– 26-Sep-2009 11:18 – , F 4.5, 8.43mm, 0.0015625 sec, ISO 80	– 26-Sep-2009 11:19 – , F 4.5, 6.18mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 80	– 26-Sep-2009 11:21 – , F 4.5, 18.61mm, 0.00625 sec, ISO 80
– 26-Sep-2009 11:21 – , F 4.5, 13.14mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 80	– 26-Sep-2009 12:59 – , F 4.6, 24.7mm, 0.00625 sec, ISO 200	– 26-Sep-2009 12:59 – , F 4.6, 24.7mm, 0.00625 sec, ISO 160
– 26-Sep-2009 13:00 – , F 4.6, 24.7mm, 0.00625 sec, ISO 100	– 26-Sep-2009 13:00 – , F 4.6, 24.7mm, 0.01666666 sec, ISO 80	– 26-Sep-2009 13:01 – , F 4.6, 24.7mm, 0.00625 sec, ISO 200
– 26-Sep-2009 13:01 – , F 4.6, 24.7mm, 0.00625 sec, ISO 160	– 26-Sep-2009 13:01 – , F 4.6, 24.7mm, 0.00625 sec, ISO 320	– 26-Sep-2009 13:06 – , F 3.5, 6.18mm, 0.0015625 sec, ISO 80
– 26-Sep-2009 13:07 – , F 4.5, 6.18mm, 0.0015625 sec, ISO 100	– 26-Sep-2009 13:09 – , F 4, 17.83mm, 0.0015625 sec, ISO 125	– 26-Sep-2009 13:10 – , F 5.6, 24.7mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 80
– 26-Sep-2009 13:10 – , F 4, 11.75mm, 0.0015625 sec, ISO 125	– 26-Sep-2009 13:11 – , F 5.6, 24.7mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 80	– 26-Sep-2009 13:11 – , F 5.6, 23.07mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 80
– 26-Sep-2009 13:30 – , F 4.5, 20.33mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 200	– 26-Sep-2009 13:31 – , F 4.6, 24.7mm, 0.00625 sec, ISO 320	– 26-Sep-2009 13:34 – , F 4, 11.03mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 200
– 26-Sep-2009 13:34 – , F 3.5, 6.18mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 160	– 26-Sep-2009 13:34 – , F 3.5, 10.07mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 160	– 26-Sep-2009 13:35 – , F 3.5, 6.18mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 80
– 26-Sep-2009 13:35 – , F 4.6, 24.7mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 400	– 26-Sep-2009 13:36 – , F 3.5, 6.18mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 160	– 26-Sep-2009 13:39 – , F 3.5, 6.18mm, 0.003125 sec, ISO 160
– 26-Sep-2009 13:40 – , F 4, 13.3mm, 0.0125 sec, ISO 250	– 26-Sep-2009 13:41 – , F 4, 10.49mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 200	– 26-Sep-2009 13:51 – , F 3.5, 6.18mm, 0.02 sec, ISO 160
– 26-Sep-2009 13:51 – , F 3.5, 6.18mm, 0.01666666 sec, ISO 160	– 26-Sep-2009 13:51 – , F 4.6, 24.7mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 400	– 26-Sep-2009 13:52 – , F 4.6, 24.7mm, 0.02 sec, ISO 400

From greenriverbikepark.com >>

Volunteer Bike Park Builder Weekend- Hilride is coming back to town to offer a second bike park builder training. Volunteers are needed! Download the flyer for all the details and spread the word!!

Download the Volunteer Builder Waiver and bring it with you.

Please come prepared with sturdy shoes (boots preferred) and gloves.

Materials and supplies are still needed. Visit the Donations Page for the complete list.

Well, AT&T doesn’t have any local service in Rock Springs, and I don’t have an address in any market that does, and I definitely can’t afford to buy a factory unlocked iPhone for $1000+ so I went for the next best thing and got one a new iPod Touch. No camera, and no 3G, but with a WiFi hotspot I can use it as a Skype phone, use it to keep track Facebook, update my twitter accounts, and even post to my blogs. Is it everything I wanted? No. But it will due for now. With AT&T’s iPhone exclusive ending next year, there is a chance that Apple will go multicarrier and Verizon will carry it, and there is also the chance that AT&T will expand into this market. A lot of ifs, I know, but it’s all I’ve got for now.