A Good Man Gone

July 8, 2008 in Wyoming

by jhwygirl

Bill Paddleford was a good man.

While we didn’t always agree, I considered him a good friend. It was a hard way to go for someone who had done so much good.

Prayers to his wife and friends.

Godspeed Bill, Godspeed.

Send the Kids to Camp

July 8, 2008 in Environment, Montana

by jhwygirl

For a whole week, including food and lodging (and whitewater rafting and rock hounding and bugs and trees and bears, Oh My!), for $175, or less if you hit up the local Conservation District for some student aid?

Hell, I’m betting there’s some parents that are willing to pay twice that by now…..

This came to me via a friend in Powell County:

MSU Extension Forestry would like to promote the 22nd Annual Montana Natural Resources Youth Camp, July 20th-25th, 2008 to interested students ages 14-18.

The future decisions of how our natural resources will be managed will bemade by the youth of today. For more than 20 years, the Montana Natural Resources Youth Camp has provided youth an opportunity to study in an outdoor classroom the scientific principles, economic realities, historical heritage, and social perspectives of today, to help these future leaders in their quest to gain a natural resources perspective that is informed and progressive.

Campers spend one week (July 20-25, 2008 ) in the rustic setting of the Lubrecht Experimental Forest east of Missoula and learn about Montana’s natural resources. Campers learn about forestry, water, soils, geology, range, wildlife, and recreation, and spend a half-day rafting the Alberton Gorge of the Clark Fork River.

In between the field sessions, taught largely by professionals that volunteer from a variety of natural resources based agencies and industries, specialty evening programs, guest speakers, hands-on
learning-through-discovery, and campfires provide for a lasting summer camp experience.

Student teams also compete in a Land-Use-Game where they manage a 3,400 acre ranch for 20 years. As in real life teams must make hard choices between profits and conservation ethics, especially if they face poor commodity prices. Most students enjoy the competition and have the typical reaction of “Wow, I never knew that making a living by managing land was so hard.”

Enrollment is open now and campers are accepted on a first-come basis. The full cost of the camp is $175.00 which includes meals, supplies, and lodging. Campers are encouraged to contact their local Conservation District for sponsorship which will cover much of the camp cost.

Click here for the camp website.
Click here for a neato camp poster.
This link will get you to registration information….and this link takes you to information on how to contact your local conservation district.

Dude, where’s my brain?

July 8, 2008 in Media

by Jay Stevens

I have to say, Jonah Goldberg’s latest column in the LATimes sure is a head-scratcher, in which he compares Obama’s call for national service to…hold on!…slavery!

There’s a weird irony at work when Sen. Barack Obama, the black presidential candidate who will allegedly scrub the stain of racism from the nation, vows to run afoul of the constitutional amendment that abolished slavery.

Hilzoy:

Maybe in the schools Jonah Goldberg attended, they didn’t require things like homework, or attendance, or reading, or math. It would explain a lot. (The idea that he wasn’t asked to work his way through all those analogies in preparation for the SATs alone would probably explain most of the “arguments” in Liberal Fascism.)

Seriously, Goldberg’s argument resembles nothing so much as one of those idiotic, pot-addled, late-night conversations in a college dorm room. “Dude…national service is slavery, dude!”

There’s nothing of merit to discuss in relation to this particular column (or his book), except to point out how low the LA Times (and the NY Times with Kristol) need to stoop to present a contemporary conservative viewpoint. Or are there good conservative writers out there?