(Bark Bark Woof Woof) August 25, 1916: The National Park Service was founded. Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. How many national parks have you visited? What’s your favorite?

I’ve camped in National Forests and I’ve visited National Forests, but I’ve never been to a National Park except for the time I did a turn in the parking lot of the Voyageurs National Park when I was out on a bicycle ride. Back in the late 90s I camped up in Superior National Forest. Then, just last month Tina and I hikee the Sturgeon River Gourge Wilderness in Ottowa National Forest.

Speaking of the Sturgeon River Gourge – I’ve got pictures I’ve been meaning to post. I’ll have to get to that tonight after work.

(Washington Monthly) Most of the words that issue from Donald J. Trump’s lips are disjointed nonsense, and his recent “national security” speech was no exception. Occasionally, however, Trump utters a notion that carries a modicum of truth. As a former Army intelligence officer who served in Afghanistan, I can say that this time he was right about…

Again, when actual professionals with experience and knowledge speak, they are able to clearly identify how Trump as President would be a disaster for our country.

First, consider the domestic ramifications. Trump has publicly ridiculed the parents of a Muslim-American Army officer who died serving our country. Furthermore, Trump announced that he would create a McCarthy-esque Commission on Radical Islam that will allegedly help “expose the networks in our society that support radicalization.” In Trump’s world, Muslims are merely targets of—not true partners in—a solution to radicalization.

His divisive statements, wrongheaded policy proposals, and apparent ignorance of the vital role that Muslims in the U.S. have already played in combating terrorism by willingly reporting information to law enforcement undermine the relationships built over many years between law enforcement and Muslim communities—relationships defined by trust, not fear. With Trump as the president, how could we expect any Muslim to trust the government enough to provide information?

Supper was a bowl of cereal, a Kwik Trip carrot cake bar (meh), and potato chips with sour cream for a dip. Yup, that’s it.

Eating healthy and living the life.

Yup, it arrived. When I ordered it I was worried I was getting some hodgepodge of varies online articles thrown together by the instructor. It said loose leaf, no used books available, not rentable. What I did get was a full-blown text book, only in loose leaf pages. It’s in a binder now. I’m looking forward to starting class on September 9th!

It’s August. It’s the middle of summer. It’s 60 degrees. Tina and I are going to Brainerd for her grandsons’ birthdays. The high there is 63 degrees. Where the hell did summer go?

Trump has always struck me as a hyper active kid who gets bored with the game he’s playing before it is even half-way over. This statement in an article I’ve been reading about the new C.E.O. of his campaign seems to indicate he’s already bored with running for POTUS.

(HIVE) As smart and capable as he is, Bannon is still a political novice and thus an odd choice to run a campaign badly in need of message and organizational discipline. (He might make more sense as an executive producer of the media empire that Sarah Ellison reports Trump is eyeing as his next move, after the election.)

“Trump is eyeing as his next move, after the election.”

Explain to me again about just how serious he is in wanting to be president? He abandons most of his business enterprises just before they head south, when he can reap the most financial benefit. Just think of all the campaign contributions he is garnering. And since his financial disclosures keep changing, I’m pretty confident in saying he’s not afraid to circumvent the rules to keep money. So, any campaign finance laws in place are probably no more a barrier to him than all the other finance laws he appears to worm his way around.