Rolling Stone and Resignation

Regarding General Stanley McChrystal's resignation, I have a few questions:

1. Why would someone of his responsible level make the comments reported in the article to a reporter?
2. What really happened? Did people investigate and verify the information to find out if it was accurate and true?
3. How does a reporter justify reporting information that will end someone's career? And then feel OK about that? What motivates that level of reporting, or was this a whistle-blowing report of some sort?

I am sad to see a career end this way and curious to know the whole story. Kind of military verbal suicide, so there must be more to this story.

Can we get a weather widget in the right column of the blog for Pico Rivera, CA please? Things might be a little hotter on this side o' the Calahari-like San Gabriel riverbed.

A cool thing about riding my bike to work along that man controlled drainage ditch is the changing ecosystem. When a solid rain falls and periodically through Spring as the snow at Baldy's tip runs down Azusa Canyon and floods the concrete, the pools become a haven for birds. Egrets and several other pencil-thin stemmed birds wade in to feed on river critters while Canadian geese gather and conspire to take off in a V. Gulls in hundreds if not thousands dangle and gossip. Ducks, jet-black birds with vermillion shoulders, tennis-ball colored finches, screeching Parrots, Falcons smaller than a grapefruit, semi-circled turkey vultures picking at a dead pit bull just beyond the fog...

The growth of meadowlike foliage with brilliant yellow flowers and lush green vegetation provide a pretty landscape for a few short weeks.

The changing climate allows fleeting moments of plenty for the animals, which all move on as the sun gains stamina. It must be difficult on the people who live under the bridges where the river meets Lower Azusa and the 10. At times there are signs of people between Peck and up much of the way. Half-heartedly hidden tents amid the mid-river trees, apparel spread along the rocks near a drainage, a trophy, a desk, cigarette packs, a bike, a tattered lawn-chair, cans; there are people living and functioning without a roof.

Along the trail I pass some of the same people, headed for vocation in the opposite direction. I make sure to say hi to each one. I pass by paísas on horse-back who always offer a proud wave, along the stretch of stalwart urban ranches that line the trail. There are horses, ponies and miniature cows that have remarkably long horns for their diminutive frames, with chickens, mutts and pest-control cats peppered in between. Seemingly suicidal ground squirrels, rabbits and fence lizards dart immediately in front of my bike on the path, each time narrowly escaping without incident.

I take the surface streets beginning with Ramona. Then a right on Maxson, cut over on Killian or Emery, right on Cogswell and I pass several streets where my Dad once lived. The neighborhood is not like when his family lived there. There are many pedestrians scouting for recyclables, teens out strolling who ought to be in a classroom and "gentleman's" clubs are conspicuous. Liquor stores, payday advances, discount shoe stores dispensing Jordans that cost a paycheck... all-pervasive graffiti. Soon-to-be fathers will some day marvel at how the same neighborhood has further changed in a generation.

I arrive ten minutes early in Monrovia, to cool down and tidy up a bit before walking in to work. Even with minimal sign that I have been doing cardio, people seem puzzled that I would choose to ride my bike to work...

World Cup Action

U-S-A...U-S-A...! Hope you were all watching when Team USA won their World Cup match today and moved on to the next level. It was a goal by Donovan at the 90 +2 min. point in the match against Algeria. So next week it will be USA in the World Cup AND the Tour de France begins. (Almost late getting Steve to his post-op check with his opthamologist with all this excitement!) See you all next week!

~ Confucius

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall."

Earthquake~

Beat you to it.

I ate a breakfast burrito today and the last three days I've worked. I took yesterday off because I work Saturday. The pre-cooked sausage patties I received as part of my monthly food pantry assistance go well wrapped in a tortilla with eggs, cheese and salsa from Superior.

My mechanical horse awaits me in the garage. 7:32 departure time. One hour and ten minutes to ride to work in Monrovia.

June gloom has settled nicely, making morning bike rides very pleasant.

I redesigned a flyer to recruit volunteers for our Back-to-School event at the Santa Anita Race Track coming this August. It is time to recruit new members for Toastmasters meetings which happen weekly. In a vacuum, I was elected to "Sargent at Arms," a silly title that sounds really tough.

I stuck out like a sore thumb at the $75-a-plate Golden Plate Awards Gala last Thursday, also at the track. It was a ritzy event with a lot of Foothill area power players in attendance.

My cell phone is still somehow connected and in my pocket, but not for long. I am not sure who would be more inconvenienced when I remove myself from the wireless network of hand-held tweeters: myself or the advertisers who so eagerly want to connect me to the worldwide advertising Web...

Ooops. Time to depart...