INTERESTING TIMES

Statistics show that the "stroke belt" is also where you have the highest likelihood (in the US) of dying of cardiovascular and lower respiratory disease (smoking), cancer and accidents. Obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome are probable causes, but what about accidents? Why do southerners have the most accidents? Bless their dangerous little hearts....

SOURCE
http://consumer.healthday.com/cardiovascular-health-information-20/heart-attack-news-357/southeastern-states-have-highest-number-of-preventable-deaths-687436.html

Perhaps you thought the Republican Party was dead. Maybe you think the Ron Paul Revolution is over. Nope, not over. Not dead. There is hope for the Republican Party, but is does not lie with the assholes that bow to Rush Limbaugh. They have to go, and we are going to replace them. There are some ethical and intelligent Republicans coming into their own. We need some reasonable voices to balance the resurgent liberal wave that is sweeping congress with the dominance of the Democratic Party. Someone needs to speak for basic conservative principles---instead of the incumbent Republicans' strategy of ludricrous and pointless obstructionism.

What surprised Ron Paul on his recent presidential run was how many citizens were listening, donating, and endorsing his ideas on how to run a nation. The support for the Revolution was substantial enough to begin the process of organizing a new political force. In this fertile ground several younger and better-looking candidates (no insult intended) have begun to campaign on Constitutional government and financial responsibility. Two are doctors, two are military men, and one is an economist. Seems like it would benefit us to elect them all.
( Check out the four candidates, and let your friends in these states know that there is an alternative to whoever they've got in office. )

Every time I talk with certain old friends, we trade stories from our years of working and playing on the river. I have so many such stories that when someone asks me to tell them a story, I have trouble selecting a single one to tell. I have long thought that I should tell those stories in my journal. So I will begin. Mind you, many of these stories have no particular beginning, end, or point. They are simply stories. Here's the first one.

First, here is a picture of the rapid Jawbone at somewhat lower water than the level on the day of my story:

( The day I checked out on the mighty Chattooga, Section IV: random reminiscence... )