tawsha chesterfield

Monday, January 28, 2013

Washington Ski Areas Enjoy Near Record Snow

With snowfall nearing record totals in many parts of Washington State, the 2012-13 ski and snowboard season is looking to be one of the best in many years. About half the average annual snowfall in the Cascades was on the ground as of mid-January, which means the season will be spectacular for ski resorts barring any late-season droughts.

Ski resort operators - like farmers - are dependent on the weather. Man-made snow can help, but there's no substitute for the fresh powder that both skiers and snowboarders so desire. There have been years when the Cascade ski resorts couldn't even get open before Christmas and then seasons that produced barely enough snow to keep the rocks covered. New skis and snowboards hate rocks.

But this year that doesn't seem to be a concern - at least not yet - as ski resort operators enjoy the benefits of having good snow and even better crowds. In North Central Washington, for example, Mission Ridge is enjoying the second most snow for the beginning of the year - ever. The Wenatchee area was hit in December and January with several storms - one local resident estimated this has been the second snowiest winter since he moved there in the mid-90s. Snow also has been good at most other Washington areas.

If you're looking for destination skiing, the best choice is Crystal Mountain, about 76 miles southeast of Seattle near Mt. Rainier. It's the only ski area in the state with ski-in, ski-out accommodations near the lifts and boasts 50 runs with a vast network of intermediate and expert terrain, but also beginner slopes to get you started. Altogether the lodging at Crystal accommodates about 700 people. There is an extra 1,000 acres of backcountry skiing at Crystal.

Another favorite is Mission Ridge, which is a semi-destination area. While no accommodations are located on the mountain, the ski area is just a few miles from a well-developed infrastructure of hotels and restaurants in the city of Wenatchee. The area's skiing is superb - a little bit drier snow than on the west side of the mountains and not quite as busy as the larger ski areas near Seattle.

Among the new developments this year at Washington ski resorts is the new partnership between Mission Ridge and the Summit at Snoqualmie that offers unlimited free midweek skiing at both ski areas for season pass holders. If you hold a pass to Mission Ridge, you can show your pass for free skiing at the Summit's three midweek areas: Summit Central, Summit West and Alpental.

According to Mission Ridge General Manager Josh Jorgensen, "this partnership gives our season pass holders a fun midweek option for exploring different terrain and parks."

Passholders for the Summit at Snoqualmie Big S Gold, Unlimited and L-T-D pass holders can present their pass for midweek skiing at Mission Ridge. There is also a free Sunday "bonus day" lift ticket on weekends when you purchase a full-priced Saturday lift ticket.

The reciprocal agreement is valid through April 7, 2013. To redeem, simply show your 2012-13 Mission Ridge season pass at any Summit ticket window on midweek days to get your lift ticket.

The big news over at Crystal Mountain is the extended spring season. Winter season will conclude April 15 and then Crystal will be open Fridays-Sundays in April and Saturdays-Sundays in May, along with Memorial Day.

At Stevens Pass, there's a new half-pipe located at the bottom of the main park and above the base of the Brooks chair. Stevens says this is the only half-pipe open in the state. Stevens is popular with Seattle-area skiers who like challenging terrain and a beautiful drive through the jagged mountains, following the Skykomish River.

Cary Ordway is a syndicated travel writer and president of Getaway Media Corp, publisher of www.californiaweekend.com, a site focusing on California travel, and www.northwesttraveladvisor.com, which features Pacific Northwest travel

Source: http://articles.submityourarticle.com/washington-ski-areas-enjoy-near-record-snow-314070

dick cheney heart umf elite eight stephon marbury the lion king suzanne collins cherry blossom festival

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Family Scrapbook: Esther Runs into a Fence! Literally

Jo Ann and Wayne moved to Tom Bean and rented a house for awhile until they got some land close to us.( I loved it) Anyway, here they were in the country and did what about everyone else does when they move from living in the city or small town. They started a garden, got animals..including a goat!? They had a house moved in and did some remodeling. aahh, is there a story in that. ?Right, sissy??? ?Why don't you write about that?

In the summer farmers wanted someone to haul hay. Our boys both would work a lot in the summer doing that. Well, that sounded interesting to them so someone close by needed their hay hauled and the only time they could do it was after work?and the field was pretty close by. It had gotten dark but I decided to go down and see them for awhile. I drove there and thought about it before I got there that when I got out of the car that I would run real fast so if there was a snake it wouldn't have time to bite me. I was?concentrating?on that and I had totally forgotten about the NEW five strand barbed wire fence that had been?put up. Oh my goodness..I got out of the car running at full speed and hit that fence with a?vengeance.?It knocked me completely on the ground.??As I lay there bleeding my thought was that a 'snake could eat me up'.??I did limp to my sissy and she was shocked to see all that blood and of course wanted to know what happened. We had some friends that lived real close to all this drama and I went to their house to wash the blood off. I was bleeding from all those barbs that had dug deep into my skin. Now, some folks have a real sick sense of humor because they laughed and laughed when they heard what happened. In fact, Lee told me later that every time Bob woke up through the night that he laughed.?Leland wasn't home when all this happened.He was on his week in the gulf. By the time he got home I had five black and blue swollen lines where each wire did it's damage and little holes where the barbs dug in. Now he probably laughed when I was out of sight but in front of me he was very?sympathetic. He never knew that after Jo Ann moved close by, just what he was going to encounter when he got home.?Note from Jo Ann: By us moving close by, what did that have to do with HER running into a fence. I was out there in the field.?

Source: http://nowandthendesignshop.blogspot.com/2013/01/esther-runs-into-fence-literally.html

cbs sports adam sandler College Football Scoreboard nfl scores nfl scores Devon Walker Tom Cruise

Dr. Peggy Drexler: Why Aren't Women Voting For Women

Many reports still show that female voters remain reluctant to vote for a woman. In an AP analysis of data from the 2006 American National Election Study Pilot Test, researchers found that when it came to selecting a candidate for president, gender matters more for women than for men. And that while women are more likely to vote for a candidate because she is female, they are also more likely to dismiss her for that very same reason.

Back in August, the ever-charming Fox News suggested this was because women voters "want a Daddy figure." Others point to a resistance against feminism, and a sense that women are themselves holding fast to the paternalistic view that they are not as good as men. Sherrye Henry wrote The Deep Divide after her own unsuccessful bid for a New York senate seat. In it, she argues that women won't support female political candidates because of the disparity between what women believe and their willingness to act on those beliefs -- the "deep divide." That is, women say they want equality, but do they really?

The truth is that double standards still exist between women and men in positions of power, and female candidates are often asked to be not only as qualified and appealing as their male counterparts, but far more so. Tiffany Dufu, president of the White House Project, a nonprofit organization committed to increasing female leadership in politics and elsewhere, has said that female voters are indeed tougher on female candidates and that, in fact, "any individual who does not fit the leadership status quo -- a man, and usually a privileged, white one has to meet a higher bar." The same divergent expectations for women versus men show up in other fields, such as medicine, where a male surgeon may be the preferred choice unless, of course, his female counterpart graduated the top of her Ivy League class, has an impeccable track record and selective patient list, and is otherwise unimpeachable.

Women, still judge other women -- simply put, continue to be judged against the standards initiated and maintained by men. And because many women therefore know quite well what it's like to feel judged, they then turn that judgment back on one another. Women are notoriously harsh towards other women, especially in the professional sense. According to a recent study by the Workplace Bullying Institute, women bully other women at work -- verbal abuse, job sabotage, misuse of authority, and destroying of relationships -- more than 70 percent of the time. Another study by Business Environment found 72 percent of women judged female coworkers based on what they wore to the office.

None of this is helped by Hollywood, which continues to perpetuate the notion of the "career" (ever hear of the "career" man) woman as a bitchy, unwomanly, Prada-wearing devil. Many of these movies, marketed largely to women, depict powerful women as, at best, something to be wary of, and at worst, something to disdain. Women want to like their female candidates. In the voting booths, do they want to support the tough, demanding boss lady they'd never invite over for dinner? Or the nurturing, motherly softy who'd get creamed on the Senate floor? Can a woman ever be both? Can she be neither? Unfortunately it's been hard to convince voters that women aren't necessarily one or the other: good at their jobs or likable.

Of course, women's resistance to female candidates could also be owing to how she looks. It's pointless to argue that looks don't matter. In her groundbreaking 1999 book, Survival of the Prettiest, Harvard Medical School psychologist Nancy Etcoff argued that good-looking people get better jobs, are better paid, and have an easier time in life. Evolutionarily speaking, pretty people win. Science confirms this as it relates to politics: A 2006 study from the University of Helsinki looked at the role of beauty in politics and found that the better-looking the candidate, the more competent, trustworthy, and likeable he or she was perceived to be.

The study also looked at male candidates, but again, the stakes are higher for women, who are judged if they're unattractive and then judged if they do something about it. Just look at Nancy Pelosi: Bright-eyed in her early 70s, the "glamorous grandma" -- as the press have dubbed her in articles that continue to focus nearly as much on her face as on her politics -- has endured ridicule for preternaturally dewy skin and eyebrows that seem ever on the rise. Oh, and that she wears too much makeup. Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, has hair watchdogs monitoring her every straightening. She is one of the most accomplished politicians of the century, but her choice of hair accessories -- scrunchie or headband? --is still hotly debated. Her longtime hair stylist even got a book deal.

The good news is that Americans -- men and women -- are becoming more conditioned to the notion of female power, from the victories of Election 2012 to the Pentagon's recently-lifted ban on women in combat. With every move toward equality, women in charge will no longer be seen as an aberration, a fluke, rarities to be examined and analyzed like specimens.

Follow Dr. Peggy Drexler on Twitter: www.twitter.com/drpeggydrexler

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peggy-drexler/why-arent-women-voting-fo_b_2556788.html

trent richardson robert griffin iii dontari poe space shuttle nyc monkeypox nick perry 30 rock live

Farmers Insurance Open 2013: Tee times and TV schedule for ...

Tiger Woods will have a chance to defend his lead at the Farmers Insurance Open continues on Saturday with day three of the action.

2013 Farmers Insurance Open hub

Woods currently tops the leader board with a score of 11-under par, which is two stroke lead over Billy Horschel. Woods and Horschel will tee of tomorrow at 12:40 p.m. ET.

Woods has not won the tournament since 2008. His 2008 title was his sixth of all time in this event, and his fourth in a dominant span of five years.

For more on this story, check out SB Nation Golf.

Meanwhile, Phil Mickelson is ten strokes off the lead. He will tee off at 12:10 p.m. Mickelson is a three time winner of the event, but hasn't won since 2001.

For a full look at the leaderboard, head over to Golf.com. To see a full list of tee times, check out the tournament's website. Here are some of the most important tee times. All times are ET.

12:10 p.m.: Phil Mickelson, Aaron Baddeley, Martin Laird
12:10 p.m.: Luke Guthrie, John Senden, Tag Riding
12:20 p.m.: Matt Every, Eric Meierdierks, James Hahn
12:20 p.m.: Jimmy Walker, Josh Teater, Nick Watney
12:30 p.m.: Brad Fritsch, Erik Compton, Steve Marino
12:30 p.m.: Scott Gardiner, Steve LeBrun, Doug LaBelle II
12:40 p.m.: Tiger Woods, Billy Horschel, Casey Wittenberg

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Source: http://www.sbnation.com/2013/1/26/3917282/2013-farmers-insurance-open-golf-tv-schedule-tee-times-saturday

phillies Ryan Dempster Phelps NBC Olympics Live Olympic medal count Medal Count 2012 London 2012 Fencing

French flags selling out in Mali's capital

France's military intervention has been widely greeted here. Normally, Malian attitudes towards its former colonial ruler range from resentment to admiration.

By Peter Tinti,?Correspondent / January 18, 2013

Yacouba Konate wears a French flag to show his support for the French military intervention in Mali in the Malian capital of Bamako last Sunday. After France launched a bombing campaign against Islamist rebels in central and northern Mali last week, French flags bloomed around Bamako almost instantaneously.

Joe Penney/Reuters

Enlarge

War and nationalist sentiment usually go hand in hand. The week-old war in Mali is no exception. As?the war drums beat hotter in this landlocked former French colony in West Africa, nationalism is also on the rise.?

Skip to next paragraph

Pentagon: Budget crisis could hurt war effort

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Afghan war effort eventually would be harmed by across-the-board budget cuts, even as the Obama administration intends to shield the military's combat mission from the reductions, the Pentagon's No. 2 official said Friday.

"There will be second-order effects on the war," Ashton Carter, the deputy defense secretary, said in an interview in his office with a small group of reporters. Deferred maintenance on weapons and other equipment, for example, will eventually erode the combat fitness of military units deploying to Afghanistan, he said.

The U.S. has about 66,000 troops in Afghanistan, with an undetermined number of withdrawals expected this year and in 2014.

The administration holds out hope that Congress will come up with a deficit-cutting mechanism to replace the across-the-board spending cuts due to take effect March 1, but Carter suggested that hopes are not high.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have repeatedly warned that the threatened defense cuts, amounting to about $50 billion this budget year, would hurt national security. Carter said he feared that the message has not been heard widely enough in Congress and across the country.

If the cuts take effect in March, hundreds of thousands of Pentagon civilian employees will face furloughs and reduced paychecks by April, Carter said. They would lose one day of work per week for the remainder of the budget year, which ends in September, he said.

"This is painful to us," Carter said.

The Pentagon has about 800,000 civilian employees; they have not yet been officially notified of furloughs. Carter said the furloughs would be expected to save $5 billion. No military positions will be cut, he said.

Carter said the Pentagon already is eliminating all 46,000 of its temporary civilian workers in anticipation of budget cuts.

Carter also disclosed that he will remain on the job as deputy defense secretary in President Barack Obama's second term. He said Obama had called him after nominating Chuck Hagel to be his next defense secretary, asking Carter to remain.

"I agreed to do that, and I'm enthusiastic about doing that," he said, adding that he believes Hagel will be a good Pentagon chief.

Carter had been mentioned as a possible Obama choice for energy secretary.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pentagon-budget-crisis-could-hurt-war-effort-194432938--politics.html

Kitty Wells Marissa Mayer Jon Lord Colorado shootings dark knight rises Aurora shooting James Eagan Holmes