Golf, firewood, fishing...all share commonalities in Oregon's great ...

The similarities are striking; the benefits similar; settings identical.

Firewood/golf, golf/firewood. Both happen outdoors, both are good exercise, both pit you mostly against yourself, both let you hit something and, most important ? both reward a good shot with instant gratification.

And we're not cheating here by buying pre-split. It's not a miniature golf putting rink, where you simply buy, stack it up and call it a hole in one.

Rather, it's the basic act of gathering firewood, i.e., cutting and splitting your own. Whether a bag of clubs or an ax and a maul, it's all about sticks out in the sticks.

Tens of thousands of deer hunters will move out to camp this week for Saturday's buck deer opener and Oregon's forests will echo with the sound of chain saws as campfire piles grow. Many of us will bring some home; statistically, it will likely be the only success for most hunters.

I was on the golf team in high school (Hoover, in San Diego), but have little time to play anymore. There are simply too many hunting and fishing seasons.

Still, I do get out once every year or two ... and I also enjoy splitting my own firewood each summer. I'll probably swing a golf club a bit longer than a maul someday soon, but not quite yet.

The similarities occurred to me this summer, while watching Phil Mickelson sweep the British Isles' opens (Scottish and British); I retreated into the air conditioned house in snippets to mop the sweat and cool off between his and my wedge shots.

For example:

Teeing off (with woods, of course) -- Cutting the logs.

Fairway irons -- Sawing the rounds to size (I prefer 16-inchers).

The short game -- Most crucial; line up the split; take a good stance; swing with acceleration and a good follow-through; choke up on the maul to help the aim; you may even have to use a wedge for the tough shots.

I also love the similarities in the strike.

In golf, you can pretty much tell by the sound and feel of the club meeting the ball whether it's going to be ok. Yeah, maybe a bit of a slice or a hook, but still OK. Well, the same is true when the maul strikes the round. A "thud" isn't good. An echoing sort of "pock" sound relieves all the day's stress and tension as new chunks of firewood fall off on each side.

That's a par for a woodcutter, by the way. A birdie occurs when the same thing happens unexpectedly (or after concentration on the swing and follow through) to a tough piece of wood. The rare eagle (I had three this summer) occurs when you aim for one split, but end up with three pieces instead of two.

And, of course, there are the frequent bogies, double- and even triple-bogies, when it takes more than one (or two or three) swing(s) to finish the split. I always handicap myself in advance by anticipating what will happen with the round. Fir, alder and, sometimes, maple are the easiest to score on. Oak, one of the toughest woods, almost always is at least a par 5 and usually is bogey woodcutting at best.

After splitting two cords of fir, birch and a few par-five oak rounds, I was also able to compare firewood with fish.

Seriously.

Fir -- Pink core, like steelhead. Pretty good firewood, pleasant odor when burning or freshly split.

Alder -- Deeper red core; chinook or even coho. Excellent heat values and commanding odor under flame.

Western Larch (mistakenly called tamarack by hunters) -- Prime firewood; spring chinook for a woodstove, with pungent outdoor odor and high heat value.

Cedar -- Trout-like, maybe bass; burns fast and puts on a great show.

Oak -- Definitely the halibut of the lot.

Maple/birch -- Lingcod or rockfish, perhaps.

Finally, like salmon or venison in the freezer, I'll head into the winter with the same secure feeling a good friend has after a great season on the links with a hot putter.

Every chunk I put in the woodstove will carry a memory -- and some sweat equity.

HUNTER INFO BOOTHS: Despite recent rains, it's possible you may not be allowed to cut firewood in camp this year.

Be sure to check in at any of several hunter information centers open by Thursday along most major highways leading into deer country. Fire restrictions, off-road driving, smoking and other information (and coffee) will be available at most locations.

(Or you can always find a telephone number and call the land manager's office before departing.)

Booths will be open on U.S. 26 (Prineville and Mt. Vernon), U.S. 20 (Sisters), U.S. 97 (La Pine), U.S. 58 (mp 71), Interstate 84 (Memaloose Rest Area), and Dodson Road (The Dalles).

WHOA! Fall chinook counts are off the charts at every counting station in the Columbia River hydroelectric system as biologists are looking for a record 1 million-plus upriver fall chinook return.

The total Columbia fall chinook return, already a record at more than 800,000, is expected to number close to 1.2 million adults.

What went right? Agencies are scrambling for answers.

Anglers are (finally) cheering them on.

-- Bill Monroe

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Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/bill_monroe/index.ssf/2013/09/golf_firewood_fishingall_share.html

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The Military's War on Women Continues | JONATHAN TURLEY

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Despite the increased interest some in Congress and in the Pentagon have shown in how accusations of rape by female members of the military are treated, women can still jeopardize their careers and their mental well-being ...

Source: http://jonathanturley.org/2013/09/22/the-militarys-war-on-women-continues/

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Coastal Style: Smooth Sailing

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Source: http://coastal-style.blogspot.com/2013/09/smooth-sailing.html

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Kenyan forces say they rescued 'most' hostages

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) ? Kenyan's military said late Sunday it had rescued "most" of the remaining hostages held by al-Qaida-linked militants in an upscale Nairobi mall after launching a major operation to end a two-day standoff that had already killed 68 people.

The assault, which began shortly before sundown, came as two helicopters circled the mall, with one skimming very close to the roof. A loud explosion rang out, far larger than any previous grenade blast or gunfire volley.

Kenyan police said on Twitter that a "MAJOR" assault by had started to end the bloody siege.

"This will end tonight. Our forces will prevail. Kenyans are standing firm against aggression, and we will win," Kenya's National Disaster Operation Centre said on Twitter.

Kenya Defence Forces later said it had rescued most hostages and had taken control of most of the mall. Officials did not immediately release the number of hostages rescued or the number that remained. Four Kenyan military personnel were wounded in the operation, the military said.

The assault came about 30 hours after 10 to 15 al-Shabab extremists stormed the mall Saturday from two sides, throwing grenades and firing on civilians.

Loud exchanges of gunfire emanated from inside the four-story upscale mall throughout Sunday. Kenyan troops were seen carrying in at least two rocket propelled grenades. Al-Shabab militants reacted angrily to the helicopters on Twitter and warned that the Kenyan military action was endangering hostages.

Kenyan officials said they would do their utmost to save hostages' lives, but no officials could say precisely how many hostages were inside. Kenya's Red Cross said in a statement citing police that 49 people had been reported missing. Officials did not make an explicit link but that number could give an indication of the number of people held captive.

Kenya's Red Cross said the death toll on Sunday rose to 68 after nine bodies were recovered in a joint rescue mission.

A United States State Department spokeswoman condemned the "despicable massacre of innocent men, women and children." U.S. law enforcement, military and civilian personnel in Nairobi were providing advance and assistance as requested by Kenya, spokeswoman Marie Harf said.

Somalia's al-Qaida-linked rebel group, al-Shabab, claimed responsibility for the attack that specifically targeted non-Muslims. The attackers included some women. The Islamic extremist rebels said the attack was retribution for Kenyan forces' 2011 push into neighboring Somalia.

Al-Shabab said on its new Twitter feed ? after its previous one was shut down Saturday ? that Kenyan officials were asking the hostage-takers to negotiate and offering incentives.

"We'll not negotiate with the Kenyan govt as long as its forces are invading our country, so reap the bitter fruits of your harvest," al-Shabab said in a tweet.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta reiterated his government's determination to continue fighting al-Shabab.

"We went as a nation into Somalia to help stabilize the country and most importantly to fight terror that had been unleashed on Kenya and the world," said Kenyatta. "We shall not relent on the war on terror."

He said although this violent attack had succeeded, the Kenyan security forces had "neutralized" many others. Earlier in the day Kenyatta said he his nephew and his nephew's fiance were killed in the attack.

Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga told reporters at the mall that "quite a number" of people were being held hostage in two locations of the mall, which includes stores for Nike, Adidas and Bose. Many hostages were believed to be in a grocery and general department store called Nakumatt.

Kenyan security officials sought to reassure the families of hostages but implied that hostages could be killed. The security operation is "delicate" because Kenyan forces hoped to ensure the hostages are evacuated safely, said Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Lenku.

"The priority is to save as many lives as possible," Lenku said, adding that more than 1,000 people escaped the attack inside the mall on Saturday.

"We have received a lot of messages from friendly countries, but for now it remains our operation," Lenku said.

More than 175 people were injured in the attack, Lenku said, including many children. Kenyan forces were by Sunday in control of the mall's security cameras, he said.

Britain's prime minister, in confirming the deaths of three British nationals, told the country to "prepare ourselves for further bad news."

Westgate Mall is at least partially owned by Israelis, and reports circulated that Israeli commandos were on the ground to assist in the response. Four restaurants inside the mall are Israeli-run or owned.

In Israel, a senior defense official said there were no Israeli forces participating in an assault, but the official said it was possible that Israeli advisers were providing assistance. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a classified military issue, would not elaborate.

Israel has close ties to Kenya going back many years. And in recent years, Israel has identified East Africa as an area of strategic interest and stepped up ties with Kenya and other neighboring countries, due to shared threats posed by al-Qaida and other extremist elements. In 2002, militants bombed an Israeli-owned luxury hotel near Mombasa, killing 13 people, and tried to shoot down an Israeli airliner at the same time.

Kenyans and foreigners were among those confirmed dead, including British, French, Canadians, Indians, a Ghanaian, a South African and a Chinese woman.

Kofi Awoonor, a Ghanaian poet, professor and former ambassador to Brazil, Cuba and the United Nations, died after being injured in the attack, Ghana's presidential office confirmed. Ghana's ministry of information said Awoonor's son was injured and is responding to treatment.

Kenya's presidential office said that one of the attackers was arrested on Saturday and died after suffering from bullet wounds.

Britain's Foreign Office said that Foreign Secretary William Hague has chaired a meeting of Britain's crisis committee and sent a rapid deployment team from London to Nairobi to provide extra consular support.

The United Nations Security Council condemned the attacks and "expressed their solidarity with the people and Government of Kenya" in a statement.

There was some good news on Sunday, as Kenyan media reported that several people in hiding in the mall escaped to safety in the morning, suggesting that not everyone who was inside overnight was being held by al-Shabab.

Police lobbed multiple rounds of tear gas throughout the day to disperse hundreds of curious Kenyans who gathered near the mall.

___

Associated Press reporters Jacob Kushner in Nairobi, Kenya; Josef Federman in Jerusalem; Louise Watt in Beijing; and Cassandra Vinograd in London contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kenyan-forces-rescued-most-hostages-210527873.html

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Pope offers hope to Sardinia's poor, unemployed

CAGLIARI, Sardinia (AP) -- Pope Francis denounced what he called big business's idolatry of money as he traveled Sunday to one of Italy's poorest regions to offer hope to the unemployed and entrepreneurs struggling to hang on.

"Where there is no work, there is no dignity," he said.

Francis left aside his prepared remarks and spoke off the cuff to thousands of people in Sardinia's capital, telling them he knew well what it was like to suffer from financial crisis. He recalled that his Italian parents, who immigrated to Argentina before he was born, spoke about it often at home.

"My young father went to Argentina full of illusions of making it in America," a somber Francis told the crowd at the start of a daylong visit to the island. "And he suffered the terrible crisis of the 1930s. They lost everything. There was no work."

He said it's easy for a priest to come and tell the poor to have courage, but that he really meant it. Amid shouts of "Lavoro! Lavoro!" (Work! Work!), Francis called for a dignified work for all.

Sardinia, known for its pristine beaches and swank vacation homes, has been particularly hard-hit by Italy's economic crisis, with businesses closing and more and more of the island's families forced to seek charity. The island's desperation made headlines last year when a coal miner, participating in an underground sit-in to protest the planned closure of the mine, slashed his wrists on television.

Unemployment in Italy is at 12 percent, with youth unemployment a staggering 39.5 percent. In Sardinia and the rest of Italy's south and islands, the figures are even worse: Unemployment is nearing 20 percent, with youth unemployment at 50 percent.

Francis told the Sardinians, some of whom wore hardhats from their defunct factory jobs, that the economic problems were the result of a global economic system "that has at its center an idol called money."

Francis has made reaching out to the poor and most marginal the priority of his pontificate. This is only his second visit to an Italian city outside Rome; the first was to the isolated island of Lampedusa, where thousands of migrants come ashore each year.

Francis noted the similarity, saying both islands were places of immense suffering but also hope.

"It's easy to say 'don't lose hope,'" he said. "But to all of you who have work, and to those who don't, let me tell you: Don't let yourselves be robbed of hope."

Later, Francis celebrated Mass in the piazza outside the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Bonaria, the island's patron and namesake of Francis' native Buenos Aires. The pope is particularly devoted to the Madonna and wanted to make a pilgrimage to the shrine.

After Mass, Francis met with the poor and some prisoners in the capital's cathedral, delivered a speech at the island's Catholic university and gave an off-the-cuff pep rally to young Sardinians gathered in a main square before returning to Rome.

He shared a personal detail with the kids, that Saturday had marked the 60th anniversary when he first felt the call to be a priest.

"In all these years that have passed, I've had some successes, joys, but also years of failure, fragility and sin," he said. "Sixty years on the path of the Lord."

In a sign that the exhausting day was starting to take its toll, Francis inadvertently slipped into his native Spanish in his final public remarks in Sardinia, which like many of Italy's regions has its own dialect.

"Hah," he chuckled. "Even I'm speaking dialect here."

____

Winfield reported from Rome.

___

Follow NicoleWinfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-offers-hope-sardinias-poor-075819971.html

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Tesco launches its own Android tablet

Tesco has entered the tablet market with the Hudl.

Although?early rumours suggested?the device would cost under ?100, Tesco has revealed today that it will cost ?119 and go on sale from September 30th.

The device comes with a 1.5Ghz quad-core processor, 7-inch screen, 16GB of storage, front and rear-facing cameras and Android 4.2.2.

Sister site PCR has the full story.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/McvOpinions/~3/7cVG17YCbxQ/0121479

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Paul: GOP unlikely to stop Affordable Health Care

Sen. Rand Paul acknowledged Saturday it is unlikely Republicans in Congress can repeal President Barack Obama's signature health care law.

"We probably can't defeat or get rid of Obamacare," Sen. Paul told reporters.

Speaking to the press at a Republican conference on Mackinac Island, Michigan, the freshman senator from Kentucky conceded he doubts the House resolution passed Friday, which would defund the Affordable Care Act, could emerge from a Senate debate unscathed and unamended. One of the most vocal opponents of the Affordable Care Act, Paul holds hope that threatening to not pay for the legislative program could result in a finished product that's "less bad."

"In the end the sausage factory in Washington will make the sausage," Paul told the Detroit News.

Paul, whose potential as presidential contender in 2016 has been a subject of much speculation, admitted that absent a sudden and total alignment behind an approach to tackling the health care law, his caucus' "disunity" means Republicans will most likely fall short of canceling, or even delaying, the law from going into effect.

"Leverage doesn't work unless people believe you'll actually do something," Paul said. "The fact that Democrats don't believe we'll do anything, in the end they'll get what they want and a bill will be cobbled together."

Source: http://www.wapt.com/news/politics/paul-gop-unlikely-to-stop-affordable-health-care/-/9156836/22061584/-/125axfaz/-/index.html?absolute=true

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