Posts from — February 2020

Why? Why not…

It’s Groundhog Day and some of the militant marmots object to being disturbed.

FYI: this is approximately the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox. It is called Imbolc among the Celts, which is why people are interested.

Update: In Pennsylvania Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his burrow around 7:25 a.m. and did not see his shadow, predicting an early spring for us all., but in Nova Scotia 6 more weeks of winter, says Shubenacadie Sam. On average groundhogs are right 40% of the time. Flipping a coin has a better average for accuracy.

The race sneaked up on me by starting on the 1st. This year is the easy route with the Rosebud & Eagle climbs occurring while teams are still fresh. Only 15 teams running this year.

The Current Standings at 11:00PM CST ( 8:00PM AKST):
At Two Rivers
1 Jason Campeau (3)
Beyond Fairbanks
2 Richie Beattie (1)
3 Cody Strathe (2)
4 Allen Moore (4)
5 Denis Tremblay (5)
6 Nora Själin (6)^R
7 Olivia Webster (7)^R
8 Ryne Olson (8)
9 Torsten Kohnert (9)
10 Dave Dalton (10)
11 Michelle Phillips (11)
12 Rob Cooke (12)
13 Pat Noddin (13)^R
14 Chase Tingle (14)
15 Brent Sass (15)

These are the official standings. That means they are official, not that they are correct. Things jump around a lot as people decide to update the standings. This problem is especially bad in the back of the pack, as no one bothers to update those standings when the lead is changing.

The Mushers in bold are former winners of the Yukon Quest, the numbers in parentheses are their Bib numbers, and the small “R” indicates a rookie.

Note: This post will be updated during the day, and the map changed on all posts to reflect the current situation.

All posts on the Yukon Quest can be seen by clicking on the sled dog or selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

Fairbanks 440 feet [134 meters] Start
Two Rivers 1550 feet [472 meters] 72 miles [116 km]
Rosebud Summit 3640 feet [1109 meters]
Mile 101 Steese Highway 2250 feet [686 meters] 42 miles [68 km]
Eagle Summit 3685 feet [1123 meters]
Central 435 feet [133 meters] 33 miles [53 km]
Circle City 597 feet [182 meters] 74 miles [119 km]
Eagle 880 feet [268 meters] 159 miles [256 km]
American Summit 3920 feet [1195 meters]
Dawson City 1050 feet [320 meters] 147 miles [237 km]
King Solomon’s Dome 4002 feet [1220 meters]
Pelly Crossing 1558 feet [475 meters] 202 miles [325 km]
Carmacks 1722 feet [525 meters] 73 miles [117 km]
Braeburn 2326 feet [709 meters] 77 miles [124 km]
Whitehorse 2089 feet [637 meters] 100 miles [161 km] Finish

The total distance is approximately 1000 miles [1600 kilometers]

[Two Rivers is also called Chena Hot Springs.]

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Trump has sabotaged America’s coronavirus response:

The epidemic control efforts unfolding today in China—including placing some 100 million citizens on lockdown, shutting down a national holiday, building enormous quarantine hospitals in days’ time, and ramping up 24-hour manufacturing of medical equipment—are indeed gargantuan. It’s impossible to watch them without wondering, “What would we do? How would my government respond if this virus spread across my country?”

For the United States, the answers are especially worrying because the government has intentionally rendered itself incapable. In 2018, the Trump administration fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure. In numerous phone calls and emails with key agencies across the U.S. government, the only consistent response I encountered was distressed confusion. If the United States still has a clear chain of command for pandemic response, the White House urgently needs to clarify what it is —not just for the public but for the government itself, which largely finds itself in the dark.

The Obama administration set up the pandemic response infrastructure in response to the Ebola outbreak in Africa. Trump has mindlessly eliminated everything Obama did without any actual understanding of why it was done and without any consideration of creating a replacement. He is going to get us all killed with his hatred of Obama and ignorance.

February 1, 2003

Commander:
Rick Douglas Husband, Colonel, USAF

Pilot:
William C. McCool, Commander, USN

Payload Commander:
Michael P. Anderson, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF

Mission Specialist:
Kalpana Chawla, PhD
David M. Brown, MD, Captain, USN
Laurel Blair Salton Clark, MD, Captain, USN

Payload Specialist:
Ilan Ramon, Colonel, Israel Air Force