Camping, Waffles, Snow and Glaciers

A few photos of our recent camping trip in the American West.

I managed to escape the digital vortex and my day-to-day responsibilities and duties long enough to take a 10-day camping trip through Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Here are a few photos of the trip:

Our campsite in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area in Idaho:




The view from our lakeside campsite on Flathead Lake in Montana:



Waffles, camping style:



None better anywhere in the world:



On the Hidden Lakes Trail in Glacier National Park, Montana:



Mountain goats on the Hidden Lakes Trail:



At the top of the Grinnell Glacier Trail, an 1800 foot, 5.7 mile climb: Upper Grinnell Lake and a scene of otherworldly beauty.



The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone:



It snowed the day we camped in Yellowstone National Park: brrr.



A typical hot springs in Yellowstone:



Logistics:

miles driven: 3,072
Gasoline consumption: 73.5 gallons
miles per gallon (1998 Honda Civic with 90,000 miles): 41.8 MPG, despite a full load of camping equipment and climbing numerous mountain ranges
meals eaten in restaurants: 4 : local cafe breakfast in Choteau, MT, lunch in the fabulous Old Faithful Inn, Yellowstone, and two fast-food meals when driving late into the day.
snowstorm: 1 (Yellowstone)
torrential rainstorm: 1 (Tahoe/Donner Pass)
Phone calls answered: 0 (no AT&T cell coverage in Glacier, Yellowstone or Sawtooth)
emails read: 0
emails answered: 0
Pounds lost due to hiking: 2
sanity recovered: significant 

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The Nearly Free University and The Emerging Economy:
The Revolution in Higher Education

Reconnecting higher education, livelihoods and the economy

With the soaring cost of higher education, has the value a college degree been turned upside down? College tuition and fees are up 1000% since 1980. Half of all recent college graduates are jobless or underemployed, revealing a deep disconnect between higher education and the job market.

It is no surprise everyone is asking: Where is the return on investment? Is the assumption that higher education returns greater prosperity no longer true? And if this is the case, how does this impact you, your children and grandchildren?


We must thoroughly understand the twin revolutions now fundamentally changing our world: The true cost of higher education and an economy that seems to re-shape itself minute to minute.

The Nearly Free University and the Emerging Economy clearly describes the underlying dynamics at work - and, more importantly, lays out a new low-cost model for higher education: how digital technology is enabling a revolution in higher education that dramatically lowers costs while expanding the opportunities for students of all ages.

The Nearly Free University and the Emerging Economy provides clarity and optimism in a period of the greatest change our educational systems and society have seen, and offers everyone the tools needed to prosper in the Emerging Economy.

Read the Foreword, first section and the Table of Contents.

print edition (list $20, now $18)

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Things are falling apart--that is obvious. But why are they falling apart? The reasons are complex and global. Our economy and society have structural problems that cannot be solved by adding debt to debt. We are becoming poorer, not just from financial over-reach, but from fundamental forces that are not easy to identify. We will cover the five core reasons why things are falling apart:

1. Debt and financialization
2. Crony capitalism
3. Diminishing returns
4. Centralization
5. Technological, financial and demographic changes in our economy

Complex systems weakened by diminishing returns collapse under their own weight and are replaced by systems that are simpler, faster and affordable. If we cling to the old ways, our system will disintegrate. If we want sustainable prosperity rather than collapse, we must embrace a new model that is Decentralized, Adaptive, Transparent and Accountable (DATA).

We are not powerless. Once we accept responsibility, we become powerful.
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Thank you, Adeena D. ($25), for your superbly generous contribution to this site-- I am greatly honored by your support and readership.