The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation website has a “VideoLog” feature which allows you to view “video” of what you would see if you were traveling down select roads across the state. Ostensibly, bicyclists and pedestrians can use this tool to determine if road conditions on a route are suitable for travel.
Unfortunately, I believe you have to use Microsoft Internet Explorer for the site, which crashed twice while I was playing around with it. But if you can get it to work properly, it’s pretty cool.

Kevin Drum, sums up the “revelations” from the leaked British memo:

By the summer of 2002 George Bush had already decided on war regardless of Saddam Hussein’s actions; democracy promotion was not even mentioned in passing as a reason for the war; postwar reconstruction was an issue of no concern; and the “marketing campaign” for the war was deliberately timed to coincide with midterm elections.

The only surprise here is that it surfaced in a government memo.
Interesting that I saw virtually nothing about this on TV news this week. Too busy covering runaway bride, Jacko, and American Idol hanky panky, I suppose.

Broder examines the new budget:

What does it do about the deficits? If you believe Putnam, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and other Republicans, this budget “reduces the deficit in half over four years.”
But if you read the fine print, here’s what you find: The budget envisages the national debt increasing by $683 billion next year; by $639 billion the second year; by $606 billion the third year; by $610 billion the fourth year; and by $605 billion the fifth year.
As Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, the ranking Democrat on the Budget Committee asked, “Where is the deficit cut in half?”

I wonder if some of these leaders could have made it through high school if they’d grown up in the “No Child Left Behind” era.
Oh, and there’s this from Cato:

President Bush has presided over the largest overall increase in inflation-adjusted federal spending since Lyndon B. Johnson. Even after excluding spending on defense and homeland security, Bush is still the biggest-spending president in 30 years. His 2006 budget doesn�t cut enough spending to change his place in history, either.
Total government spending grew by 33 percent during Bush�s first term. The federal budget as a share of the economy grew from 18.5 percent of GDP on Clinton�s last day in office to 20.3 percent by the end of Bush�s first term.

I guess President Clinton’s “the era of big government is over” was over once he left office.

While other sites are celebrating millions of visitors, we here at Resonance are celebrating a milestone of our own. Sometime today we should receive our (don’t laugh aloud) 50,000 visitor!
If you are the lucky guest, you win a free screen shot of the Site Meter, provided you know how to save it. Otherwise, you win nothing. Thanks for playing. We might really blow the budget when 100,000 rolls around.

Per this article I see that a Cades Cove planning group has entered Phase II in its effort to improve the visitor experience while protecting the environment.
Phase II “expected to last 22 months, will include additional data collection, refinement of the five alternatives, environmental assessment and analysis and more public involvement.”
I can save them most of the 22 months. In order to make the visitor experience more pleasant, they need to repave the loop road and make it at least five to ten feet wider, adding many more pull over spots. Frankly, a passing lane sounds like a good idea to me, though it would admittedly add some new problems.
If you can’t tell, I’m not a big fan of riding behind a pokey car or waiting in line because some out-of-staters spotted a squirrel or deer in the woods. I know this impatience kind of goes against the spirit of the place, but if I’m in a vehicle, I like to keep moving. If I want go slow and take my time, I’ll get out and walk.