mattp

Good argument, there JayB. If I understand you correctly, what it all boils down to is this: if the White House wants it published to embarass their enemies, whether it is a leak that may endanger our national security or not, go for it If somebody else wants to publish something that might rile an enemy of ours, go for it. If somebody wants to publish something that might make our government look bad? Lets look very carefully for a reason why it might be "unAmerican."

Careful there, cowboy. We DID, afterall, just invade two countries and kill tens of thousands of innocents in response to what twenty lunatics without state sponsorship or involvemlent did to us. Further, I think even Al Jezeera lunatics have decided that it is bad press to show beheadings.

Not only the radical Islamists, but the U.S. neocons are also looking for a holy war or at least a de-stabilized middle east and a moslem boogeyman.

I have a hard time understanding how a check-box for “hate crime” would appear on a traffic-ticket form, but who knows. I definitely think you’re a little paranoid about this “outlawing bigotry” thing, though, Jay. I fully agree that dogmatic or fanatic individuals on the left can be every bit as disrespectful or dismissive toward civil rights as the worst bigots on the right -- and even at a more moderate level I think that many people go too far to react as they do to casual use of certain words referring to a female body part or a racial or ethnic group when there is in many cases no ill will attached, or that specific hate crimes statutes may not be the best way to go -- but I don’t think you need to fear that the politically correct gestapo are going to beat down your door. Bush and his pals represent a much greater threat to your freedom and mine. Good one, calling me on my listing Bush’s opposition to hate crimes. As I clarified in a subsequent post to the one you refer to, I don’t think he is necessarily a racist in the KKK sense, but he is certainly a facist who really doesn’t care about civil rights or equality or whatever and I think he’s used his opposition to hate crimes to appeal to right wingers who in fact are in the KKK mold and then he'd lied about it when somebody asks questions. But you are right to think that was probably the weakest of my examples from that list and somewhat at odds with my statement here -- though not entirely: in my list that you refer to I noted it was his lying about his role in the matter that made me think it was an example of his racism. I also think that, when taken as whole, the combination of his statements on hate crimes laws, such programs as head start or public education, and things like affirmative action or border security, there is a consistent pattern that is racist.

Maybe I'm one of those libertarian freaks. I'm with you on the argument that assault is assault and should be taken seriously whether the victim is a staight male or a gay man and I'd add that, in my view, it may even weaken the cause of equal rights to make special categories or rules protecting sub-segments of society from the crime of assault because it by definition seems to suggest that gays or immigrants or whoever are not regular people deserving exactly the same protection as anybody else. However, I would not rule out or eliminate consideration of the circumstances of a crime when it comes time for sentencing. We have specific laws that suggest extra penalties for an assault of someone who may be vulnerable somehow, or where the victim may be a member of a certain group of people like for example a school employee or law enforcement officer, or where the actor has a prior history of violence, or based on their motivation to intimidate a class of persons or to gain some secondary personal benefit, or whether the assault was undertaken in the course of perpetrating some other crime. I'd say a random attack against a gay person just because they are gay certainly is a valid factor to weigh along with such considerations.

I'm somewhat sympathetic to your disaffection with what you often derisively term as politically correctness, Jay, but the indignation and your suggestion that Christians have “gotten beyond that” is a little bit much. Yes, suicide bombers do appear to be almost exclusively Islamic, but Christian fanatics including our President have undertaken plenty of violence with “god’s blessing.” There are lots of reasons people do and don't do what they do and don't do besides the idea that "we've grown up over the years" and are somehow superior. Question: how do you think our politicians’ discussion of a flag burning amendment compares with this Norwegian blasphemy law? Isn’t that TWICE the joke?

Based on angle, those sound like good nominations to me but I can't quite picture that rock formation in the foreground.

Wise counsel. We want ORV people and Parks and other parties on our side, not angered by our hotheaded response to a bad situation.

He wasn't suffering too bad!

We just had a burst of thunder that was incredible. I told my wife that it might be something else -- did an airplane blow up or something? It rolled on in a way that I don't associate with thunder. Five minutes later, we heard a humongous crash and the sky opens up. Our deck was covered with graupel in less than a minute. Wow. I've never seen such a storm except in the mountains. And I grew up in tornado alley. Smack. Bang. Graupel. No wind. No rain. Storm over.

We just had a burst of thunder that was incredible. I told my wife that it might be something else -- did an airplane blow up or something? It rolled on in a way that I don't associate with thunder. Five minutes later, we heard a humongous crash and the sky opens up. Our deck was covered with graupel in less than a minute. Wow. I've never seen such a storm except in the mountains. And I grew up in tornado alley. Smack. Bang. Graupel. No wind. No rain.

Really.

Hijacker! Mt. Erie is the place for your SENDBOT!

Maybe we should have a thread for speculating about who might have done the route which may exist? I know that Bill Sumner lived in Index for a number of years and that, for example, he put up several lines on Mt. Index that were not reported, though I don't think he did so much on steep ice as more mountaineering snow and ice perhaps. I also know that Jack Lewis did quite a lot of ice climbing in those years, and at least some of it went un-reported. And there were others - look at the confusion regarding the Spindrift Couloir and other routes on Big Four Mountain that arose because climbs were not fully documented. "Persis Pillar" is the named I knew for these climbs

Do you have a shot of that mountainside opposite camp? On the map that looks as if it might be one big ski slope if I am thinking of the same slope.

I don't know who or when. I first heard about it in the mid-1980's some time, during a period when lots of climbers were not reporting first ascents. I think it may have been Steve Mascioli who pointed it out to me, but it could have been someone else. I don't think he (or whoever it was) claimed to have climbed it, and I don't think Steve was one who got into the unreported ascents thing, but I sort of recall somebody pointed at it and said one of the pillars, at least, had been climbed. I don't have any real information one way or another. However, if somebody goes out and climbs it, and then reports a first ascent in the American Alpine Journal, we may see somebody else come forth.

Will the books withstand an audit?

I thought the pillar had been climbed -- years ago.

That knob on the left side of the pyramidal peak makes it slightly resemble Mt. Pilchuck viewed from I-5 near Arlington. I suppose the peaks to the left could be some revisionist view of the Three Fingers - Salish - Whitehorse group.

Veld, the area is not entirely straight-forward and you have a legitimate worry but I think it is pretty manageable. I have taken kids to the closest wall to the parking lot - "summit wall" or something like that, several times. The trail down to the bottom of the cliff is slightly confusing and does involve one passage down a blocky corner that is awkward and then a traverse where I have either set a hand line or spotted the kids, but I have managed to get even a couple nervous moms down there OK. I don't think the bottom of the crag is much of a problem, though if you had kids running around throwing a ball you'd certainly be worried about them. It'd be nice to have an extra adult to supervise. The top-outs, too, are a little indistinct and travel above the anchors could be worrying while, with the cliff being somewhat blocky, lowering is a little awkward. I have not seen a more manageable cliffs on that hillside (though I have not been to all of them) and some provide even more cause for worry. There are more easily managed crags at other areas, but I like Mt. Erie because of its high scenic value. Those nervous moms or the kids, too, will enjoy watching a ship out in the distance of hearing the cry of an eagle.

I have a bunch of bracken fern in my yard, but I've been told it does not transplant well because the actual plant itself is fairly deep (or something like that). Maidenhair would be cool, but you'd need a water fountain and rock garden.

I've had good luck with vine maple, sword fern, and bleeding heart; I've managed to kill Deer Fern and trilium, though I think lack of watering in the follow up may have been the issue.

Another very cool native with exotic leaves and a great flower. Probably requires even more water than devil's club, I bet. You'll need standing water at least part of the year.

Right on Roboboy! I've always wanted to put some devil's club in the yard. The leaves are very exotic, and the berries are not so bad either. Also, it has an interesting pedigree: a cousin of ginseng, my herb medical friend says it was the top most powerful healing herb for all kinds of ailments in native NW medicine. For some reason, my wife has a bad impression of it and would prefer I go to the nursery and bring home some more rhododendrons or dahlia bulbs or something. You're going to have to keep it pretty wet, I bet.

Toby and I had a good time. Sorry you missed it.