Fairweather

No to both questions. The myth of separation comes from the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. If there is no God, then to whom do we answer? The state?

Whose God? Ours. The One proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, the Pledge of Allegiance, and most State Constitutions--including Washington State's. Kids, we agree. I don't even think parents should have the right to alter their children--much less their public school teachers. Adults? Like you, I don;t really care--until they start stealing my granddaughter's trophy or scholarship and make absurd demands that I "properly" gender them. I choose to not participate in a fantasy. Sorry, O'Brien, but two plus two does not equal five. Men cannot become women. They don;t menstruate. They can't have children. Re Yosemite NP, well, what's bizarre is hanging a giant banner proclaiming that "Trans is Natural." But my complaint is entrenched government meting out different responses to different interests. The first amendment doesn't include defacing national parks--or impersonating a federal LEO.

That's easy--when parents and teachers start mutilating God's beautiful children. Or when a man demands I call him a woman under threat of career--or even law. That's when.

Trans Is Natural! Well, except for all those hormone injections and scalpels and stuff. It's a mixed up world, a shook up world...

Washington State's biennial budget twelve years ago was $18.5Bn. Today's is $76Bn. A state income tax won't solve wilderness access problems. And an additional sales tax would get funneled straight to politically-connected orgs just like Inslee's "Climate Commitment" carbon auction fraud.

Great topic. I wrote a master's thesis on wilderness access and your work reminds me of that long-ago project. You mostly avoid the effect wilderness/green orgs have had in limiting access vis-a-vis litigation and road closures. Back in the day NCCC and ALPS--and even the WTA were advocating for very limited/restricted access to virtually all wild areas and a strict interpretation of WA1964. Ditto the Pilchuck Audubon Society--and even some pretty radical NPS Superintendents like Bill Briggle. Other than theorizing that wilderness provided a sort of escape valve for capitalism, I didn't map out the economics as you have. I like what you've done!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/activists-unfurl-trans-pride-flag-on-iconic-yosemite-cliff-hate-is-unnatural/ar-AA1FdKxT?ocid=BingNewsSerp Again, imagine a MAGA banner hanging from NA Wall and what the NPS response would be. And again, this is an NPS management problem. Fire everyone at Yosemite; rehire and reassign the handful who may not be ok with this.

https://youtu.be/GKdl-GCsNJ0?si=K8eSuFZnqx3Ygs2u

Trip: Grand Canyon Rim to Rim - Down South Kibab, Up Tonto and Bright Angel Trip Date: 05/07/2025 Trip Report: Finally saw the Grand Canyon. Intended to do a South Rim to North Rim--but the highway up north was still closed. Day trip. Gear Notes: High top Merrels Approach Notes: Nice trails blasted out of cliff bands

We did the traverse two summers ago. It's a beautiful peak.

Redstone and Tyee might be approachable from Lake Eleanor. Or just ebike to Ipsut Campground using the Foothills Spur Trail and Carbon Road above the bridge?

I thought you already climbed Challenger? Chimney Rock scares me; no desire. Whitney is a state high-point I haven't done yet. I don't do well with paperwork and government. Headed to AZ, NM in May and might collect those.

I still have seven Irish Cabin Peaks missing from my sash. And my time spent in the PRWA is less and less. Now that the road is closed, I might not make the list! Still need Pitcher, Redstone, Squaw, Tyee, Mineral, Gove, and Castle.

Take a deep breath, Oly. You don't have to respond every single time someone says something you don't like.

"Methinks." Another sad tardanachronism echoing here in the dank.

https://wsdot.wa.gov/about/news/2025/sr-165-carbon-river-fairfax-bridge-closed-until-further-notice

Cabinet Range, complete traverse. S-->N Baranof Island, Peak 5390. Sarkar Lake Canoe Loop. Poaching the Northern Loop Trail on my mountain bike. (Patrols should be light!)

I rarely see "meh" used anymore. Even in its day it was a dismissive used almost exclusively by self-important libtards--like TTK.

Channeling TTK?

My wife, 63yo, bought an ebike a couple years ago and I spent a year trying to keep up with her on my Yeti ARC--but finally gave up and bought a Specialized (yes, I know) Turbo Levo. I've been going back and forth, but the logic of the non-ebike is starting to escape me. Riding my human-powered hard tail after a day on the emtb feels like running with a 100 pound pack on. I'm not tracking any of my elevation gain while on the ebike; it's not my effort. Not sure where this is heading. But it's a good time to be getting old.

Your complaint sounds like MSNBC script. Or a scowl on the face of a crowd refusing to celebrate a 13 year old boy stricken with cancer. How did Democrats become so utterly awful? Ok, you used Nazi allusions, so let's start there. The only folks I see spewing anti-Semitic bile these days are Democrats and progressives. Columbia, anyone? Not Republicans, who, in fact, are united in their support for the Jewish state. Certainly not Trump who, likewise, has attempted to cut off funding to universities who tolerate the physical harassment of Jewish students and violence generally. Who are the Nazis in America these days? Ask a Jewish friend--if you have any. Putin. Yes, I understand Rachel Maddow says you can't be against unchecked financial and weapons support for Ukraine and against Putin at the same time. But do you really think this? It's just, well, a very limited view of the world. Finally, yes, we just had an election and America chose Trump. I didn't like it when they chose Biden--but, hey, that's democracy. And Trump won because of the dripping arrogance and utter contempt white liberals hold for pretty much everyone who lives outside their city limits or a university campus--or the national parks. (Full circle.) Leftists, Democrats, progressives, have become weird and generally disgusting. A cadre of white liberal women and their cucks. A masquerade ballroom full of elites and intelligentsia dancing into the night while The Red Death ravages the countryside. Trump is President because of the thoughts, ideas and actions of the people you surround yourself with.

Exactly. We do not have, nor did we ever have a "treaty" to protect Ukraine as you claim. You should do a better job reading the links you post. Semantics aside, I think it's a good thing that an American President finally wants to stop wholesale slaughter and war--and not feed endless war and corruption. Progressives are sounding more and more like neocons nowadays.

Snowshoed up Star Peak (formerly Squaw Peak) above Hwy 200 this last Tuesday with my neighbor and his 12 year old son. Cold and windy and one of the coolest outhouses I've ever seen.

Spoken like a true "public servant."👍 Remember, you work for us. And we elected this administration. For too long, NPS staff have acted like the public lands they manage belong to them alone. Looking forward--learn to code? Trampling free speech? No, that was you and your Biden/D buddies who, at one point, even tried creating a Ministry of Truth. Corrupt? It's looking like your USAID buddies and their D bosses take the blue ribbon. More to come. Go Elon! Curious, which "treaty bound" country did we abandon?