Fairweather

Good post Trask! While I generally don't like watching fellow humans die, I feel nothing for those bastards in our crosshairs. Anyone who is even a little timid about seeing such things should just remember the 9/11 images of Americans jumping to their deaths from 80 floors up. The only thing that bothered me about the c-130 video was that the air crew seemed overly obsessed with avoiding damage to the mosque and did not seem to have carte' blanche to fire-at-will. They seemed to be requesting permission from elsewhere to proceed to subsequent targets. Am I wrong?

I guess we can't all be a "enlightened" as you, Matt.

How about Dem Senator Robert Byrd? Used the "N" word in a recent TV interview....former KKK man...no media hysteria though...no calls for his resignation....that's reserved for Republicans! How about Dem Senator Fritz Hollings? He's the one who PUT UP the Confederate Flag in So Carolina! No media outrage though...that's reserved for Republicans. How about Bill Clinton's mentor, William J Fulbright? Former Democrat Senator and rabid segragationist. When 'Ole Bill spoke his praises recently you didn't hear any media outrage. That's reserved for Republicans. Lets get real here. NOT backing/supporting modern "affirmative action", or the "reparations" movement, or even the MLK national holiday (which I support), doesn't make someone a racist. I would propose that many Democratic inspired govt programs are racist...including afirmative action itself. Trent Lott apologized profusely, and the Dem's piled on for political gain. I watch FOX news. Dan Rather CBS, Peter Jennings ABC, and to a lesser degree Tom Brokaw NBC are all Democrat stooge networks. CNN is pure garbage. ...and NPR....don't even get me started! PBS actually has some pretty fair/balanced reports. I love "Frontline" and McLauglin Report. Bill Moyers however is far to the left of even most Democrats.

Judge Judy in 2008!!

How to defend against a shipping container or "suitcase" (a very low-yeild device) bomb: 1)North Korea: Put MAD doctrine back into effect. It worked in Europe in spite of the hysteria of the left. Reagan was right to deploy Pershing II! If Pyongyang has the balls to burn Tokyo, Anchorage, or Homer Alaska, we'll barb'que 'em. Make it real clear to "dear leader" Kim, and the rest of the world. 2)Radical Islamic Terrorists: Let them know, through back channels of course, that if we are attacked with a nuke, a couple of their "favorite" cities might be targeted. They'll know which ones we're talking about. Doubtful a good terrorist would want that stain on their resume. 3)Iran: Continue to encourage the secular undercurrent now growing within the populace. I think they will effect leadership change soon on their own. I really don't think the Iranian people wish us ill.

Actually, I have enjoyed reading the J B v. Goat debate. I've read every word!....good reads. Keep it on the surface.

I've had extremely good results using a "stair-mill" machine at the gym near my house. Kind of like climbing an escalator. I always swore I would never join a gym, but it has paid off. Very low impact on the knees. I still mix in a 5k run 3 or 4 times per week, but I don't push it very hard. (23+min) Lately, I've tried to do a longer run every other week. About 8 miles with hills. The jury is still out on this practice. Someone here thought cycling was a good substitute for running. For me, this has not been the case. Too easy to just cruise. Too cold on the downhills in the off-season. Everyone is different though. I think the best workout would be a 1000' vert hill behind your house to walk/run up daily. I envy folks in Enumclaw who have Mount Peak right in their backyard.

Great post, PP! This would be a great story for NPR to run!....ya think?? Until academia shuns its left wing agenda, it can't be counted on to report an acurate portrait of today's issues. Looks like they tried to bury this one because it didn't fit their vision of the world. For once, they were called upon to account.

In another 500million years, or perhaps sooner, as our star leaves its main sequence and begins to swell as its hydrogen is consumed, we will all be seriously fucked. This is assuming we aren't blasted by a large asteroid, cometary fragment, gamma burst, itinerante black hole, ... or eachother before that time. The supreme goal of the human race in the meantime should be to explore, and settle the rest of this galaxy. Unfortunately, the speed-of-light seems to be a major barrier. (Too bad Clinton killed the Superconducting-Supercollider project. ) Even if we succeed with this undertaking, one must still deal with an ever expanding universe that grows colder and colder, or a universe that collapses back on itself. Here again, we're screwed. I think SSui may be right...we humans are only here for the blink of an eye. Am I saying we shouldn't be good stewards of the planet we're on? Hell No! But it will never be possible to leave this place without making a bit of a mess ie: the physical and social infrastructure required for said undertaking. A balanced approach will, no doubt, be necessary. I don't deny global warming is happening. While I am a big time "human caused" global warming skeptic, my New Year's Resolution for 2003 is to read all I can about the topic and try to seperate the politics from the science. Not that it matters a rip, but I am willing to change my position if any non-hysterical, non-activist, non-socialist, is willing to convince me.

Shit DFA, If you go to the movie won't you miss "The West (left) Wing" on NBC?

Now Allison, you don't want to go and break our unwritten peace treaty do ya? ...and who was "braggin" an 'bout what anyhow?

Wrong Fircrest, fuck-nut.

SC, You CAN"T be serious. Besides imposing a bankrupt idealology on the Russian people that lead to over 70 years (and tens of millions of Russians, Ukranians, Armenians, ... DEAD!) of enslavement under communist rule? Don't give me any more of your communist Bullshit. I'm really tired of it; and you. I know you think that "true" communism hasn't been tried yet, and perhaps Lenin/Stalin/Mao/Pot just weren't being true to the ideals espoused by Marx. But just how many more millions will DIE before commie/utopians like you "perfect" your great experiment? If you want to live as a drone in a beehive, then be my guest! Just don't try to impose your anthill mentality on the rest of us. Most climbers I know, (even liberals!) stand for the spirit of the individual and for freedom. Your Leninist/commie ideals don't stand for either.

Toast, I would expect just such crap from someone who resides where a statue of Lenin stands in the town center. What f-ing crap.

Did you and GregW run across any Great Whites out there? Check out today's Tacoma paper....some guy spotted an 18-20 foot Great White Shark off of Point Defiance. Sounds like a credible story too. Check it out on "tribnet.com". (I can never get their links to stick here for some reason.)

Still waiting Iain...

Z, I have listened to NPR refer to "those who died in The World Trade Center 'collapse' " on several occasions. I guess in NPR's narrow (taxpayer-funded) view of 9/11, 3000 people were not MURDERED...they simply died in some kind of structural failure. When the lefties like Gore and Dashel whine about talk radio, I wonder if that gripe includes NPR? I'm sure there are enough left wing hollywood liberals who could fund 'em. Let's wean NPR from the taxpayer's teat. Write your rep/senator.

Good article "Z". Don't let Alpine-"A Beacon in the Smog"- K get you down. He's just an Angry White Liberal who thinks using bio-diesel in the chipper he tows behind his (9mile-per-gallon) pickup truck gives him authority to spout off about mainstream America whenever his blood-estrogen level gets too high.

Iain, What leads you to this ridiculous conclusion?

Perhaps you should change your avatar to "Non-Thinker". You're just another AWL. (Angry White Liberal)

Mount Washington summit block. Winter 1990.

I believe Paul Clauss flies in to the Nabesna, but no later than mid May. Here is a picture of my son (age 10) and I with Blackburn from the Kennicott side. I scoped out the route from Donohoe Peak. Looks like a burial ground. (Click on the attachment)

Iain, not "pigeonholing", just pointing out your usual one sided judgements. You honestly don't see that the very thing you acuse Ashcroft of doing is the same thing Reno did? That is, allowing at either a conscious or unconscious level, their personal "leanings" to frame the way they execute their duties? What about RFK? You suppose his judgement was clouded by his strict Catholic upbringing? Gimme a break.

Iain, Where was Janet Reno's "Justice Dept" when environmentalist-fundamentalists were burning down research labs, private homes, and ski resorts? Where was your outrage? You don't think JR's(and her boss's) personal beliefs maybe had something to do with the lack of interest she displayed while the property of others was destroyed? Again; where was your outrage?

Iain Why you bashing Strom Thurmond? Let's look at some prominent Democrats: George Wallace....enough said Al Gore Sr....voted AGAINST the Civil Rights Act Senator Robert Byrd...former KKK member Your tunnel vision doesn't allow you to see the whole picture?