Jim
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Posts posted by Jim
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WTF! Every time you think you've seen it all by the Bushies they notch it up one. And the Republicans in charge of Congress are asleep at the wheel in favor of party loyalty.
Secret gov't source tells ABC News: 'Get new cellphones'
Posted by Frank James at 12:10 pm CDT
ABC News has a very disturbing report today, at least for reporters and anyone else who believe that whistleblowers serve an important role in safeguarding American democracy.
On its blog, The Blotter, ABC News reports that a senior government source has told its reporters that the reporters’ phone calls with sources are being tracked by the U.S. government “to root out confidential sources.”
I hasten to say I don't have independent confirmation of the facts underlying the ABC News report. But I thought it was something readers of The Swamp would find interesting. The item follows.
Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
May 15, 2006 10:33 AM
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
ABC News does not know how the government determined who we are calling, or whether our phone records were provided to the government as part of the recently-disclosed NSA collection of domestic phone calls.
Other sources have told us that phone calls and contacts by reporters for ABC News, along with the New York Times and the Washington Post, are being examined as part of a widespread CIA leak investigation.
One former official was asked to sign a document stating he was not a confidential source for New York Times reporter James Risen.
Our reports on the CIA's secret prisons in Romania and Poland were known to have upset CIA officials.
People questioned by the FBI about leaks of intelligence information say the CIA was also disturbed by ABC News reports that revealed the use of CIA predator missiles inside Pakistan.
Under Bush Administration guidelines, it is not considered illegal for the government to keep track of numbers dialed by phone customers.
The official who warned ABC News said there was no indication our phones were being tapped so the content of the conversation could be recorded.
A pattern of phone calls from a reporter, however, could provide valuable clues for leak investigators.
Being a confidential source who disagrees with a presidential administration then decides to oppose it by becoming a whistleblower can take courage when discovery means loss of a job and possible legal consequences.
It’s just that kind of courage that this revelation is likely to chill. That could be the administration’s intent here, to make would-be confidential sources think twice before talking with reporters.
It’s no small irony that the only reason we now know about this is because a ABC News’ confidential source told them about it.
The Blotter posting raises the question of whether ABC News’ phone calls were swept up as part of the vast National Security Agency database consisting of the phone-call records of millions of Americans which USA Today reported on last week.
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2006/05/govt_source_tel.html
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Climb: Shuksan-Sulfide Glacier
Date of Climb: 5/14/2006
Trip Report:
I couldn't spare two days this past weekend for the ski fest so a handful of us did a day trip up the Sulfide. We had no permit for the summit but that was ok as it looked like a cluster with several slow parties. The glacier ski was great and the weather perfect. I'd been up there before but in marginal conditions and saw little. So this was good. I pitied the folks without skis who had a bit post-hole event awaiting. Below the col things got mushy but better in the trees.
lower glacier
lower glacier
That ridge before the traverse Gear Notes:
Skis
Approach Notes:
The road was snow free to within a mile of the road end. That should begin to melt out soon.
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I like using a bike bag for commuting better than using a backpack because heat-retention wise, it's much more comfortable to have a thin strap covering your back than a pack. Just much easier to regulate body-temps. Then there's also the helmet-thing. Most backpacks seem to ride high enough that they interfere with head-movement when you've got a helmet on.
Plus they're stylin'
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RCW 46.61.261
Sidewalks, crosswalks — Pedestrians, bicycles.
The driver of a vehicle shall yield the right of way to any pedestrian or bicycle on a sidewalk. The rider of a bicycle shall yield the right of way to a pedestrian on a sidewalk or crosswalk.
--I don't beleive it's illegal, just have to yield to Pedxings.
I commuted in Washington D.C., NYC, and in Seattle and found Seattle the most bicycle-friendly by far. Most folks are used to the bicycle traffic and are courteous about it. And then there are the usual jerks. You gotta be careful, sometimes folks don't see a car coming never-the-less a speck of a bicycle. Better to be cautious and alive than in the right and crunched.
As far as gear I prefer a small summit pack for my clothes; I'm lucky enouth to have a shower and locker room at work. When I worked as a messenger I liked the shoulder bag thing because you could slide it around quick to pull out your delivery and get a signature. We used to snicker at the commuters decked out in cafe jerseys, overboots, colored glasses, and the obligatory messenger bag. Now for commuting I don't need access to my stuff every five minutes and found the need to constantly shove the shoulder bag back onto my back with my elbow annoying. And I was always worried about the panniers thing if squeezing through stopped traffic. But some friends of mine swear by them.
I find it a great way to squeeze in exercise on busy day and take long rides in the good weather and the shortest commute when it rains. Today looks like the 30 mile loop from downtown, around Magnolia, thru Discovery Park and the locks, BG, Fremont, U District, and up to the north end.
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Gas Prices
in Spray
Bottom line is we consume too much from driving gas guzzlers and buy every plastic distraction put in front of us. That said, there's been some odd tax give-aways to the oil companies in the last energy bill. And that one time exemption from overseas profits was an idiotic Bushie move, like they're going to change their accounting practices - they just took the windfall and ran.
Wait until gas gets over $4/gallon. It will get interesting. Gotta love the Excursions with the yellow magnet on back - the drivers look stressed watching the gas needle.
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Climb: Silver Peak circut-NW shoulder
Date of Climb: 4/23/2006
Trip Report:
Four of us fueled up at the Issaquah Cafe before heading up to the pass. We left one car at the Annette Lake trailhead and then piled in the other for the pass. We started at the Silver Fir chair at the summit. There were a couple folks starting to tour the Catherine loop and such, and a handful of boarders tromping up for a ride in the sun.
We headed to Grand Junction and then through Windy Pass. By the time we got to the pass the snow was starting to soften a bit so that help me to dodge the trees. We got into the basin and as usual the past couple years the stink-mobiles had cut up the slopes pretty bad already, though they are not allowed back there. Nothing new.
We gained the shoulder under and through some relatively non-threating cornices. Lunch and naps were on the schedule for the next hour or so. The Cascades were impressive and one feels lucky having such access to the peaks in your backyard.
I dug a pit and the recent snow layer was obvious. It released following 4 hand taps, 4 elbow taps, and 3 full arm taps. Yellow flag at the most so we proceeded to cut a couple of traverse lines, then stomped a lot, then made several hard turns. All systems go!
We kept an eye out but it was a hoot and holler down 1,200 ft or so to the lake with no signs of other skiers and the stinkmobiles left on the other side of the ridge. The snowpack was good enough that we crossed the lake and skied down the west side of the valley all the way to the John Wayne Trail. Some impressive avy debris had come off the west walls this spring but didn't make it too far across the valley so we had a pleasant ski down.
Had a beer at the car, retrieved the one at the pass and made it home for dinner . Most excellent day.
Gear Notes:
Teleboards, sunscreen
Approach Notes:
The snow pack on the west side of the valley on the way out will not last too long. May want to consider the hiking trail for the ski down soon.
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ChucK - More than likely the "outing" itself was not illegal at least in terms of revealing a secret agent no matter who did it and for whatever reason.
Because Novak - who was involved in the scheme - says so? There's some circular logic.
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That text is an absolute classic. I was lucky enough to get an autographed copy when it first came out. W/O sounding like an old fart, the more techniques you can use the better off you'll be. I've seen some bash and plunder types get totally stymied when they have to get up small bulges with only one ax and no rope. Technique man, technique!
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1. Software Engineer 6. Market research analyst
2. College professor 7. Computer IT analyst
3. Financial adviser 8. Real Estate Appraiser
4. Human Resources Manager 9. Pharmacist
5. Physician assistant 10. Psychologist
Software engineer? Ugh! Human Resource manager? Man, booooooring, inside ALL the time, and as interesting as watching paint dry. Understanding there's a middle ground between the guiding life and most of this list, what's great about your job?
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so, getting back on topic here:
1) illegal aliens are just that. no need to invent euphemisms
2) employers who hire illegals are also outside the law. we pay lip service to enforcing these particular laws - just as we do regarding illegal aliens
I would like to see the following occur:
1) enforce all employment regulations
a) illegal aliens must have a worker visa,
b) illegal aliens must pay taxes on the same progressive tax system as the rest of us
c) the same laws on wages and benefits and workers rights apply to illegal aliens as to everyone else
d) the same social benefits are awarded to taxpaying illegals as the rest of us
e) we enforce all this at the EMPLOYER level.
Actually not a bad idea. The problem as usual, is politics. A couple years ago the Justice Dept. started doing this in Iowa in response to requests from local jurisdictions. The meat packing plants were full of illegal Mexicans and there was some issues of packing familes into apartments and run down houses, etc. So - Justices starts cracking down on the meat packers, they immediately go run to their senators and Sen. Grassley goes and pounds on the Justice Dept. to back off, saying it will ruin the economy, blah, blah, blah, and they do.
So now it's ironic to hear some of Grassley's comments on the issue.
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I spent a month in the Dolomites last summer, some of it going hut to hut. It's very different over there. While enjoyable and different, I would not like to see something similar over here. There is no wilderness over there.
I like the Canadian model better, with simpler huts, and facilities for cooking. Especially ski trips this is great and better than trying to dry your damp clothes in the sleeping bag. The Colorado huts, the few Sierra Club huts around Tahoe are good examples, as are the Idaho yurts. So there are some around, just not in the Cascades unless you like those roadside ones in the Methow or the Mt. Tahoma things.
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I think you should change you avatar to the White Rabbit.
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Oh-oh. music thread
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Did you tag Torre Principal, the big guy, and how many condors were sited? Gotta get back there soon.
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translates as:
I've got mine, fuck you.
Are you a complete idiot? What do you think they tax--your profits. Maybe you are smiling b/c your investments equaled a loss, and therefore you aren't paying any taxes. Or maybe you are 12.
Wow. You guys are passionate now aren't you? I've got mine, so F-You. I believe you read into that incorrectly. Try looking at it from a different context. You also have the ability to benifit from the tax cuts, but do you? If not, then why not. Maybe learn how to work the system for your gain if your so against THE MAN. As for me being an idiot. Do you know me? If so, try introducing yourself to me again so I'll remember who you are. -Mike
And the point is? -
Matt -
I am not saying you are cherry picking. I am saying you are using Bush's cherry picking as evidence that he is telling untruths. I believe this should be relatively clear in my repsonse to Chuck.
PP
Maybe we can cut and paste this into the above cartoon.
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Here is a summary of the last five days. During the period of March 31st thru April 4th the following occurred:
There were 39 shootings/ambushes that killed 144 people.
There were 25 major bombings that left 40 people dead.
There were 5 mortar attacks killing 3 people.
Four people, including a physician and the brother of a Sunni lawmaker, were kidnapped.
One US military helicopter was shot down. The crew died in the crash.
There were three major attacks on oil pipelines.
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...and quite witty.
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Tax revenues are up though, Jim, and the same newspaper had this to say about it:
"The big surprise has been in tax revenue, which is running nearly 15 percent higher than in 2004. Corporate tax revenue has soared about 40 percent, after languishing for four years, and individual tax revenue is up as well.
Most of the increase in individual tax receipts appears to have come from higher stock market gains and the business income of relatively wealthy taxpayers."
No duh. Has nothing to do with any policy shift, simply we're finally pulling out of a prolonged economic slump. Oh I know, the trickle down theory.
There's really no refuting the facts. Total federal personal taxes paid on wages and other earnings, including income, SS, and Medicare averages 23.4%. In contrast tax on personal investment income averages 9.6%. Who do you think benefits from this?
I know. When you start dividing up the population into those quintiles the upper incomes pay more of the total tax collected. Shit, they should, since they make even higer proportions from thier investment income. 1% of the US populations holds 40% of the wealth in the country, and the trend is upward. Isn't there a time when policies tilted towards the ultra rich are excessive? 1% owning 75% of the wealth - is that bad? Most economists would say yes, that advancing a plurocracy is not in the national interest.
88% of collected taxes come from federal personal taxes. The contribution of investment and corporate taxes has been shrinking for decades. Funny how the economy seemed to work just fine without the huge tax breaks for the ultra rich.
It also cracks me up that most of the right wing is behind this. The Bushie tax cuts, as noted above, only benefited a very small (upper 3%) of the population. What the heck are the masses getting out of it? So someone earning just over $200k a year pays the same tax as someone earning several million a year? I'm sure the National Review has some other talking points you can harvest regarding this.
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NY Times April 5
The analysis found the following:
¶Among taxpayers with incomes greater than $10 million, the amount by which their investment tax bill was reduced averaged about $500,000 in 2003, and total tax savings, which included the two Bush tax cuts on compensation, nearly doubled, to slightly more than $1 million.
¶These taxpayers, whose average income was $26 million, paid about the same share of their income in income taxes as those making $200,000 to $500,000 because of the lowered rates on investment income.
¶Americans with annual incomes of $1 million or more, about one-tenth of 1 percent all taxpayers, reaped 43 percent of all the savings on investment taxes in 2003. The savings for these taxpayers averaged about $41,400 each. By comparison, these same Americans received less than 10 percent of the savings from the other Bush tax cuts, which applied primarily to wages, though that share is expected to grow in coming years.
¶The savings from the investment tax cuts are expected to be larger in subsequent years because of gains in the stock market.
Those making less than $50,000 saved an average of $10 more because of the investment tax cuts.
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Another vote for the FF. I have a eight year old 20deg, weighs right at 2lb w/dryloft shell. Best bag I've owned hands down. Plus, you're supporting the local bros instead of some corporate wanks getting Mao's millions to sew em.
Feathered Friends, you can't go wrong.
Ditto here on my 7 yr old 20 deg. Got a deal on an ugly green color, but it has held up great. I like the folks at FF, they've proved knowlegable and friendly, they're small and local.
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...America in Iraq, by George Packer. I just finished this book and it should somehow be required reading for all. It's a sober review of how we got there - starting with the rumblings in think tanks - and what we did once we invaded. Anyone reading this has to wonder what Rummy and friends were thinking. Their willful ignorance of tribal and religious conflicts brewing in the country are astounding. As are the repeated lost opportunities.
While I always thought the idea of a democratic Iraq was pure fantasy, after reading this I realize there was a chance, somewhat slim, that it could have worked. We ground that into the dust in short order. The lies, money and lives wasted, and our status in the world world in tatteers. Plus we created a terrorist magnet. Excellent work guys.
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Got to combine work and play with two days of skiing at the Tahoe area. It dumped two feet the day before getting up to the basin. Lots of folks digging out. Luckily for us this was followed by two days of sun and spring conditions. Just rode the lifts at Sugar Bowl one day and Alpine Meadows the second. I thought Alpine was great, and during the was hardly anyone there. Ski down, get on lift, repeat. My first time in the area during winter - fun!
Potter Climbs Delicate Arch
in Climber's Board
Posted
Patagonia's response to my concerns of Dean and his limitless ego. My response was this is cya and I'll be tending towards Arteryx.
Hello,
Thank you for writing us with your concerns. Patagonia ambassador Dean Potter's May 7 free solo of Delicate Arch has generated significant controversy about the legality and appropriateness of the climb of what has
been described as a national icon. We'll be interested to follow the controversy and to listen to views of those on both sides.
A few facts are in order. First, no crime has been committed. The National Park Service has conceded that its regulations were ambiguous and that they will not cite Dean for the ascent. They have said they will seek to clarify their regulations to prevent a second try. The Park and a number of opinion leaders have argued that Delicate Arch is an icon that should not be climbed.
It is important to note that Dean did no harm to the route or to the rock. He free-soloed the arch, placing no anchors and creating no impact beyond blowing dust off the holds. As he says, "No one reveres rocks more than me.
I consider all rocks sacred, as do most climbers."
Dean, like all Patagonia ambassadors, undertakes his own climbs on his own terms. He told us about the climb afterward.
We have taken positions in the past on a number of issues of climbing ethics, including bolting. We take no position on this one. As Casey Sheahan, our CEO, notes, "From the early days in the Tetons to the rebelliousness of Yosemite's Camp 4, every generation of climbers has had
its run-ins with government regulations that attempt to restrict climber's freedom of expression. At Patagonia we don't control the ways our sponsored athletes conduct themselves except to encourage respect for the environment
and uncommon approaches to every challenge. Dean is at the pinnacle of free solo climbing, makes decisions for himself, and has our complete support."
Again, we thank you for your time and your opinion.
Patagonia