Bug

Reconstruction was always on the minds of those constructing the war-plan (though not as much as it should have been). Bullshit! The extent of planning was pretty hoping the Iraq would say "yay, The amerikan smart bombs and smart bullets and smart soldiers (not at all smart btw) only killed military targets with no collatoral damage! Woohoo, now lets vote and get on with our lives" More hyperbole. Please. It really helps to bring intelligence to this discussion. Well I'm glad to see you taking that stance on intelligent discourse even if I do disagree the position you are holding. Let's not forget that teh Bushites were so wrapped up in promoting their war, and so wrapped up in being the all-powerful saviors after 911, that they outed a CIA operative. That was treason. Not my call. It is in the books. Someone still needs to be held accountable for that crime. But aside from that whole arguement is the point that this administration was operating on a "power high". They had power over this country while it was in a grip of fear (not arguing wether they caused it or not) and used that fear to further their own agenda. That agenda was not based on careful examination of objectively gathered intelligence. The record is clear that Rummy and Cheney openly rejected numerous attempts to provide eveidence that this war in Iraq would end in a quagmire. Even G senior saw that during his presidency and during his son's presidency. His comments on the matter were the most scathing comments a former president has made regarding a sitting president's policies. It was all whitewashed and forgotten though. When the dust clears, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield, etc. will be seen as the three stooges of the 21st century. Do we "HAVE" to stay the course? I think not. I beleive this because the middle eat is a huge conglomerate of under educated religious fanatics who have access to too many weapons. We were not able to contain the outburst of Islamic fundamentalism in Iran and it is just a matter of time before that wave washes over Iraq imo. Already, moderating populations have been eradicated or forced to flee. Over 300,000 Christians have met one of those two fates in Iraq. Funny how our Christian president does not let that statistic out of the bag. There are many secular and moderate Islamic groups that have also been attacked. To have served on the "Elected" government in Iraq is to be looking over your shoulder and fearing for your families indefinately. We did not beat this kind of popular insurgency in Vietnam. It will not work in Iraq where the borders are open supply lines for anti-US and anti-Israel sentiment and weaponry. Those poor people are in for an ugly ride. We can stop it only temporarily and at great cost. The only question is, how long can we prop up this effort on credit?

...and if your trusted friends do not come through, rely on the skills and good graces of the lone stranger.

Vell, Vaat do you expect? You beat us in two world wars, you steal all of our smartest people and build big bomb. Now ve sit und drink varm beer all day. I can say that. I am good German stock and have the temper to prove it.

Gee. I wonder if the pipeline goes right through the middle of Georgia. Here is a guess.

Did you do the descent down Cascaidian all the way to the trail and walk back up to the Longs Pass junction? Or did you cut right at the Black tower at about 7K and drop down the gulley that drops you right on top of the Longs Pass junction. Both are long but the latter is not as long. Just a little steeper.

Probably the same shoe; "Found a purple 5.10(spire) rock shoe on Guye Peak, just a little way down from the North Summit. Left it in the permit bin at the Snow Lake trail head."

Nice TR! A little chest beating might be appropriate here.

It wouldn't be half as fun a story if it wasn't an epic. Good work on making it go!

Das Toof revisited. A newbie and I went up the tooth yesterday in scorthing heat. He led the second pitch and we baked on the summit for awhile. Then we downclimbed the north ridge with one rappell near the bottom. From there, we dropped to a small pond at the base of a small snowfield and layed in the scummy water for half an hour. By then the temp was 92. We hung out until 5 and the temp dropped to 77 so we went around Hemlock(?) pk and hiked up Bryant. We had hoped to downclimb the ridge but it was a little too steep so we got down on rap slings in four 30m rappels traversing north as we descended. That put us right below the pass over to Source basin. We got to a high bench with water after dark and bivied. My knee was still sore in the AM so we bailed. Found a purple 5.10 climbing shoe at the trailhead. I brought it home figuring someone here would claim it. PM me.

FiveTen shoe Purple. Well used. Size 10 1/2. PM me.

I paid Group Death $347 a month which included dental.

I am prepondent.

Yes and no. I wouldn't call 10' a huge serac wall. For a huge serac wall look at the north east side of Liberty cap.

Do not solo Rainier. You will die. S ridge of Mt. Adams, Hood, St.Helens, Shasta, maybe. But you seem way overconfident to me. Climbing those mountains will humble you. Start with the s ridge of Adams or something on St Helens.

At the top of the slab is a small headwall of overhanging choss. The route as Becky describes it, goes left on a few moves of 5.9 right below the headwall. There are probably a million alternative routes but I haven't heard of them. Wear a helmet and be very careful about loose rock. Sorry. I checked the Becky guide and my memory is fading. It makes no mention of 5.9. However, my memory is not so bad as to make up the loose rocks I encountered while beating feet down it.

Yes. Another great one.

I can do stupid.

At the top of the slab is a small headwall of overhanging choss. The route as Becky describes it, goes left on a few moves of 5.9 right below the headwall. There are probably a million alternative routes but I haven't heard of them. Wear a helmet and be very careful about loose rock.

I picked up a guy from Chicago on this board for a trip into the Enchanments. We climber teh SB route on Prussik and a nice route on the Mole but I got tired of looking for him. He did warn me on the phone that he is "slow". Glacial would have been more accurate. In the grocery store after I picked him up, he took three hours to find his food. I told him to get instant foods as I didn't want to carry a bunch of cannisters. He got the kind you have to simmer for 20 minutes. I told him we had to be in Leavenworth at 7:45 to be in the lottery. I finally had to pick up his breakfast and put it in the car and threaten to leave without him. We made it right before they closed teh entry. He still gave me shit about being too stressed out. I showed him how to build a fire but had to help him every time. I waited for him at every turn in the trail and every bush and marmot but he still could not catch up. When racking to lead, he would pick up a piece, look at it for a few seconds, look up at the route, back at the piece, up at the route and soforth. He climbed well and was fast on lead but getting racked usually took 30-40 minutes. Then while I was taking a nap, he turned on the stove and went for a walk. When he came back he berated me for not turning off the stove when it was boiling. I lost it and barked at him for 10 minutes. He told me to calm down. Afterall we are on vacation. F you I said. Taking care of a momma's boy is no vacation for me. Then he posted for partners here for a long route in Chile. I flamed him and told him he would die up there because he could not move fast enough. Never heard from him again. Sometimes I wonder if he is still alive.

I know wrong.

Once again, the equation that Stalin was atheist (which has been debatable, but let's assume he was), therefore indicates that his atheism was the source of his immorality. As much as you erroneously assume that I was suggesting Carter, Truman, Kennedy etc. were douchebags because they were Christians, this Stalin example is pure hyperbole. My point was that Christianity doesn't anymore, or less, guarantee morals in one's heart than atheism would suggest inherent "lack of morals". The common wisdom is that lacking religion, one cannot possibly have a shred of moral foundation. Are you saying then, that without religion you personally would kill, steal, lie, and cheat? If your answer is no, of course you would not, then on what basis would you have constructed the moral fiber to reject these actions? Apparently it would come from somewhere, then, but without religion and faith, where?- perhaps it's a combination of one's upbringing and culture combined with a genetic predisposition to goodness or mischief? We clearly have in human society people who are, for no apparent reason, just not good natured, and people who are. My view is that if one needs a system of morals written down for them to follow, that's their prerogative and that should not be interfered with by any state or individual. But if you want to talk about it... name one of the 10 commandments which any group of decent individuals, regardless of culture or upbringing, couldn't agree upon- atheists included. All the rest of the ritual and circumstance and pageantry of religion, beyond a set of exceedingly obvious morals, is a matter of culture, opinion, and in the end, a means to control other people. Certain religions or branches of them, such as radical Islam, have added on more strict "morals" that we in the west see as immoral, yet we fail to grasp that these people truly believe this stuff they preach, but we're not willing to address it on the level of belief because faith and belief are simply not open to discussion in any culture. People should be able to believe whatever they want, including not to "believe" in anything, yet the most vitriolic hatred seems reserved not for religious extremists such as Al Qaida, but the "godless". You can be anything you want in the world, but no matter where you go, don't even think of expressing atheist views. That much is universal, and it has infinitely less to do with specious, circumstantial comparisons of Stalin as the shining example of "atheism in action", than it does to the absolute threat to someone's faith that the mere existence of a being who has no faith, regardless of whether that person otherwise demonstrates "moral" behavior. Faith is the base level expectation that most people have for one another; those lacking it are looked upon as filth. Now, you tell me who should be afraid. We agree then. Except for the following which does not apply to me. "Faith is the base level expectation that most people have for one another; those lacking it are looked upon as filth." What most people don't understand about Christianity, and this includes many Christians, is that no one is in a position to think they are better than anyone else. The only thing that makes true (imo) Christians a sepatarate group is that we know that only by Jesus sacrificing himself for our sins can we spend eternity in the presence of God. Now that is not God excluding you non beleivers. What you choose freely is up to you. It is not up to God. He gave you the full ability to make that choice. And the whole concept of Hell is an example of social controls. While there may be evil spirits of various sorts, you are not necessarily "aligned" with them just by choosing not to beleive in God or religion. The distinction is significant and very under stated in most doctrines. So go your way with great happiness. May it work well for you now and for all of eternity.

I'm pretty sure it's all been shredded already.

So Are you volunteering to be a crappy partner? We can bring a haul bag and portaledge on Diedre. Fix lines the whole way. What do you say? Too long of a drive. How about exit 38?

No matter how you slice it... True adventure in a shrinking world.