JGowans

I wouldn't be surprised if we see even more banal reports that trump my little creative reporting. It's so stupid.

Bush Bought Jim Beam in 1978 Crawford, TX. A Crawford, TX man claims that incumbent president George Bush entered his grocery store in July, 1978 and bought a bottle of Jim Beam before driving off in a pickup truck. Chip Dawson, 71, says that Bush simply sauntered in, pondered over a bottle of Jack Daniels or Jim Beam before plumping for the cheaper Jim Beam, paid for it with cash, bade him a good day, tipped his cowboy hat and then walked out of the store. Democrats claim that this latest report confirms Bush’s questionable decision making abilities and his unsuitability to be president. Democratic spokesman, Phil Johnson remarked, “Clearly this incident reveals a disturbing pattern of indecision on the part of the president. Any man that has to think twice about his whisky is certainly not one that will resonate with the voters. I think that come November, the voters will consider this and other like issues when it comes time to cast their ballot. Do they want someone who is strong and vigorous like Senator Kerry, or do they want someone that obviously has trouble with even simple decisions, let alone complex ones such as Iraq and the economy?” Scott McLellan, Republican spokesperson sought to clarify President Bush’s thought process that day by remarking, “That president Bush weighed the two options in a logical manner based upon each liquor’s merits is a testament to this man’s compassion for seeing both sides of the coin. He made his decision. He made it quickly and he hasn’t looked back since. The President is an optimist and I’m sure the voters will recognize that.” Recent polls suggest that voters are evenly split on this issue - 49% say that they favor Bush’s handling of what’s already being labeled “liquorgate” while 51% say they disapprove. AP.

Drivel Has this election finally bottomed out? How much more drivel can voters stand? What about the policies?

All true. No way I would go there. I don't think it's justified. Also true that I'd likely crap myself if confronted by armed militia. How many folks in everyday life have been confronted by gun wielding individuals? I'm not trying to portray expertise in anything. I'm merely asserting an opinion that conflicts with yours and that of the GI. For that, I'm met with a barrage of cliched liberal insults. Admittedly, it's all good fun and I'm glad I can elicit such rabid replies.

What people like you don't understand is that some of the people the "war against terrorism" is fought against will execute your ass on a whim. I guess you didn't notice the recent fad in abductin innocent people and threating to execute them going on in Iraq for instance. What a tard.. You can't have peace with someone that executes with such extreme prejudism unless they die or you do. Thanks for reminding me. For a second there, when I got up this morning and sipped my early morning latte, I felt unnerved that someone may abduct me in urban Seattle. However, I then reminded myself that we're fighting the good war in the Middle East and we took the fight to them on their doorstep. That's what those Iraqis get for having the misfortune to have Dick Cheney declare that they were in cahoots with Al Queda. Quite honestly, I feel no more threatened nor any more safe than before this farce of a war began. You may say that it's because of the War on Terror that I am able to freely walk the streets but let's not be blinded by the reality that this "war" is a contrived ploy by politicians to control the masses. I really don't sense the imminent doom that you and your ilk like to profess. There have been struggles and injustices for centuries. I grew up amid daily reports of bombings but a few hundred miles from me and no-one in our communities stopped enjoying life and certainly no-one contemplated turning over their liberties to the government so that they could be "protected." Life goes on Cavey. Be happy

After a put down like that, now I'm truly scared. You're right. I'm wrong. I succumb to your superior intellect. I'm glad you are protecting my liberties.

Repeat after me, "All we are saying, is give peace a chance."

Yeeha! Thanks for your endorsement Cavey. Do I get a medal or something?

Firstly, it's modus operandus. As a dedicated and clearly sharp-minded military genius, I would have expected you to know that. Secondly, If you notice when I registered and perform some simple arithmetic (hint: your PC likely has a calculator built into the operatus sytemus ) you'll find that I registered to this site approximately one and a half years prior to your debut. Finally, I have no idea what your last run on sentence meant but I think I extracted a tacit acknowledgement that my suspicions proved founded and you and your posse do indeed partake in regular circle jerks to the point where you have Circle Jerk Olympics. Admittedly, I'm not sure what that might be comprised of, but I hope you at least have fun doing it. Certainly, the testosterone needs an outlet eh?

It's funny you should post. I was going to compare you to the GI and suggest that he take a leaf from your book whereby you also promote conservative views but don't necessarily come across as an unstable gun-toting lunatic. I thought better of it though and with your last post you just proved my intuition correct

Dude, you make such moronic comments sometimes. You feel like you can get away with saying anything you please and that your point of view is correct and everyone else is wrong on account of you toting a gun and bleeding the red white and blue. You spend most of your time in a mass circle jerk with a bunch of testosterone laden adolescents and no-one seems willing to criticize you because you’re supposedly some kind of hero. I wish you well and hope you’re safe. Beyond that, try to break free of the cultish thinking and consider that sometimes violence isn’t the answer to everything.

For what it's worth, I had stone wash jeans and even had baggy pants and tried to dance like MC Hammer but looked more like a skinny Vanilla Ice. That was the 80s. That was the fad du jour back then. I was even known to have once tied Grolsch bottle caps on my shoe laces cos the guys from a lame band called Bros did that and the chicks loved them. Those are fashion statements. I can't imagine a war ever being a fashion statement.

Nice! Went there a couple of weeks ago for a boys weekend. Floated down the Methow from Winthrop to Twisp on inner tubes with our coolers in tow. Also had the great fortune to check out some of the local talent at the Palace. A veritable cornucopia of fine young fillies.

Set out to climb the W face of Sloan. Left Seattle @ 5am with my buddy. Got on the trail just before 8am. Bushwhacked our way through the overgrown forest. Emerged at the river absolutely drenched. Slogged up the river boulders for another 1000 feet only to be met by masses of talus, scree, mud and silt. Fell on my ass, cursed our choice of climb and continued scrambling up. I made the call at 11am that I didn't think we had enough time to ascend the face and be back to the cars before dark (no way I wanted to descend the approach in the dark - no question that I'm a pussy these days). So, we thought we'd head around to the South face and try to hook up with the Corkscrew route. Scrambled around there and my partner finally cajoled me into doing it (I was convinced we didn't have enough time - by now it was 12pm). Got my harness on only to have my buddy exclaim that he'd left his rack in the car (no complaints from me). So, we hung out for a while, took in the views, ate some Oberto beef jerky (a fine American food that I'll miss should I ever move back to Europe) and before descending down a slippery heathery slope - more falling on my ass, more contorting my ankles, more scratches and bruises. Back down the riverbed we went not 100% sure where the forest trail began again. We found it though and marched through the dense undergrowth (now dry) and got back to the car at 4.30pm. All in all a good day on account of the views and the workout. In retrospect it was a timely reminder that I hate late season climbing and feel a lot more at home on snow than talus and scree.

I'm trying to make up my mind on whether it'd be worth it to try Rainier this sunday. The park web site says that the routes are fairly meandering with exposed crevasses, crumbling snow bridges, and high rock fall danger. Weather seems a bit iffy. Anyone been up there this week?

Ooh a dastardly ploy and here I was thinking I was trolling you all by blaming it all on the Americans

I love competition. I love sport. I love seeing athletes at the top of their game. I hate federations appealing every event. I hate athletes complaining about every adverse decision. I hate athletes taking performance enhancing drugs. I hate the media's perverse desire to create heroes and villains in a moronic effort to boost ratings. I'm getting really wary of professional sports. I don't remember it ever being this bad. My contentious theory is that this type of behavior (the suing and appealing piece) stems from the U.S. culture of litigation. First in business, then the bloody general election and now it has seeped into the world of professional sports. I long for cordial behavior in sports. This win at all costs to the detriment of sporting behavior is a sad statement of our dog-eat-dog culture. Call me a wuss, but whatever happened to tea breaks during cricket and handshakes all around regardless of results? Btw, Michael Phelps IMHO has been the one shining example in the games so far. The media's effort to co-opt his feats and turn it into some cheap Hollywood production sucks though.

Good point. 1986, World Cup in Mexico- Diego Maradona of Argentina scored against England with his infamous "Hand of God". Everybody was pissed off but nobody sought to reverse the score. I'm getting really sick of these Olympics with news everyday about some bitter athlete protesting this or that. Shit happens. Be angry and use that anger to get ready for the next competition. The professional world of athletics is turning into a sissy bunch of whiners where nobody can take things on the chin and act graciously. I know that this might be an unpopular theory but I believe that this environment of appeal and litigation stems from the U.S. - first in business then into politics and now has poisoned the sporting world. Big money in athletics obviously has a lot to do with it too I suppose. If this crap doesn't stop, people are going to turn off their tellys because their "heroes" act like spoiled little shitbags instead of examples for kids that they ought to be.

Canadian death VICTORIA, B.C. -- A well-known British Columbia mountain climber died after he fell out of a tree while trying to rescue a cat. Daryl Hatten, 49, who blazed trails in the Canadian Rockies and California's Yosemite National Park, died Saturday. He was being paid to rescue a large black house cat for its owner when he slipped from a rain-soaked arbutus tree and fell about 65 feet to a rocky patch on the ground below. Hatten was rushed to Victoria General Hospital, where he died of severe internal injuries, Canadian Press reported. Fire crews returned Sunday to check on the cat. It was still up the tree. Firefighters have not been back since. Friends in the climbing community were organizing a memorial service for Sept. 8.

Smokey Joes in Snoqualmie has an electronic hunting game. I think to get in there and the Elk Lodge across the street, your front 4 teeth need to be missing.

Speaking of Kelowna, I was in Boston Bar B.C. in April on my way to a rafting trip on the Thompson. Me and my buddy stopped in at the Chinese Restaurant there. I asked for a Bud and when my buddy asked what beers they had, the Chinese lady responded with a long list including one called Kelowna. Not having heard previously of Kelowna, my friend thought it must be some new micro-brew so he ordered it. Two minutes later, the woman came abck with a bottle of Corona. They also had an interesting ad for singles. I wondered how many eligible folks could be up there in that little town that still had teeth and all.

I saw some old lady driving a beat up caddie the other day with a sticker that read "France - Irrelevant for over 200 years" Pretty lame if you ask me

I agree that it's too hot for most things except...last weekend me and 4 buddies floated down the Methow from Winthrop to Twisp in inner tire tubes with another tube for our cooler. We jumped in the river just behind the brew pub in Winthrop where the river was flowing kinda brisk. What a fricking laugh we had except when I bailed on some mini rapid and lost my t-shirt and sun glasses I suspect the beer had something to do with the dodgy coordination

It's a 3rd and/or 4th class descent off the West side from what I remember. Also the S. Ridge didn't have any 5.7. BTW even though they call it the South Ridge, it is really a narrow low angle face broken up with cracks.. Sorry for the thread drift. I looked up an old TR and it was the East ridge I was yammering on about. I rapped down the S. Ridge that yes, I'd agree is more like a low angle face. I wouldn't want to downclimb that.

Greg, maybe I'm getting my wires crossed, but I seem to recall doing the S. Ridge of Ingalls last year and apart from it being quite long, there was tons of exposure and one 5.7 crux move that I would definitely not like to fall on. Then again, maybe it was the SE Ridge?? Also, where would one downclimb? I rapped off the S. face and I can't imagine downclimbing it. Am I getting my orientation all mixed up here?