johndavidjr

July 12 Zogby poll results in WSJ.com "The bottom line: Mr. Kerry would beat Mr. Bush 322 electoral votes to 205. This marks a big turnaround for the Massachusetts senator. In the prior Zogby poll, Mr. Bush came out ahead in our Battleground analysis, 285-253." -----------------------

Of course, a CIA agent may or may not have foreign contacts who could be endangered by disclosing the agent's identity. Obviously this would also jeopardize US intelligence sources. Wilson probably isn't endangered. Some posters seem to get this; others not. Bush Administration was solely concerned with domestic politics &/or may have believed it didn't apply to Ms Wilson. Novak is simply a scum bag who is impressed with his White House contacts. _________________

Actually, I was thinking today that what Iraq really needs is for Outward Bound to open up a program for its youth. This builds character and values, which they seem to lack, and might help them get into a good school, and maybe even a nice job on Wall Street. It would certainly be a good way to introduce them to American values, and I think there are interesting mountains in the northwestern part of what is now Iraq, or certainly in Afghanistan, where some sort of an exchange program could be worked out. Or possibly they could run sailing programs in the Persian Gulf as an alternative....It's not Maine of course, but a man should know something about yachting.... don't you think? ____

Ahmen

The so-called post-colonialist era, or errors.

I get annoyed at retail clerks sometimes, but when I worked as one, for a few, blessedly brief weeks, 20 years ago, I just laughed at all the self-righteous, annoyed customers, who expected service that wasn't remotely possible, given discount dept. store staffing at Christmas. Maybe a higher minimum wage would help (probably not). _______

What's a window licker, what's a racist hater, and what's the trouble with guidebooks? But what I'm mostly not certain of is, what's your problem?

Roger: amusing, unsurprising analysis on what silly sailor boy takes for information. I must agree with him, however, that the central bank is unconstitutional. Really, having a U.S. currency is an unwarranted federal intrusion on the economy. ------

There is a conspiracy among these-here scientists, Democrats I guess, to surpress stuff that proves the Bible. I learned about this through a link on a Web site based somewhere on the Hood Canal. Republicans like Ann Coulter talking about "junk science" are on to something really BIG. Tip of the ice berg, so to speak. ""..On November 17, 3398 B.C., two billion people, with their astonishing technology, vanished from the face of the earth. This lost super race beat us to the moon(?), to computers, and to nuclear war. A cosmic disaster occurred which wiped out a super civilization and generated 6,000 foot tidal waves the disaster known to early civilizations worldwide as the great flood." (Okay, I guess they're not really sure about the part about the moon, since they do put question mark in there... But it's amazing how all this information has just been surpressed because of politics.) ______

Presently & personally, I'm likely to take non-waterproof sleeping bag biv sack (1 pound). The appalling condition of my pal's 30-yr-old Frostline sack is one reason. I also tend to floorless tents, or a condensation-prone, 1person singlewall. Hence, personally, want lightest-weight shell material available. ________

self-evident that New York and California--which went for Gore-- pay the lion's share of taxes. Forget about square miles-- what an utterly stupid point. It's remotely interesting that the former Nixon political advisor Kevin Phillips actually has a faintly similar take on the cycle of economic empires like Spain, Holland, Britain and the U.S. compared with this obscure 18th Century writer. Phillips, in a couple of books prior to his latest on the Bush "Dynasty," suggests that the best hope for the U.S. is attentiveness to middle-class interests, and provides reams of economic data from reputable sources, showing that Reagan=Bush policies were hostile to these interests in favor of the wealthy. Thing that gets me is, the Federal Reserve's long-standing aim of keeping unemployment at about 5% of the U.S. labor force of 100+ million..... _________________________________

And sailboy even has a sense of humor :-(....

Gee, I found this really enlightening FAQ section on a Web site related to the link above provided us by Mr. Sailboy. It too, carries references to the distinguished philosopher Johhn Kekes, whom Sailboy's link addulates. An examination of earlier links provided by this gentleman scientist from Brinnon, have provided me with much food for thought on "creation science" and the "junk science" of climate change. "theBlondbeast23 Are hairy black unibrows a sign of nonwhite blood in you? I'm not a Nordicist or anything, lol but a friend of mine has a bushy black unibrow. He claims he's German, Welsh and French. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JohnJoyTree Yup, a sure sign one of his ancestors was assaulted by one of The Little People 'way back in the Celtic twilight. The evil subhuman blood of the Worms of the Earth pollutes his genes!!!!" See "stormfront White Nationalist Community" http://www.stormfront.org/forum/archive/index.php/t-140854 Sailboy is a genuine NW gem of a guy. ________________________________________________

unlike McCarthy, I'd guess sailboy isn't gay?

sailboy sounds pretty much certifiable, & one would imagine, also, highly impressed with Matt Drudge & Ann Coulter. How is the state-sponsored mental health care system in Washington? One assumes as resident of Brinnon, he has no health insurance.

Yeah my cheap, MEC bag is unsusually long & narrow for its size, & when more fully loaded without the sheet, it tends to deform somewhat. It's got padding & I can manage to keep stuff away from back pretty well. The load-carrying disadvantage sans sheet at 20+ or so pounds (how many kilos?) wasn't so easy to observe; subtle & hard to quantify-- to the point where I'm not even sure there is one. (Why would a piece of plastic & couple of aluminum sticks make a difference?) More clearly, I remember when loading up my frameless Lowe to the max, I'd naturally think it was too damned heavy, & if only it had framesheet, then life would be wonderful. So is it wonderful, or isn't it?

I'm so glad Reagan killed metric conversion, because I can't figure it out. All I know for sure that's relevant is, my Lowe was advertised as the Snow Peak 50, and somewhere back in the dark ages of the 1990s, I took that to be about 3000 c.inches.

umunamuricun-ena cubic liter must be around 60 cubic inches of course, but I'm weak in arithmatic. I've carried the pack (US$60 on close-out) on two short trips with frame sheet & I find it difficult to say just how much the thing improved load-carrying, and even more difficult to say is why. Maybe I wasn't carrying enough weight, but I'm somewhat of the ectomorph build, & don't carry weight well to begin with. It's probably just a matter of experience and preference.

For a recent 3-night hike which included bushwacking and a moderate snow climb (see post in Olympics section) I left behind the framesheet on MEC alpine pack of about 52 cu liters. Have used this newish pack very little, with or without framesheet, and in past 7-8 years have used almost exclusively a frameless 50L Lowe pack. I don't have much of an opinion on whether leaving out framesheet was good/bad, though it obviously saved a little weight. Has anyone formed an opinon on detailed pros & cons??

"All things considered, Sen. McCarthy's reputation would be hard to refurbish, but give Ms. Coulter credit for an all-out effort. The senator--who knew something about the art of outrage merchandising--would have understood the latest of his public advocates." ---from Dorothy Rabinowitz's review of "Treason" on Wall St. Journal editorial page. For those interested in a conservative heavy-hitter's view of book, see link to full review. http://www.opinionjournal.com/medialog/?id=110003713 -------------------------

The "nuclear material" was 400 tons of natural uranium and not, in itself, a security threat. For more on bumbling Bush policy on this issue, see http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35404-2004Jul7.html _________

Unsurprisingly, the world view of a couple of posters above is simply delusional. Diagnosis is likely either a grevious error in mushroom consumption, or perhaps merely inadequate funding for public education and too much talk radio. From Wash. Post: "A Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted in May suggests that Bush continues to suffer a distinct lack of popularity among black voters. According to the poll, Bush may get 6 percent of their ballots, compared to John Kerry's 79 percent." ---------------------------------------

Gott: Your subtle mind & language cuts like a razor; undoubtedly due to your long study of Nietzshe & appreciation of Wagner.

Or perhaps you could rent a couple of bikes when you arrive, shuttle them to trailhed & lock them up in woods.

Extraordinarily interesting report. What did Alex Bertolius & partner do for traverse there?