KaskadskyjKozak

The next time someone talks about some "imminent threat", it will take a hell of a lot of concrete evidence to convince me, that's for sure.

Govoryu, no predpochitayu razgovarivat' na soloveynom ukrainskom.

Thanks, I'll consider this option. I'd like to allow 2 days for the climb though. The purpose of the trip is to get to altitude on a non-technical climb, and see how I do. I've been at 12,000+ feet twice. The first time I just had a headache at the summit (Adams) and puked back at basecamp. The second time I had to stop and turn back (Rainier). Is there a decent high camp on the Clear Creek route?

Wow, JayB really knows how to push SC's buttons...

Ty v c'omu pomylyayeshsya. Bahato z nas v Ameryci nenavydyly kacapiv-komunyakiv. My stoyaly z polyakamy v solidarnosti protyv yikhnikh zlodiyiv.

In prior wars supply trains were staffed with military personnel - convoys were driven by soldiers, meals were fixed by soldiers, repair work was done by soldiers. In Iraq the fuel trucks are driven by US contractors, the meals fixed by contractors. Same roles, same duties, different "boss" than in the past, and one that to my mind places themmin the role of unarmed combatant. Thanks. Where are you reading up on these details? Our media doesn't seem to cover any of it.

Especially since those same jobs would have been performed by soldiers in past wars. We've outsourced the logistics of our army and somehow expect our enemy's to respect this. Please elaborate.

Assistance? Like intelligence? Collaborators? I'd say yes, but they need to *know* for sure that someone is doing it, not just suspect it. BTW, I don't think of all the insurgents as terrorists - only some, maybe even a very small percentage.

I do. But only if they target our soldiers.

None of them were firing at us, or sitting on top of weapons stockpiles (conventional weapons), or doing anything wrong? If he was unarmed, then I think that murder is not much different than the CARE worker's... I don't equate the two. These civilians are not intentionally murdered. It is "collateral damage" - a horror of war, terrible, and tragic. The CARE worker was intentionally murdered in cold bold. It is personal. I equate the later to premeditated murder, and the former to something like "manslaughter". If it can be proven that we *intentionallY* target civilians with our bombs, well that is another matter...

They are certainly 'less innocent' if they had guns and were firing at our troops. There is no moral equivalency here.

Yes.

I don't drink with psychopaths packing heat.

My diagnosis of the cause: crack smoking combined with Satanism.

Pot... kettle... black.

November sucks ass.

They are already brainwashed with propaganda about what we will supposedly do to them. We've been down this path before in other wars...

The U.S. could use Powell's service, no matter which party's administration he serves under.

It is obvious that NO MATTER whom Bush appoints to ANY position, they will immediately be the subject to character assassination and the politics of personal destruction by the opposition. Under a Democratic administration, all we would hear about from the left-leaning media would be fluff pieces about the nominees and how progressive the president is for nominating women and minorities to key cabinet positions.

Are there any (road) access issues that early in the season? I do not have a 4WD vehicle. I believe that route is on the other side of the mountain (N side?).

"Total War" would mandate that no buildings were left standing for them to hide in in the first place. We are not engaging in this type of war. Our troops already expect bad treatment from the insurgents. People who videotape beheadings of live *civilians* will certainly have no qualms about shooting our men in the back, or killing wounded. And it goes without saying that Iraqi insurgents don't arrest each other when they kill Americans - no matter what the circumstances. We should not be killing unarmed Iraqis. But we are doing a lot better job of following the conventions of war than the other side is.

If it is as it appears to be (we'll see) - I don't like it.

As I understand it, the weather in Shasta typically stabilizes in June. I'm considering a memorial day climb (walk-up, Avalanche gulch). What are route and weather conditions like at this time of year? How crowded is the trail up?

1) obviously you are annoyed by my posts. Tough shit. 2) You are also annoyed by my avatar and anonymity. Again, tough shit. 3) Posting on the internet and climbing are not necessarily mutually exclusive activities.