tvashtarkatena

2 years ago a friend's wife died of cancer. Less than 3 weeks later he dropped dead of a heart attack on his front lawn. The event orphaned their children. Being kicked out of college decades ago probably sucked. One must put things in perspective, however. Is your life/health or that of a loved one directly threatened? Were you raped when you were a child by people assigned to care for you? Did you not see your beloved mother for 5 years because she was deported when you were 13? I know people in all if these categories - today, not decades ago. Again, forgive me if I'm not as sympathetic to the harms you've suffered at the hands of those damned commies, GGK, but it seems like you're actually doing pretty well by comparison. I suspect you appreciate that at some level. I don't presume to know. But as far as your stories of the old country - again, everybody got something they've dealt or are dealing with. You might consider that before repeating your great grand uncle story from 1940 for the nth time. I can't go back and kill Stalin for your great grand uncle. Given that Stalin's forces were the primary reason for Germany's defeat, I'm not sure that would have resulted in a better outcome overall. I can't cure cancer or prevent heart attacks. I can't prosecute the priests that molested my grade school pals (they did go to prison - and, of course, few in the parish believed they were guilty). I can help prevent teens from having their mothers deported and families torn apart, however - as a very small part of a much larger concerted effort. All of us can do more than we realize to create the future we want. Not one of us can do anything at all about the past.

Actually I was, so fuck you very much. I was born and raised in a communist country, I have a political refugee status. My grand uncle was killed in 1940 in Ostaszkow, my grandfather served 10 years on death row (lucky for him stalin died first). My father was fired and demoted in his workplace 2 times, because he refused to become a party member. I was kicked out of college, because of my political views, so excuse me if I don't share your fucked opinion. Yeah, and my folks suffered a litany of horrors due to their poverty while growing up. Welcome to the club. Each society serves up its own brand of nastiness. You'll forgive me if I seem unmoved - but its 2014. I have little patience for people who dwell on the past and hang on to their hate as a result - the whole victimhood thing. The world has all of that it can use already. It doesn't make for a better future-quite the opposite. Action relevant to what's happening today does, however. And its that kind of action that often provides a constructive conduit for all that negative energy. And that requires a sense of humor, because things don't always work out the way you want. You're probably not used to people shrugging off your stories about your great grand uncle 74 years ago - but everybody's got stories of their own. You may view my indifference as ill intentioned. It is anything but.

If all art that insulted somebody, somewhere, were censored, we'd be limited to statues of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Oh, wait... Good art shakes you out of your droll existence a bit. It excites you - sometimes uncomfortably. It lays new neural pathways in its viewers. I'd say Vlad qualifies as great art in GGK's view. For every GGK, there's a true believer who calls for censorship of Piss Christ, a prude who wants Murakami's figures broken up...in a world of 7 billion hairless monkeys, everything insults someone somewhere. Who turns that around? Yup, that's right - its up to the insulted to figure that one out, not the rest of us.

This was established already after 1917 soviet revolution, so if you are so worried about NSA, you should thank vladimir for breaking the trail and showing NSA how it's done. So by this way of thinking even one more reason to remove this mother fucker. BTW, this continues to this day, by installing cameras in hotel rooms and even bathrooms in Sochi, so GRU can spy on visiting foreigners. BTW, by your mentality why not built a monument to bin laden in NYC? Yes, this syphilitic mother fucker is offensive, as a large part of my family was deported in 1939 to Kazakhstan, and my grandfather spent several years in prison . So fuck your statement asshole. Yeah, and my peeps were persecuted by the English, but you don't see me wasting my time burnin' effigies of Oliver Cromwell. I wasn't there. Neither were you. We only have the present and the future. The past is gone. Trying to make right what cannot be made right is an impossibility - and the revenge such a mentality often calls for is a formula for perpetuated human misery. Look forward, Angel. Plenty of shit to do right now to try to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again. There are things that piss you off, sure, but then again there are things that constitute very real threats to a free society - the one we supposedly live in right now. Insults and Threats are two very different things. One chooses to be insulted. You choose to be insulted by Lenin. Many do not. Same damn statue. One does not chose to be threatened. That's the end of the playing field where the most action is needed. I can provide some specific actions you can take, today, that will substantively help prevent totalitarianism from growing right here at home.

The NSA - dustin' off the Espionage Act of 1917, one whistleblower at a time. With a $52 B a year surveillance budget (yup, you read that right), they've got a lot to lose - as do the tech companies most of them will go to work for eventually. National Security? As the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board discovered through the most in depth study of the use of their new toys and powers to date just last month - not so much. Not even one terrorist attack foiled, actually. Goose egg. Nada. They told us different the year before, what was that number -= 53 or 54 terrorist plots foiled? but then, Clapper told Congress and the public under oath there was no surveillance program at all, too. And Snowden's the one being charged? Hmmmm.

A modification which has likely been made already, as have so many others. The first thing folks started doing to Vlad after the idiot protests died down was to play dress up. GIANT LENIN = FUN.

Hey, GGK, while you're worried about how offensive Vlad is to ya, what have you done to roll back the world's most sophisticated and invasive surveillance state in history right here in the good ole U S of A?

Those uber wise Israelis are trying to criminalize the word NAZI. That should free up about half the UBB bandwidth there. And kill their porn industry - which is noted for its plethora of brown mini skirted, jack booted ass divas. Give a hairless monkey a taboo... BAN TOTALITARIANISM!

I'd take a novice up Eldo - nice to throw a little exposure in the mix, but not Argonaut, or any other steep couloir, for that matter. One balled up crampon and everything changes. What's second nature to a lot of folks here is not to a novice. One's first few experiences in a new environment are where accidents are most likely to happen. I subscribe to the 'keep it fun and mellow at first' philosophy for introducing people to the mountains. Take your cue from the novice as to how fast they want to get into it rather than trying to shortcut them to your level. Many novices choose to challenge themselves, given the chance. Others need a bit more time. Offering a menu of options helps keep it fun and better fits the learning curve to the individual. A little exposure goes a long way. A lot of exposure up front can wind up being counterproductive and dangerous.

How's his self arrest skills? Some of the routes suggested here require a climber to be very solid in that category unless you're planning on pitching out the steep bits. I wouldn't take a snow novice on them, personally, but you know your son better than any of us. You might figure out what the steepest slope angle you're willing to travel on at this point and compare that against the topo of your proposed objectives. NE butt of Goode, for example. There can be some really technical snow/schrund/moat climbing to get on that thing, particularly in a low snow year, and the gully descent is loose and dangerous. Moderate for an experienced climber, sure, but it's a long day unless you can simul most or all of it and cruise through the glacier at the bottom - not a given. Moderate glaciated/Snowy peaks: Shuksan, Baker, Ruth, Icy, ,Clark Mt + Buck (same area), Eldorado + Sahale + Buckner (S side)+ Booker, Bonanza (out of Holden), Chiwawa, Daniel Gl, Colchuck (gl), Rainier (emmons), Black, Sloan, Gilbert (Goat Rocks), Vesper (5.6 route), Adams (S spur - not glaciated but plenty snow), St. Helens (same as Adams), Silverstar (gl) all come mind.

Thanks!

Fini's got a perfect spot for Saddam, not that the old rusty air raid siren doesn't already rock it - leave it to the US Army to fuck up a timeless treasure on their way to a Burger King.

You and every other humorless twit out there. If ya wants it moved, rent a truck and good luck. Otherwise, suck it!

Thar, she beckons!

HA. I drove the Scarab Tacoma-Seattle last night through the thick of it. I 5 was littered with the frozen bodies of the damned. I maneuvered around them like the unfeeling insect I am. In nature there are only the medalists and the dead.

Delbene probably hasn't a clue as to what's in it. That's common.

It's hard to tease out what Delbene's objections to the bigger bill are. She failed to explain even one of them.

Three simple tricks for measuring 3 critical slope angles a skier might care about. You can eyeball perpendicularity to within +/- a couple of degrees or so. Slope Angle w Ski Poles by PatGallagherArt, on Flickr

-20F before the high windchill yesterday at HLP, and 20F in the S. Fork. That's weird.

You can't swing a dead bobcat without hitting a NWsterner who claims they've been stalked by a cougar. Cats are not exactly the kind of thing that keeps an ice climber up at night unless Tabby has a habit of curling up on your face or using your screamers for scratchin' posts. Show me a North American cat that won't exit stage Fuck This if you run right at it screaming and I'll show you a dead North American cat.

Russians do not seem to like the idea of being stalked by a mountain lion, so, as you can imagine, I talked that shit up for a while.

Your TR's are crack. Five stars all going nova and shit for this action. Didn't know there were any real climbers in d Phinney Range.

Just cat tracks. Too small for a cougar. Most likely a bobcat (lynx rufus). There's a resident wolverine around Stehekin, according to some folks I met who study them.

Regarding lodging, the Double Diamond X bunkhouse (sleeps up to 6) was $37 per a night before the 10% AAC discount. Best you're gonna do it Cody is about $20-25 a night per. Do the math with gas, time, and quality of life and it makes little sense to stay in Cody (IMO) unless you really hate cooking for yourself, love winter driving after a long day, or can't be away from a mini mart for longer than 24 hours. The smell alone is worth giving Cody a miss. The ranch also has at least one 2 bed cabins for 127 and a five bed house w full kitchen (bunkhouse has a hot plate, microwave, toaster oven, coffee maker, and full sized fridge) for 195 a night. No limit of persons staying in either. They are working on providing food and drink. The Ranch is a mile from the Hunter Ck/S Fork junction, and 7 mi from the end of the S Fork road. Pretty much a perfect location.

There was no shortage of feisty dinner plates... Looked for studs for the Scarab but time and cost (weird sized tires - a whole new set of tires/wheels would have been required) nudged us towards the road tested Snowshark, even if it warmed the planet a wee bit more. Comfy enough ride - cruise control, decent heater, adequate cargo space. Plus it was fun cruising the very same snowy roads as the few $50K+ SUVs we saw in the valley. That, and the Scarab sports the Bronco colors. Guess I gotta be careful about that these next few weeks. Don't wanna get run over by a Duck.