tvashtarkatena

WI 6 + M9 / WI 4, what's the difference? I've got a crappy memory for route names; that's for sure.

Hey, turns out the feds are still cuttin' her a paycheck: Condi on what Obama will inherit "RUSSIA AND US — THE MORAL DIFFERENCE. The West does not go out and conquer countries by using force..." Uh, OK, Condi. This woman is perhaps the biggest moron ever to attractively fill out Victoria's Secret business-wear. Her sophisticated packaging doesn't quite hide her wake of spectacular failures, however.

Trip: Colfax Date: 11/3/2008 Trip Report: Colfax Rob, Dan, and I attempted the standard route on Colfax about two weeks ago (Nov 3rd, I think) during good conditions. Unfortunately, the route was under continual ice and rock barrage from above. After being repeatedly struck, I began to notice that the projectiles seemed to be getting larger, topping out at about baseball size. Even more worrisome, rocks had begun to fall as well. We gathered at the top of the 1st pitch and had the discussion. I began “I’m a little worried about being knocked off lead. What do you guys think.” “I could go either way” was the consensus. Then, suddenly, WAM! Dan took a hard one in the shoulder. “We’re outta here.” Another party with harder helmets took our place. As a consolation, we scrambled the peak next to Colfax to soak in some spectacular views on a perfect day in the mountains. Ascending the Coleman pre-dawn Dawn on the Coleman Crevasses, Coleman Glacier Colfax (another party ascending) Lincoln from Purple Mr. Nice Guy Pass Cheese Patrol on Consolation Summit Descending Anal probing? Rob downclimbing the Coleman Bottom of the Coleman Parting shot: Baker and Colfax Gear Notes: Kevlar umbrellas might have saved this ascent. Approach Notes: Trail's icy. "tenniepoons"; six points or something, would have come in handy.

Pakistan has little interest in seeing the current regime stay in place. They are a Pashtun dominated country, and as such they believe in their inherent supremacy. Anonymous, a retired CIA intelligence operative and analyst, says this about the Pashtun's. "The Pashtun's were not and are not going to abide a political relationship with minority groups they do not dominate." -pg 38 Imperial Hubris To better understand the Bush administrations approach to the initial invasion of Afghanistan reference "The Tenent Plan". A westernized view of the situation, which discarded the knowledge of years of research behind what is often referred to "As the most successful and long running clandestine program in US history". Also reference Charlie Wilson's war. Most of the unrest and the real fighting in Afghanistan, particularly Wazaristan takes place along a narrow series of mountain corridors dominated by Pushtun tribes, supplied and mentored by agents of Al Qaeda, as well as independent groups who fight only because that is the life they know and understand. The fighting in Pakistan and Afghanistan is every bit as intense and bloody as anything in Iraq. Often very personal at close quarters. Seasoned Iraqi veterans are often caught off guard by the lonely and isolated conditions they are enduring. The firebases along the frontiers are subject to constant probing and assaults. The tactics the current enemy uses differs very little from what the British faced along the frontier during Kipling's days. If you would like to study a microcosm of the current situation you can read this redacted report from the assault on the 173rd ABN in Wanat. The Waygal vignette is an example of just how distant victory is in Afghanistan. The Waigalis, at their heart, are isolationists. There are probably no Al-Qaeda members among the local insurgents and the actual Taliban influence, outside of the deobandist meta-narrative is negligible. PT1 PT2 Hints of Vietnam here. Sounds like groups such as this are fighting to repel foriegners and maintain independence, not plotting against the United States, and therefore not a threat. Is this similar to branding Ho Chi Minh's movement as communist in the 50's, when it was an independence movement with a minority communist faction at the time, because that re-definition served American political interests better. The question is; how do we go after groups like Al Qaeda while avoiding conflict with local tribes that care only about being left alone? Or would our domestic security actually improve if we just packed up and left the tribes to establish their own territorial dominance?

That's some fuck'n cool shit. I didn't even know Skykomish had a mall.

We could scrawl "Hi there!" on them before kicking them down the rail.

That ain't no chamomile tea bag, bitch.

I think the bulk of extremist ideas flowed out of Saudi Arabia, but found a fertile home in Pakistan. Pakistan was forged in bloody extremism. It's so politically and religiously volatile that anything could ignite it. That makes it basically off limits for U.S. incursions or even joint operations of any scale, yet that's where the bad guys operate, right out in the open. Even if large scale joint operations were planned in Pakistan, their army and intellitgence services, with their fractured loyalties and unusual autonomy, would add a couple of wild cards to an already risky hand. Now that the country has nuclear weapons, the technology for which they have shared with unsavory nations for the past two decades, they are, by far, the number one world threat right now. This is a much belabored point, but had we not gone into Iraq, we might have destroyed the Taliban more completely and helped to prevent their resurgence, while putting into effect a much more widespread and deeper aid package for Afghanistan and Pakistan to build some friendship.

Her mouth's big but it ain't that big. BTW, thanks for the compliment, PP. Hey, you're not so bad after all.

Fuck no. I wouldn't own one of those pieces of shit. Merkin cars suck ass. My Pubaru was made in Merka, though. It only sucks one ass cheek. Why don't all you big ballers with an big ass SUV sitting in your drive just go out and buy a couple more and save the economy? My next car's gonna be a horse with a lion on it.

If you kill someone with an 8 year old, can they try the murder weapon as an adult in Arizona?

Isn't that a dung beetle?

That was a really tactical comment on your part.

So, like, uh, where exacttly is this high school...

First blown nose job in history.

Dood, that shit stays in the cosmetic case these days. 11,000 RPM Grinder with braided wire wheel, beyotch. Exfoliation never felt so good.

When you see that shit comin at ya you know the other side means business.

That video would have gotten 5 stars if they'd fucked up one of their turns and shot each other in the face.

6th role for guns: rapid metalworking tool.

Porter, fix the quote thing!!!!! POR...TERRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!

Live thematically, so that others may simply live.

He could also have done The Nose if one of Napolean's artilleryman hadn't blown it off. Or is that a myth, too?

It must come from voting for people who surround themselves with people who don't actually know how to do anything. Rummy. Gonzales. Wolfie. And yes, that impeccably credentialed idiot Condi. This kind of high profile, knee jerk desperation is the mark of a bowl full of incompetents. The only guy that knows how to git 'er dun in that Administration is Cheney. Nuff said there.

Like I said previously, I hope President Elect Obama makes the right choices. I don't have any real issues with the party right now. I am keeping an open mind and hoping that things get worked out in our favor. I'm a pragmatist, but I think it's important to see the bigger picture and take it all in, not just the narrow field of view that is partisan politics. Somehow I don't see President Elect Obama forward deploying returning troops to Poland or the Fulda Gap. I think he's already indicated little willingness to stand by the countries that put their necks on the line and courted a ballistic missile shield to begin with. Only time will tell, after all this is all just speculation. I was referring to Obama's stated goal of increasing deployment in Afghanistan. In addition, actually having some troops in reserve, should a conflict arise, might increase American negotiating leverage a bit. Sheeit, we've overblown our wad so much that even the Iranians don't take us seriously anymore. Obama's shown character and backbone his whole life. He just handed one of Washington's most notorious street brawlers his ass in an American presidential election; one of the toughest political battles anyone can take on. This is in addition to his proven intellect and analytical capability. I'd say he has the raw materials to enact a successful foreign policy agenda, even in this current world of tough customers. In contrast, McCain would have been a predictable, repetitious, and increasingly confused and tired adversary for a rising star like Medvedev, if his unimpressive behavior during this election is any indication. Just speculating, of course.

So why the 700 billion - we pulled that number out of our ass because it sounded big - bank bailout? Hey, it pisses me off too, and it seems arbitrary (and probably too low), and you can already see everyone angling for their piece whether them getting some is good for the rest of us or not. Shit, part of me would like to see all the fuckers lined up and mown down, but then i remember that we're all implicated here. Perhaps they helped to supply copious amounts of highly-refined junk, but only because the rest of us stuck our faces in the bags almost before they were opened and we snorted like hell. Anyone else notice the Bush Administration's chronic habit of ignoring a problem, freaking out when it hits, and trying to put out the fire with pallet loads of cash? Iraq anyone? Didn't 13 billion in cash go completely missing there (In addition to the trillion wasted)? That was just a prototype for this bailout. Put out a Craigslist ad: "Huge pile of money available to solve urgent problems" and see who shows up.