tvashtarkatena

This isn't Spray, so I'll make this polite. You're not getting flak for your lack of climbing resume. No one cares a wit about that. It's your inability to let go of the shitty little meaningless details, your voyeurism, especially grotesque after much of the search has been called off, that attracts some much needed criticism. Take your last post "let her know that I hope God is keeping him safe". God, even if you're a believer, certainly does not keep us safe. We are responsible to save our own or each other's bacon. If God was indeed watching out for these men, then he apparently took a long coffee break. At this point, given the extremely slim chances that these men will come home, the best thing you can do is walk away, stop prolonging the dissection of their demise, and let the families get on with their grieving. If you want to send them a personal letter of condolence, then by all means do so, but masking your rubbernecking with a pompous sugar coating of love and caring is innappropriate at this late stage of this tragedy. Many of us have had a close friend killed in the mountains. The last thing we wanted at the time was an intrusion of the 'well meaning', yet there always seem to be people like you who insist on inserting yourselves into the misery. At such times all the survivors want to do is huddle with those closest to them. It's long past time you buggered off.

Gary, nothing bothers you. You're the most abused sprayer on the board. Good on ya for that.

The moderators on this site have been systematically and selectively deleting an editing my memories ever since I registered. They know I can't stop posting, but the more I post the more access they have to my cerebral cortex. If it doesn't stop I will inform the moderators at NWHikers to take immediate and decisive action Thankyou for listening.

You also might save your "god bless this" and "lordy that" for the evangelical chat rooms. Many of us aren't into it. At all.

Iss jis da man trahinta keep us down

"Shit. Banned from climbing. Ganja not discovered yet."

As for the oft cited "why are our tax dollars being spent on these rescues"? I would counter with this: What better and more noble way to spend our tax dollars than to save lives? Given that the entire National Parks Service's annual budget for rescue is 400 times less then what we spend in Iraq EVERY DAY, I'd say we get pretty good value for our money. We happily pay for firetrucks, 911, EMTs, which often must respond to accidents which are clearly caused by negligence or worse. Why should rescue operations be any different? In addition, rescues provide the kind of training and interagency cooperation with will certainly pay off manifold in the event of a more widespread regional disaster such as an earthquake. Such a disaster would require the kind of rapid, well honed response that requires agencies that have already worked closely together in real life emergencies.

Hikers, boaters, and 'other' (presumably park visitors with various health problems) account for the vast majority of resuce costs in our national parks. Climbers account for less than 3% of those costs: National Park SAR Statistics The National Park Service has consistently recommended against evacuees paying the cost of rescue because most middle income people which make up the vast majority of visitors cannot afford to pay them. They have, instead, opted to absorb such costs into their annual budget, so that everyone has access to our National Parks, not just the wealthy. Any proposal to target climbers to bear the burden of rescue costs must also target every park visitor; swimmers, boaters, hikers, pilots, and especially casual 'non-adventure' tourists, as the latter group accounts for largest number of rescue incidents; 20 times more than climbers. Outside of National Parks, hunting and fishing should also be banned, because the number of rescues required for these groups far outweighs those needed for climbers. In short, everyone just stay home.

Jesus, give it a rest.

Thank you for the infommercial about your site and riveting story about a false lead.

I doubt SAR members joke about the deaths in front of the loved ones of the deceased. Or mock their beliefs. Not in front of the loved ones, by I can assure you that they make up for lost time after they leave.

I grew up on an underwater ranch 20,000 leagues under the sea where we ate plenty of dolphins, sea monkeys and more brain coral sandwiches than I care to admit. I wouldn't touch possum, mainly because we quickly learned that possum don't live at the bottom of the sea. You learn quick down there. You can't afford not to. This isn't Sponge Bob Squarepants we're talking about. The only time we had any contact with other human beings was the time when somebody dropped an old outboard motor on us. I've been stuck in 1/2 mile deep undersea vents when their erupting and it's no picnic. I wouldn't leave the airlock without a 6,000 pound bathyscape, 40 cans of shark repellent, a French guy, and lots of muffled, whirring noises. If you guys want to go so fast that SAR can't find your bodies, go ahead.

If the world's tallest man had been carrying one of these this tragedy might never have unfolded:

I'm right here for ya, baby...

I am your dog.

"Shit...where is kar?"

I'd say Spray is more of an aromatic water closet.

The fat guy's Hotei, a Japanese monk. Basically their party-boy version of Santa Claus.

Now that the Eyes of the Nation are upon us, I think we should be more sensitive about offending any chancre sores who might be monitoring our posts.

FREEDOM!

Considering that there are tens of millions of christians out there who revel in the idea of my going to hell forever, openly discriminate against gays, and actively work to force their kooky cult down the rest of our throats at every turn, the possibility of offending them on a Spray really doesn't cause me to loose much sleep.

Don't come to a church to meet a pedophile. Oh, wait.

Don't come to a saloon to meet a preacher.

Do you really think that the eyes of the nation, which are now upon us, really want to see you compare my member to a traditional Christmas candy, much beloved by children everywhere? If not us, who, then, will protect the children?

Freeze dry the sedentary.