Doug

My contribution to the war on terror. I hope to infuriate Osama out of his cave and give him an open hand bitch slap.

O.k., here goes; The climber who climbs with lesser talented climbers, claiing they are friends - obviously suffering from low self esteem, needing to surround himself with lower companionship. Either that or he's jsut a decent human being who enjoys the company of friends. Either way. Tramp Stamp - I always envison them being best used as a coaster. G-Spotter, how was the sushi? Will, would the g-friend have hairy armpits as well?

Is this discussion too boring to attract anyone with an opposing viewpoint?

This is all very thoughtful discussion. O.K., some of this is semi-thoughtful, but no one here has answered the question; Is the war in Iraq really the war on terror, or are we just being fed a load of crap because for some reason Bush & Cheney have lost interest in Afghanistan?

is this just fantasy?

I was just watching CNN Late Edition while getting ready to go for a run. Representatives Harman and Hunter were being interviewed. The text of Cheney's slam on Pelosi was brought up on screen and in it Cheney alluded to the war on terror and how if we withdrew troops from Iraq, we would give the signal to Al Queda that we were throwing in the towel. This confuses me. My understanding of the facts as I've seen them is that 1) Al Queda is our enemy on the war on terror, 2) Al Queda and Saddam Hussein were not in any sort of working together relationship and that 3) They showed up in Iraq to fight us. So was this the strategy; to use Iraq as a forward operating base in the war on terror? I'm not downplaying the fact that Hussein was an evil dictator and should have been deposed, but in my mind there was no global or even regional terror base in Iraq, Can someone unravel this for me? No rhetoric or innuendo, just the facts please.

Look at all the Iraqi ctizens killed by the illegal foreigners in their country! Maybe the mexicans and other illegals in this country are here to invade us and free us from the tyranny of W and Darth Vader.

Wow, now he's like a right wing conservative preacher! Oh, wait this is heterosexual pedophilia, I guess the right wingers are still worse.

Good old grandpa. I miss him. I still remember his last words. OH FUCK A BUS!

I got the blood off of mine via a friction method......ooops, I've probably said too much.

It's amazing the things politicians can spin when the data they've been given is not accurate. By the way, do you wear one of those funny little troll hats? Or are you more like the troll under the Fremont Bridge?

So exactly what point are you trying to make by posting the article? I won't minimize media bias; it does exist on both ends of the media spectrum. However, the article is written with an inflammatory style that doesn't substantiate any of the data it presents. My point is that what makes the 3,000+ casualties in Iraq intolerable is that George Bush and his administration lied to congress and to the american public to go there. I try to stick to the facts here, but I would like to point out a tad bit of hypocrisy in your posting: You daid: "Whether or not you are pissed about the Commander in Chief is your problem and doesn't relate to me". You then said "A few more things.. Clinton was a pile of shit. Many of my fellow soldiers perished in the dirty streets of the Mog because of him. The burning towers in New York in 2001 should be attibuted to his presidency as well". Is this really what your agenda is here? Let me say this a different way: A few more things.. Bush II is a pile of shit. Many of my fellow soldiers perished in the dirty streets of the Iraq because of him and his lies. According to the 9/11 commission, the burning towers in New York in 2001 should be attibuted to his missteps in his presidency as well. Now is this really worth arguing about?

Kirk can barely control himself? What's newsworthy about that? He'd fuck a snake if he could zap it with his phaser to get it to stay still. I hope that doesn't offend any snake fuckers.

Excellent link!

So wouldn't it bother you in the least bit that this occurred because the President of the United States lied to put you and your battle buddies in that position in the first place?

First of all, my thanks to you for serving our country. The author of the article seems to be implying that military deaths occur regardless of the level of conflict and that those of us who are opposed to the war in Iraq should just quit whining and support our troops? Well as has been stated here, the author is playing loose with facts and figures. Yes, there have been military deaths in times of peace such as during the Clinton administration. I'm sure there were also an equivalent number of deaths during the Carter, Reagan and Bush I administrations as well. But what he doesn't seem to acknowledge is that the majority of us anti-war pussies cite the 3,000+ war causalties as unneccesary because the piece of crap ignoramous and his henchmen present and since run off lied to the very people that they are sworn to protect to get us into this conflict. So if we're not fighting the Iraqi insurgents and we have ~1,000 or so of the expected mortality attrition in the service - that's just an average statistic. It could happen to any of us at any time. It's what got those 3,000 over there to get killed that pisses me off. I salute their commitment and patiotic sacrifice. But we really have no business there in the first place. Al Queda followed us in, and there were no WMD's. Period.

Dr. Steven Ratcliffe. He has an office on Gilman Blvd. and on 116th in Bellevue. He was originally recommended to me by a guy who had his ACL rebuilt by him. He has scoped me twice and did a great job. My brother in law is an Orthotics & Prosthetics guy and knows most of the Orthopedics guys in the region; he rates Ratcliffe as the best. He also has a great bedside manner. If you see him, ask him about his hobby - Aerobatic flying!

Maybe the rest of these jokers and not just climbers should be required to wear them as well: Oregon SAR in 2005: activity % of missions 1. motor vehicles 20.5 includes ATV's and snowmobiles 2. hiking 13.8 3. wandering 10.1 hiking w/o fixed destination 4. hunting 9.4 5. boating 6.4 6. suicide 5.5 7. swimming 4.2 8. fixed-wing aircraft 3.7 9. climbing 3.4 10.mushroom picking 3.0

Before I leave for work in the morning, I give my sleeping daughter a kiss on the cheek and whipser "I love you, be a good girl today". That inspires me. When she gives me a half awake hug and tell me she loves me and kisses my cheek, that inspires me more. Hearing (or reading) a climbing tale that is devoid of the grade they climbed and that speaks to the intrinsic rewards they got for climbing (i.e., egoless climbers). That inspires me. Coming back from a climb with a huge smile on my face, that inspires me too.

Beautiful! You guys really pulled off a good one!

Originally Posted By: mattp A year ago, Bush started out his SOU speech with five minutes on 911 and Afghanistan feeding into Iraq in such a way that it sounded as if he was saying that Saddam attacked us. He wouldn’t dare try that now. Certainly the administration is finding their backs against the wall. Where/what is "the wall"? Other than legal conviction (which, I believe, is a pipedream), "the wall" is only the room where a new strategy is formed for the sale of an agenda and the purchase of power. Cynical? Yes. Can noble magnanimity gain traction in an environment where nothing moves without the exchange of favors? I think the wall is the stranglehold that the Republican party has had over thecountry in the last past few years. If they fuck up the war in iraq any further, they will not come back to signficance for years to come, or until Obama gets a blow job in the oval office. In its current form, if the Republican party were to implode it wouldn't bother me one bit.

Hey! A guy cuts down a couple of trees, does that make him a logger? Also, if your male climbing partner gives you a blow job, does that make both of you gay?

A few years back I was getting a lot of pain in the ball of my right foot. Went to my GP, he sent me to a podiatrist and next thing I knew I was getting my feet cast and I got some orthotics. I mainly used them in my climbing boots for about 6 - 7 years. Recently because they don't fit well in my current mountaineering boots, I quit using them, going back to the standard insoles. No problems as of yet. About 8 years ago a chiropractor I was seeing started selling orthotics out of his office. I bit and bought 2 pair; 1 for everyday wear, the other for my running shoes. I used the ones for my running shoes and almost immediately began getting blisters in a couple of areas on the bottoms of my feet. Eventually I quit using them altogether and now use superfeet inserts in my running shoes and have had no problems. I guess the message here is, the expensive podiatrist prescibed orthotics seemed to work o.k., but the cheaper DC made ones didn't impress me. I have an over-pronantion and high arches and the superfeet seem to do the job.

Caray! Harry fucking CARAY! Gross-man, Rex fucking Gross-man!!

And for Gods sake, please dress in Orange and carry an MLU. Make sure you get your private rescue insurance as well. One more gouge to the taxpayers in Oregon, they may have to institute a sales tax on climbing equipment to pay for the volunteers!