dberdinka

I apologize in advance for not adding anything constructive to this post.

....is a poet. He really is, in some sort of Zen/Western fusion. He reveals both deep truths and reflections on our society in a manner that combines straightforward honesty with subtle humor. He might be a deuche-bag otherwise but he does have a way with words. Following all copied from Slate. The Unknown As we know, There are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know There are known unknowns. That is to say We know there are some things We do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, The ones we don't know We don't know. —Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing Glass Box You know, it's the old glass box at the— At the gas station, Where you're using those little things Trying to pick up the prize, And you can't find it. It's— And it's all these arms are going down in there, And so you keep dropping it And picking it up again and moving it, But— Some of you are probably too young to remember those— Those glass boxes, But— But they used to have them At all the gas stations When I was a kid. —Dec. 6, 2001, Department of Defense news briefing A Confession Once in a while, I'm standing here, doing something. And I think, "What in the world am I doing here?" It's a big surprise. —May 16, 2001, interview with the New York Times Happenings You're going to be told lots of things. You get told things every day that don't happen. It doesn't seem to bother people, they don't— It's printed in the press. The world thinks all these things happen. They never happened. Everyone's so eager to get the story Before in fact the story's there That the world is constantly being fed Things that haven't happened. All I can tell you is, It hasn't happened. It's going to happen. —Feb. 28, 2003, Department of Defense briefing The Digital Revolution Oh my goodness gracious, What you can buy off the Internet In terms of overhead photography! A trained ape can know an awful lot Of what is going on in this world, Just by punching on his mouse For a relatively modest cost! —June 9, 2001, following European trip The Situation Things will not be necessarily continuous. The fact that they are something other than perfectly continuous Ought not to be characterized as a pause. There will be some things that people will see. There will be some things that people won't see. And life goes on. —Oct. 12, 2001, Department of Defense news briefing Clarity I think what you'll find, I think what you'll find is, Whatever it is we do substantively, There will be near-perfect clarity As to what it is. And it will be known, And it will be known to the Congress, And it will be known to you, Probably before we decide it, But it will be known.

should we assume you're going to choke it?

Hear-yeah hear-yeah. We live in a friggin bubble.

Tie your shoes to the bottom of the rope (just off the ground) and put some rocks in them. Once again EVERYTHING IS GONE.

Soloist: A good device for hands-free top roping. Lead on it if you dare. $20 Solo-Aid: A good device for solo aid climbing. Requires hand feeding of rope. Can be set up for hands free top-roping. $20 2 Pickets: The standard 24" MSR stuff. Great psychological pro for steep snow climbing in the Cascades. $15 for both FREE! Scarpa T1s: Fits a size 10.5 or 11 mens foot. These are the solid black version from 5 yrs ago. Wild Things Freney: A well-used pack for alpine climbing. Foam pad back panel. Ice axe tubes and crampon patch. Bivi collar etc. The top pocket needs some stitching but it's got life left in it. Grivel 70 cm ice axe. A well used general mountaineering axe with a forged head. PM or emial at dberdinka (at) yahoo (dot) comr. I'll ship the stuff I'm selling for cost. Best if free stuff is picked up in B'ham or I'll be in Seattle Friday. Darin I'm in B'ham. Will be in Seattle Friday.

Headed to Alaska or somewhere else equally cold? Let me hook you up. 700 fill Goose down. Silver Goretex (not dryloft) fabric. Size Long. Draft tubes on neck and zipper Rated to - 20 degrees. $150 I've had this bag in storage for some time and have hardly ever used it. (Never quite made it to AK). PM me or email at dberdinka (at) yahoo (dot) com.

Yes. I realize this was more of a "You suck!, no you suck!" thread hence my note about changing the subject......... Regardless, please help me unstick my head should it truely be shoved up my bum. You've had eloquant and informative posts before, I trust you can do so again......

As I doubt we will come to a definitve answer on who is the bigger putz, I'm gonna try and change the subject... Mike, I like your posts. You certainly have a very different perspective on events that any of us do. I only have media on which to formulate my opinions. I’m curious what you think about “winning” this thing. The Case For War WMD? Reducing Terrorist Threats? Freedom for the Iraq people? Oil? Stable Borders for Israel? Bush Family Revenge? The Rapture? Certainly a question that has yet to honestly answered, and an important one for judging the actions and ability of Bush Co. But really, who gives a shit. We’re there. The situation is bad, what’s the end game now? The Desired Outcome IMHO Americans first priority in foreign governments is that they are friendly, stable, and allow foreign investment. Democracy and social justice is a secondary concern. Regardless the powers that be tell us the desired outcome is a united Iraq governed by a democratic government. My Question Being Is a united and democratic Iraq still a feasible outcome? If it was a feasible outcome in the beginning is it possible that we have made a series of choices (and failures) that prevent it from being so now? My take on all this is that through sheer political arrogance, the use of force (~10,000 civilians dead), disrespect of Islamic culture, a lack of security for the people, an infective rebuilding effort (power, water so forth) America has really lost any chance of bringing a stable, democratic government to Iraq. The UN does not appear to want to come in and take over our mess either. Furthermore, it does not take a scholar to look at Iraq, realize it is an artificially cobbled-together nation consisting of three ethnic groups and wonder is this a nation that can be governed by a representative democracy? Even if a democracy can be established, If you let the people elect representatives who reflect their desires, how long will it take to elect leaders who simply want to go their own way? Both the Kurds and the Shiites have sufficient oil reserves to create prosperous nations, doesn’t seem like any love would be lost among the them and the Sunnis. A three nation solution, or a new tyranny would be a disaster. Is that avoidable? Or are we on the verge of losing big-time?

You don't have to suspect!! Just the other night he told the world that he was carrying out The ALMIGHTY'S plan of bring freedom (not ot mention evangelical missionaries) to the Iraqis! What an idiot.......

The ligaments and tendons are evidently in good shape, all I got was the broken bone. My knees are already to shot to do much running, so how about the climbing folks?

It's hard enough getting into the shower right now, much less into a boat!

So I managed to pop off the tip of my tibia (medial maliolous) about 3 weeks ago and am now crutching around with what looks like a giant woodscrew holding the pieces together while my calf muscle withers away to nothing. The Doc tells me I can start weight bearing at the end of next week, followed by a month! of wearing a walking splint/cast followed by god knows how much physical rehabilitation. I know broken ankles are a pretty common climbing injury. Any first (or second) hand accounts of how long it took to recover from a similar injury? How long until you were out climbing again? Hopefully I won't end up like this!!

An interesting article on the prism through which some Americans (15% ) view events in the Middle East. Holy Shit some people are friggin wacked! Their Beliefs are Bonkers… “In the United States, several million people have succumbed to an extraordinary delusion. In the 19th century, two immigrant preachers cobbled together a series of unrelated passages from the Bible to create what appears to be a consistent narrative: Jesus will return to Earth when certain preconditions have been met. The first of these was the establishment of a state of Israel. The next involves Israel's occupation of the rest of its "biblical lands" (most of the Middle East), and the rebuilding of the Third Temple on the site now occupied by the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa mosques. The legions of the antichrist will then be deployed against Israel, and their war will lead to a final showdown in the valley of Armageddon. The Jews will either burn or convert to Christianity, and the Messiah will return to Earth. What makes the story so appealing to Christian fundamentalists is that before the big battle begins, all "true believers" (ie those who believe what they believe) will be lifted out of their clothes and wafted up to heaven during an event called the Rapture. We can laugh at these people, but we should not dismiss them. That their beliefs are bonkers does not mean they are marginal. American pollsters believe that 15-18% of US voters belong to churches or movements which subscribe to these teachings. A survey in 1999 suggested that this figure included 33% of ...... And among them are some of the most powerful men in America. John Ashcroft, the attorney general, is a true believer, so are several prominent senators and the House majority leader, Tom DeLay. Mr DeLay (who is also the co-author of the marvellously named DeLay-Doolittle Amendment, postponing campaign finance reforms) travelled to Israel last year to tell the Knesset that "there is no middle ground, no moderate position worth taking".

Confluence of Coyote Gulch and The Escalante River. There is no place more peaceful.

Soloing is an intensly personal experience. To do it safely requires being incredibly truthful with yourself. Ultimately I wonder about the motivations of any climber who solos in front of other groups, particularly in a crag atmosphere. Maybe if you a true zen-master-soloist it won't occur, but for the rest of us I'd bet that at some level our ego gets involved and we begin to make comparisons between our own performances and those of everyone else around us. If your choices are being influenced by that then you're no longer being completely honest with yourself. That's bad-style with potentially significant consequences. If your soloing you want to be alone right? So go do it where the presence of other people won't mess with your mind.

It all makes sense now...... The Guardian

Fuggin-A you guys did good! Check out Dave's trip report at www.alpinedave.com

So Peter, let me get this straight. Whether you agree with him or not, CBS claims that the "American Dream" was possible due to exploitable resources, in his arguement excess land. How does that relate to calling the "common man" (whatever the hell that is, we're all pretty common around here) a fool? Next you imply that he therefore must "hate democracy"! Thats a pretty damn emotionally charged statement. Based on the national dialog lately CBS must clearly be in the same category as "freedom haters", "thugs and assasins", ..were was I?... Oh I remember....Talk about turning a political discourse into a personal attack!

I've also been surprised by how crappy it can be at Washington Pass despite calm weather on the west side. I've had good luck (and it could very well be nothing more than luck) that if weather systems are moving in from a genrally westerly direction things are more likely to get better to the east. If they are moving in from a strong souther or southwesterly (typically the case) direction the crap is more likely to spread everywhere. An extremely simple idea that has proved correct enough times at least to be my own personal voodoo science weather. I don't think Washington Pass is quite the bastion of bomber weather that it is sometimes considered.

One of my first trips to the Easton Glacier Area put me firmly in the BAN-SNOWMOBILERS-MINDSET!!!!!!! It was late spring, and snow cover in Schreiber Meadows was not continuous. Yet nothing was going to stop the 'bilers from getting to there little slice of snowmobile nirvana. I watched several machines tear up portions of the recently snow free meadows, observed lots of damage in other sections of meadows and saw plenty of trash and oil-slicks in the water. Not to mention the incesant buzzzz once we got above treeline. Given the choice of tearing up 100 feet of meadow to get to the goods or packing it up and going home, it was quite obvious what choice all those 'bilers were making. In a few seconds one of those machines can do more damage to the alpine and sub-alpine enviroments than my boots will produce in a lifetime. Stereotypes exist for a reason and I am not at all convinced that many snowmobilers are anything like us. My experiences in Schriebers Meadow show a complete lack of respect for the natural enviroment. Considering the ease with which some jackass can get on their sled and thrash an area and the complete lack of self-policing (or any policing for that matter) 'bilers should simply not be allowed access to a sensitive, and still somewhat pristine alpine/sub-alpine area.

Thank you for a well-written report. The River Road area must be, in my mind, one of the most beautiful places in the world to climb. While there is no lack of ***** routes in the area, I feel like chiming in and saying add the Honeymoon Chimney on The Priest to your must-do list. Crazy geometry and an amazing summit structure make in the most memorable climb I've done in the Castle Valley. That last pitch on Sis Sup is one hell of a 5.9!! 5.9++ maybe!

People with no climbing experience follow Midway Climbers with no leading experience lead Midway (All based on first-hand experience back-in-the-day) Like Chuck says, if Midway is not a novice/easy climb what is?

This guy's got it made, I need a vacation schedule like that!

I've got three more weeks in a cast that should come off around 4/30. Expect much sunny weather until that date, thereafter expect continuous rain until August at least.