Mt. Elbert Summit

I'm climbing the stairs of a small hotel in Colorado and have my own version of why this town is called Leadville. My feet feel like lead as I climb only one story into the thin air of a town that is already 10,300 feet above sea level. This is really not fun, I think with some irony.  I've come here to hike to the highest point in Colorado and The Rockies: Mt. Elbert. To summit a 14er as they say out here, because it's one of 53 Colorado peaks higher than 14 thousand feet above sea level.

It's not fun right now because I just arrived and I recognize the familiar effects of hypoxia: shortness of breath, rapid pulse, a dull ear to ear headache and some slight tunnel vision. That is, a narrowing of my field of vision due to less oxygen getting to the eyes.

I've experienced mild hypoxia many times before. In the military as part of training in a high-altitude chamber, nearly every time skiing, and two years ago in Cusco, Peru - a city at about the same elevation as Leadville. Cusco was an acclimation stop on the way to hiking Machuu Pichuu. I spent about two days there getting used to the high altitude, and it was pretty much the same: Feeling like crud, pushing the limit of Ibuprofen dosage and laying in bed a lot. But by day three of loafing around Cusco, I was feeling pretty good and ready for a five day hike in the Andes mountains.

On this evening on the last day of September, I am in Leadville, once again feeling altitude sick. I crash into bed and think with a little dread about the hike I have planned for the next day: 4000 vertical feet to a summit in about 4.5 miles. It is not technical. That is, no mountain climbing skills required. Just a heavy tread on comfortable shoes, 2 liters of water in a small pack and a desire to keep walking up into thin alpine air. 

In spite of plenty of the vitamin-I and water, my headache will not go away. Monday Night Football is on but I can't watch to the end. Even with tunnel vision, the Dolphin's offense tonight is not easy to watch, and I reach for the remote's off button. Maybe a long stretch of sleep will help.

36 hours ago, I came up with the simple plan: ride my motorcycle from my parent's house in Texas to Leadville and climb to the top of Mt Elbert. It is perfect fall weather for Colorado. Mountain temperatures in the 70's and the aspen leaves are aged and golden. There is newborn snowpack in silver-white vertical streaks from summits to timberline across the Sawatch Range - the region's highest peaks, roughly in the center of the state.

At 3 and 5 am I wake up again. Still noticeably hypoxic: a headache, and my pulse will not slow down. I've just about convinced myself that summiting a mountain today is out of the question and I half-sleep until almost 8 o'clock. Spending an extra day or two here is also impractical. I check out and pack up the motorcycle for a ride back to my home in Phoenix.

Like the Colorado weather, my attitude changes quickly during a double espresso in a downtown coffee shop. The headache of a few hours ago is nearly gone and I think that maybe the faster pulse is just caffeine and adrenaline. The decision quickly snaps the other way - go and climb the thing - or at least go as far as you can. You can't just say you came all the way to the Rockies to sleep in a Leadville hotel.

Three hours later I am well into climbing Mt. Elbert. The headache is gone and the other effects of high altitude are barely noticed except for one: short breath. I can respirate quickly and get enough oxygen to move one foot in front of and above the other. Just not for very long, and this is how it goes for most of the trek. I've spent the first hour hiking steadily and hardly stopping. Now I pause to rest and admire the view every 20-30 steps. Near the summit, it will be every 10 or so.

There are other climbers around and I can't help but compare my progress to theirs. I'm sure there are locals and ultra-trekkers who can easily race to the top. Thankfully, none are around today. I am not passed, nor do I pass by anyone. Slow and steady seems to be the common strategy for today's challengers of Elbert.

Did I say the weather in Colorado changes quickly? Exception this day. It is cool, clear and perfect. Not even much of a breeze to contend with as I march toward the top. I've left the forest of bristlecone and limber pine below at 12,000 feet. Now I'm looking at an exposed terrain of glacier-carved pinnacles patched with snow. The colors are grey shades to darkblood red, and everywhere scattered rocks, boulders and flatirons waiting to someday to rise, fall or both. Between them are layers of alpine grass matted by generations of snowpack and wind.

At 2:15 I arrive at a smooth peak on the mountain that I have been looking up at for 30 minutes. But it is a "false summit." I see more climbing needed along a bouldered ridge line to the real thing. It looks depressingly far away but my sense of scale is wrong. The silhouette of a hiker nearing the top rises from a shadow. I realize I am only 5 minutes or so from success. The step up and rest cycle continues just a few more times.

Two other climbers are nearby and I ask them for quick photo next to a tattered American flag marking the summit. Then I spend a few minutes looking at the other 14er peaks along the Sawatch range. To the north is Mt. Massive, Turquoise Lake, Leadville. To the south, the Collegiate Peaks and in every direction a sky of crisp, cloudless blue.

This early in the season, the snow is just inches thick and it is warm enough to slowly melt. The liquid will fall only one of two ways at this point along the Continental Divide. East to the valley headwaters of the Arkansas river or west to the tributaries of the Colorado. Only one of two ways.

I take a few short breaths and turn back down the trail. Three hours of downhill to go. But I'm smiling and grateful for good weather, health and a choice in a coffee shop that lead this way.

Tailhook 1991 - Another Generation of Bad Reporting

Easier access to what we often call "the news" can lead to dark consequences when those reports under the banner of CNN, Fox and the others lead to simply false narratives.

Here is one grandchild of a false narrative whose bloodline began in 1991:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/21/us/military-suicide-rape/index.html?iref=allsearch

Obviously the events of the world, when they have an aspect that involves improper conduct involving sexual relations, get internet-reader attention. Notice how the writer of the CNN article, Moni Basu, ties together three incidents of the last 22 years to allege a pattern. He includes a loose, drive-by summary of the Tailhook 1991 incidents:

"Two decades ago, at the Navy's "Tailhook" convention in Las Vegas, drunken aviators assaulted female recruits."

You can read about that scandal on Wikipedia, if you're not familiar at all or it's been a while:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tailhook_scandal

The Wiki article (which is pretty fair and accurate, by the way) makes no mention of "female recruits," because none were there. This was simply concocted by author Basu as a way of alleging a pattern that ties together incidents in the last three decades involving inappropriate behavior by members of the military in positions of authority.

There is no doubt that sexual assaults occur in the U.S. armed forces and everywhere else in life. They will happen in the military more often because of the closer contact between the sexes in the course of doing their everyday training and jobs. No one should ever condone inappropriate and criminal behavior. When it happens, every effort should be made to stop it and prosecute when appropriate.

Creating false narratives through inaccurate or intentionally deceptive reporting will never, in the end create a positive outcome. Reporters like Moni Basu from CNN owe the millions of readers of his work the benefit of accurate information, especially when facts are so easily found on internet sources.

Wikipedia doesn't always get everything right. But it can be a great source of screening out anything that is so obviously wrong.

Coffees and Triggers

I'm writing this in a Salt Lake City Starbucks. According to the company's CEO, Howard Schultz, this is not a 'gun-free zone." He would just rather you not bring your guns inside the stores whether you have the legal right to or not.

This is, I suppose, the most recent example of a business owner dancing on the head of a pin when it comes to wide-ranging public opinions on a very controversial subject and making money. There are so many ways to fall these days, I honestly don't know how some of these guys do it.

I get no comfort from his altruistic request. Everyone around me seems so very pleasant and civil and isolated into his or her own world. This is a wonderful thing. 150 years ago, a group of people sitting within a building in the American West would be doing many of the same things happening around me now. Eating, drinking, reading, talking. Some or most would have one other thing on their minds that we don't think about much anymore except occasionally when reading the awful stories about Newtown or the Navy Yard: self-protection.

We have evolved and civilized to a point where a place like Starbucks seems like the safest place in the world. Because it generally is. A citizen of the West in the 1860's, on the other hand, would always be slightly occupied with these thoughts: where might the enemy come from? where is my weapon? is it ready to fire?

Not here, not today though in 2013. The enemy is a million to one odds away and we are very happy and comfortable in soft chairs with expensive coffee drinks. He is out there, though. Raging quietly somewhere about a perceived injustice or blasting away thousands of computer generated humans on a video screen for hours at a time, considering the real thing. The fact that one of these monsters doesn't walk through the front door right now is simply bitterly good luck.

My safety at this moment is not based on access to a concealed weapon, because I don't have one. My choice, completely. It is based on very long odds in a very free society and my location. Another mass shooting on another military base will probably lead to another law or two. But it won't help other citizens of this country who live in places where guns are fired and people die every single night.

Decisive Action. Maybe. Sort Of

Crisis averted last night, I suppose. 'Peace in our time' as an infamous prime minister said after meeting a madman seven decades ago.

One thing that should be clear about this entire fiasco is that the Syrian government in place has and will continue to destroy property and kill people in the civil war. If they don't, they will lose and be destroyed themselves.

The necessary distraction has been created for them to remain. The world will focus on a probably false-commitment of agreeing to give up some of their arsenal (chemical munitions) while the Russians strengthen the position of Assad and his henchmen. Advantage, barbarians.

Two years ago, Obama said that this dictator "must go." Now it seems probable that our current president will be gone first.

I listened to a lot of commentary on both sides after Obama's speech last night. Here is one thing the president's supporters seemed unable to explain: If our position is righteous (implicit) and congressional approval is necessary (stated by the president), then why not have a vote anyway? An approval of force resolution wouldn't automatically make bombs fall out of the sky. Obama could win the legislative approval and still choose not to strike. He could say that thanks to John Kerry's diplomacy, cool heads have won the day. The country would be relieved that no one dies with our weapons. The right would think we still look strong. The left would be happy with peace at any price. Everyone would win. Well, everyone except the average Syrian.

The sad answer to this question is that Barack Obama could not convince the majority of Congress to trust him with a military strike. Not in this place. Not at this time. So we are left with what we had last night. A fairly persuasive argument to punish a foreign government for very bad behavior. Just not right away. Maybe soon. Or never. Hard to say.

Watching the president's speech for the first half was admittedly, inspiring. Then, it seems as if, in the middle of it all, we were told, "You know what? Hold on a second. Let me get back to you on all this..." Andrea Mitchell of MSNBC finally got off the media hamster wheel for a moment by suggesting the whole thing was a little "schizophrenic."


This will change to the other direction, someday. Maybe by a future president who is much more averse to tying his own policies in knots through delay, indecisiveness and abject ignorance. The tragedy is that this future leader may be wrong next time but being desperate not to look weak like a certain predecessor, he or she chooses to lead us rapidly into a genuine abyss.



“Almost all things have been found out, but some have been forgotten.” - Aristotle

Invitations and Choices

Opening up the mailbox these days can be an occasionally jarring experience. Just as I'm getting used to regular invitations from AARP to join that over 50 club, I recently noticed a letter from a different organization offering membership: the United States Marine Corps. Except it wasn't sent to me. It was addressed to my son, who just turned 17.

I examined the envelope. It was smartly designed and inviting to a young man beginning to think about his future - with offers of free gifts just for talking to a recruiter. It reminded me of an advertisement I'd seen for the Army almost 40 years ago in Boys Life magazine. I remember it vividly to this day. Nothing in the ad looked like the army. No olive drab. No tanks. No rifles. Just a full page ad showing twelve pictures of one guy kissing twelve different girls. "With the Army's delayed enlistment program, you now get 12 months to say goodbye." Hey. Sign me up. Except I was only 14, so those girls and the army would have to wait.

I can't say for certain that reading those pages led me toward serving in the military, but they probably helped. By 1982, my first year in college, I was on my way to becoming an officer and completed Army basic airborne parachute course.

I would go on to finish several programs of military training over the next 13 years. But something special stands out in my thoughts of that first school and those three weeks in the heat of North Georgia. I'd never seen anything like it before. All I remember of day one was green and yelling and sweat and a towering First Sergeant that didn't like the length of anyone's hair. I was hooked and though I switched from Army to Navy, I went on to serve in the military until 1995.

One thing that is striking about that Army ad from Boy's Life is that it would never get published today. Not with the political correctness running rampant through the military and Washington DC these days. There is a near pathological effort to deny the reality that males and females in close working situations develop bonding relationships that can go beyond military tasking or mission. Of course there are rules that prohibit this. But it happens anyway. Add in the off-duty time, parties and alcohol and you get what we have today. Much more opportunity for physical and sexual contact which will obviously turn into both real and falsely alleged assaults. What happens to senior officers who point this out? Who talk about a culture of "hooking up" in the civilian world that they see happening around their own kids? These officers and opinions are carpet bombed with expressions like "blaming the victim." U.S Senators, representatives and talk show hosts grow livid and see this as another battle in the so-called "war on women."

So what do I say to my own kids if they are considering serving in the military? I suppose there will have to be a good conversation there. Issues such as sacrifice, hard work, commitments away from family will be discussed. But also the topics of career choices, alcohol, fraternization, and ultimately, is this best for you?

I've thought about this a lot. Experienced several years around a military that is evolving to include females in many more roles. We are moving toward a day when they will be allowed in every combat role. At that point, we will have to decide that, as a nation, if the draft is again necessary, will we include women? In equal proportions to men? Will we really want to fight that way? My guess is the answer will be, no. The policies will change. Quickly- because there are enemies of America out there who will not go to war with the same equal opportunity theories that we are now obsessively embracing. They will simply want to see us die - in numbers that will be higher because we were less prepared that we maybe should have been.

I think less about the question are my son and daughter ready for the military, than is the military ready for them? Will the skills they need to survive a battle be effectively taught, or will time be squandered with instruction on "diversity appreciation" or "how to recognize and prevent harassment?" If and when they sign up and get a little time to say goodbye, can we all say to them that the training they get will focus on just two things: winning the fight and returning home safely?

Asiana 214 - How About No Comment

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/epic-ktvu-fail-anchor-reports...

"When you think about automation, it can do a lot, it can assist the pilots. But there are two pilots in the cockpit for a reason" - Deborah Hersman / National Transportation Safety Board, this week

"Tim, there is a trash can in the kitchen for a reason." - My mom, 1972

Anyone who has ever followed aircraft accident investigations since the birth of cable TV and the 24 hour news cycle should know exactly what NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman is doing, and its not just scolding. She is auditioning for her post-government job as an "expert" regarding air-accidents for MSNBC, Fox or one of the other chattering news channels.

There is really no earthly reason to comment or speculate on anything at this point. Volumes of facts are hidden now but will eventually be known. There may be pilot error or there may not. What is sure, though, is that partial conclusions and hints as to the reason for an accident made on a official basis and then repeated/interpreted/twisted by the media will be remembered forever. And that is a tragedy. Because those ideas may be dead wrong and the gift of technologies that lead us to the truth are more than compromised. They are corrupted- all for the sake of a quick answer.

Many months will pass before this accident is figured out. Good people will work very hard to come up with the reason for lives lost and damaged over the weekend. Soon enough, an extraordinarily safe industry will be made even safer.

But in the meantime, along with the victims, other good people may be harmed. Recklessly, because one government official in a highly responsible position wants to someday be another crash-expert-on-call with CNN. Our lawmakers will not stop this. The media, in it's unquenchable thirst for new information, speculation and conclusions, certainly won't either. Especially when those speculations come from the media's food source: the people we are supposed to trust who carry badges, sport large yellow letters on their jackets, and get to be the ultimate deciders of cause. Unfortunate behavior by people who hold the power to ruin lives as quickly as an airplane out of control.

Evening Parade at the Marine Barracks - Washington D.C.

For those not familiar with Evening Parade, let me describe it this way: Very very few of us will ever be able to see what a United States Marine does best. We will never be locked up in an embassy with an angry foreign crowd outside, protected by Marine sentries on duty. We won't be on a foreign beach as the steel and human tide of an amphibious assault commences and The Corps goes to work. We won't stand next to a Marine artillery weapon as it roars and spins salvation over the heads of comrades engaging an enemy downrange. We will never be on the flight-line of a forward airbase as Marine aviators and their support crews launch jets and helicopters into a hostile night sky. We will, in short, probably never be found among the most threatening people and places on earth wanting only to turn towards home while the Marines will head the other direction. Where they are needed most. Toward the fight.

What we are able to do, with a little luck and patience, is attend an event that U.S. Marines arrange, practice and execute very well: Evening Parade.

Every friday evening in the summer at the "oldest Post in the Corps"  Marine Barracks 8th and I, Washington D.C., we are afforded the honor of seeing some of our finest in military uniform: The United States Marine Band, The United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps, the Marine Corps Color Guard, the Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon, and Ceremonial Marchers.

It is a ceremony that lasts 90 minutes - from twilight to dark on the parade grounds of the post. It is inspiring to those who currently or have ever served in the military and to everyone else who benefits from the sacrifices of these good men and women. It's been performed since 1934 and on the list of our country's best military demonstrations, it should be the absolute last one that ever goes away. From "Welcome..." to the last note of Taps fading away in the darkness, you will be moved and proud and thankful for all the United States Marines can do.

http://www.barracks.marines.mil/Parades/EveningParade.aspx