Well, you know the answer, but give Jim Gray an ear while he articulates why our present drug policies have failed — identifying the groups of people who are winning because of the present political and law enforcement stances, and continues to propose repealing these failed policies — identifying the groups of people who will win if we do so and how asinine, reactionary and wasteful the present policies will appear when we look back at them.

Take it away, Jim…

Found an old trip report today, well an email to Tim which is a report of another adventure up in the Alpental valley, last year in early June.

My time out there was pretty great. Finally made it to the Bryant saddle which makes GREAT ski access to that whole upper terrain there off the south shoulder of Chair. It’s in the Volken guide.

Anyhow, it went like this…I was out of the house around 4:30am, hiking from upper Alpental parking lot at 6am. Pineapple Pass at 7:30am, snow was pretty good for walking (one could still ski in there no problem) I had my aluminum crampons and a pole and my aluminum axe. Soloed the Tooth south rib. Bottom part was cruiser, but exposed enough of course to hear the heart pumping!

The catwalk was downright scary, mostly cause of the incredible deathfall exposure and the fact that I was climbing in my spring boots and the small not necessarily horizontal edges for the feet. Anyhow, there was really one move there which provided the crux of the whole outing probably, but there was plenty of other stuff to keep me on point.

Hungout (8:30am) on the top for a few minutes. Long enough to eat a GU, look at my watch and drink some water. Then I headed down the north rigde like you and I did, Tim. There wasn’t any ice of course but with the whole area socked in with fog and a light mist dampening the lichen, I was being pretty dang careful. Climbing down into one of those gaps on the north ridge, I broke off a hold but fortunately had all other three points solidly connected…

Found my way down onto the snow again and climbed Hemlock Peak by 9:30am. Down some steep snow NW or West off the summit and down a steep gulley through a small cliff band had me to the Hemlock Pass that you and I rappelled down Tim. It would have been an easy downclimb with all the snow and crampons and axe.

Climbed up Bryant Peak via it’s mellow south slopes (this is up above Malakwa Lake)–would be superb skiing. The summit was an easy scramble and there is an airy ridge up there with the north side falling away precipituously. The whole North, NW, and West aspects were way too steep to descend (i.e. big cliffs) so I had to loose 700 feet of vertical before heading west and finding a little chink in the cliff, which had me shouting for joy. I was able to downclimb onto this steep snow finger.

From there, it was an easy snow hike up to Bryant saddle which I reached at 11. After my long rest of 15 minutes, I dropped down (to the north) off of the saddle and then swung right to the east following easy snow slopes, around a steep shoulder and then a mellow descent back into the Tooth basin.

Driving home by 12:30pm. Never did have to use the rope…

Dear John,

Thanks for writing about Google’s recent announcement of its intention to build out 1Gbps fiber broadband in select US markets. We were intrigued immediately upon hearing the announcement, and we intend to respond to Google’s request for information with our best case for Seattle as a location for what could be the world’s fastest network.

We can’t just hope Google builds it for us, and they aren’t offering a full citywide network, which is why we have a team hard at work to develop up-to-date plans for a municipal fiber network with connections to every home and business in the city. It is still early in our process, but we are taking this issue very seriously.

American economic history is punctuated by infrastructural revolutions like those that brought canals, railroads, highways, and airports. Places that embrace next-generation infrastructure early on become centers of the industries such infrastructure begets, and the same will be true for broadband. We want to make sure that Seattle is competitive in a 21st century economy and that its residents have equitable access to a vital communications and business network.

Thank you for taking the time to write.

Sincerely,

Elliott Day
Policy Analyst
Office of the Mayor
(206) 684-4000

Since we’re on the SAM theme of late…watched this movie recently, Summer of Sam. A recommendation from my workmate. How it drifted so far under the radar I’m not sure, cause it was a pretty cool period piece and a great window into largely unknown communities (this from one who grew up in suburban Philly). And somehow unusual for Spike Lee, perhaps in that it was more about the inflammatory and frightened spirit of the big apple in the summer of ‘77 and what that brought out in a specific community (racism, homophobia, violence).

Adrian Brody plays a punk rocker escaped from his tight, Italian Bronx community. He dances (and provides extras) at a gay club in Manhattan for money, but hangs on tight to who he is, what he believes, even as his homeboys rant that he’s a freak for the way he dresses and wears his hair. Eventually, even his best friend, Luigi (shown below) rats him out, but it’s all part of Luigi’s own demise which goes down in beak-fulls of blow and adultery with total strangers.