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The Big Piece of Granite is like a Magnet to Hikers*"Half Dome stands at the elevation of 8,842 feet. It is made up from a type of granite, plutonic rock. Yosemite National Park's Half Dome's missing half is presumed to have fallen off when the Ice Age glaciers passed through."Half Dome, Sheer Side from Glacier PointPhoto © Arundhati Bhowmick,Aug.2004Ascended Half Dome on Sept.10th. My friend Sarbajit Ghosal and I had done it in 2001. When Sarbajit mentioned a month ago that he was planning another trip I readily decided to join him. While painfully hanging on to the cable going up the Dome I asked myself, "why am I doing this; what am I trying to prove?". There must be many others who felt the same way I did. There is something about Half Dome that is hard to explain. You see the big piece of granite from various points in the Yosemite Valley and you think the hike (there is no other way of reaching it) would be worth trying. You do it and say "never again". It demands a lot, as a marathon does. But just as a few days after running a marathon, many runners begin to think of the next one, Half Dome hikers are of the same breed. Met a guy who said he had climbed it when he was 25 and was back to do it during his 50th year.The round trip hike is approximately 17 miles. It can take anywhere from 10 to more than 14 hours depending on weather conditions and fitness of the hiker.During the season, hundreds of men, women and kids hike the 17-mile round trip from Yosemite Valley. Not an easy trek. The elevation gain is about 4800 ft (almost a mile) in 8.5 miles. On September 10th, when we were on the trail, almost 50% of the hikers were women.View from the trail-Photo © MusafirOn the trail with friends - Photo © Sarbajit GhosalWith Sarbajit - Photo © GauravIn ideal conditions, some hikers do it under 10 hours. It took us 13, out of which we spent more than 1 hour going up the cable (300 yds) to the top. There were bottlenecks on the cable due to number of people ascending and descending at the same time. The unusual volume could have been due to the fact that for repair work the trail is closed this season Monday-Thursday upto 4 PM. That limited most of the hikers to the 3-day window---Friday, Saturday and Sunday.If we go back it would be to hike up on a weekday. Although the Mist Trail alongside Vernal Falls is shorter by a mile than the John Muir Trail to reach Nevada Falls enroute to Half Dome, we took John Muir. Easier on the knees and we reached Nevada Falls in much better shape than we did four years ago going up the Mist Trail.The Stairs (Quarter Dome) and the CablesSarbajit (2nd from left) on the StairsPhoto© MusafirJust when you begin to think that you will be at the base of the Dome, the Quarter Dome looms up. The trail builders have done a great job in creating a switchback to climb the Quarter Dome. Still, it is almost a half mile hike; the stone steps are rather high and take a toll. You descend from Quarter Dome and find youself facing the daunting cables.Going up the Stairs - Photo © Sarbajit GhosalFrom the Stairs looking down - Photo © MusafirFrom distance climbers look like ants crawling up - Photo © Sarbajit GhosalTraffic congestion at the base - Photo © Sarbajit GhosalFrom the base looking up - Photo © MusafirThe degree of slope at the base is 35-36 degrees and at points higher up the Dome more than 45 degrees.Close up of the cables - Photo © Kenton LeeThe typical or target dates for the cables are to have them up for Memorial Weekend.""They usually remain in place through Columbus Day weekend.""The cables, extending approximately 300 yards up the steep shoulder of the 8,842 foot dome, allow visitor access to the summit and unparalleled views of Yosemite Valley and the Park's highcountry.In 1919, the Sierra Club donated funds to install the first cables on Half Dome. The Civilian Conservation Corps replaced the original cables in the 1930's."Hikers on top - Photo © MusafirSarbajit playing Tarzan - Photo © MusafirSarbajit at the precipice - Photo © MusafirSarbajit descending, backward (recommended). Quarter Dome lower backgroundPhoto © MusafirIt is getting late for climbing Half Dome this season. However, those who are thinking of doing it will greatly benefit from Kenton Lee's excellent post "Climbing Half Dome The Easy Way". It contains a wealth of information about the trail as well as conditioning, gear,etc.

Another day, another snow jobWhen you gotta go you gotta go (President at the UN)*National Prayer Day, September 17th. Props in place---survivors in the front rows; VIPs sitting with suitably somber faces, looking pious. They have had a lot of practice with putting on faces. Scratch the surface you won't find an ounce of humility in the lot. The president has a built-in smirk that cannot be hidden.Then there was the president's post 9/11 speech from Baton Rouge on September 15th . The surprise was that his speechwriters did not add the usual verbiage about terrorism, patriotism, and national security. Perhaps they realized that the refrain was beginning to sound like a damaged phonograph record with needle caught in a groove.So the president spoke of grand reconstruction plans, aids to the displaced, and promised to work with the people of the area ravaged by Katrina. What all that will boil down to is something else. The usual suspects will get richer; the new New Orleans will bear no resemblance to the fabled old city. The black residents? In the rebuilt city there will be fewer of them.And how are going to pay for the cost? The Republicans have already stated their support for the Bush tax cuts for the people at the very high end to be made permanent.Expect cuts in services and domestic programs. The prescription drug plan for Medicare recipients is already one of the targets. Going by records of this rapacious administration and the members of Congress, the burden will fall on those who can least afford it.Perhaps they will recommend piety, more prayers by all to compensate for lack of necessities?Excerpts from an article by Clifford J. Levy, NY Times 9/18/05. "New Orleans has this incredible potential that the pundits are missing, in that the regular people of New Orleans love their city and get a life satisfaction out of it more than people in Denver or New York or Boston," he said. One challenge, then, would seem to be to harness this affection to energize and guide the recovery. But residents have been flung across the region. Who knows how many will return, and when. It will not be clear for months how embittered they have become from the evacuation and relief effort. It is widely held that for urban redevelopment to succeed, people must be actively involved at the neighborhood level. Can they trust in a reconstruction campaign mounted by the same officials who were supposed to have helped them in the days before and after Katrina? After all, New Orleans has a history of political corruption, so the people may already have had a jaded view of officialdom before the storm. NY Times - Post Katrina Bricks and MortalsWhen You Gotta GoIf you missed the telephoto shot of the president's note during his attendance at UN's Summit Meeting on September 15th, go to:Bush 'caught short' at UN summit (BBC)

*Some people had written Gerhard Schröeder off as pre-election polls showed Angela Merkel of the conservative Christian Democrat Party leading by a substantial margin. Merkel, who has been compared to Britain's former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, the Iron Lady, is reported to enjoy support of Bush administration. It was no secret that Gerhard Schröeder's position on Iraq had soured relationship between the two countries. Tony Blair, too, does not get along well with Schröeder.The election was held on September 18th. When votes were counted, the results showed that Mrs. Merkel received far fewer votes than the polls had indicated.What lies ahead for Schröeder and his Social Democratic Party? Mrs. Merkel received 35.3% of votes against Schröeder's 34.2%. Without a clear majority, both are scrambling to form a coalition government with other parties. A coalition between the two is said to be out of consideration. Coalition of SDU, Left Party (Die Linkspartei.) and the Green Party led by Joschka Fischer would provide a quick fix for Schröeder. Mrs. Merkel could be expected to make overtures to the Greens. However, the match is unlikely to take shape.If the CDU and SDU both fail to muster enough support for a coalition government then fresh elections will be held later this year or early in 2006.

They made the Supreme Sacrifice....for what?*According to data published by Iraq Casualties.org, on September 17th the number of dead American soldiers reached 1900. Small number if you compare it to Vietnam . One cannot, however, think that way---not if one has compassion for the bereaved families. To them every one of the dead meant more, much more than a name. They felt the pain, shed tears and continue to grieve. 09/18/05 SEATTLEPOST: Kirkland Marine dies in attack in Iraq When he was home on leave in August, 24-year-old Marine Lance Cpl. Shane C. Swanberg told his family he dreamed of one day living by a beach...His dreams died in the sands of Iraq on Thursday...Those of us who have not personally suffered a loss but oppose the war ask what are they dying for? Not to find and destroy WMD. That myth was exposed a long time ago but those who used it to start the war did not miss a beat. Establishing democrcy in Iraq. Balderdash. Just look at what is happening there. The internecine battle between the Shias and Sunnis shows no sign of ending anytime soon.Hardline Mullahs have gained prominence. Women's rights are in danger.The Kurds are likely to demand autonomy. Corruption is rampant. Our favored contractors are making money hands down. Known liars like Ahmed Chalabi (who had a role in selling the WMD story to our leaders) are in positions of power. Why not--remember George Tenet was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom! Of course, our leaders who swallowed the WMD story would have created it if the Iraqis did not give it to them for money and favors. Preventing growth of al Qaeda and terrorism in the Middle East? All accounts indicate that terrorist acts have increased since the beginning of the war. Before we get out of the mess many more of our men and women in uniform will die. If not their families, history will judge those who sent them to their death.

The Issue Has Resurfaced*I did a double take on reading an AP report that U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton in San Francisco ruled :"that the pledge's reference to one nation "under God" violates school children's right to be "free from a coercive requirement to affirm God." Bully for him but not the end of the story.It is noteworthy that addition of the words "under God" after "one nation." did not take place until Flag Day 1954. The original pledge made no mention of God.On June 14, 2004, in a 8-0 decision the Supreme Court had reversed a lower court ruling that recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance led by teachers in public schools was unconstitutional.The Court ruled that Michael Newdow, who brought the case before the court had no legal right to file the lawsuit. The Court, however, stayed away from the broader question of separation of church and state.Now the issue is certain to land back before the justices. The make up of the Supreme Court, when it opens in October, will be different---not radically different until a replacement for Justice O'Connor is confirmed but different. Assuming that Judge Roberts will fill the late Chief Justice Rehnquist's place, one can sense the direction the court will take.When Americans look back on our born again Christian president's legacy, his influence in politicization of the Supreme Court and appointment of agenda driven justices throughout the judicial system are likely to stand out. I shall not be surprised if the president's handlers add a reference to this in the speech he is going to give tomorrow. He needs some polarizing issues to latch onto in an effort to recover lost ground.Our country is going through religious fervor of the worst kind; bigotry has become respectable. We can expect the San Francisco District Court's decision to be overruled.Edited Sept.15,2005 6:24 PM

Sweetheart deals for favored contractors but President felt Minimum Wage too High*The Compassionate Conservative taking care of his own. The President has readily waived minimum wage requirements for reconstruction work related to Hurricane Katrina. Who are the beneficiaries? The same group of firms that are making money hands down in Iraq; companies to whom contracts are awarded without bidding process.What happened ? Has there been a single act of this president, any legislation promoted by this president that remotely helped ordinary Americans ? I cannot think of one but I never bought the "compassionate conservative" spiel back in 2000. Of course, there could be a simple explanation---he didn't have a clue what he was talking about. He just uttered something made up by the handlers who coached him for the debate.CNN - 9/10/05: Companies with ties to the Bush White House and the former head of FEMA are clinching some of the administration's first disaster relief and reconstruction contracts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Reuters - 9/9/05 The Davis-Bacon law requires federal contractors to pay workers at least the prevailing wages in the area where the work is conducted. It applies to federally funded construction projects such as highways and bridges. Bush's executive order suspends the requirements of the Davis-Bacon law for designated areas hit by the storm. The Observer/Guardian (UK) - 9/11/05: Companies winning work include US contracting giants Bechtel and Halliburton. Halliburton, formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, is facing questions for allegedly overcharging on work done in Iraq. The Department of Defense was criticised for awarding Iraq reconstruction contracts to these two companies without competition. Other groups include Fluor and Shaw Group, a Louisiana engineer. The move comes as leading congressional figures express concern over the contracting process. Congress probes hurricane clean-up contracts (Observer/Guardian)Bush allows contractors to pay lower wages(Reuters)Sweetheart deals for Halliburton, KBR and others(CNN)

The Insidious impact of Tax Dodging*The fact that large corporations, especially multi-national ones, enjoy special privileges (loop holes) that allow them to avoid paying taxes is no secret. The situation is a common one. It exists in most of the rich nations. In the United States, many law firms are engaged full time in advising their clients how to take advantage of the opportunities created by friendly legislators. Hedrick Smith did a great exposé of American companies in Frontline (see below). Today's issue of the Guardian,UK, carrries an article captioned Tax avoidance 'keeps developing countries poor' that outlines the scope and magnitude of the damage done by the tax dogders. The figures were based on a report issued by Christian Aid and covers UK companies. By not paying the taxes, rich businesses are depriving developing countries of much needed revenue, according to a report by Christian Aid. Andrew Pendleton, a senior policy advisor for the charity, said the scale of the lost revenue "beggars belief". It argues that the shortfall means the developed world will never achieve its stated aim of reducing world poverty. The report coincides with the UN's review of its Millennium Development Goals (MDG), which is taking place in New York. "Tax is the forgotten issue in the debate about how to tackle poverty, and must be added to trade, debt and aid if the world is serious about meeting the MDGs," Mr Pendleton said. The Guardian,UK 9/12/05Tax Me If You Can - Hedrick Smith in Frontline 2/19/2003"A government, for protecting business only, is but a carcass, and soon falls by its own CORRUPTION and decay."---Amos Bronson Alcott 1799-1888, American Educator, Social Reformer

"Brideshead Revisited" and Half Dome, Yosemite National Park*Perhaps it was the movie, "The Constant Gardener" that JHL and I watched on Labor Day. Perhaps the ongoing clamour about Hurricane Katrina in which I,too, added my two cents that made me seek shelter in a book about another country in another time. I am one among the millions who were not directly affected but felt the suffering, the inequities of our system that nurtured the miserable conditions in which a large percentage of New Orleans' blacks lived, and a sense of outrage at the failure to provide timely aid to the people in the area ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.I felt that I had enough. Easier said than done. Katrina and its ghosts will continue to be with us for a long time. Politicians will do what they are good at doing, talk....a lot. Committees and sub-committees will be formed. Tons of reports will be generated. The uprooted will eventually find a new place. For them, the memories will remain alive.It was Evelyn Waugh's "Brideshead Revisited" , a book that I first read many years ago and went back to a few times that I picked out from the book shelf. And, for good measure, I decided to join a group of friends and go to Yosemite to climb Half Dome on Saturday, September 10th. I ascended it in 2001. I was younger and my muscles were stronger then. It would give me personal satisfaction to be able to do it again.But first a few words about "The Constant Gardener". Based on John LeCarre's novel of the same name, most of the story takes place in Africa. Fernando Meirrlles has done a great job as director; the movie is better than the book. Jeffrey Caine deserves applause for the screen play. Meirelles was complemented by the superb acting of Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz in the leading roles. The greed of multi-national corporations, complicity of politicians in their unethical ventures, and the exploitation of the poor comes through loud and clear. So, there are common elements between the people of New Orleans and the Africans in the movie, and I am not taking about color of their skin.Evelyn Waugh was discharged from the army in 1943 on medical grounds. "Brideshead Revisited" was published in 1945.The following is from a review of the book in The New York Times by the incomparable John K. Hutchins (1905-1995)."But even those to whom Mr. Waugh and his work were only slightly familiar must have wondered what direction his talent would take during the climactic war years since "Put Out More Flags." "Brideshead Revisited" tells them, in a fashion more mature and ultimately more satisfying than even his admirers could confidently have predicted.Here, again, is the post-World War I England, but in very different focus; the story seen not through the eyes of Paul Pennyfeather or a William Boot, comical character devices of earlier Waugh books, but told in the first person by a sensitive and intelligent observer, one Charles Ryder, architectural painter, captain in the British Army, looking back from middle-age at his youth. In the scheme of "Brideshead Revisited" that change in focus is all-important, the frame in which the story is set between prologue and epilogue lending it perspective and narrative flexibility, the enchantment of experience recalled and sifted. The emotional tone and content of "Brideshead Revisited" are accordingly heightened beyond any Mr. Waugh has achieved before. He has elsewhere conveyed a muted poignance--the death of the boy in "A Handful of Dust" and the ingenious, nightmarish conclusion of the same book. In "Brideshead Revisited" the emotion is unwrapped, so to speak, and sent from the heart.In the beginning it is gay enough--an affectionately ironic picture of Oxford in 1923, the sunflower estheticism, plovers eggs and getting drunk at luncheon, the lively, small banter, the happy irresponsibility, "Antic Hay." It is there that Ryder meets Lord Sebastian Flyte and forms a romantic friendship with him; Sebastian, the brilliant, charming "half-heathen" second son of an old Catholic family that is verging on dissolution which, Mr. Waugh seems to suggest, parallels England's change from the old order to the new. Then, the story's arrival at Brideshead and its baroque castle, the tone changes to a somber hue as the themes develop: the love story of Ryder and Sebastian's sister Julia, of which Ryder's and Sebastian's friendship had been a spiritual forerunner; the Church giving haven to the soul-torn, drunken Sebastian and reclaiming Julia and even the Byronic father who comes home at last from Italy to die."Now, time for a brief hiatus."Hast thou named all the birds without a gun ?Loved the wood-rose , and left it on its stalk ?"---Emerson "Forebearance"

It was God's punishment!*I had never heard of a festival called "Southern Decadance"---apparently an yearly event that took place in New Orleans. According to "Repent America", an organization based in Philadelphia, PA, this years "homosexual celebration" was due to be held on August 31st. "However, Hurricane Katrina has put an end to the annual celebration of sin."Repent America's press release reads, in part:Although the loss of lives is deeply saddening, this act of God destroyed a wicked city," stated Repent America director Michael Marcavage. "From 'Girls Gone Wild' to 'Southern Decadence,' New Orleans was a city that had its doors wide open to the public celebration of sin. From the devastation may a city full of righteousness emerge," he continued."Deeply saddening"? I could feel their glee oozing from the press release.For the complete text of the press release, go to Hurricane Katrina destroys New Orleans Days Before "Southern Decadance"

Too few, or too many*Time will tell. In the meantime, The Washington Post reported today that FEMA is against allowing journalists to accompany rescue boats as they go out looking for storm victims. The reason given (see below) is suspect."Echoing a Defense Department policy banning the photographing of flag-draped coffins of American troops, representatives from the much-maligned Federal Emergency Management Agency said on Tuesday that it didn't want journalists to accompany rescue boats as they went out to search for storm victims, because "the recovery of the victims is being treated with dignity and the utmost respect." An agency spokeswoman told Reuters, "We have requested that no photographs of the deceased be made by the media.""Hiding Bodies Won't Hide the Truth",Terry M. Neal, Washington Post 9/8/05Someone is getting things done, "The John Wayne dude"See story in in The Guardian,UK.