by fonofidl » Thu Oct 26, 2006 11:55 am
<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>If I swallowed it, then I spat it back up when I learned Putin isn't known to have a son.<br><br>Thanks to erosoplier for following-up with St Clair.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>Okay, so my close friend, John Weisheit, is Bobby Kennedy's Riverkeeper for the Colorado River, and was St. Clair's guide down the same route Putin took through Cataract Canyon. I myself have been on this same multi day trip with John several times.<br><br>St. Clair documented his own trip in a six part CounterPunch series here, which I highly recommend to those interested in how water resource issues in the West will be fought as an early front on the climate change cataclysm.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair09042006.html">www.counterpunch.org/stclair09042006.html</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br> Weisheit is St. Clair's source, and he confirms to me that all in St. Clair's story is 100% true, and that it was he who told St. Clair of the Putin incidents involving his harrassment of the river guides. John was actually scheduled to be the trip leader for Putin, and was called away at the last minute to rescue another boater at the Colorado/Green River confluence. As a result, Putin's party was taken down by a young woman in her twenties, along with a paddle captain who was a Mormon college student. John tells me that these women were "truly frightened for their lives by this whole mafioso-like experience". <br><br>So the story is absolutely true. As to whether the young man with Putin was really his son or not, I cannot say, but I have asked John to tell me if he can discover anything further. <br><br>So I'll follow up later with more info - but I assure the board that the story as St. Clair reported it is unimpeachable, at least in its description of the events goes. <p></p><i></i>