chucK

Well, I don't know about "inconsiderate" but in general, outdoor users have cleaned up our acts a LOT in the last couple decades. I'm sure there's plenty here that remember the days when it was common practice to cut up trees for firewood and bedding, bury your garbage behind rocks, put your shit in a nice little bag and huck it off the cliff.... etc.

For "Off Belay" and "ON Belay" everyone should scream "OK Paul" (like the big fat Harry Mud* guy screaming at the skinny frightened guy leaning on the buzzer when the kid comes into the shop with the human head in Eraserhead) This seems to work in all situations. * Star Trek reference embedded in Eraserhead reference

Well that's quite a disparity in numbers. 12 lanes of freeway traffic 2400 people*24 hours*12 lanes = 691 thousand!! That's a bit different than 3 thousand. Perhaps you got your units wrong?

naughty PDX'ers

Yup. Hell, I'd have settled for linking downtown with Ballard. *sigh*

The democrats are scaredy cats playing a prevent defense. Just like Al Gore in 2000 (oops). They think they're ahead and are just hoping to run out the clock. It may be good strategy, but it's sure not inspiring. Perhaps they are hoping that once they have the presidency, then it will be easier for them to get things done. Let's hope that is part of their plan along with the just getting their butts reelected part of the paln.

The only reason the light-rail passed is that the planners made the crowd-pleasing decision to link it go to the airport. Everyone wants a ride to the airport. Now we'll have an expensive commuter train that people will all ride 1-4 times/year.

Case in point Democrats split on whether to tax hedge-fund managers as much as ordinary wage earners

OK then

Could we explain it away by calling you a kool-aid drinking parrot?

Heh, good one. You could/should be a scab and cross the screenwriters picket lines Agreed that we don't NEED the unions to enforce the laws, but sometimes laws don't always get enforced soon enough to protect people (c.f. your presented example of union abuses). Unions are a way for workers to protect themselves. AND a way to increase their bargaining power. What do you have against competent individuals choosing to band together to increase their power? Isn't that "freedom of the marketplace" too?

You shouldn't ever have to open your mouth to communicate with the belayer that you need slack to clip. The belayer should figure that shit out beforehand. If the climber is out of sight then there's probably going to be enough slack to at least start to clip from without the belayer reacting. Once the rope starts feeding a bit, the belayer should let more out for clipping. If the climber is falling, that's when to scream. And as an added, complicating note. If you're climbing on doubles and alternating clips, then the belayer can/should leave more than enough slack in the clipping rope, since it will not be the one that is currently protecting the leader. Continually getting caught short roped when trying to clip, while using double ropes, is dumb and can be easily avoided.

Gosh I never knew you were such a nanny-state kind of guy. You actually want more laws protecting workers? And I'm glad that you don't question unions' rights to exist.

So you think the government hyping the fear of sleeper cells is for legitimate security efforts? You don't think that it is laying the groundwork (intentionally or not intentionally) for our government disapppearing people?

Every time you respond, you create another easy cherry-pick for the conservative dudes that allows them to avoid responding to more cogent challenges.

I don't think the guys who perpetrated 9/11 were as worrisome as the sleeper cells we are being taught to fear now. The 9/11 guys came into the country relatively close in time to the attack. Did a bunch of stuff to get noticed by people and the FBI, and were even known to be in the US through old-school legal surveillance by the CIA. The fact that they were able to pull off what they did was partly due to bureaucratic incompetence on our part. I don't think further restricting our freedoms from invasive law enforcement tactics, right to trial, prohibitions on torture are going to make us much more safe from their ilk. The sleeper cells we are supposed to be worried about now are the ordinary individuals living here for years, in all views, good americans, except for the fact that they are well hidden by the supernatural powers possessed by evil omnipotent terrorist masterminds. This is a convenient premise for being able to put ANYBODY in jail. "Oh, he seemed so normal. I had no idea he was a member of a sleeper cell." Just ask that Brandon Mayfield guy in Oregon. I don't think she glibly implies that there are no sleeper cells. She often refers to fake OR hyped up threats. There may or may not be scary unknown soccer-mom/accountant/teenager sleeper cells living among us. What is clear though, is that the threat is being hyped excessively by our government.

Gosh Matt, you should watch/listen to the video. She didn't say one thing bout Chavez, Birkenstocks or abortions. But I think you're being "one-brush" here. I don't think the serious Repubs here have a big problem with abortions or birkenstocks. They do seem to have a (quite reasonable) beef with Chavez and his destruction of a democracy. If they think that is so problematic, they should ponder their own govts actions before it's too late like in Venezuela. See the parallels to those totalitarians they so adore to conjure up as enemies when espousing our agressive interventions throughout the globe. Check out that video. Then let's discuss it, reasonably.

I think the point is JayB that you need some check on corporations just to prevent abuse. Labor unions are a way to do that. Why aren't labor unions given their due right to exist by the freedom of the markets. What is so evil about workers banding together to gain enough power to get what they want?

regardless of crux's or virenda7's rants, you should watch that video if you have the time. It's basically a monologue so you can actually get other stuff done while you're listening. It's quite frightening. I think if JayB, Fairweather, KkkKkk and the rest of you minor rightie players can listen to that objectively (don't automatically assume that it's some crazy liberal trying to hurt you), you might be worried too. And if you can't put away those partisan blinders you should listen to this thing and think about how you would be feeling if Billary were doing this shit. You guys were probably all upset when Clinton and Reno started their roving wiretap thing, but why be so complacent about wiretapping ANYONE without even a sham warrant like the Clinton/Reno device? Would you guys wanna give Hillary the power to declare ANYONE an enemy combatant, and take away their liberty maybe even torture them without a trial? The power to put YOU on the "no fly" list? Give her control of a private army, cough, "security company"? Are you that scared of these alleged sleeper cells that you're willing to give all this power to a democrat? If not, why are you willing to give it all up now?

zoom in on QWEST field on Google Maps. Looks like the Hawks are punting from their own endzone.

KkkKk would like this one. Would you advocate doing this here? Police Beat up Lawyers in Pakistan Pakistani uniformed and plainclothes police beating a lawyer during a protest in Lahore today

you're not ready to go when someone picks you up. you litter. you hate kitties.

nancy boy

It may well be a way of getting rid of their shittiest employees. Send 'em to Iraq. Maybe they've decided Iraq is lost anyway so why send anyone competent? I don't think it's going to help in recruiting new people. The problem here, is basically making the State Dept. a shitty place to work. It's harder to hire qualified people when the job you are offering sucks. The qualified people can get jobs elsewhere. The shitty employer is going to be stuck with the retards and closet cases. You get what you pay for.