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Surely you don't think there's nobody in Basra that just wants to defend themselves from roving bands of thieves. Nobody who endured the repression of Sadam that wants to be able to protect themselves from the next despots?

Sorry. Your answer was flip and contained virtually no content. My ridiculous assumptions were what I thought logically followed from your statements. I'll restate: is it reasonable to support virtually unrestricted gun rights in the USA while supporting a crackdown on gun rights in Basra? (and just to speed things up a bit: should you counter with some form, of "duh, there's an active rebellion going on in Basra", my follow-up would be something of the form of a) isn't that what our constitution framers intended for us to do with our gun rights? Keep the government scared. And b) is there a clear dividing line between Basra and say D.C. with it's rampant violent crime?)

So you think the only reason we should be able to have fairly unrestricted gun rights is because we got lucky that 225 years ago some good 'ol boys decided to enshrine gun ownership? Is that all gun ownership rights are to you? I get 'em, that's all I care about? No guiding moral principle. Just, cool, I get to shoot stuff?

A question mostly for those gun-rights advocates out there. -------------------------------------- From today's Washington Post According to wire service reports, Maliki issued a statement giving gunmen in Basra three days to give up their weapons and renounce further violence. The operation in Basra won praise Tuesday from the White House, where spokeswoman Dana Perino referred to it as a "brave decision" by Maliki to assert Iraqi government control over an important port city that serves as the country's gateway to the Persian Gulf. ------------------------------------ Do Iraqi's have the inalienable right to bear arms? Or is it only US citizens? I'd think, if anyone, someone in Iraq would have way more reason to own a gun (for self defense) than anybody in the United States (except for maybe a convenience store clerk ). Do you think Maliki's deal is a lawful order that Bush should support? Do you think Bush should push for an item in the Iraqi constitution similar to our second amendment? Interested to hear what you think about this one, and how it applies/doesn't apply to our situation in the USA. To me it would seem inconsistent to support virtually unrestricted rights to own guns in the US, but think it's OK to support a government restricting their own citizens. Especially in a place where self-protection is so much more a part of daily life. Gun advocates seem to imbue the second amendment with much more credence than mere words on an important piece of paper. To me it seems they value gun ownership as an important part of life, what makes this country, in particular, great, and basically an inalienable right bestowed by God. That's my thinking on this. What's yours?

Personally, I'm happy to be the person who is richer by $100k in equity. That ability to differentiate who was lucky and who was smart among all the folks who are $100k richer than you is a bit overrated I'd say.

I put "government" in the subject of my sentences. Sorry bud, it's not always all about you.

They're all over making laws to shield the telecom companies so they will be willing to help the government spy on citizens in the future. They're all over propping up a giant wall street investment firm that played fast and loose with it's cash so people will be willing to invest in the future. But when it comes to holding up their end of the contract with the poor dudes that signed on to "save america" in Iraq and Afghanistan but lost on their roll of the dice and are coming back disabled, the government starts acting like a shady insurance company that doesn't want to pay.

In the winter time it's cold and wet and so people tend to stay inside and keep the house closed tightly, which makes you much more likely to get infected by the other shut-ins. Cold air and wet does not weaken your immune system, though getting totally beat down by overdoing it and getting near-hypothermic may do so. Sunshine-vitamin D-immune system, look it up or wait for the G-spotter post coming in a a few. Little kids are a triple whammy of not getting enough sleep, staying more shut in, and the fact that they're little disease incubators constantly secreting. Especially bad if your kid(s) is(are) going to school/daycare to pick up all the various stuff from other families and bringing it home. Washing hands, very important here.

What about Blue Cheer?

Though Richardson is the obvious choice for the demographics (Southwest, Hispanic) and his recent dramatic clutch play at this pivotal point in the nomination process, I'd also like to see Biden in there somewhere. He'd help alleviate that alleged foreign-policy experience deficit, and they could be the plagiarist ticket! Does anybody ever propose their future sec of state before the election (or before the nomination?). If they could get a woman in there they could sew this up. I read a column somewhere that (Richard Cohen, I think) that made the great suggestion of Hillary for Chief of Staff. That's the perfect job for her, right down in the nasty, hard-edge part of the politics and let Obama be the pretty figurehead and smooth-talkin' mouthpiece.

What's the deal on "new parking lot"? Are they constructing a parking lot for BV Canyon access, or is it for something else? Oh and Olymtnboy, way to go. Nice job on pushing through the access hurdles and getting those climbs done.

That link is far superior for climbing areas that you don't know where they are. Like Trout Creek.

STFU noob!

I've had real good luck with walking out to meet the host people, with a smile and a greeting that indicates right away I am ready to pay. They immediately turn from grim-faced bitter old codgers to friendly gram and gramps. Though I know it may be difficult for you young-stud pathfinders to visualize, think about what it must be like to be those campground host types. Grimly determined to not let some damn deadbeat kids weasel out of paying the fee, knowing these strong young men could fuck with you and get miles away before any police support shows, you exit your golf cart, and enter their realm. None of them will look at you and to a man they all pretend you're not even there until you're standing right on top of one of them tapping his shoulder. When you ask for payment, they get all put out, like it was never suggested that they should have to pay for this campsite. Then they mutter and bitch about the high price and low quality of the campsite. Finally, when it is clear that they can't just wait you out and that money will have to change hands, they take all day wringing it out of each other. "dude I paid for the beer" "but I got the ice yesterday" "you got change for a twenty?" ...etc. Once they finally pay up for last night, you ask them what their plans are for the coming night. They shift around and mutter about "not sure, see what's up", obviously merely avoiding the opportunity to pay in advance. "Great", you sarcastically mutter inside your head, "I'll get to do this again tomorrow morning." I'll bet the hosts get real tired of that shit. You might say that the hosts took the job and knew what they were getting into; which may be true, but there's nothing in the job description that requires them to be happy-friendly with people being jerks. I'm not saying anyone in this thread has been a jerk, but I know that plenty of low-money campers regularly partake in the above scene (myself included). It probably gets pretty old for the hosts and could explain their bitchiness. So, like I indicated in the opening of this post, disarm grouchy hosts by walking out to meet them (so they don't have to invade your site, or leave the comfort of their golf cart). Quickly make it clear that you intend to pay the contracted fee, right now. I've found something like, "what's the damage?" while pulling out my wallet, works well. Just make a little effort and you can avoid paying for a bunch of other people's mistakes.

General tip related to various rapping tips above, is always be thinking about what you can be getting done. Never be sitting waiting, not doing anything. Coil some rope, organize some gear, eat, drink, take a piss, whatever. With respect to multiple raps on Infinite Bliss, the low angle pitches of that is terrain that maximizes utility of simulrapping. The low angle makes it easy to stay in control and each person deals with their own rope mess (which happens all too frequently when rapping low-angled featured terrain), and noone will be kicking rocks down on their partner. One simul-rapping tip: it is required that both people weight the rope at the same time. We would use a verbal signal to indicate readiness to get on the rope. We found that "weight" sounds a bit too much like "wait!", so we switched to "load" (though this may cause some confusion for Ivan). Similar to above comments on reusing the dehydro bag for cup. I have had good success with bringing a cup of noodles for the first night and using the styrofoam cup for the remainder of the trip. Bring a cheap plastic cup that will nest well with the CoN styrofoam cup. Then you can either have a super insulated mug for your warm beverages, or an extra cup. It seems like the CoN styro cup would not hold up to the rigors of backpack stuffing, but I've been amazed how resilient those fuckers are. Oh, and nut tool works pretty well as a utensil for eating noodles (though the galvanic zing you get when touching your teeth to the metal can be unpleasant). With respect to clipping a jacket on your harness for multipitch, I have a very light windshirt that I can stuff in a pocket.

Minstrels? You don't know minstrels.

So speaking of Horrors of Ivan, is the access to all those Murrin Park climbs going to be screwed up (already screwed up) by the road project?

CjPRTW3aOPs

Yes Matt, all climbers like only heavy metal, exclusively. Next question?

I think KkkKk is referring to the often stated rant of more extreme environmentalists (and others) that "we're not going to get any meaningful conservation until the gas price goes up to $4/liter like in Europe". Still got a ways to go before $4/liter though. I think we need some more gas taxes to make our dreams come true.

That's the military version. Only the best for our armed forces!

Trip to Vantage = $38.50 + parking pass