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mattp

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Everything posted by mattp

  1. I'm not sure those favoring greater restrictions on personal weaponry are calling for "broad new powers to search private homes," and the imposition of ANY new law restricting possession of guns, dangerous drugs, chemicals that harm the environment, an explosive hazard that endangers the neighbors, or maybe ban hog farms in a residential neighborhood is an "ex-post-facto declarations that what was once legally held private property is now subject to seizure by the state, etc." I think you can do better than that, Jay. Your argument could be applied against ANY public safety or public welfare law on private property: is that really what you mean?
  2. mattp

    soloists hym

  3. mattp

    soloists hym

    I agree that the guy had no god-given right to get pissed, but maybe he got a little scared. Anger is not an uncommon reaction. Did Fender "deserve" a tongue lashing? Maybe not, but maybe yes. As to "why is everyone in such a hurry" - the answer is because we all want to climb Cinnamon Slab, Spiderman and the Pioneer Route before it gets dark. This is part of training for light and fast. I agree that it is sometimes unfortunate, but on any popular climb at any popular climbing area you are not going to be given the luxury to take your time and smell the roses on a busy weekend. And as to cluster-fuck's at the anchors, I've shared hanging belays with three parties before without any problem, and I've seen other parties on a popular route get all freaked out if I came anywhere near them (Outer Space comes to mind and that is a route with plenty of room and multiple anchor options at every belay). The degree to which there is a problem depends as much on who is involved and how they handle it as it does on whether or not the second party should be there.
  4. mattp

    soloists hym

    Because by then there would be two more parties on said route. I don't think I've ever been there, on a weekend at least, when parties waited for a party in front of them to complete the route before starting out. I've soloed, and been passed by soloists on plenty of beginner routes, and in my opinion the soloist has as much right to be there as the party of beginners. People get mad sometimes when somebody passes them or throws a rope in their direction, or clips to their anchor or whatever else type of interaction we have on a popular climb. That's life.
  5. Mike Layton, too. I might pull out some old shots of CC.COM ski-in, for stokeage.
  6. I thought you were. We got cheated at SausageFest.
  7. Lets not get too cocksure there, Serenity. I'm not clear that we were all that effective in Beirut either, and then there's Somalia, and then Darfur where we've sat on our thumbs and done nothing. Yes, we probably have a stronger military force than the Europeans (some say even this may be questionable at present though I think they are probably a tad alarmist) but peacekeeping is a different job. I somewhat agree with your ideas about North Korea and Iran, but I'm not sure anybody is justified in holding such disdain for the military establishment in Europe. Even if they are less effective than ours at invading countries and blowing things up, at least they have not been the destabilizing force that we have. You may blame all our "failures" on our politics, but it is our politicians who have voted steadily to build the military that we have amassed over the years since WW2, and any assesment of the U.S. Military in an overall sense as in how do we impact the world or how prepared to defend our interests are we must take into account our political landscape.
  8. Join us for a picnic thursday, after work. If you feel so inclined, bring something to share: food, stories, friends, pictures. Come one come all.
  9. mattp

    soloists hym

    Whirlwind and Fender: aren't you guys being a little harsh? The fact that Feder didn't even know the guy was there suggests to me, at least, that the guy was not overly pushy about it. Maybe he said something rude to Fender's partners, I guess, but you have no business on a popular route like Spiderman if you are not willing to share it with other climbers who may be "right up your asses" just as you have no business soloing it said route you aren't ready to have somebody throw a rope at you. Maybe he should have asked Fender's partners to let him know he was there or something...
  10. I don't think it was me who suggested that, Catbird, though I could see how lowering might make it easier to keep track of where the rope is -- though wouldn't it be easier to lower the first down on both ends of the rope? Then the other guy or others could follow.
  11. If it is at all windy you should definitely throw the rope down and not simply drop it.
  12. Interesting. I've been hesitant to buy another Beal rope after buying one that shredded on first use 20 years ago and I've always thought Mammut were generally pretty good. I guess maybe my gear-pushing friend is right: every brand has their better and their worser ropes (or most, perhaps).
  13. Yup. A stuck rope is annoying at least, and it can be a major pain in the neck when it is windy and said stuck rope is way off to the side. I generally do not tie knots when I can see where I am headed and there is a big ledge there, but as the landing area gets smaller or I am unable to see where the ends of the rope are I will be a lot more likely to tie the knots.
  14. As far as I know, there is no current plan - even in a vague sort of concept proposal - to build anything extending beyond Northgate. There has been talk of a line to Bellevue, and this might actually serve a greater commuter population but I'm not convinced that more people commute between Northgate and downtown than they do between the airport and downtown. Even though I live fairly close to Northgate, it seems to me that an airport to downtown line was a great first step and I'd prioritize a line to Bellevue over one to Lynnwood.
  15. I agree with you Crux, that the truth about our invasion of Iraq was readily available from the outset. However, American politics are twisted. The President knew he was lying, and every Senator knew it as well. Yet they still voted for war. The American public was largely mislead, but even the staunch conservatives know now that we were lied to all along yet they still want to believe the President is telling the truth today. It doesn't make sense unless it makes sense somehow. For sure, any explanation involves conspiracy theories that sound "fantastic" as in "fantasy" to many listeners. But remember: 65% of the American people thought GWB was telling the truth when he spoke to us in his - what was it 2003? - SOU speech, and most believed Powell when he gave his famous address to the U.N. However, independant analysis showed each of these speeches to be false within 24 hours yet most Americans waved the flag (or maybe waived it) and stood behind the President and his men. And those who warned that the whole thing was based on lies were/are/continue-to-be defined as "conspracy theorists." (Note: lies, propagated by a group of people, and which affect the formation of public policy, is "conspiracy" by the very definition of the word.) These criminals at the head of our government continue to lie every day, and those who point out their fasehoods are called "conspiracty theorists." Meanwhile, the most reliable estimate has been that - what was it? - 600 thousand Iraqis have died for our lies. And how many Americans? Our own government will not tell us. They publish the number of Americans who died in Iraq, omit those who were evacuated and died while in the hospital in Germany, and won't tell us how many working for civilian contractors are even over there, much less how many died. Call me a conspiracy theorist.
  16. Good luck with your rebellion.
  17. Depending on the amount of rainfall, Green Giant (Dreamer) can dry pretty fast. There often lingers some wetness at the crux move on the second undercling pitch, though and in a few other "key" spots but it can still be doable. Rumor has it that the road did not suffer substantial washout damage this winter.
  18. Ah... Billcoe - in my opinion WE have "issues." I don't think the widespread availability and ownership of guns has really protected us from our government, or that there is any real prospect for a populist rebellion organized out behind your woodshed.
  19. mattp

    today, i am struck by

    That is not a bad approach, and you still get to enjoy much of the immersion and the close relationships with your partners.
  20. mattp

    today, i am struck by

    Those "extremes," as you call them, are certainly part of the vitality of mountain climbing and most of us wouldn't have it any other way but of course one can stack the odds in their favor by sticking to the "standard" routes in relatively benign ranges and climbing only in good, stable weather as compared to pursuing adventure in the Alaska Range or the more technical routes on the high peaks around Chamonix.
  21. On the face of it, I think that would be a good move on his part. I don't know for sure he could pull it off, though, because so many military experts have confirmed that there is in fact no immediate budget crisis for the military and all this talk about an urgent need to "fund the troops" is BS. Either way, he's gonna have to fire up the Rove machine again, and insist that black was red and get all the media to go along with him. And maybe that is a given: after all, he's been saying all week that we shouldn't let the politicians in Washington tell the generals how to run a war and I don't think any of the media have pointed out that he has been doing exactly that for the last four or five years - telling the military how to run the invasion and the aftermath, and sacking any general who expressed concern for his plans. Once again, the so-called "liberal media" that right wingers complain so much about is pretty much giving the President a free pass - at least this week.
  22. mattp

    Rove

    Just this past weekend the President gave a speech wherein he said that we went into Iraq in response to 911 and the war is going well. At this point it almost seems delusional that he could think anybody would believe him but: hey: I bet it works. Rove learned long ago that you could repeat an obvious lie 100 times and some people (Seahawks?) will believe it. But as to why, it was more than love. Clearly they had a "game plan" from square one. Wolfie and the gang outlined part of it before 911 even happened (if I recall correctly, withdrawing from international treaties, fomenting instability in the Mideast, and setting up a permanent camp in Iraq were all in the blueprints and even the most skeptic Bush-lover can confirm the details of this without doing much research). Whether you believe that the members of Bush's cabinet talked about all of this or not, to chalk it up as "innocence" and "mistakes were made" is comic. I agree that it still remains a mystery what the end game was, but meanwhile there was certainly a wink and nod while some folks with close ties to the Administration made off with a lot of cash.
  23. mattp

    Rove

    Hey smart guy: I think he's being sarcastic. Do you completely deny that there has been any effort to mislead the American public or that Bush lied in his SOU speeches, or that there was some war profiteering for which the Administration is at least in part responsible?
  24. mattp

    Rove

    Anybody who would think Bush, Rove, Cheney, Wolfilwitz, Condi, Gonzalez or Rumsfeld ever commited any crimes is clearly far left and into conspiracy theories. Why would they lie? Why would they cover it up? Manipulate elections? Pshaw. Any profit they or their friends in an oil business or defense contractor may have made is clearly conicidential.... and they would have had to make a plan for it to be a conspiracy, and why would they have done that? You're obviously wacked.
  25. Its because we don't have enough guns in Seattle. If everyone was armed to the teeth, there would be less crime.
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