mattp

Cavey, you've asked where I'm coming from. Let me clarify: 1. I respect the members of all of our armed services who are in Iraq and elsewhere, serving our country at great risk and under substantial hardship. I believe that, on this internet bulletin board, I have at times shown MORE respect than have some of the supporters of the war - such as when I argued that the reservists who are now serving much longer combat stints than they could ever have imagined are probably real people with real families and they may be living under difficult conditions and thus are deserving of not only our thanks but some sympathy as well. Several posters on this board responded more or less to the effect of "fuck em" and argued that they knew what they signed up for and they don't need our concern now. Kind of disrespectful, don't you think? 2. I believe that the citizens in a democracy have a duty to seek to inform themselves and to debate the issues of the day. We don't live in Russia under Stalin. It is neither disrespectful nor unpatriotic to me to say that I think our president lied to us - and certainly far less disrespectful and unpatriotic than for someone to tell me I don't have a right to say what I think about these issues. 3. I don't think that our war effort was harmed by my spouting off on the internet, nor by Jim McDermott's going to Baghdad on a publicity stunt one year ago. I could be wrong, but I don't think anybody listened to Jim McDermott and I doubt they will listen to me. 4. I am well aware that the war is far from over. As to Mike's work and dedication, I have no way of knowing whether he works hard or is dedicated because I simply don't know him. If he is asking you to fight his battles for him by arguing with me on this website, my respect for him just went down a notch.

It is Ampzilla. Father, not son. It is a great amp, but I'm not kidding about how you have to be a little careful with it. Stand too close and you'll probably go sterile.

Yeah, THE TUBES was a great band. Captain Qualude

That removal of the wedge at the end of a five-piece might not work if the bolt was corroded inside the hole. Have you tried this with bolts that have been in the rock for a long time?

Nice attitude there, Amber, but your response really isn't very helpful and I disagree with several of your points. Specifically, (1) I have almost never had a problem installing a wedge anchor; (2) I've had those "grab" problems when installing five piece bolts on clean granite and working fairly hard to assure a clean hole; (3) I've had bolts chopped and hangers stolen from several pitches up a climb before. In addition, if you mean suggest that I am advocating being cheap about the hardware, you are incorrect and I don't think anybody else in this thread is advocating being cheap about the hardware. With respect to bolts, the question is what are the relative advantages and disadvantages of each type and, yes, I think strengh is an issue (even though I would more or less agree with you that a stainless steel 3/8" five-piece bolt is plenty strong -- assuming it is properly installed).

If they close highway 20 at Thunder Creek, maybe there will be room to park off the road there instead of parking in the chain-removal lane and getting a ticket.

OK but you still haven't made the connection here. I assume you are saying that the states with more illegal aliens are more often than not states which vote democratic? And I guess you think that democratic politicians have been aware of this for years and years and they are counting on it to remain that way, so they have been steadily manipulating the Supreme Court over this? Or is there some other conspiracy at work here?

Tell Mike I said hello. Last time I listened to President Bush he told me that Mike is over there precisely so that I CAN spout off on the inernet and he thinks Mike is doing a swell job.

What exactly WAS your point here, PP?

Even if PP showed how some liberals have in the past manipulated the supreme court to maintain that rule because states with high alien populations tend to vote liberal, isn't he ingoring the fact that the republicans have much more actively shown themselves willing to manipulate election results -- at least in the last couple of years? Hell, recent stories about the new "state-of-the-art" computer voting machines suggest they may even be seeking to be able to program election results.

???????? I don't see your connection here, PP.

You raise good points, Cassidy, but the original question was about "how one develops a sport route, logistically speaking" and not about whether or where to develop a sport route.

Klenke- Of course everything you say is correct. I don't think ANYBODY says Saddam was playing straight with us or that Jim McDermott claimed to be able to find out the "truth." He was very clear at the time that he went over there to bring attention to his issue.

I'm with you there, AlPine. First they vote to give GW war powers, then they all sit back and wait to see what happens and when it appears safe but it is still really too early to tell, they jump out of the woodwork: "aha: no weapons of mass destruction." Meanwhile, they see that the polls show that the American public is suddenly worried about spending money and, witout a clue about how things may or may not play out over there, they try to stop or slow the reconstruction. As much as I think that Bush and his cronies are trying to destroy the world, there is no leadership coming from the Democrats, that's for sure. Stoopid democrats!!!

Scott, let's go back to the "audiophile" thread. My F*^#ing Thorens turntable is having an argument with the cartridge again. Sure you don't need a turntable?

We've blown up Ampzilla twice, but the last time it went back to CAT, they did some serious tweaking and now it seems much better. It is a good power amp if you want to drive some big noise but with 225 watts per side, you gotta be careful!

When the white lightening is flowing, I pretty quickly find that I cannot even run my own stereo. The cartridge connections on my turntable are prone to dust problems and connection irregularities that just don't seem to be easy to handle after serious drinking! There's a reason that "kids these days" like cd's, I think. If you hit the wrong button, no harm is done.

I have, for sale, a massively powerful amp. It is a "power amp," meaning you need a radio receiver and a pre-amp as separate units, that kicks out 225 watts per side, and was when built the absolute top of the line. It's called "Ampzilla" and it has been completely factory rebuilt (upgraded), so it REALLY KICKS ASS. You need Ampzilla if you really want to rock, and if you don't have a lot of drunk friends running your sound system (it is a little wild and you can blow speakers and stuff). Send me a p.m. By the way - analogue rocks. I have a lot of vinyl and I like it! Unfortunately, everything new is ditgitally mastered so it seems that you just can't get new music that is all that good on vinyl.

Yeah, well I'm not saying he's my hero or anything, but I think he DID call this one right. You are probably right about the timing of when they will find these WMD.

Just over one year ago, Jim McDermott was in Baghdad. He made some public statements to the effect that he believee Saddam may in fact have been telling the truth wheh he said he was not hiding weapons of mass destruction or working with AlQueda, and he said the he thought GW Bush might lie to the American public and to the world about our reasons for going to war in Iraq. When criticised for going to an enemy country to make such remarks, "Baghdad Jim" said that he could not get any press coverage for making the same statements at home -- so the only way he might be heard was to engage in a staged production of making such statements in Baghdad. All over the U.S., conservatives were outraged that he would say such things -- and particularly that he would go to Baghdad to say them. I believe that some of our conservative pundits on this very bulletin board expressed their outrage that he would do so. It looks as if Jim McDermott was exactly right. What does the fact that the "liberal press" wouldn't cover him before he went to Baghdad say about that "liberal press?" What does the incident say about the enlightenment of the conservative pundits nationwide and on this little bulletin board we spend so much time on?

Quite interesting, Puget, but are you trying to suggest that somebody who sees the same concerns that were expressed fifty years ago, following a different war, is failing to exercise an "open mind?" Or are you suggesting that since it seemed to work out OK fifty years ago, we can be sure everything will be fine this time?

Dru alludes to a drawback of the Hilti coils without explaining what it is: they have a coil that is soldered or somehow otherwise attached to the end of the bolt and once you remove it to place a hanger over it, you have a tiny coil that can easily be dropped and which does not stick back onto to the bolt very solidly until you hammer it into the rock. You either have to mess around with the relatively small coil while you are hanging on the cliff or you have to tape it back onto the bolt after you have inserted the hanger the night before. Has anybody but my buddy the Safety Man used these Hilti coil bolts?

I called my buddy and he says that the bolts I mentioned here are in fact not called taper bolts. They are called Hilti Coil anchors. He says in his opinion they are just as easy to install as a wedge anchor. Taper bolts have a led sleeve at the end, and he's not really into those either.

Moderator! Moderator! He's doing it again.

Fairweather - You mis-state my point here. I do not think talk shows and commentary are in the same "category" as news broadcasts, and while you may be able to pull some statement out of one of my posts where I said that right-wing talk shows counterbalance the liberal views expressed on NPR, I don't believe I ever said that news shows and commentary have to be viewed as the same type of information or held to the same standards. If I did, you are correct to point out that I was wrong. Are you asserting that left wing think tanks are represented on FOX as often as right wing think tanks are represented on NPR because an NPR anchor appears on Brit Hume's show? Would you care to answer my question (Hakio's point, really) about how NPR listeners may be factually mistaken the way that Fox listeners are? By the way, you are damn right that I don't like FOX because it doesn't fit into my view of the world as it should be. I am not apologetic about that.