Peter_Puget

You could make a fortune renting these to climbers packing haul bags to the base of ElCap!

link

Check this out... bleex link Seattle Times story

Office Gossip!

If any posters know JY and MF why don't you encourage them to post some tidbits here on cc.com! PP

CBS - I believe that net foreign job loss was at its greates point in the early mid 80's not right now! I believe that to a certain extent there is much media hysteria over the whole issue. Heck it wasn't too long ago that 5.5% unemployment rate was considered the lowest sustainable rate. We are at 5.6%. The possibilty of other location being more attractive to workers is a real possibility and one that should be avoided at all costs. Even within the US significant differences in unemployment arise that are not surprisingly related to unfavorable business enviroments at the state level.

“With America’s high standard of living, we cannot successfully compete against foreign producers because of lower foreign wages and a lower cost of production.” Perhaps this pessimism sounds familiar. It could very well have come from one of today’s opponents of trade, arguing against a modern-day free trade agreement. But in fact these words were written by President Herbert Hoover in 1929, as he successfully urged Congress to pass the disastrous Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act that raised trade barriers, destroyed jobs, and deepened the Great Depression. - The Bush Position [A]n immediate 120 day review of all existing trade agreements to ensure that our trade partners are living up to their labor and environment obligations and that trade agreements are enforceable and are balanced for America’s workers. - John Kerry Anyone else see a gathering threat? PP

and my RPs!

The action out on Sultan Basin Road!

If the recovery is and remains "jobless," it is possible President George W. Bush might not be re-elected, as happened to his father in 1992. It's worth noting that after that election, the revised 1992 employment numbers were better than had been thought. Payroll employment was initially reported to have risen only 423,000 during 1992, - but that number was later revised to 1,157,000. That made for an average of 96,417 per month during 1992 - in contrast to the average 35,250 per month thought to be the case while the campaign was being waged. It would be an irony for George W. Bush to succeed in avoiding all of his father's mistakes, but nevertheless failing to be re-elected because the Department of Labor statisticians had not failed to avoid the mistakes of their predecessors from 1992.

Over by La Siesta? If so it is pretty good. I liked all those climbs ( at least the first pitches) in that area. Did it a long time ago so it is hard to remember. I don't think it is runout, but I thought Spartacus was mid 11 when I climbed it the first time andf you know what happened last time I was on it! PP

Paul Marlor Sweezy, 1910-2004 Died 2/27 I fondly remember reading the monthly review years ago esp w/ regard to stagflation and oil rices in the 70's. Odf course it was silliness but silliness with a passion.

Jens - Are you suggesting that the ratings should be adjusted upwards because a significant proportion of the climbers buying the book will be climbing there at the seasonal tails when the conditions will tend to be less than perfect? I wonder how Alex dealt with this problem. Should a rock pitch be rated harder because for 9 months of the year it has a seasonal wet spot? Forrestm - It seems that inflating is bad because it will lead climbers to over estimate their abilities. This error in personal judgement could lead them to make decisions that they may regret on other perfectly rated routes.

I came across this picture of JY's new route -

Hey ChucK just move on your never ending tirades against everything "Clintonista" drives me nuts!

Up to 20 years jail time!

Exceprt from an email I sent to the AP: 1. Isn't Ms. Sidoti's ommision of his asociation indicative of either biased reporting or simply non-professional conduct? 2. Once a story has been modified, is it possible to access the story in the original form? 3. Are these changes recorded in such a way that an interested reader can track them or at least become aware that the presentation of a stories facts has been chaged - possibly in such a way as to materially impact how the story is evaluated.

From Amazon.com: Many of the relatives of September 11th victims who disagree with the U.S.'s military response to the terrorist attacks formed an activist group named Peaceful Tomorrows. In this enlightening volume, Potorti, a journalist and member of the organization, offers a history of the little known group. Oddly when I linked the Yahoo AP story it included a quote from Potori but did not disclose his affiliation with the group he wrote a book about. I just looked at the link and his name appears to have been removed. His name was the reason I posted the links - another example of media bias. Weird. Maybe I just reread the link too fast.

link - hilarious

A number of individuals who exploit their status as relatives of 9/11 victims to further their own political agendas seem upset to find George Bush is doing something similar .

Crowds are a pain on HD. When I arrived at the base one team was fixing and there were 15 other climbers higher on the route. Honestly,I think the West Face of El Cap is a much better route. HD gets alot of free points because of its historical position and it gets some more because of its physical position. My advice and I know it is not the popular way anymore is to spend the night out and see the sunset over the Valley. Astroman will never look like such a short route again. If you are climbing the route you might as well hang out and enjoy the view.

ChucK - Glad you finally see the light! The reason I don't go to PCs is that they onflict with the King County Repubilicans Social, skip the PB and join me at the social! Tonights topic is a bit risque - The Girls of the DAR! PP

Here is a short but continuing series: (1) knocking off Saddam leads to ... (2) Quaddaffi (or however you spell that) losing his nerve and (3) blowing the Iranians' and Pakistanis' programs (4) which led to Khan's Kut-Rate Proliferation Mart being exposed and shut down (5) which left Musharraf's ass exposed big-time (next up) (6) ... causing him to drop a dime on bin Laden