ScottP

Ray, a teacher's greatest enemy is his fellow teachers. They can be some of the most conceited, self-serving, tunnel-visioned people that I know. They think nothing of playing politics with the kids, which is just plain wrong. If the teacher's unions were to clean house, institute some self policing, lobby for some meaningful education laws such as changing legislation so that you can weed out the deadwood, or actually repealing some of them and start to demonstrate as a whole that they really are in it for the kids and not just a paycheck, then teacher's would stand a much better chance. There are some excellent teachers out there, but when the occupation as a whole is characterized by the most outspoken of those who happen to be in a position of union leadership and come off with the characteristics I mentioned above, then it hurts all teachers. We need competition in this field, not government protection from competition. When that happens and it's truly free competition, then the cream of the crop will rise and the deadwood and problems in this occupational field will be weeded out and education will succeed. to that Trask Erik, To speak to the union issue, I've got to say that for the most part, I pay a shitload of union dues for little more than some nebulous protection against a possible lawsuit. I certainly can't point to anything the NEA, or even the WEA, has done to improve my lot. My local association on the other hand has done a damn fine job of bargaining for contracts that serve the interests of the teachers who sign them. We would be getting a royal screwing by the district if they didn't. I work with a guy who has been teaching for something like 35 years. He touts himself, with pride, as the district's highest paid video projectionist. He is a self-serving jerk and the protectionist climate in the unions keeps him in his job until he feels like leaving. That said, "Better include in the comparisons: percentage of ESL (english as a Second Language) students. percentage of LAP (Learning Assistance Program) kids. percentage of IEP (Individualized Education Plan)students (both academic and behavior.) percentage of low income families with students enrolled. ratios of student to teacher. ratios of dollars to full time enrollment." aren't excuses. They are legitimate factors that influence the ability of a public school educator to effectively do their job. They are also factors largely absent from a private school educators position as well as from the vitriol spewed by the writer in Ray's link.

"Yet, every objective testing measure on student performance indicates that private school teachers do a better job than public school teachers" Better include in the comparisons: percentage of ESL (english as a Second Language) students. percentage of LAP (Learning Assistance Program) kids. percentage of IEP (Individualized Education Plan)students (both academic and behavior.) percentage of low income families with students enrolled. ratios of student to teacher. ratios of dollars to full time enrollment. It seems that Mr. Moore is missing some objectivity in his column.

I have to disagree with this part of your otherwise sage observation: Included in the infinite bag of tricks that constitutes aid climbing comes the tipped out cam as a body weight placement. In the aid realm, red would not mean "stop", rather "tread lightly."

Always one of my favorite political cartoons from the Ray Gun era...

we're you the 9 o'clock?? i thought i saw your van outback when i showed up! and doesn't trask have a nice house? A real gem...

You need to use the little winky thingy

A used pair here.

Yeah, fecal matter and someone elses vomitus... ...which reminds me of the time I saw some crows picking the bits out of a fairly fresh pool of vomit. Lost a little respect for the murderous lot after that.

"Lord of the Flies" This site is the island, a microcosm representing the world. You've got the Ralph and Simon-types who are basically good and the Jack and Roger-types who are basically evil. There are the Piggy-types who are both intellectual and victim and all of the others who gravitate back and forth, following whatver entity best suits them at the time. Society holds everyone together, and without the conditions of society (which include the ultimately important visual cues that come with normal interaction), our ideals, values, and the basics of right and wrong are lost. Without society's rigid rules, anarchy and savagery can, and do surface.

"Got up the nerve to introduce myself to Lynn Hill at a climbers party at that teacher's house in J-Tree." That teacher is Todd Gordon. One hell of a nice guy and solid climber himself. Met him at City of Rocks. He offered me a sip of his "ice cold" Mt. Dew at the back of Parking Lot Rock. It was luke warm. He started the conversation by admiring my antique Fire's that were identical to his.

Fred glowered at me once as I passed him while skiing up the Muir Snowfield. Another time I was witness to a major ass grabbing session by him on his female climbing partner at the 3 O'clock Rock parking area.

That place reminds me of the head of Squire Creek, but with a logging road cut into it. Some nice looking rock, for sure.

"The (Cascade River) road and river valley were also at the center of controversy over access to the new park. During the park campaign, preservationists had argued for including the Cascade River Valley in the park to protect its scenic and wilderness qualities from destructive forest management practices. Based on Forest Service plans to manage the area for its natural beauty, politicians left the valley out of the park. After the park was established, however, the main point of contention became the protection of the sensitive, subalpine environment of Cascade Pass and nearby lakes." More to the story here...

nobody needs your whiny candy ass puke neither. you tryin to take away my constitutional rights? you ever read the second amendment? 'A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.' it dont say 'cept for assault rifles' now does it? Somehow I don't see your "whiny ass" being part of a well regulated militia.

Look again. The obvious dihedral on the formation Al Pine mentions is the Northern Dihedral. To the left of it, there is a tip of a tree pointing directly at the right edge of Library Ledge. But that was last summer.

You're only supposed to eat the roe.

If you set it up right, you don't have to remove the cable/hotwire for skinning up. just lock it on the backside of the heel plate riser. I didn't know you could do that. When you say "set it up right", do you mean the cable settings, or the heel plate riser?

You're points are good ones. I hadn't seen the removable cable aspect of the Viole' bindings (most of my research so far has been on-line.) The idea that you can remove the cable for skinning up slope, touring and skiing powder is very appealing, as is the ability to still be attached to your ski if the cable blows. Thanks for the suggestion.

It's time to get a new pair of bindings. I do about equal amounts of lift and backcountry skiing. I currently ski on a pair of Riva classics using some Garmont CXA plastics. I was looking at getting either the G3 Targa T/9 or the BD O2. Care to share experiences with either binding, good or bad? Thanks.

I'll second the Lizard Chimney at Index and add that frickin Blockbuster thing. It spanks me every time.

Don't you just love unsolicited advice? I have used the wallhauler. It takes a little practice to set it up so that it feeds the rope properly, but once I had that pegged, I found it to be an improvement (speed and versatility) over the standard ascender system.

The scoop on poop

J. Blackstone does a cover.