Fairweather

Nice picture.

I can count 13 of them. I wonder if the Tacoma Mounties still have a pin for all 24.

You have no idea. But thanks for demonstrating the manner and the degree to which the global warming faithful will stoop when pigeonholing someone they know nothing about. I'll point out that you entered this little discussion with these unprovoked (and, of course, misspelled) gems: Now, I'm sure you're not like this in person--but who knows. I won't bother asking what your qualifications to intelligently discuss any of the aforementioned topics are, because, based on your demonstrated intellect right here, I know you don't possess any. TTK gets a pass because, well, he's just a poseur with a fair grasp of trivia and a mastery of his keyboard; but you are one wound up little dumb fuck without a clue of any kind.

Blankets? Where you been, man? The planet's boiling in its own juice!

Well done. Glad to see you read the talking points. Dumbass.

This was one of the old "Irish Cabin" peaks. Do you remember that place?

Fuck off, ya pussy. And get back to cleaning that Slurpee machine.

Well said. Especially that last sentence.

Not sure why this story annoyed me more than most. Maybe because the BBC sees fit to weave "climate change crisis" into every story they do? Maybe because they feed the fears of, and appeal to the baser needs of the chronically dumb? Who knows. Here ya go: Children die in harsh Peru winter Ahhhh yes, winter in the tropics. I hear it's especially nice a few hundred miles north of the Tropic of Capricorn--well inside the ITCZ. Almost 250 children under the age of five have died in a wave of intensely cold weather in Peru. Children die from pneumonia and other respiratory infections every year during the winter months particularly in Peru's southern Andes. So what's the baseline? And how many children died of respiratory infections on Bolivia's altiplano? Oh wait. Is this just a Peru thing? Surely Morales' utopia would never allow such a horror. How many children died of respiratory infections in the United States or Britain last winter for that matter? Is this really a story? But this year freezing temperatures arrived almost three months earlier than usual. Experts blame climate change for the early arrival of intense cold which began in March. Wow! That is early! And sudden too. I guess one of the benefits of the recent redefinition from "global warming" to "climate change" is we can have our cake and eat it too! Brrrrrrrrrrrrr. Global warming. 5 out of 10 "experts" agree! The government has declared a state of emergency in the affected areas but critics say the cold snaps are predictable and the annual deaths preventable. Many have blamed government inefficiency for the deaths. One third of the deaths were registered in the southern region of Puno, much of which is covered by a high plateau known as the altiplano which extends into neighbouring Bolivia. Yep! Guess I was right. Aid workers say prolonged exposure to the cold is causing hypothermia and deadly respiratory infections such as pneumonia. Children, who are often malnourished, are more vulnerable to the extreme cold. Thanks for your expertise, aid workers. What do doctors say? Poverty is widespread in Peru's southern highlands and there is a lack of healthcare and basic services. Maybe the BBC should do a story about the utter poverty and dead children that line the streets of Sao Paulo, Sucre, or Caracas? Nah. Not part of the agenda.

Fond memories of this route from July of 1984. And the same shitty descent down the North Ridge then too. Nice trip report!

How many fatal flaws can you find in this story? Let's begin with the title... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8146995.stm

God forbid! State employees to suffer the same indignation as the little people in the private sector? Absolutely outrageous.

Trip: Sluiskin-The Chief - West Face Date: 7/11/2009 Trip Report: Our MRNP summer adventure series continues. Pope and I left Carbon River entrance station at 7am on our mountain bikes to climb this 7100 foot peak that stands sentinel above Windy Gap. Stashed our bikes at Ipsut Campground, hiked the Carbon River trail to the lower crossing, and traversed the river easily on a series of 5 new foot bridges that MRNP crews have constructed. The hike to Windy Gap on the Northern Loop Trail is a switchback-fest to rival any in the park, and we found the pass-area still about 90% covered in snow. X-C traverse from here and up a moderate snow gully to the saddle between The Chief and The Squaw. A large alcove makes up the west face and it is climbed to the ridge above in one pitch--low 5th class--that we protected with small-to-medium stoppers, a yellow Alien, and a large hex. An exposed scramble from here to the top is belay-worthy. Rappelled the north ridge with our single 50m rope and scrambled the rest of the way down. Hiked out and picked up our bikes for the classic Cascade mountain finish--a 5 mile downhill mountain bike speed-fest. This trip is a very long day. Good times: Gear Notes: small rack. Approach Notes: Kudos to the MRNP folks who have been working hard to fix the Carbon River mess! All included, this trip is almost a 6000 foot day and covers a lot of distance.

Because I climbed it three years ago. To the tippy top even. You ok now? http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/581636/Searchpage/1/Main/43526/Words/k%27s+spire/Search/true/TR_K_s_Spire_7_08_06#Post581636

Spare us your sandbox level stupidities that illustrate well why the Palin/Bush2/Reagan of this world are taken seriously. Just what I thought: an uneducated reply from an uneducated little debtor. Someday my boot will be pressed against your commie-geek throat. Metaphorically, of course.

Happy Birthday, Off.

http://cdn.theladders.net/static/pdf/Senator_Obama_Resume.pdf I'm just going by what Obama puts on his own resume. If you and other Obama faithful want to pad his resume for him, well, that's the normal course of things I suppose. I hear that your Dear Leader, Kim Jong Ill, once climbed Mount Everest barefoot and without oxygen, and landed a hole-in-one the first time he tried his hand at golf too! It's absolutely amazing what the hive drones will attribute to their messiahs.

Better check your facts. Only by the loosest of definitions would Obama be considered a "professor". He was a part-time lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School. Other factors aside, I would put Bush's Yale B.A. and his Harvard MBA only a short stroke behind Obama's Columbia B.A. in Political Science and his Harvard J.D. But I'll certainly grant that Bush had advantages not available to Obama getting started down the Ivy League path. If you want to call him a professor, that's fine. But it isn't necessarily so.

Trip: K's Spire - Fryingpan Glacier/SW Date: 7/6/2009 Trip Report: Drizzle and fog on Monday. Pope, his friend Rob, and I left the trail head at 5am. IFR from Summerland to Meany Crest and across the Fryingpan Glacier put us right at the base of Cornelius' mighty tower. Sleet, poor visibility, and a unanimous loss of interest at the base of the spire kept us from the tip top. Of course, the sun came out once we headed back down the Fryingpan. Fun trip anyway with great partners. Emmons teaser: That's the spire up there: North Face of Little Tahoma: Pope admires da mighty Emmons: Summerland Marmot Mocking Me: Gear Notes: Glacier gear and small rack to 2" Approach Notes: GPS and slop.

No problem. All I was trying to do was escalate in-kind rather than my usual X4. I gotta go to bed. Gonna climb that spire in the rain. Up at 3am.

Not sure why you've chosen to go personal at this point...

Sounds like its all coming together... President Biden gives final approval? Saudis OK with Israel flyover?

You do understand that even under GWB we spent far more on social services and entitlements than we did on defense? And, right or wrong, we have long footed the bill for the bulk of the defense of our allies in western Europe and Japan. The post WWII/Cold War "escapades" you speak of ultimately exhausted a communist political and economic system that was inherently wrong in every aspect of its design and its implementation. I don't hear too many South Koreans I know lamenting. Honestly, Matt, if Obama came out with new taxes that were designed retire a portion of the national debt, I'd be in favor. But all he is seemingly doing is paying off public employee unions with make-work and political allies with promissory notes. He has added a couple more floors to our economic house of cards.

You are mistaken. Do you understand the difference between the national debt and annual deficits? While Clinton may have reaped the benefits of Republican congressional fiscal restraint post 1994--which resulted in good budgets for 1999 and 2000--he left the presidency with the nation still around 5 trillion in debt. There was never a "surplus" as you claim. One party rule from 2001-2006 nearly doubled this debt, and I've bashed Bush for this often. But note that while Bush's annual deficits ran around $400+ billion, Obama's budget for next year already runs $1.8 trillion in excess of revenue forecasts--4 times what Bush was running up. The U.S. bond rating is about to take a big hit because of this. Do you think this is responsible?