Fairweather

Maybe you could market that not-so-virgin arse pooper of yours at the Vancouver detention center and pay off those loans you're always bitchin' abooot, CAD?

You mean like The Surge of forces and accompanying strategy changes in Iraq that you and your fellow Dems said would never work?

I heard a ko-ran was flushed down the toilet. gasp.

You did what you said you were going to do, and when the American people got cold feet, you stayed resolute. Your biggest mistakes were: Thinking you could placate those who hated you by working together with people like Ted Kennedy on No Child Left Behind type legislation; Alberto Gonzales; honoring George Tenet; your second tax cut/rebate; not standing up to the 110th congress regarding Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae; and trying to hold Jose Pedilla--a US citizen--without due process. All of your perceived transgressions have historical precedent--almost always ignored by your detractors. Your response to 9/11 was spot-on. That you could stay on the path with all of the raw hatred and hysterical nonsense directed at you says a lot. Indications so far are that your successor will be a pragmatist, so it's exciting to see this new chapter in American history beginning. Your history is still in play, so it's too soon to say 'well done' but my bet on 50 years hindsight says you'll have a solid "B".

Thanks for such a generous offer. How do you like the Scout? It's a little smaller than I want, but it sure looks like a handy/light boat. I'm going to paddle a Wenonah Adirondack and/or Spirit II this weekend (if I don't climb) and take my time making a decision, but I'll let you know if I'm up your way. Thanks to all for the info/advice. TTK - Kayaks would be pretty cool--my wife and I usually rent when we go up to the San Juan Islands and we have a blast--but 2-$2,000 boats versus one $1500 craft that I feel comfortable in is where I'm at. Maybe someday we'll go that route. Besides, paddling a canoe with the wife is one of the truest tests a marriage can undertake.

Paddled for about 15 years in a big heavy Grumman 17', but sold it a few years ago. Now I'm looking for a canoe again that falls somewhere between the recreation and touring categories. 90% flat water with occasional class 1+ rivers and something that can handle a light-duty Alaska trip like the Admiralty Island traverse or Naha Bay near Ketchikan. I want something well under 70 lbs, 16 to 17 feet, and probably fiberglass or kevlar, but I haven't ruled out Royalex. I've heard good things about Clipper Canoes, made in Abbotsford, BC -- specifically, the "Cascade" or the "Tripper-S" models. Anyone here paddle regularly or have experience with this particular company's product?

Forget the critters. Just look what we've done to our own feet and eyes!

I regularly use a BD Betalight and have the "Betabug" insert for bug season. The floor of the bug is tough and the fact that your ski poles are also your tent poles cuts the weight down even more. The Betalight only portion is around 1 1/2 lbs and the bug, I think, is just over 2 lbs. Plenty of room for two people plus gear. I've even used it on Rainier in the summer. Also, sleeping with two ski poles between you and your partner prevents unwanted spooning.

Good call. I haven't seen that one since I was a kid. I just checked Amazon and ordered it. As it turns out I went and saw Gran Torino with the wife. Holeeee shit, it's a good movie and not at all what I was expecting to see.

What's the best Mars movie ever made? They've all been pretty bad, but I'm in the mood to watch a video that is set in a place with a climate even more inhospitable and depressing than Washington State in the winter time.

Obama has said he favors lifting it and supposedly the majority of exiles here do too. Is it time to put one of the last bitters of the Cold War to bed?

xx

I hear what you're saying--and the agitations and taunts coming from the shitbags on the BART were only making a tense situation even more confusing. Still, I have to wonder how the police report would have read had the camera not been there--and the "mistake" this officer made is a pretty serious one. Police departments cannot be allowed to form "brotherhoods" that cover up for their own. This is what keeps us from becoming another Mexico or Russian Federation. Shouldn't they be making tazers with thumb triggers so they can't be confused with sidearms? Anyway, I never heard anything about the guy's criminal background--like I said, there hasn't been much reporting. I'd like to say it doesn't matter what the dead guy's "history" was-- since the officers involved probably did not know at the time and, in any event, aren't judge and jury--but in the end, it certainly is a mitigating factor. I don't know what should happen to the cop in this case, but I don't think he should be a cop anymore.

Makes me wonder how accurate police accounts of shootings are when there's no one around to record. Now I hear police are confiscating cell phones at the resultant protests. What the hell is going on down in The Bay? I'm surprised this hasn't gotten more media attention.

So when did it happen?

Damn. Good post.

...And yet all of your condemnation to date is directed against Israel, and you have the gall to paste links to "electronic intifada"? Gimme a fucking break. At least be honest with yourself, man, and stop trying to pretend you're anything close to neutral regarding this ongoing conflict or the peoples involved.

Great story (10 second ad, story is about 4 minutes) on recent lab successes getting synthesized RNA to self-replicate--and even mutate. http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=99132608&m=99135715

New meds?

Well said. Not a dumbass. This time.

You're a simpleton.

Once again the reality that the cost of a college education is fast outstripping the ability of middle-class families' ability to afford it (even factoring in meager subsidies) is lost on you. Then again, the inability for conservatives to follow the logic of a given situation to its conclusion or think ahead is their hallmark. Should the benefits of a college education be limited to a wealthy minority? If current trends continue, that may be the case. While you may be resigned to your sad fate, I doubt that many people are going to be too stoked to be working their asses off without the hope that their kids might achieve something better. Personally, I think the benefits of quality, structured higher education should be available to anyone, regardless of their ability to pay. A functioning democracy depends on an educated populace and the joys of a well-rounded knowledge of the world is valuable in and of itself. I'm sure all this is lost on you as well. I'll make it easier for someone like you, think of it this way: who's going to employ those high-school grads, the Han Chinese? Now you're changing the premise. Forgiveness of existing debt (presumably, yours) versus a new paradigm for incoming students. Not at all clever, boy. Two separate discussions. My wife and I put two kids (and myself) through college without borrowing a dime--scholarships and in-state tuition that remains a fantastic bargain, my sincerest appreciation to the citizens of Washington State. Your student loans probably have already-reasonable terms--pay 'em off

Oh the shame of the blue tarp.

Prole says working is for the undereducated and sucka's. Under his plan, no one will work. We will all be completely free to seek our own paths to enlightenment absent the bondage The Man has put upon us.