willstrickland

Don't wanna get into a long write-up here, but Jay_B drop me a line if you want some more data resources. I've got stacks of info accumulated in the last 6 mos on everything from bankruptcy and default trends to median home price charts over the years, to cost as % of income, % of interest only and "investment" home mortgages, etc. The short version: Negative real rates and the ensuing credit bubble flowed largely into real estate in the last few years. The asset inflation trend is out of line with fundamentals, unsustainable. Housing tends to be "sticky downward" meaning that prices rarely fall much but tend to stagnate for long periods of time (notable exceptions in the "hottest" markets...Texas circa the S&L scandals is one, soCal mid 90s is another where prices dropped 10% or more).

Good luck Tex. Maybe you can get some white Carhartts to match you white pharamacist coat

You're too funny Puget. Yeah, the currency markets give a shit what side of history Villepin was on WRT to Iraq. Please. Did you even read the article you link past the quote from some "freedom-fries" eating winger about Villepin and Iraq? You know, the part of the article where they actually access why the euro is down against the US$? Or should I e-mail you copies of the daily currency report newsletters from the trading desk of Everbank over the past couple of weeks where Butler breaks down the likely moves from a "non" vote? C'mon PP, I expect better out of you than this drivel, especially the first piece. EJ Dionne would have a field day with that POS.

So that horse is dead...but what I wanna know is: Selkirk, did you go climb it or what?

Maybe he meant 0-60 km/h.

Dems should have made them go Nook-u-lar. But the effect is the practiaclly the same: The radical right of Frist/Cheney, backed by radical cleric James Dobson aka "SpongeDob Stickypants" has lost it's grip of power over the GOP. And Chimpy is firmly in lame duck territory as he continues spending OUR TAX DOLLARS on this Social Security roadshow SCAM where only loyal kool-aid drinkers are allowed to attend. BTW, the Chimperor is now on day 80-something of his 60 day road show and public support for his "sort of a plan which doesn't address the problem of solvency" is still sinking. But the press still says George is popular, maybe they missed the worst approval ratings ever at this point in a presidency. 43% approval...sounds like a fuckin' mandate to me baby...go ahead and veto the stem cell legislation you fundie nutjob, and finish the destruction of your legacy. WORST. PRESIDENT. EVER. Between Voinovich's (R-OH) move on the Bolton nomination and the 14 moderates' compromise (Voinovich sent a letter to all senators asking them to defeat Bolton's nomination on the floor) the wingnuttia brigade's powergrab is coming to a close. These clowns overreached big time, and the public is none too impressed. I am happy to see the middle reclaiming the Grand Old Party from the fundie lunatics. Now if we could get some fiscal discipline, we'd be getting somewhere. It's appaling that this "compassionate conservativism" Bush was selling is neither. Free trade? Umm we are threatening the Chinese with tariffs. Fiscal responsbility? All time high deficits. Strong military? They can't meet recruiting goals because they may be poor 18 year olds, but they are smart enough to avoid dying in a festering middle eastern shithole in a war based on a pack of lies. This is an administration that is very adept at dodging responsibility for anything. Huge trade deficit...blame China. Iraq fiasco...blame the media for not reporting all the "good" news coming from Iraq. And that cooked up intelligence used to sell the public on the need for war...yeah, ummm well that was really the fault of the CIA, NSA, and FBI. In effect, McCain just sank Frist and his presidential aspirations and sent a strong message to the White House...namely that George is about five minutes from lame duck status and the blind sychophantic deference to the President is all but over. The good doctor Frist thought he was going to ride into the White House on the wings of the religious right, and his early moves have obviously been targeted at securing that sector's support for the primaries. No matter, Frist will get destroyed in the primaries. We still bomb Iran, or back Israel in doing it.

'56 Chevy Nomad Wagon with a '67 Vette 427 under the hood. I drove one of the Dodge Magnums last week, a guy in our office building bought one. Nice car, but impractical. They are fast and look nice, but you can't see out of them for shit, especially out of the back. Audis are crap. Nice, expensive crap, but crap nonetheless. I have a 91 Suby legacy wagon. Next car will be a newer version of the same.

Shotgun will clear that problem up and quick.

Damn, tell him to lay off then. That's my schtick. And ChrisT gets the

One question: Did he climb any route on the 14 that WASN'T the easiest route on the mountain? Anything approaching a technical route? I honestly don't know.

Not to mention that they are the same ones that fill Craigslist with their one year old "used" gear that the rest of us pick up at a nice discount. This guy gets it. Retail is for sheeple.

You know the "common" source of PCB contaminants were from old transformers. But, there were also some oils used that had PCB contamination. In the last few years, certain sealants and caulks have (generally used prior to 1977 when PCB ban started) have been shown to contain up to 600x the EPA limits for PCBs. Here's something I had in my notes from a couple of years ago (sorry, don't have the study citation handy, this is from a study done on caulking in the northeast somewhere): "This caulking contained PCBs as plasticizers in two-part polysulfide polymer systems. The ATSDR identified the specific PCB compound Aroclor 1254 as an ingredient in caulking and sealing compounds. Aroclor 1254 is the trade name for a mixture of chlorinated biphenyls with average chlorine content of 54%. Its composition is reported to be approximately 59-71% (by weight) pentachlorobiphenyl, 22-27% hexachlorobiphenyl, and 5-10% tetrachlorobiphenyl (ATSDR 2000). " So perhaps it's the caulking, not the paint that is the issue. 33,000ppm concentrations in some of those caulks (EPA std is 50ppm!) Biggest problem with fish uptake is in longer lived scavenger type species. Carp are a common example.

Dunno. Still wearin' them fairy scarves? Yes... still rocking the bandana. This means Mos Def is gay too huh? Most Definitely.

Dunno. Still wearin' them fairy scarves?

Here's a similar example: I have a 4 day training in June in Cincinatti. Admin costs (assuming all costs for the training ex-tuition and normal salary) are likley 3-4x tutition costs. Why? Because the training program is govt run, hence tuitions are very low. For perspective, my round trip plane ticket will cost about the same as the tuition. So yes, as a % of tuitiion admin costs are high, but mainly beacuse tuition is low. I really think you're comparing apples to oranges. There are several detailed studies out there addressing the savings potential in admin costs under a single payer system(which is primarily derived from eliminating the "pass the buck" shenanigans of today's insurance providers). Seems like everyone I know has a story about going round n round with an insurance co that didn't want to pay. Let's not make "generous" extrapolation to other realms, eh?

You can see Dru mountin' a sheep in Chilly-whackit.

I've done the route exactly once, last fall. My impressions were: 5.9? Yeah, but nothing sustained on it and and it's well protected. There are 3 "cruxes" I remember and they are all very short, like a move or two. The traverse is trivial. There is maybe one move where you have less than stellar feet and it's short. There is a harder move on that pitch before you reach the traverse if you climb straight up the crack (I guess you could go a little left there and it's easier?). I thought the little fingercrack right off the belay starting one of the headwall pitches was probably the crux. The rating is not sandbagged IMO. Just be comfortable running it out on 5.6/5.7ish hand cracks or take extra hand sized cams for the headwall pitches. Go for it, it's a fun route

Hey DFA, you should post a link over there to your Chain Reaction vid clips from the Smith site. They would love it BTW, ain'tcha 'spose to keep going after the roof move or are the chains in reach from the heel hook? Guess I have beta now. I will just take a frame from each move the vid, load them as JPGs onto my IPod photo, and run around the Dihedrals trading high quality visual beta for some

The eye opener for me when I was working in Hillsboro is how these folks earn extremely low wages, yet still manage to send a good deal of money home to Mexico. I imagine the wage down there for construction and low level service sector like janitorial/maid is probably less than half what it is here. But this problem is not limited to immigrants or low wage workers, it's systemic. Here's a quote from a Financial Times article from today: "According to the government's employment cost index, wages grew by just 2.4 per cent in the first quarter against a year ago, the slowest rate on record. With companies still in parsimonious mood and plenty of slack still left in the labourmarket, the scales arestill stacked in favour of employers in salary negotiations." (Emphasis added). I don't see it affecting immigration at all with the large wage discrepancy and easy border crossing/proximity. Although the pending housing market collapse should stem the immigration tide somewhat. Not likely. It's gotta be cheaper just to keep them where they are and have the work done remotely. See: customer service call centers in New Dehli, radiologists reading MRIs and X-Rays from Bangalore, programmers in Singapore, tax preparers in......you get my drift. Makes you wonder about the validity of the unemployment stats, with "slack" in the labor market. Of course, productivity increases can account for some of it. I am in the camp believes we need immigrants badly to help counter the effects of the boomer age wave. Of course we need them to be legal and paying taxes considering the drain they put on public services like schools and healthcare. But, we need them. By making it easy for them to immigrate legally, it might also reduce the concentrated impact they have on certain border communities by spreading out the destinations.

Hey BTW Thinker, I'm interviewing for a job in SLC on Thurs. More or less exactly what I do now, same employer etc, just a promotion. Hopefully it works out, I'll give you a shout if I'm headed your way.

It will be a classic pass the buck scene. "Well the version of Acrobat the govt provided was insufficient, it was ITs fault for providing an insufficient tool." IT says "Nope, user incompetence". User says "I was not properly trained on the procedure, I think it was discrimination because I am a trandgendered american with small feet, therefore I should sue" Pentagon says "thanks for focusing on this and not the British reports showing collusion for regime change a year before the invasion and shaping intelligence to build the case for war" BushCo says "It was Clinton's fault, blame it on the libruls" Frist says "If the Democrats were not playing partisan politics and being obstructionists, this never would have happened. Why do the Democrats hate our military?" Delay says "That's fine, but right now I need to focus on which GOP donor is going to pay for the wife and I to go to Spain this year." And Rove says "Hmm, the kerning on those documents looks a bit off. Dan Rather must be behind this"

Go to the Cirque, no question. Pingora is

LOL, Tex it was only about 97 degrees that day you were on the Prow! Not a most work/hardest, but more of a full circle kinda thing: First day I ever went climbing, at Sandrock Alabama, we had a TR hung on this arete called Jaws at the end of the day. All the beginners got shut down, although a couple of us came close to pulling it on TR. I think the guide gives it 9+, it's short..maybe 30-40ft? About 8 years or so after that first day, I went back to Sandrock for the first time in 6 years, having not been on the route since that first day, and bouldered it in approach shoes. The crux is low, and it's pretty much huge jugs after that, but it was the context that made it special. Felt like I'd actually become a climber. Too bad that I am ultra suck now. Most work: Malvado, American Fork. At least 30 attempts spread over a dozen visits. Funny because the route is not even very good, just has a rep as THE soft route for its grade. I was chasing the number attached to it, the route was just a means to an end.

I don't care whether they are left, right, or centrist. The media problem is one of whorishness. The recent hubub about the terminology...personal/private accounts and nuclear option....is one example. GOP coined "nuclear option" and were actively using it until they found it didn't poll well. Then they pressed the meme' that it was really the Dems' term, prefering to use "constitutional option". Ditto with the private accounts. Didn't poll well, so you see, really they are "personal accounts" it's was those nasty Dems that call them "private". The MSM happily swallowed the jizz and wiped their chins begging for more. Whores. The growth of the cable news pundit shows are one contributor. They go beyond blurring opinion and reporting. I hope you are able to duck to pimp Barkernewsguy, and I'm sure your intent is honorable. What about this: FOIA requests for White House entry/exit log show that ol Jimmy-Jeff Gannon-Guckert (you know the guy, the gay prostitute who was hanging around the White House as part of the press corp, using a day pass for months and writing for the TalonNews.com GOP sponsored "news" organization). Well, seems ol Jimmy-Jeff aka "Bulldog 8 inches, cut" turned up at the WhiteHouse on many many days when there were no press briefings, when Bush was in Crawford, didn't always sign in or sign out. These FOIA'ed docs were offered to the WashPost, who declined saying basically, "oh, we're done with the Guckert angle". Now, hold on a minute. The "values" administration who based an electoral strategy on stirring up the mouthbreaters who "hate me some fags" , has a gay hooker with free roam in the WHite House? A guy who advertised his services on the web, complete with customer testimonials (top only!), who works for a fake news organization, is paid by a GOP operative, lobs softballs at Bush, worked off a day pass for months, and who entry logs show either skirted security or had special access (did he spend the night?). This is not a story? The vehemently anti-gay wingers have planted a "dick for hire" in the press corp, and nobody finds this hypocritical or even interesting? Little Scotty McClellan is taking some man meat in the Lincoln bedroom and there's no story there? If you are sick of it, maybe the media critics have finally been heard. Now maybe DO something about it. It isn't a matter of ideology (with the exception of partisan outlets like FOX or AirAmerica), but one of failing to draw distinction. The reporting has become, "he said this, but she counters with this...now you go figure out which is right". 90+% of people don't have the time to "go figure out which side is correct", that's why they tune into the news.