willstrickland

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.

Just post up the list and prices and other pertinents. This "the list is too big" = I am too lazy to type it up. "Drop me a line if you are looking for something in particular"....WTF? You gonna run down to the store steal one? Hey, I'm looking for a mint Forrest Molijnar , ya got one? Didn't think so. So post up the list. Thank you, have a nice day, and good luck on your liquidation sale.

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.

I got an update letter from Rebecca yesterday. I am sending a SECOND check this weekend to DOUBLE my previous contribution. Come on people, we are very very close. You clowns spend more money in the bar on single night Let's get this done!

"Working" is a great book by Terkel. On a few lists of top 100 non-fiction books of the 20th century.

Jay, yeah markets will eventually force the issue when oil breaks through some level or XOM, CVX etc realize their reserves are dwindling much faster than they can replace them (and demand is growing rapidly) so they'd better have a vision for a post-oil energy world. My argument centers around state investment in the alternatives now, mainly because the oil market can be very volatile. By the time the markets force a change to other sources, we will be up shit creek because of the ramping time to get alternatives on-line. Of course that would also cut into private sector revenue in some ways (and boost it in others such as construction contractors), and smacks of socialism to some (state owned energy production?). My fear is that an oil crisis can materialize very quickly, much more quickly than we can counter. If the market incentive does not yet exist (and I agree, it doesn't...yet), the govt needs to prepare anyway so the ramping time isn't occuring during an energy crisis (we would prosper relative to countries not prepared, or at least lessen the economic blow).

Hey there smart guy, did you even click through the link? Apparently not. So here it is again: http://www.enviromission.com.au/index1.htm Solar Tower involves no voltaic cells. 200MW . No fuel inputs. No emissions. No external moving parts to kill birds. No altering rivers. One person to operate. No moving parts aside from the turbines. Night generation available through thermal mass. Pilot will be constructed in Australia. Prototype has already been tested. Initial cost is significant, yet there are virtually no on-going costs once built. New nuke plants involves tremendous costs in security, construction, regulatory approvals, waste handling, etc.

Here is a true "win-win-win-win" situation, observe the amazing, Solar Tower project (pretty cool stuff, worth clicking through): http://www.enviromission.com.au/index1.htm click on "The Project" bar at the top. These things are a type of passive solar that doesn't use photovoltaic cells, but instead uses a greenhouse type effect to create a constant updraft through a huge chimney. Virtually maintenance free, no fuel inputs other than the sun, no emissions. Boeing is taking a different angle. They use a heat collector on a tower in the center of an array of mirrors. The collector heats salts that become molten and flow into a heat transfer mechanism that produces steam to drive turbines. http://www.boeing.com/assocproducts/energy/powertower.html There ARE options, if our jackassed legislators and executive branch would quit playing games and invest heavily in this kind of infrastructure. The problem with fuel cell tech (or Hydra-jun cars in the vernacular of Chimpy McBush, ex oil-man) is that you have to obtain hydrogen from natural gas, or water. Using water as a source is obviously clean and abundant, but inefficient. However, if we had enough cheap, clean electricity sources (such as the stuff linked above) it would be more feasible, and that would relinquish us from the hold of foreign oil. But, it's expensive. We could, however, achieve economies of scale with a large scale rollout plan. And in 15 years when oil is going for about $800 bbl, we will look pretty fucking smart indeed, not to mention the benefits it will provide our economy. A win-win-win-win situation. Too bad the whores who are supposed to be representing us are sold to the highest special interest bidder.

Fed lands, fed regs = Fed courts. No surprise there. Similarly, if you get busted with a doobie or DUI in Yos, you be goin' before the US Magistrate and facing federal charges. Ask Winter about the process, he should know. You can likely just call the court clerk's office and get instructions on how to plea/pay the fine without an appearance. Make up a hardship story if you have to. Tell 'em you'll be working a construction job on the east coast and it would costs you over a thousand $ to travel cross country just to show up and pay the small fine and you would be fired from your job for missing the time too.

As opposed to the US running a 6% GDP deficit when we know an age wave is cresting? And cutting taxes while running a war? Attempting to privatize SS at a HUGE transition cost, while ignoring the solvency problem, because...you know, those youngsters already think we're gonna fuck em on SS anyway, might as well just cut their benefits when the time comes. I won't even mention the environmental legacy. The hypocrisy in that statement is absolutely stunning. This administration is THE poster child for screwing the next generation.

Whoops. The vibrant top note of toe jam, followed by rolling hints of aged leather, salt, and a hint of dogshit. This fine Shoeraz goes nicely with baked Crow. I work for DOD. I get 19.5 days vacation with 10 years of service. First 3 years it's 13 days, 4-15yrs 19.5 days, over 15yrs you get 26 days. Is that excessive? Maybe, maybe not. I know that they would have a real real hard time retaining engineers and other specific skill set occupations without good benefits because the pay, even with "Shortage specialty pay scales" for certain occupational classes above and beyond the normal GS scale, is not in line with the private sector in those occupations.

George Carlin or somebody said it best: If you're driving slower than me, you're an idiot. If you're driving faster than me, you're a maniac.