Jim

A couple points for consideration. I don't like the jet boil as it stands high and more in the wind, a bit shaky. At altitude or in cold you can't tip the canister over to help the flow, also doesn't have a warming tube as some stoves that help in cold weather. Other item - aluminum pots transfer heat much better than titanium so if more than a couple days likely better to go aluminum. I like the MSR windpro for reasons stated above.

Advise and Consent Scream of Stone Bad Day at Black Rock The Ox Bow Incident Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist High Fidelity 500 days of Summer

Heck of a job Brownie (CNN) -- Former FEMA director Michael Brown is not backing off his charge that the Obama administration wants to use the Gulf Coast oil spill as a plot to put an end to offshore drilling. "They want a crisis like this, so that they can use a crisis like this to shut down offshore and gas drilling," he said Tuesday night on CNN's "AC 360°." His remarks came a day after he told Fox News' "Your World with Neil Cavuto" that the oil slick is "exactly what they want, because now he can pander to the environmentalists and say, 'I'm going to shut it down because it's too dangerous.' While Mexico and China and everybody else drills in the Gulf, we're going to get shut down." Pressed by CNN for evidence to back up his claim, Brown pointed to an interview that then-Sen. Barack Obama gave to The San Francisco Chronicle in January 2008. Obama told the Chronicle editorial board that he wanted cap-and-trade legislation to be as strong as possible. Brown told CNN that he didn't mean to imply the administration wanted the slick to spread, but he suggested that the White House was exaggerating the ramifications of the spill by claiming the damage would last forever.

I'm betting that if we yanked our $3 billion plus in annual aid to Israel they would find a solution pretty dang quick. Not going to happen - one of the most powerful lobbies in DC.

Gunks were my learnin' grounds. No better moderate routes in the country. Certainly gets your attention with that exposure. Sounds like a fun trip.

Unless you're a sports fan in Seattle!

Now we'll be subject to endless articles, photos, and newsreels of the famous Mariners playoff win aganist the Yankees, in what?, 1840? Again. Rather pathetic really.

http://www.seattlehand.com/

Trip: Moab, UT - Ancient Art Date: 5/19/2010 Trip Report: Spent a week in Moab with friends who are mad mt. bikers and got taken to skool. Bud did escape for a day of mud climing in Fisher Towers. What a mud wall! At bit gritty as it has thunderstormed the previous evening. Atop the 3rd pitch and looking at the walkway it all seemed like a good idea at the kitchen table - this was a bit of exposure. One short and one long rappel got us to the ground in short order. Round trip 2.5 hrs. We climbed the one pitch Lizard on our way out. Then it was back to biking. One day we took a shuttle up to the LaSalles and came down Copelli(?) Trail, UPS and LPS (which we renamed upper and lower piece of shite) and then Porcupine to the Colorado River and back to town. You can get hurt on that biking stuff!! My goal was to not break a collarbone, fingers, or any teeth. At least climbing you have a rope on. Very cool lizards. Resting at work, whew! Collared Lizard Gear Notes: Desert rack. Needed one large cam to protect the top of the Lizard. Approach Notes: Easy 1 mile or so approach. They're filming a movie there soon and access will be limited for a couple weeks.

Leave 'em at home.

As usual, the median likely has more relevancy than the extremes. Likely some of the EU countries, particularly Greece and France, will need to restructure their pension and retirement plans. Given the slow population growth and surge of retirements, some of the programs are not sustainable. That said, the lack of univeral medical care and work 'till you're dead model in the US while spending billions on maintaining troops on grand adventures (when did WWII end and why do we still have troops in Japan?) seems just as unsustainable.

But aren't FHWA's funding for local project limtied to larger ones - such as the SR 202 bridge? They will not be funding road repairs on Eastlake for instance, which gets a lot of bicycle traffic. I'm assuming, for instance, that Seattle's road projects are primarily funded through local taxes and from their gas tax share - true?

...or half the team and start over. Again.

In short yes. You're obviously not familiar with what is going on in this country, even this state, regarding windpower. In CA and NV there are large scale (2,000 MW) projects going in, Scotland has leased tidal and wave projects with up to 200 MW per project, off shore wind is huge in the EU - and yes it's on a commercial scale, viable, and on the grid. Naysay on this and you're just uninformed dude. I'm aware of the existence of the projects - just not of any that were funded, continue to operate, etc without direct subsidies. I'm not raising these points because I dislike the idea of alternative energy. I think its great. I hope that the technology matures to the point where they generate enough free cash flow to be commercially viable on their own, and enough energy to keep the lights on everywhere tomorrow. They aren't. They won't be anytime soon. By all means keep funding R & D but I'm not down with the turning over the infrastructure necessary to keep civilization going to fantasy spawned by the energy equivalent of Trofim Lysenko. Can you provide some specifics? For instance, the Solar Millennium project in the CA mojave (which I'm working on) is going in right now. 200 MW - the only incentive they are getting is some good deal on BLM land leases (as all energy projects get including coal and oil) and the benefit of an accelerated depreciation. There is no money from the state or feds in it. You can point to the renewable energy goals of Or, WA, and CA among other states as altering the market I suppose - but the coal, oil, and gas industries get way more tax incentives and outright handouts than the peanuts provided to renewables. While the EU is nearing 10% of their capacity, right now, with stringent goals to get to 20% by 2020 - you're drowning in your theories again and ignoring reality.

In short yes. You're obviously not familiar with what is going on in this country, even this state, regarding windpower. In CA and NV there are large scale (2,000 MW) projects going in, Scotland has leased tidal and wave projects with up to 200 MW per project, off shore wind is huge in the EU - and yes it's on a commercial scale, viable, and on the grid. Naysay on this and you're just uninformed dude.

Well, it's kind of important to figure that out, don't you think? No doubt. But with the politics, and frankly ignorance, surrounding the topic of energy reform it's hard to get the conversation going in any reasonable manner. Why any political affiliation would want to extend our serfdom to Saudia Arabia is beyond me. The strong emphasis should be on mass transit, conservation and energy efficiency, and a push on renewable energy. It's not going to happen with just the private sector, it will take government vision and push.

I don't think it's possible to know exactly how it's going to end up - but I can say with some confidence that it will be pretty ugly if we don't get our ass in gear soon while the rest of the world is making a good run at it.

I'm not sure the Japanese are the role model but you are correct that the question has to be asked on a large scale, and we haven't even begun that discussion yet. There will be changes associated with a large energy plan and transition. But - and this is a key point - it's going to happen anyway and it's better to get going ASAP rather than be jolted by the coming changes.

the "planet" cares about how much oil you use that you could avoid using. We have at least twice as far to go in this domain as any other nation among developed nations, thanks in part to your oil corporation shilling ways. Nah - I'm pretty sure that it's just total global consumption that matters, which is a direct function of wealth. The more output people generate, the more money people have to fund consumption, and the more they consume. The reason that Greeks don't use much energy isn't because of their superior virtue, it's because they don't generate enough output to buy as much. When you look at energy consumption per unit GDP, which is a much better proxy for efficiency than simple per-capita consumption metrics, the picture looks a bit different. Below is a plot of energy consumption per-unit-GDP.... Time for you to start hectoring the Norweigans and the Dutch.... I don't know about this one. We get a big boost from what? - Finance was 24% of GDP last year and we know where that led to - so we get extra points for the paper shuffling wall street types. Also - EU is way ahead of us in renewable energy production - 9% from wind, solar, and marine energy (wind,tidal, wave) with agressive mandates to reach 20% by 2020. They are way ahead of us in conservation and renewable energy production. And here's another way to look at it:

Hmmm. May be an option. Thanks.

After a week of acclimation and home school it will be a week of warmups in Condorri. Then a week somewhere - trying to figure that out, then packing in for 5 days of rock at Quisma Cruz. Then treking with me esposa, some cultrual stuff, and then a week in the Amazon before heading back to La Paz for a few days to visit with a friend. Total 8 weeks. So the first week I'm working on some possible partners but may settle for picking one up down there - week in Quisma Cruz is figured out. Middle week open to suggestions

Wow! thanks.

This opinion is a bit over the top. I was at a national DOI confernce on the environment last week in Portland and from talking with Interior agency folks they overwhelmingly feel they have a different mandate then under the Bush years when most of them were regarded as pests. The larger issues are more complex, rooted in institutions, politics, and as always, money. We're slow on the uptake here in the US, as usual. We're not dealing with the implications of climate change or making the needed modifications to the bascis of our economy. Baby steps so far, but some good ones, but we really need some bold actions to change, for lack of a better word, the current paradigm.

Bump

Looks like a Lienert (Swiss) ice piton (1940- 50s?). Hand forged - where did you find that gem?