JayB

Can't keep a Peacock down.

you answered your own question. uggh! spanaway...home of bowling alleys and chevy novas with plenty of bondo. That sounds like a Potemkin Spanaway to me. I'm thinking of cranked/coked out mullets, semi-rural g-funk gangbangers, trailers, strip-malls, vacant lots and pull-outs festooned with the kind of bizzare, totemic trash-heaps composed of shell casings, pampers, couches, and beer cans. Some day these trash-heaps will be like shell-middens for the archaeologists of the future, and I can only imagine the visions that they'll conjure up when picking through pile after pile of Huggies, empty 12-gauge casing's, and Stroh's Ice.

I don't think I'm normally a huge snob about these things, but WTF is the deal with Spanaway? It reminds me of what happens when domesticated animals go feral and form colonies.

Eatonville/Enumclaw. Worst places to live? I'd have to vote for Parkland/Spanaway/Tillicum for overall suck-factor, mitigated only slightly by their relative proximity to Mt. Rainier.

Yea. They should take the example of the current crop of conservatives and stick the bill to their grandchildren. Now that's sound fiscal management. Just my opinion that most Left-of-Center organizations are long on MFA's and short on MBA's. That could be true. In my experience however, most of my friends are a little left of center and damn near all of them are either engineers, IT, or have an MBA. Seems common in Seattle. I realize this doesn't address the issue of what the breakdown in the organizations are; but I wouldn't think an educated contingency would let people without proven analytical skills run things for them. Just a guess... Maybe they should apply at Air America. This is sort of an aside, but another unfounded observation of mine is that people that smart people with a lot of specialized training seem to suffer from a kind of hubris that doesn't always serve them well in fields where things are a bit messier than in the world of say, integrated circuit design.

Does the record indicate that most Norther glaciers achieved a steady-state after the Little Ice Age or if on the whole they've been in a steady retreat since then? Any indications on when alpine glaciers reached their maximum after the end of the last ice age? Just wondering how far down valley the glaciers on Rainier, Hood, etc may have extended when they reached their maximum volumes.

Yea. They should take the example of the current crop of conservatives and stick the bill to their grandchildren. Now that's sound fiscal management. Just my opinion that most Left-of-Center organizations are long on MFA's and short on MBA's.

When successful businesses voluntarily re-organize under no duress whatsoever, does that process normally include not paying their most valuable employees? "Franken, in a recent interview, said the network was suffering from "a cash flow problem." "No cash has been flowing to me," Franken, who makes a reported $2 million a year, told The New York Sun. "That's the first inkling I got of a cash flow problem." Horn said no decision was made on any filing, and that the network was unsure about the source of the bankruptcy rumors. Franken said it was last week when he discovered that his paychecks had stopped." I'm sure that there's a market for another perspective in commercial radio, and I actually hope that some kind of left-wing talk format stays on the air for a long time - but I think that the kind of financial ineptitude that has characterized the network's operations since the get-go is hillarious, and is highly symptomatic of people who are long on righteous zeal and short on pragmatism and business sense, two characteristics which aren't necessarily unique to leftists, but which does seem to be an especially vexing problem for their organizations.

Does that include design, tooling, etc, etc, etc? Or are you talking fabrication costs alone?

I think quite a few people that dismiss the site use it for route photos, conditions beta, etc. A TR for an alpine route that's in condition, like the Triple Couloirs, is almost guaranteed to cause a bump in traffic.

Those are colons ding-dong. Hahaha. Much better.

You'll have to do better than that if you want to roll with the likes of Crux, Jimbo. Nice use of semi-colons, though.

And I mean come_on, the plot intersects the x-axis right at 9/11. Coincidence?

Pshah. I wasn't expecting much in the way of a performance from you, but Crux has been making a strong run for the title lately - and the prose, man, the prose. Like an ESL student translating a legal briefing from his native language into English while desperately alternating between a Chinese knock-off of the OED and "WordSmart" vocab enhancement tapes. And all in the service of arguments to support the contention that politicians are...loathe to publicize their opponent's official misdeeds prior to an election. It's like watching really, really bad performance art conducted with letters. Fascinating stuff.

And explain the conspiracy that prevents the BB from displaying hotlinked gif's while you are at it...

Here's something to cut your teeth on. Explain the following chart, but please refrain from using terms like "predicted reductions in aggregate demand," or "futures markets," etc and instead tether the phenomenon to the motives of various political actors, reams of unseen evidence that's available to folks with your unique combination of perspicacity and analytical acumen, and bemoan the fact that the [insert derisive term for the segment of the American public not fortunate enough to share your particular gifts] will remain all-but-oblivious to the plot to influence the outcome of the mid-term elections that's unfolding before their very eyes. Crux, your moment is at hand!

There is a certain similarity there, I have to admit. Maybe the resemblance bears the seeds of a catchy new slogan. "Air America. The Adhesives.com of Poltical Radio."

Nope. Just thought that this line was a most devastatingly apt summary I'd come across in ages - "Remember Air America? The brilliant pre-publicity campaign marred only by an ill-advised decision to actually launch the product? " Hahahahaha

Seems to be the consensus from the rumor-mill. Keeping with this morning's Canada-centric theme, I thought I'd post an essay by Canada's own Mark Steyn on the subject. "Remember Air America? The brilliant pre-publicity campaign marred only by an ill-advised decision to actually launch the product? The hype was coast to coast, but the station was only in a handful of markets, and a couple of those dumped the station after a bounced check, and most of the senior executives departed after a couple of weeks, which, according to whom you believe, was either part of the original business plan or extremely necessary because one of them was a “former Republican activist from Guam” and thus likely a double-agent for the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy. Many decades ago, Richard Mellon Scaife planted scores of deep sleepers in Guam on the off-chance it might get statehood in the next century. So I was amazed to discover the other week that Air America is still out there. I divide my time, as the book jackets like to say, between New Hampshire and Quebec, and motoring ‘tween the two on the northern side of the border I’ve taken to listening to the Big 1070 WTWK Plattsburgh, serving not just the burgeoning twin-state market of remote north-eastern New York and remote north-western Vermont but also much of southern Quebec. I’m proud to be an Air America listener, even if I have to go to Canada to do it. You may not be able to listen to Al and Janeane in Chicago or Los Angeles, but once you leave the country they come booming in loud and clear, in the same way that Michael Moore always looms larger in Cannes, in every sense. What’s wrong with Air America? Well, the trick for Democrats is to be like WTWK’s reception in Vermont – distorted and fuzzy. Distorted and fuzzy are the twin pillars of effective leftie strategy. Remember that favourite statistic of Bill Clinton – that 12 “kids” a day are killed by guns. When you examine the data, it turns out five-sixths of those 11.569 grade-school moppets are young adults between 15 and 19, many of whom are engaged in convenience-store hold-ups, drug deals and other activities which, though potentially lucrative, have a tendency to go awry. But fuzziness (the inevitable invocation of “the children”) makes the distortion difficult to question. And that’s how the left advances its agenda – muffling ruthless partisanship in fluffy talk. Air America is distorted, but it’s not fuzzy. Take Randi Rhodes, whom I hear more of than anybody else. She’s on from three to seven Eastern, noon to four Pacific. That’s a big chunk of the broadcast day. When you’ve got a four-hour show, you need to be able to nudge the story along – you can’t be making the same complaint about Rumsfeld at seven o’clock that you were making at three. But Miss Rhodes doesn’t seem to know enough to be able to advance the narrative. She has a gay assistant, and the other day she was speaking highly about the attractiveness of his ass. This being radio, we’re obliged to take her word for it. But up at the other end the gay assistant leaves a lot to be desired: he doesn’t seem to be able to mine the Internet for those little items that effective radio hosts use to refresh their take on the issues. Recently, she observed that Republicans are the way they are because they don’t get enough sex. This seems an odd observation from a host who’d spent much of the previous hour complaining that she wasn’t getting enough herself. The brave few who called in seemed motivated to do so by a gallant urge to remedy this deficiency rather than any insights into the issues under debate. One fellow went on to compare what America was doing in Iraq with the bombing of Dresden, and Miss Rhodes then explained that the Allies had bombed Dresden after the end of World War Two, which suggests she may have been reading the grade-school history primer back to front. The caller then went on to compare Bush and 9/11 with Hitler and the burning of the Reichstag. “Kinda sorta,” said Randi. Kinda sorta. What did she mean? Was she really lending credence to the idea that Bush was behind September 11th? Or was she bluffing, stalling for time till the gay guy could find a reference book with this Reichstag thingy in it? It’s a good thing Air America is such a flop or it would cause serious problems for the Democratic Party. Miss Rhodes, for example, has been urging those called up for Iraq to refuse to go – to desert, in other words – which, if I understand his nuances, isn’t exactly on message with John Kerry. Perhaps one notices this more tootling along the autoroute in a province that’s still home to many graying pony-tailed draft dodgers from last time round. Indeed, in its combination of whiney victim complex and smug Bush moron jokes, Air America sounds far more Canadian than the CBC. I appreciate that “Air America! Nobody covers south-western Quebec like we do!” is probably not what their promotions guys foresaw in the original marketing strategy, but I offer it in a friendly spirit, and in hopes that they’ll extend the benefits of their toll-free number to my fellow Quebeckers. I heard the same guy from Long Island calling on successive days in May, so it couldn’t hurt to vary the diet with Yvan from Trois-Rivieres. Allons-y, Air America!"

I heard they're going to build a center for the tendentious, acontextual, recitation of random facts in service of febrile arguments by citizens of geopolitical nonentities there as well. Should be a good fit. Those are such massively big and impressive words, you are obviously in the group of 1 in a 100 amerikans who actually read books. Most can only recite who hit the most home runs with the bases loaded in the 1972 world series, off left handed pitchers. You don't bore people at partys with that act though, do you? The saddest thing about being a Canadian, I think, is that when you look at the factual data - whether it be on CO2 emissions per capita, percentage of adults with a college degree, or any of the other modest bits of hum-drummery that you all coble together to erect your national self-esteem upon - it's clear that you share the majority of our shortcomings, yet enjoy virtually none of our strengths. It's like watching a geopolitical re-enactment of "The Scarlet Letter, " with you lot playing the role of Hawthorne's preacher - combined with the sunken chested towel boy who talks shit about the players on the field. I have a suggestion which I think will help with the collective neurosis which has been worsening ever since it germinated in the Trudeau era. Before a Canadian citizen speaks ventures forth with any criticism of the US vis-a-vis Canada, he or she must recite the following passage first: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

I heard they're going to build a center for the tendentious, acontextual, recitation of random facts in service of febrile arguments by citizens of geopolitical nonentities there as well. Should be a good fit.

Hihuy Fiyuve!

Pretty good controlled demolition of the creators of "Loose Change" on video here: Popular Mechanics Editors Vs Loose Change Guys on Google Video

I forsee JayB countering with talk of the current liberal cabals bent on destroying democracy, capitalism and the American way, gangraping Minnie Mouse, learing lustily at Lex Luthor, then raising the Hammer & Sickle over DC, instituting mandatory gay marriage, and then lighting their newly legalized Cuban cigars with his $100 bills while drinking newly legalized Havana Club cuba libres with organic cola and fresh glacier ice cubes. 3rd rate Hunter S. Thompson knockoff stuff if I've ever seen it. Surely you can do better. Given the fact that I pretty much universally support free-trade, and think it's clear that political and economic freedom are intimately intertwined, I'd love to see the end of the embargo on Cuba, which, despite their ability to trade with the rest of the world, has enabled Fidel et al to evade responsibility for the wretched condition of the country that they preside over. As far as gay marriage is concerned, I've always supported that for a number of reasons, mostly having to do with the fact that if consenting adults want to enter into whatever sort of legal arrangment they desire it's no business of the government what their motivations for doing so are. I'm also perfectly happy to cede to tradition and limit the extension of the legal privileges and responsibilities associated with marriage to two individuals, but recognize that my principles don't support any such limitation. I actually think on the whole, if the definition of liberal is consistent with maximum personal, political, and economic liberty, that I'm probably way more liberal than you are. Keep shelling the mirage if you want to though.

The documents themselves were not leaked, only an outline of the existence of the illegal programs. The people who did the leaking were taking big risks with their lives and their future freedom. The issue is *the disclosure* not the format, and it's entirely unclear how this distinction supports the assertion that "There is a very good reason why the media don't reveal these abuses." when they've received abundant and exhaustive coverage in the press. Pretty much the only time when the media doesn't report on something, is when the media is not aware of it's existence. If you took the sum total of all scandals that lead to investigations over the course of the past century, and looked at the number of them that were unearthed and disclosed as the result of a formal congressional investigation, rather than a leak, a mistake, or some other unofficial means of disclosure, you'd have virtually nil. In pretty much every case, you have disclosure elsewhere followed by a Congressional investigation, so this assertion that somehow a party can keep a hermetically sealed lid on all of its official misdeeds so long as they can keep the dreaded congressional sub-committees at bay is puzzling indeed.