JayB

Pffft. Like you know anything about physics....

I'd go with the Dynafit system, even if it costs you more, as it sounds like the only setup that will do everything that you need it to. Doing otherwise would literally be pennywise and pound foolish. Another option for you to consider is getting two separate set-ups, which you might be able to do for less than the cost of a relatively new Dynafit package. Find some old beater approach skis mounted with 404's and use those for approaches, and get a more alpine oriented set-up consisting of some beefier boards mounted with an older Diamir binding for lift served stuff and yo-yoing.

Cool TR. Sounds like a great day in the mountains.

I think that the religious beliefs that someone espouses have quite a bit more to do with the moral and intellectual qualities that they bring to the religion than their chosen religion influences their moral and intellectual outlook. Kind, thoughtful people tend to embrace religious perspectives that emphasize these qualities. People who are hateful, fearful, superstitious, vengeful, etc will tend to embrace and espouse religious viewpoints that reflect these aspects of their personalities. I have never been religious myself, but as I said before, most of the people that I'm close to have a low-key but deeply held religious faith of some sort. I could never share my grandmother's religious beliefs, but it was easy for me to see that her sincere belief that she'd be reunited with my Grandfather in heaven some day helped her make it through the grief that followed his death, and provided her with a source of hope and solace and comfort in the many years that followed. When she herself was dying, even though I harbored no illusions about ever seeing her again, knowing that she sincerely believed that she'd be reuinited with my grandfather and all of her loved ones that had passed on before her made the process of watching her die much easier for me to bear. For me religion is a lot like fire or a stone or anything else in the world that can be used for constructive or destructive purposes, for good or evil, depending upon the character and morals of the person who posesses it.

Don't let your climate change/peak oil scare ideology blind you to the facts about oil! Which of these two propositions do you disagree with?

I actually think that for the most part there's been a pretty steady improvement in that direction over time, at least in most cases. If the walls of most Abbey's from the Middle Ages could talk it would probably make the recent Catholic Molestation Confessional seem like an episode of "Sesame Street."

When it comes to religion I've found that I care less and less what people say they believe and more and more about how they act, as the latter is a way better reflection of what their true motives are and what they actually believe.

Yes JayB, it's true. Almost every single one of my friends is a liberal, "conservative"-hating, tree-hugging, atheist, anti-government, conspiracy theorist. It's true I'm not open minded or receptive about the christian fundamentalists' religious/political agenda. I oppose it vehemently and consider anyone who espouses it to be my enemy. I do however hold Voltaire's statement, "I may disagree with your opinion but will fight to the death for your right to express it" as a personal credo. Then again, in the words of The Reverend Samuel L. Jackson, "YES THEY DESERVE TO DIE, AND I HOPE THEY BURN IN HELL!!!" I am continuously running into people that I should probably loathe on the basis of some aspect of their outlook but most have this annoying tendency to bundle a bunch of redeeming qualities along with the bits that I don't care for as much. Much easier to keep the vigilance going when someone with a different perspective also happens to be a complete jackass.

That wasn't intended to be a criticism - just a question. I once lived with a couple of guys who grew up in the South, attended Christian Schools, listened to Christian Music, Watched Christian TV, got their first jobs at Christian companies, etc. Most of the people in their neck of the woods had a worldview that was probably pretty similar to their own, so they could more or less hang out with like-minded folks exclusively and not exclude many people that they'd otherwise be friends with. Not many people in the places I've spent most of my time share the entire agnostic, free-market, quasi-libertarian republican zetigeist so at least 95% percent of my friends and family register way to the left of me when it comes to politics, and just about the same percentage have some sort of religious faith as well. If I happened to live in an area where most of the people were agnostics who prefered Friedman to Keynes I wouldn't have to have made the effort. It's actually kind of fun being in stealth mode and just kind of listening along and offering neutral commentary "That's an interesting point...", "That's interesting. I hadn't thought of that.." at 95% of the social functions that I go to. The other night I sat and smiled while listening to a group of people who were tremendously upset by the fact that most mainstream commentators generally had positive things to say about Reagan when he died. I was about to break out laughing because I can remember being seriously pissed off that I was too young to cast a vote for him during the '84 elections...

Just wondering - how many of you have close friends who don't share your political/religious outlook?

Sounds like a job for Peter Croft.

What's that name of the mountain with the two peaks in the background?

Keep the record of political repression and murder the same and change the name to "Castro" and he'd be worthy of a misty-eyed hagiography when he kicked the bucket.

I'm sure he wanted to watch, not so sure he intended to be effectively dismissed and have his interview used as a propaganda vehicle. As I said, I didn't catch the whole program. Was the entire program dedicated to the Ahminedejad interview? Seems like it'd be worth giving the Iranian people an hour of time to discuss how they feel about the regime and Ahmedinejad. I'm sure he's got plenty of fans, but the manner in which they have been suppressing dissent - especially since the end of the Khatami era - suggests that the leadership feels that they have reason to be nervous about public opinion.

I didn't catch it all, but he pretty much seemed to be speaking past Mike Wallace and using the interview as a PR vehicle. "Hey - nevermind that business about wiping Israel off of the map, the nuclear program, etc - this guy said that the number of Americans who lack health insurance makes him sad. He's okay in my book!" Mike Wallace did the best he could, but when it was clear that he had no intention of actually answering any of the substantive questions directly, he should have thanked the guy for his time and ended the interview.

If you share a bit more information about what kind of skiing you'll be doing you'll probably get much better recomendations. Are you going to be mostly yo-yoing close to the road? Long Tours, mostly approaches on moderate ground? Will you use the set-up for lift-served skiing as well as BC stuff? My AT-setup conssists of Lowa Struktura EVO's boots, and pair of Freerides mounted on 185cm Fisher Big Stix. Definitely on the heavy/beefy side of the AT spectrum. I envisioned mostly using the stuff for yo-yo skiing, or inbounds with alpine boots. It's great for that kind of thing, but whenever I've had to cover any distance I've suffered accordingly and have coveted a lighter set-up the entire time. I think if I had it to do all over again, and had more money to spend, and was looking for a dedicated BC setup (big if's) I would have gone with a dynafit set-up. Way, way, way lighter, and perform just as well in pretty much any BC type situation that you're likely to get into. You'll probably pay a bit more, but you'll get your payback with every step that you take with the skis on your back - or rather - anytime that you find yourself working against gravity with the skis on.

So how does someone who wanted something like PLC's after differentiate between quack and non-quack? Kind of amazing that the non-quacks tolerate this situation. Is this because you guys are hopelessly outnumbered or what? Seems like non-straight chiros could come up with their own association, board-exams, etc.

Salesman I bought my current RAV4 Mariocart off told me that Toyota North America made a commitment to low emissions that put all diesel engines out of production. Rumours of a diesel/electric hybrid though . . . There are lots of guys importing diesel Toyotas from Japan in BC; they're usually pretty good deals as they haven't been driven much, but they have to be 15 yrs+ old to be imported. Right hand drive of course. That's interesting - I was under the impression that a modern diesel compared pretty well with other technologies. Anyway that's definitely a bummer about the import restrictions. I can see getting 500K out of a Toyota diesel.

Looking for the best pad that I can get for less than $150. By best I mean something that has a good combination of open and closed cell cell foam and decent ground coverage. Right now I'm looking at the Metolius Cheap Bastard. Anyone have any experience with this one? Definitely open to suggestions if there's a better deal out there somewhere.

Clearly you've never cogitated upon the bottomless fount of profundity that is contained within the average "Hanson" song, "M mmmm Bop" in particular.

Anyone remember this place? http://fullduplex.org/tardblog/

"For some reason only now are ipods and water a massive threat, just when they need to stir up fears of "terrorism" in the backwoods redneck fucktards who are least at risk, but fear it most." So - just for the record - you *literally* believe that this was a hoax undertaken by the British government at the behest of the Bush administration, in order to garner more Republican votes in November.

Intense fear is one thing, appropriate precautions are another. Do you leave your life savings on the front porch, or keep them in a bank? If it's the latter, then clearly the criminals have succeeded in terrorizing you into a state of thoughtless fear. As far as the airport cluster goes, applying a rational screening methodology would go a long way towards addressing that. Let's remember that the primary reason for the megacluster is the fact that we've been forced to accept the polite fiction that every passenger is equally likely to use the plane as a vehicle for slaughter.

Tired retort. I don't think I've ever argued that anyone found WMD in Iraq. I did believe that there was a high probability that he had them before the invasion proved otherwise, and that, at a minimum, he'd actively pursue them once the flagging sanctions regime was either dropped alogether or became so porous as to be meaningless. I was wrong about the first, and we'll never know about the second. It's one thing to make a judgement before all of the facts are in, and quite another to refuse to accept them once they are known.

It's been interesting to watch a segment of the electorate on their journey from dissapointment, to cynicism, to paranoia, to delusion. Since you've uncovered the facts behind this election year shenanigan, Mr_Phil, I hope you'll be kind enough to share them with us. Take as much space as you need.