JayB

Just thought I'd take a moment to point out a statement from the Evil Homonym that, with a certain number of qualifiers - I agree with. Buy some lottery tickets everyone.

ONE by one, economies around the world are stumbling.By cutting interest rates again this week—for the seventh time this year—the Federal Reserve hopes it can keep America out of recession. But in an increasing number of economies, from Japan and Taiwan to Mexico and Brazil, GDP is already shrinking." Something about that quote makes me think we're dealing with a rather more dated article. I think that was the point of PP's posting the link to the Fed data showing steadily increasing interest rates as of late. Not a policy move usually associated with an economy in recession.

They would definitely be better off with no employment of any kind.

"The economic growth that has occurred has flowed to corporate profits to a degree unseen in the post-World War II period, leaving relatively little for compensation." If one parses the reasoning in this quote it would seem that: -Companies that are either sustaining losses or eking out marginal profits are more likely to expand production and hiring -let alone wages - than those enjoying robust profits. -Corporations which are actually managing their affairs ably enough to insure that the value of their outputs is greater than their inputs (hint: these are profits) are not going to reinvest them to expand production in their most profitable lines of business. -That real wages have any chance whatsoever of rising in the absence of increased productivity (increasing output per worker). -That paying wages in excess of the real value of worker's output will lead to a net increase in employment. Exhibit A: GM. Not to mention the fact that in the face of increasing unemployment brought on by mandating wage increases beyond their real value, the Fed will simply take measures to decrease the value of the currency to the point where the value of the increased money wages is once again reduced to parity with the value of the outputs. -That increased output per worker can actually occur in the absence of increased capital spending on more efficient machinery, additional on-the-job training - all of which must be funded by...profits. -Etc, etc, etc. No profits, no jobs.

Could be worse. Way worse. Move to Boston. Usually in the top five worst cycling cities in the country. The icing on the cake is that the state decided that it, rather than the insurers, would determine what premium to charge. Net result - no one wants to write policies in MA, there's no competition amongst insurers for consumers, so no one has any incentive to find ways to insure profitably at the lowest rate possible (nor are they allowed to), and one of the many things that make zero difference on my insurance is that fact that I will be commuting by bike - so we're paying over $4000 for worse coverage than we were able to get in WA for under $2000. Sweet.

"Open your fucking eyes and point out one thing that has been accomplished at home or abroad." CAFTA, as of Tuesday.

Thank-goodness that they seal them to prevent contamination with dihydrogen monoxide. What is Dihydrogen Monoxide? Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO) is a colorless and odorless chemical compound, also referred to by some as Dihydrogen Oxide, Hydrogen Hydroxide, Hydronium Hydroxide, or simply Hydric acid. Its basis is the unstable radical Hydroxide, the components of which are found in a number of caustic, explosive and poisonous compounds such as Sulfuric Acid, Nitroglycerine and Ethyl Alcohol. For more detailed information, including precautions, disposal procedures and storage requirements, refer to the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for Dihydrogen Monoxide. Should I be concerned about Dihydrogen Monoxide? Yes, you should be concerned about DHMO! Although the U.S. Government and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) do not classify Dihydrogen Monoxide as a toxic or carcinogenic substance (as it does with better known chemicals such as hydrochloric acid and saccharine), DHMO is a constituent of many known toxic substances, diseases and disease-causing agents, environmental hazards and can even be lethal to humans in quantities as small as a thimbleful. Research conducted by award-winning U.S. scientist Nathan Zohner concluded that roughly 86 percent of the population supports a ban on dihydrogen monoxide. Although his results are preliminary, Zohner believes people need to pay closer attention to the information presented to them regarding Dihydrogen Monoxide. He adds that if more people knew the truth about DHMO then studies like the one he conducted would not be necessary. A similar study conducted by U.S. researchers Patrick K. McCluskey and Matthew Kulick also found that nearly 90 percent of the citizens participating in their study were willing to sign a petition to support an outright ban on the use of Dihydrogen Monoxide in the United States. Why haven't I heard about Dihydrogen Monoxide before? Good question. Historically, the dangers of DHMO, for the most part, have been considered minor and manageable. While the more significant dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide are currently addressed by a number of agencies including FDA, FEMA and CDC, public awareness of the real and daily dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide is lower than some think it should be. Critics of government often cite the fact that many politicians and others in public office do not consider Dihydrogen Monoxide to be a "politically beneficial" cause to get behind, and so the public suffers from a lack of reliable information on just what DHMO is and why they should be concerned. Part of the blame lies with the public and society at large. Many do not take the time to understand Dihydrogen Monoxide, and what it means to their lives and the lives of their families. Unfortunately, the dangers of DHMO have increased as world population has increased, a fact that the raw numbers and careful research both bear out. Now more than ever, it is important to be aware of just what the dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide are and how we can all reduce the risks faced by ourselves and our families. What are some of the dangers associated with DHMO? Each year, Dihydrogen Monoxide is a known causative component in many thousands of deaths and is a major contributor to millions upon millions of dollars in damage to property and the environment. Some of the known perils of Dihydrogen Monoxide are: * Death due to accidental inhalation of DHMO, even in small quantities. * Prolonged exposure to solid DHMO causes severe tissue damage. * Excessive ingestion produces a number of unpleasant though not typically life-threatening side-effects. * DHMO is a major component of acid rain. * Gaseous DHMO can cause severe burns. * Contributes to soil erosion. * Leads to corrosion and oxidation of many metals. * Contamination of electrical systems often causes short-circuits. * Exposure decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes. * Found in biopsies of pre-cancerous tumors and lesions. * Often associated with killer cyclones in the U.S. Midwest and elsewhere. * Thermal variations in DHMO are a suspected contributor to the El Nino weather effect. What are some uses of Dihydrogen Monoxide? Despite the known dangers of DHMO, it continues to be used daily by industry, government, and even in private homes across the U.S. and worldwide. Some of the well-known uses of Dihydrogen Monoxide are: * as an industrial solvent and coolant, * in nuclear power plants, * by the U.S. Navy in the propulsion systems of some older vessels, * by elite athletes to improve performance, * in the production of Styrofoam, * in biological and chemical weapons manufacture, * as a spray-on fire suppressant and retardant, * in abortion clinics, * as a major ingredient in many home-brewed bombs, * as a byproduct of hydrocarbon combustion in furnaces and air conditioning compressor operation, * in cult rituals, * by the Church of Scientology on their members and their members' families (although surprisingly, many members recently have contacted DHMO.org to vehemently deny such use), * by both the KKK and the NAACP during rallies and marches, * by pedophiles and pornographers (for uses we'd rather not say here), * by the clientele at a number of homosexual bath houses in New York City and San Francisco, * historically, in Hitler's death camps in Nazi Germany, and in prisons in Turkey, Serbia, Croatia, Libya, Iraq and Iran, * in World War II prison camps in Japan, and in prisons in China, for various forms of torture, * by the Serbian military as authorized by Slobodan Milosevic in their ethnic cleansing campaign, * by many terrorist organizations, * in community swimming pools to maintain chemical balance, * by software engineers, including those producing DICOM software SDKs, * in animal research laboratories, and * in pesticide production and distribution. What you may find surprising are some of the products and places where DHMO is used, but which for one reason or another, are not normally made part of public presentations on the dangers to the lives of our family members and friends. Among these startling uses are: * as an additive to food products, including jarred baby food and baby formula, and even in many soups, carbonated beverages and supposedly "all-natural" fruit juices * in cough medicines and other liquid pharmaceuticals, * in spray-on oven cleaners, * in shampoos, shaving creams, deodorants and numerous other bathroom products, * in bathtub bubble products marketed to children, * as a preservative in grocery store fresh produce sections, * in the production of beer by all the major beer distributors, * in the coffee available at major coffee houses in the US and abroad, * in Formula One race cars, although its use is regulated by the Formula One Racing Commission, and * as a target of ongoing NASA planetary and stellar research. One of the most surprising facts recently revealed about Dihydrogen Monoxide contamination is in its use as a food and produce "decontaminant." Studies have shown that even after careful washing, food and produce that has been contaminated by DHMO remains tainted by DHMO. What is the link between Dihydrogen Monoxide and school violence? A recent stunning revelation is that in every single instance of violence in our country's schools, including infamous shootings in high schools in Denver and Arkansas, Dihydrogen Monoxide was involved. In fact, DHMO is often very available to students of all ages within the assumed safe confines of school buildings. None of the school administrators with which we spoke could say for certain how much of the substance is in use within their very hallways. How does Dihydrogen Monoxide toxicity affect kidney dialysis patients? Unfortunately, DHMO overdose is not unheard of in patients undergoing dialysis treatments for kidney failure. Dihydrogen Monoxide overdose in these patients can result in congestive heart failure, pulmonary edema and hypertension. In spite of the danger of accidental overdose and the inherent toxicity of DHMO in large quantities for this group, there is a portion of the dialysis treated population that continues to use DHMO on a regular basis. Are there groups that oppose a ban on Dihydrogen Monoxide? In spite of overwhelming evidence, there is one group in California that opposes a ban on Dihydrogen Monoxide. The Friends of Hydrogen Hydroxide is a group that believes that the dangers of DHMO have been exaggerated. Members claim that Dihydrogen Monoxide, or the less emotionally charged and more chemically accurate term they advocate for it, "Hydrogen Hydroxide," is beneficial, environmentally safe, benign and naturally occurring. They argue that efforts to ban DHMO are misguided. Friends of Hydrogen Hydroxide is supported by the Scorched Earth Party, a radical and loosely-organized California-based group. Sources close to the Scorched Earth Party deny any outside funding from government, industry or pro-industry PACs. Has the press ignored this web site and the Dihydrogen Monoxide problem? For the most part, the press has not reported on the dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide as much as some would like. Although many private individuals have put up web sites in a major grassroots effort to spread the word, major publications have not. Recently, attention has been paid to the subject thanks to an incident in Aliso Viejo, California. This so-called Aliso Viejo Incident was widely reported in the media, although the director of DHMO.org, Dr. Tom Way, was called a "prankster." Once the Associated Press started circulating the story, it became fact, and the valuable information being provided by the DHMO.org website was deemed to be "rubbish" rather than an honest and unbiased recounting of facts about a dangerous, life-endangering chemical compound. If you are a member of the press, you may access our online Press Kit. See the main page for access information. This resource is for members of the press only. Is it true that using DHMO improves athletic performance? Absolutely! With the numerous allegations of amateur and professional athletes using anabolic steroids and/or blood doping to enhance performance, virtually no attention has been paid to the performance enhancing properties of Dihydrogen Monoxide. It is perhaps the sporting world's dirtiest of dirty little secrets that athletes regularly ingest large quantities of DHMO in an effort to gain a competitive edge over an opponent. One technique commonly used by endurance athletes in sports such as distance running and cycling is to take a large amount of DHMO immediately prior to a race. This is known within racing circles to dramatically improve performance. Sports-medicine physicians warn that ingesting too much Dihydrogen Monoxide can lead to complications and unwanted side-effects, but do acknowledge the link to improved performance. DHMO is not currently considered a banned substance, so post-race urine tests do not detect elevated or abnormal levels of DHMO. Can using Dihydrogen Monoxide improve my sex life? This is a popular myth, but one which is also actually supported by a number of scientific facts. Dihydrogen Monoxide plays an instrumental role in the centers of the brain associated with increased libido and orgasm. So, much as with endurance athletes, moderate intake of DHMO prior to engaging in sexual activity may enhance performance, although the same caveats apply. What are the symptoms of accidental Dihydrogen Monoxide overdose? You may not always recognize that you have been a victim of accidental DHMO overdose, so here are some signs and symptoms to look for. If you suspect Dihydrogen Monoxide overdose, or if you exhibit any of these symptoms, you should consult with your physician or medical practitioner. The data presented here is provided for informational purposes only, and should in no way be construed as medical advice of any sort. Watch for these symptoms: * Excessive sweating * Excessive urination * Bloated feeling * Nausea * Vomiting * Electrolyte imbalance * Hyponatremia (serum hypotonicity) * Dangerously imbalanced levels of ECF and ICF in the blood * Degeneration of sodium homeostasis A recently noted medical phenomenon involves small amounts of DHMO leaking or oozing from the corners of the eyes as a direct result of causes such as foreign particulate irritation, allergic reactions including anaphylactic shock, and sometimes severe chemical depression. What is a chemical analysis of Dihydrogen Monoxide Recently, German analytical chemist Christoph von Bueltzingsloewen at the Universitaet Regensburg identified what may be key reasons why the dangers of DHMO are ever present. According to von Bueltzingsloewen, the chemical separation of dihydrogenoxide from the hazardous oxygendihydride is extremely difficult. The two similar compounds curiously occur in nearly equimolar distribution wherever they are found. It is not clear how the two contribute directly to the dangers inherent in Dihydrogen Monoxide, although von Bueltzingsloewen believes that a synergetic mechanism, catalyzed by traces of hydrogenhydroxide, plays a major role. What can I do to minimize the risks? Fortunately, there is much you can do to minimize your dangers due to Dihydrogen Monoxide exposure. First, use common sense. Whenever you are dealing with any product or food that you feel may be contaminated with DHMO, evaluate the relative danger to you and your family, and act accordingly. Keep in mind that in many instances, low-levels of Dihydrogen Monoxide contamination are not dangerous, and in fact, are virtually unavoidable. Remember, the responsibility for your safety and the safety of your family lies with you. Second, exercise caution when there is the potential for accidental inhalation or ingestion of DHMO. If you feel uncomfortable, remove yourself from a dangerous situation. Better safe than sorry. Third, don't panic. Although the dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide are very real, by exercising caution and common sense, you can rest assured knowing that you are doing everything possible to keep you and your family safe. How can I find out more about Dihydrogen Monoxide? We would be happy to tell you more about DHMO! Send us email, and we'll gladly attempt to keep you up-to-date on current developments in the study of Dihydrogen Monoxide, its uses and misuses. There are a number of sites on the world wide web that contain more information on DHMO and related topics. It should be noted that we do not endorse these sites, nor do we control their content or political bias....."

Nope - I would say it's the 10 centuries of decline, defeat, and domination vis-a-vis/at the hands of the once-lowly infidel that made the principal contribution to the resentment.

You: "Bullshit" Carl: "No. The injection of several trillion dollars into a region that was an impoverished backwater at the periphery of our conception of the muslim world substantially altered the public perception of Islam. It's hard to argue that the West didn't finance radical Islam - all of the regions revenue comes from exporting oil." Uh - Carl hates it when I agree with him, but reading a paragraph or two at some point on the relationship between Wahabism and the House of Saud, especially after commercial extraction of oil commenced on the Arabian Pinensula might help you. That is, if your aim is actually to make an informed counterargument, which seems doubtful at the moment.

Yes - Hourani, Lewis et al tremble before your erudition. What's really funny, actually, is that anyone with a passing aquaintance with the matter would know that in terms of antiquity, Islam is one of the younger of the worlds major religions, with Mohammad initiating work on the Koran in 611AD. Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, Shintoism all arrived quite a bit earlier than the Muslims. But if you are ranking antiquity in a scale that includes the advent of the folks who intended to auto-castrate their way onto the Halle-Bopp comet in their purple robes, and other theological minor-leaguers in the mix then perhaps the expression "one of the world's oldest" would indeed be appropriate. With regards to the remainder of your quip, the larger point was not that Muslims made fundamental revisions to the teachings of Mohammad in response to their waning fortunes vis-a-vis the West, but that their was a widespread recognition that a population that they had once utterly discounted as a geopolitical threat or source of anything other than slaves, tribute, and raw materials had driven them out, conquered them on their own turf, and utterly surpassed them in every single category of achievement outside of say, Koranic-recitation-from-memory and camel-husbandry. From this it followed that there was, indeed, a problem that had to be fixed, and virtually every solution proposed thus far has been some variant of of modernization/Westernization (Ataturk inTurkey), millitant rejectionism (the Taliban in Afghanistan), or some combination thereof (Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia). The final, larger point is that the context for the present conflict between the Islamic world and the West extends back centuries beyond the founding of the colonies that would become the US, let alone the point at which they began to resent our interventions in the region. Try plugging "Versailles" and "Middle East" into Google and working backwards from there.

link link Dude, you are so fucked up in the head. Radical Islam exists BECAUSE of us. Hey Tony: I would be willing to accept this conclusion if you define us as the collective historical entity known as "The West." If I had to define a date and events that lead to the genesis of radical Islam, I'd place that between the nearly continuous series of defeats and reversals sustained by the Moors between the Battle of Toledo in 1085, and their final defeat at Grenada in 1492. Since that time, the Islamic world has been in a continuous state of decline and marginalization relative to the West, and has, for just as long, been groping for some means of changing their fortunes and restoring their civilization to the status it enjoyed in the past. There have been innumerable efforts launched to do so, but all have followed one of two basis paths - attempting to implant Western technologies, institutions, and a limited subset of Social values within the context of an otherwise Islamic society, or going the other direction and attempting to reassert the values, laws, and customs that allegedly prevailed during the period of Muslim conquest, as they believe that it has been the corruption of these values and norms by the West is what has lead to centuries of stagnation, decline, and humilation at the hands of peoples whom they once ruled. M.K. Ataturk represents the former, the Taliban the latter. If you've got some time to kill, check out Albert Hourani's "History of the Arab Peoples" for more info. Word.

Impressive.

Holy Shit. That kind of a TR makes me want to end the climber charade once and for all and take up something more consistent with my true nature - like decorating paint-by-numbers ceramic gnomes, or quilting or something. Major props on all fronts. The male-bikini brief-laden, flaming-hula-hoop jumping German nihilists that made an appearance at the Smith Rope up a couple of years ago must have implanted chips that contain the complete works of Nietzche in your brains to fuel the crusade of suffering that seems to sustain you guys. When all is dark and quiet do you hear stuff like "I teach you the overman. Man is something that shall be overcome. What have you done to overcome him? All beings so far have created something beyond themselves; and do you want to be the ebb of this great flood and even go back to the beasts rather than overcome man... " echoing in your heads? It's the nihilist implants talking. Think about that the next time you're plotting the next sufferfest. Seriously though - congrats on a fine outing.

Finally settled down in Boston to start the three-year tour of duty. After driving across the country West to East, then flying to Louisiana and driving north to Illinois - my strong hunch that I would rather not live anywhere East of the front range has been completely validated, but I also confirmed that, all things considered - it could be a hell of a lot worse. There's actually some climbable rock in town, and it looks like there's some okay rock not too far away. Will have to investigate.

Hey Ralph: I heard about this guy who had to move recently who had the same problem and found a bunch of clean boxes in the recycle bin behind the Big 5 or Olympic Sports store in Ballard, right next to the 7-11 Jack-in-the-Box...

Remorse.

Ahh - I see. Maybe some additional diversions - like resurrecting the bad photo contest thread - will help ease the cravings.

Why? Health reasons? Anyone who engages in a fair alpine/trad/ice climbing can probably assume that excessive caffeine intake is the least dire of all possible threats to one's longevity.

I use the MSR 24" pickets most of the time, but I think that the Yates pickets might be the way to go for late season stuff - and those SMC deals sound pretty cool. If you, like I, picked up the 36" versions - got a pair for $10 from someone moving to the tropics - you can make a pair of ghetto-late-season-mini-pickets by cutting through the middle at an angle with a hacksaw. Should be more than enough to hold a sliding fall in dense, refrozen snow, and are a bit easier to deal with than their 24" counterparts. I usually just clip these to a harness loop.

I had the same thought with regards to firefighters - kind of reminds me of that period in the early nineties when a number of unfortunate accidents befell German tourists in this country. With regards to the firefighters, I think that if the stats were available and one accounted for amount of time firemen spend in the mountains relative to the rest of the population, there'd be no long term correlation - my hunch is that this is just a sub population that's both more active than most, and one filled with guys that have a ton of spare time relative to the rest of the population - and they just get out a lot. I think we also tend to notice the accidents involving them a bit more as we expect them to be fit, competent, and trained extensively in first aid - so when they die it's a bit more striking - kind of like a fighter pilot dying while flying his cessna over Kansas or something - just not what you'd expect. Having said all of that - there does appear to be an unusual rash of accidents involving firefighters on PNW volcanos over the last three years. With regards to East coasters/out-of-towners though - from what I can recall it seems like the clear majority of the folks that have perished on that route have been out-of-staters. In this case my guess is that this is just due to folks planning on the trip for years, training for months, and making a serious investment in funds and vacation time as part of an effort to climb a route that really seems to demand a solid weather window - although at least one or two of last year's accidents were due to falls rather than the weather.

This is clearly old news, but I had no idea. I was actually pondering staying at the Rancho Cerro Gordo in September, but now I'll have to reconsider. Anyone hear how this saga ended? "There are four other places to stay: Homeros, La Pagoda, La Posada and Checkos.... please read the following and send to everyone you know! Thank you for the last four years of energy, support and all the new friends we made in Mexico. Also I'm sorry for the mass mailed letter, but I need to email about 300 people today and tell our story.... We have had many problems with Mel, his sister Suzy and her husband Valentin (rcg taxi guy) over the years. They make deals with us in front of witnesses and then reneg. They have committed many acts of fraud against us and stolen the rancho. Here's the quick version: (The whole story will be on our website later). We were in Austin the last three weeks working to go on tour and raise money for the Access Fund again. We left the rancho thinking all was well. We were ready to return and build our house and raise a family in Hidalgo. We returned to our land with barbed wire on it and not the dimensions that I bought and later was to be added ('Cause of the deal we made, the money I put into fixing his house he was going to give me more land). Then Mel comes up and we ask what's up? What happened to our deal? He says what deal? We say the deal we made, fixed up your house for more land. He says no he paid for the fix up it's his house, his Rancho, his business, his casitas and get the fuck off his land! At which that point he shows us the pistol in his pocket and says pack your shit and leave. Suzy and him return an hour later and threaten us again to leave by 10pm! The 12 people at the campground are shocked and come to our aid and we move all our stuff to Emilio's in two hours! Then we return to the rancho to drop off our friends and drink beers and have our last campfire together! Mel arrives at 10pm with the police and says we stole his stove, refridgerator, boiler and water pump from the round house! We/I bought that frig 5 years ago while living at Homeros. My mom bought that stove for our Xmas present and the boiler and pump I bought. He says we stole $5000 from deposito and that the cops are coming back to put us in jail! Well, we were in Austin and Mel and Tomas said Mel collected the money and that was about $1200 and that it is at Mel's house! The next day we leave for Monterey, get a paper that says he can't put us in jail and then talk with the US consulate and the best lawyer in all of Mexico. This woman makes Johnny Cochran look small time! Anyway, we are fighting these accusations and taking him to court. They have been planning this for at least three years and have committed many acts of federal fraud. The first one being he has no papers for the whole rancho, that is Federal land and you are not allowed to sell it! He has threatened ours and Tomas' life; Mel, Val and Suzy will go to jail! More info will come later. Please do not go to the rancho! Don't get in a taxi driven by Suzy, Valentin, Suzy Jr. or Valentin Jr.!!!! Please tell everyone you know (this story)! We still love Mexico, believe it or not! We have a lot of friends here and many are coming to our aid right now. I still have a place in my heart for the Potrero and will return someday soon to be a climber and bolt again!!!!! Thank you for all the support and your energy and friendship over the years...... Kurt and Elaina KURT SMITH RANCHO CERRO GORDO www.potrerochico.com mexigeneral@hotmail.com 512-695-7181"

Word. Leave a bike at the Stuart Lake TH. Easy, fast, and way more reliable than hitching.

Climb: Mt Stuart -West Ridge - Apocalyptic Photo Assault Date of Climb: 5/28-30/2005 Trip Report: As spring rolled by, Scott [HappyCamper], Mark [AlpineDreamer] and myself had been unsuccessfully conspiring with one another to put together one final alpine outing before I had to leave for Boston to start a three year tour-of-duty on the East Coast. Something moderate, something classic - something like the North Ridge of Baker. However, all of the usual somethings seemed to put the almighty kibosh on every attempt to cobble together an outing - something going on at work, something happening with the family, something wrong with the weather. March and April rolled by, and the alpine outing failed to materialize. Thankfully, Scott and I were able to -almost literally - drown our sorrows in our kayaks and keep the outdoor jonesing down a bit while we waited for the right constellation of time and weather to appear. Thankfully - Memorial Day weekend was looking good for at least two of us, and seeing as I was looking at just over a month before the big move, we decided that Mark and I would have to strike out without the third amigo, or give up on the plan all together. The weather was still looking a bit iffy on the west side when we finalized arrangments, so we jettisoned the original plan for the North Ridge and set our sights on plan B - Stuart's West Ridge. Mark rolled over to my place about 2:30 Saturday afternoon, after which we bemoaned the foolishness that led us to plan on a grocery stop in Dante's 8th level of hell/the-Cle-Elum-Safeway-on-Memorial-day-weekend, and set off for Teanaway river valley. I had scoffed at the thought of bringing a map or directions to the trailhead along on this outing, as from what I could recall from the trip up the North Ridge three years earlier - all you had to do was turn left on Teanaway river road and it took you right to the trailhead. That memory turned out to be false, but something in the pre-trudge brews must have sharpened the homing instinct, as we ended up winning the forest-service-road version of Plinko by choosing the correct turn at something like 7 consecutive forks - and found ourselves at the trailhead at about 6:00. Thankfully, by this time the day's heat was abating a bit, and we enjoyed a somewhat less than sweltering march to the ridgeline and stopped to do a bit of preliminary gawking at Mt. Stuart. After enduring about a quarter mile of karmic punishment for years making fun of people with excess gaiterage (postholing with no gaiters) we headed for the ridgeline once again, stopped about 1 hour short of the base of the route about 9:45, took care of the usual stuff, and set the alarm for 4:00AM at about 11:30 or so. The plan was to be up at 4, moving by 5, and on the route by 6:00, as the Beckey Guide said the route would take about 6 hours from the base, and we thought that 9 hours would be a more realistic timeline given the conditions, and summiting at 3:00 would give us plenty of time to make the descent in the daylight. We were suprisingly close to the mark on the starting time, and were on the route and moving at 6:15 AM. Both the climbing and the routefinding were fairly straightforward there, and after climbing at a constant but casual pace we managed to negotiate our way between the major gulley systems leading to Lohn John Tower by 9:30 or so, with lose slush over ice being the main obstacle we encountered along the way. We stopped to hydrate and ponder the route leading to the notch a bit. In his TR - Tim Matsui said the normal chimney looked totally doable if not downright casual - which, for him, I supect it would have been. I guess that's what actually being a solid climber does to one's perspective. Mark and I - on the other hand - took one look at the slushfunnel on the left and agreed that ascending that feature would be both time consuming, and not unlike crawling upwards through through the abominable snowman's giant colon. After finalizing this assesment, we decided to ascend the snow finger to the right, and cross above the slush canal - at which point a section of frozen kitty litteresque rock induced us to break out the rope. Once atop the notch, we looked up at the ridge and were postitively startled to witness the"Scissors-like-formation" that Beckey mentioned in his book, as we had both invisioned looking at an infinity of notches along the serrated ridgeline, choosing one of them at random to designate as the "scissors like formation," and pretending that we had actually pulled off yet another route-finding coup - but there it was. So after stopping to refuel and rehydrate a bit, we set off for the ridgeline, traverersed below the scissors, and kept the running belay going to the notch - mostly because we were too lazy to stop and recoil the rope - and we figured it would be faster than busting it out again if we found ourselves in a situation where we wanted it. I think we were at the notch at about 12:30 or so. Hardly a screaming pace, but good enough to get us off the mountain long before the thunder cloudlets building to the west had a chance to coagulate into anything menacing - or so we thought. After leaving the notch Mark headed straight up, ran into the obvious headwall, and headed left to take a look at the normal route. "Well - if you want to deal with lot's of fourth class terrain covered by a shitload of unconsolidated slop we can do it..." I didn't want to deal with a shitload of unconsolidated slop covering exposed slop, so we decided that we'd follow the dry rock, head right, and finish via the south side bypass. We headed right over moderately exposed 4th/5th ledges, and pitched things out - as neither of us were feeling especially spry with wet mountaineering boots on our feet and the packs on our backs. Things seemed to imperceptibly slow down with each of the two or three or four successive traverse pitches, but it was only when we turned the corner and glimpsed at the first of two possible exit crack systems that I even began to think about the time. The first series of cracks looked relatively easy, and would have been were they not submerged beneath a 3/4" sheet of running water. They also came nicely equiped with someone elses pre-set bail gear - which looked to be of recent vintage. Mark led to the base of the aquaduct, I followed, and we pondered the options that somehow managed to confound us for god knows how long that afternoon. Up? Over? or Back? Back and up? This where the chronology starts to get a bit hazy. I can recall that it was me who led around the corner to look at the next set of cracks. This set was drier, but steeper, liberally festooned with bail gear and completely impossible for either of us in mountaineering boots. After surveying option B I think I climbed back down to the belay, looked at some less-inviting-but-drier cracks a few feet to the left of the wet corner, tried a few moves on those, gave up, and headed back to the hard-but-dry cracks and set up a belay with the intent of giving them a go in rock shoes. Crack one - shut down. Crack two - advance a bit higher - shut down. Retreat to the belay - start to put the boots back on- reconsider, try the layback approach on the original crack - shut down again. By this point, the much-dreaded thunder had commenced, and I think that both of our epic-meters were going off of the charts. What to do. Set-up sketchy rap anchors and descend the unknown and potentially cliffed out couloir below us? Traverse back to the West Ridge Notch and descend the West Ridge Couloir? We were both operating in a hypoglycemic haze at this point, but we reached the general conclusion that descending - "yeah...we should descend...maybe we can...rappell over there"- was the wisest move, all things considered. So Mark reversed the lead to a ledge about 20 feet to the left of the drenched corner system, I follow, downclimbing with much trepidation and less grace, and start to move towards the ledge. Then I take another look at the crack system and start to mull things over a bit more...the summit is right-fucking-there. After concluding the desultory mullage I tell Mark that I think I can make it, but neither one of us is feeling too confident about my chances after I had been shut down so badly on the other cracks. In the end I headed up, and alternated between hope, confidence, despair, and remorse from one move to the next. I am sure that my performance induced mostly negative emotions when witnessed below, as it was an ugly, profanitly-and-Elvis-legged-french-free-laden thrutchfest for sure. When the rope was nearly out I managed to sink a solid green camalot, sling a green chockstone, and set a belay later supplemented by a marginal number six nut. Mark followed with the thunder picking up, took the rack, and headed out on what I can best describe as a "seriously fucking clutch" lead up the rest of the wet crack system on onto easier ground. By now it was getting late, it was alternately raining and snowing, the rocks were humming, the sky was getting even darker, and we were exhausted as all hell - but things were looking up. I moved the rope up a pitch through blocky terrain, and Mark led through some scary unconsolidated glop to the final corner system. I thrutched my way up the final corner/crack, abandoning any pretence of style and/or dignity using aid on multiple pieces, in addition to load testing an ancient rusty piton a couple of times. All tactics offically sanctioned by the"fuck-it" school of alpine climbing. We made it to the summit just before the last of the light faded. From there it was a downclimbing/cairn scavenger hunt down through the snow and the rocks until we found ourselves at the top of the Cascadian couloir, then it was bivy time again. I think it was about 11:00PM by this point. Melting water, arranging rocks to make the bivy suck less, and consuming the meager rations occupied us until midnight, then another sleepless few hours brought us to dawn. During the interval I learned that there is, in fact, a practical limit to "dry it out by putting it into the sleeping bag with you" technique. After pouring the water out of my boots, and wringing out my socks, I hoped to dry them by putting them on top of my chest inside the half-bag I brought along on the route. I wasn't able to dry them worth a damn, but I did succeed in making myself considerably colder for the duration of the night. The arrival of the morning brought us death-crust-over slush postholing, gulley hell, and eventually the trail leading up and over Long's pass and back to the car 1/2 hour before the designated "If you haven't heard from me by now it's time to get worried point," burgers, beers, and Mark's heroic drive home.

"Fear and Loathing in the First World Robert J. Shiller Within the last few years, people throughout the world's most advanced economies have become acutely worried about the economic prowess of China, India, and other emerging countries with large low-wage populations. They fear for their own jobs and for their children's future in a world where they must compete alongside the world's poorest. Those fears are testing political leaders in the world's richest countries. Newspaper stories are an indicator of this rising concern. I searched the Lexis-Nexis database of English-language newspaper stories around the world that contained all three of the words "outsourcing," "jobs," and "India." In 1999, Lexis-Nexis produced only 39 stories; by 2003, there were 749 stories. In the first six months of 2004, there were already 1208 stories. The results were much the same when I searched "outsourcing," "jobs", and "China." I found similar growth in the use of these three terms together when I searched in French, German, Italian, and Spanish: 90% of the stories were in 2003 and 2004. Why this explosion of concern? After all, advanced countries have been losing manufacturing jobs to less developed countries for more than fifty years. One reason is that the expanding development and use of new information technology, notably cell phones and the Internet, shrinks the world and makes competition from abroad more plausible. In fact, new technologies are probably the most important reason why globalization is advancing at a rapid pace. Cell phones and the Internet link the minds of many people in different countries effortlessly and efficiently, encouraging trade in intellectual creations. At the same time, the new information technology makes us more aware that the kinds of jobs that are migrating to India and China are high-quality jobs, the jobs for educated and skilled people. Over the last fifty years, people in advanced countries have increasingly sought university education and specialized training to protect them from an unforgiving labor market. Now First-Worlders are uncertain whether even this will protect their economic status. Increased fear of competition from emerging countries is also a natural consequence of the collapse of the speculative bubble in equities in 2000; stock markets in some countries fell to less than half their peak value. Once we saw our exaggerated hopes for our investments failing, we began to consider our other sources of income and wealth, only to confront the worldwide economic slowdown that began in 2001. Increased economic anxiety has, unsurprisingly, fueled increasing unease about foreign competition. Earlier this year, I surveyed people who recently bought homes in four American cities. My questionnaire asked: "Do you worry that your (or your household's) ability to earn as much income in future years as you expect might be in danger because of changes in the economy (someone in China competing for your job, a computer replacing your job, etc.)?" Of 442 respondents, 11% answered, "Yes, I worry a lot," 36% replied, "Yes, I worry a little," and 52% said, "No, I don't worry at all." Thus, while most respondents said they were not worried, nearly half expressed some worry. I asked this question of recent homebuyers on the theory that fear of job loss might help explain the remarkable boom in home prices in the US (as well as many other advanced countries). After all, people who fear losing their jobs may seek greater economic security by investing in real property in their own wealthy country, bidding up prices in the process. My survey's results lend some support to this theory. Although 81% of the respondents said fear of job loss had no effect on their decision to buy a house, of those who said it did, the number who said it encouraged home purchase outnumbered those who said it discouraged home purchase by a margin of two to one. Growing fear of foreign competition ought to explain a lot of things in the future. People used to feel insulated from economic problems that occurred beyond their country's borders. No more. Fear of competition from abroad is now fundamental, and will change the political process in advanced and relatively advanced emerging countries throughout the world. It helps explain the rise of protectionism, and the failure of the WTO trade talks in Cancun last September to improve emerging countries' access to advanced-country markets. As a professor, I find that my students often ask me for career advice with a different tone than in the past. What I hear is a fundamental lack of confidence that they will do well in any chosen career. They want to figure out how they can compete with Chinese or Indian workers who have the same, or better, education. Despite bravado about American superiority, the students themselves do not seem to feel superior, and wonder if they will be living emerging-country lives of their own in coming years. This sudden fear of emerging countries presents a major dilemma. The fear is real and visceral, and politicians ignore it at their peril. Its further increase could lead to counterproductive protectionist measures. We must not let this happen. The emerging countries are doing nothing more blameworthy than working towards their place as equals alongside advanced countries. It is morally and practically vital that they succeed. Robert J. Shiller is Professor of Economics at Yale University, and author of Irrational Exuberance and The New Financial Order: Risk in the 21st Century."

I should really get back to reading "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," which has thus far been one of the most enjoyable reads of my life, for the quality of the prose if nothing else. Witness the following quote describing one of the many emperors to hold the throne "Twenty-two acknowledged concubines, and a library of sixty-two thousand volumes, attested the variety of his inclinations; and from the productions which he left behind him, it appears that the former as well as the latter were designed for use rather than ostentation." With regards to the subject at hand, one can vapor on about Marx for an eternity, and dream about the endless permutations that a utopia based upon his visions might take on - but the basic fact is that in the unfortunate event that anyone attempts to resurrect them once again this experiment against reality will also inevitably fail, for a number of reasons. Foremost amongst these is that allocating the productive resources in such a way as to allign supply and demand is too complex a task to be accomplished by a central committee, let alone planned in advance. A missallocation of productive resources always has, and always will, bring about the ruin of any economy so governed. There are a number of other internal and external factors that will forestall or accelerate the collapse brought about by this law, but the end will always remain the same.