JayB

isn't this why the founders choose to make us a republic instead? Indeed. "Well, what have we got doctor, a monarchy or a republic?" "A republic, madam, if you can keep it." At least that's the apocryphal tale about what Franklin said to a passerby after emerging from the Constitutional Congress. Whenever I think of that quote, I'm usually reminded of this one: "When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic. -Thomas Jefferson. I think that the public discovered that it could vote itself money sometime between 1862 and 1913 and the republic seems to have held up pretty well since then, so right-wing hatemongers like myself should probably bear that in mind before playing chicken little over the ACA (nevermind Wickard vs Filburn, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc) - but I think for the first time I've started to feel like I should give "The Anti-Federalist Papers" a look and see if they anticipated any of the more grotesque abuses of Federal power that have been the bathwater we've had to tolerate in exchange for the Constitutional baby....like paramilitary law enforcement kicking in doors and shotgunning black-labs for the sake of confiscating some stale bong-resin, a gajillion dollars worth of subsidies being snarfed down by the corn-ethanol lobby, etc, etc, etc, etc.

Anyone got any recs for general purpose smartphone apps for tracking, mapping, weather forecasts, snow conditions, etc, etc, etc? Theres an infinite amount of info out there on Teh Google but it'd be interesting/helpful to hear what people in this niche have found helpful and why.

"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard." - H. L. Mencken

Had the same thing happen with my Freerides.

There's a prominent cleft on the looker's left side that looks like it fills in with snow/ice every year. From 90 it's hard to tell if it peters out or turns into a pure-rock, headwall at the very-top...but I've always wondered if anyone has made an attempt...

Not ideal - but in practice, not that bad. The only part that was a minor PTA was registering, but that took about 5 minutes once a year. The real deterrent to climbing at the "Garbage of the Gods" was...the climbing. Friable sandstone, ancient, rusty-drilled angles....oh my. GOTG is also kind of a special case because dozens of bus-and-minivan loads of tourists deploy there every...single...day during the summer months, and it's super easy for folks in that demo to step a few feet off of the trail and scramble their way into a position where they find themselves needing a rescue, and/or cratering. Again - not ideal, but kind of a special case that I wouldn't expect to see in environments that aren't basically roadside geological theme parks.

I agree. Some simple signage, like the plastic sticks used in J-Tree, would go a long ways to establishing a single trail instead of multiple trails that all go to the same place. Agree.

Not sure if you've already ruled out this idea, but if your main goal is to save money and you want to be able to use a single set of tech bindings on multiple pairs of skis.... http://bindingfreedom.com/

"Transnational Hypocrisy" sounds like a great name for a route on American Border Peak! What sort of legal/statutory/constitutional protections are supposed to be in place to prevent the government from using the tax code to single out particular citizens or groups from this kind of abuse up there?

Had a bout of it about 10 years ago that lasted for a couple of years. Unfortunately - the only thing that worked for me and cleared it up permanently was rest. After failing to find any kind of a short-term fix I basically spent a month taking Aleve, followed by at least six months of substituting other outdoor activities for climbing, then started building up the opposing muscles, and then about 9 months out started slab climbing and worked back into the forearm intensive stuff from there. Not sure how well what I did jives with the current scientific consensus but it seemed to work. It's just an anecdote with an N of 1, but I've heard enough other anecdotes from folks with ligament/tendon related issues from overuse to make me think that you basically have to stop doing whatever is causing the aggravation for a long time - like months - to get rid of the problem for good. That can seem like an eternity when you're really plugged into climbing and performing at a high level, and the prospect of losing a couple of years worth of incremental gains can be a bummer - but I was surprised at how fast I was able to recover the strength/endurance I'd lost. Good luck - hope you recover fast whatever path you chose.

So it appears to me that these groups aren't seeking tax-exemption, but are simply seeking to keep their donor list private. Just out of curiosity - do you think that private citizens should be able to keep their contributions to organizations that engage in political activities (I include any organization that engages in any lobbying at any level in this category)anonymous and exempt from government scrutiny? I've been kind of surprised at how many left-of-center groups and pundits are advocating entirely eliminating the tax exemptions mentioned above. It seems to me that that would lead to a state of affairs in which the government has an expanded capacity to monitor individuals and organizations that are engaging in political activity. Given the civil-libertarian streak that has historically permeated left-of-center politics, the fact that "The Man" hasn't always been sympathetic to left-of-center causes, and the well documented history of the government abusing its powers to the detriment of left-of-center causes and groups I'd hope that there would be an outcry on the left to preserve and expand these exemptions rather than eliminate them. IMO the only way to preserve a space for political activity that is totally free from politically motivated acts of retribution, harassment, and abuse is to keep the government from getting their hands on the information that would allow them to target individuals in the first place. The fact that private donor lists that conservative groups were forced to disclose to the IRS somehow made it into the hands progressive groups, and other groups of donors just happened to find themselves subject to a considerable amount of extra scrutiny should, at the very least, cause folks on the civil-libertarian side of the modern left to stop and ponder how they would respond if the same disclosures of private donor data and additional government scrutiny were visited on causes that they support.

After reading through this thread, particularly ALLCAPS's post, my first thought is where in the *fuck* is Donny Baker, and why-oh-why hasn't he chimed in on this thread yet.

I'm trying to figure out if I'm an outlier because I've never relied on someone in a store's help to buy much of anything, particularly outdoor gear. I have nothing against shop staff, and appreciate that they can have a lot of useful and helpful information for people who choose to engage them, but I've always relied on people I know who are good/experienced at whatever activity it is that I'm buying gear for, my own prior experience, gear reviews, feedback on online forums, etc, etc, etc. Most people I know seem to operate the same way most of the time, but maybe they're all exceptions? Ditto for route conditions, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc. Granted I'm not doing anything at a particularly high level, but then again, neither are ~98% of the people that walk through the average store's door. Do lots of people really rely on shop staff in a big way while buying gear?

I haven't returned anything to REI, but I'll miss that policy all the same because you could tell quite a bit about a person's character by how they responded to it. Not a perfect test, but it was a handy little window into their soul.

Astrov, oh my, i'm getting a little done with this thread, but i'll try to answer your question. so... -3 oz meat rule: silly, not necessary, and probably impossible for most to adhere to. lean meat is, well, lean, with a pretty low calorie count (especially grass fed), so i'm damn well gonna enjoy my steak when i decide to have one. am i gonna eat this every day? no, but there are paleo folks out there who are very lean, seemingly healthy, and eat a lot of meat, every day. -no cheese as main course: another one of those vague generalizations without any context. should people be gorging on cheese? it'd be pretty damn tough to stay within one's energy in/energy out equation if this was a regular habit. but damn, some decent fondue sounds pretty good right about now. -eat at home: huh? not sure what this is about. i'm pretty sure some friends of mine who eat almost every meal out are healthier and thinner than homeslice here. -portion sizes. i'd go crazy if i tried to limit my portion sizes all the time. hey, it's one way to go, and if it's working for him, great, but certainly NOT necessary for weight loss. -buy good food. what's that? kale's pretty good, and so is a pint of ben and jerry's dulce de leche. made with non-rbgh milk too. hey, how about a pint? -dietary supplements. not sure what these might have to do with losing weight, per se. maybe for general health and athletic performance? depending on what one's goals are, i think creatine and beta-alanine have some compelling research showing performance improvements. so, my problem is with his wording, "dietary supplements are a scam" (except for the ones he lists), since it seems other supplements have research supporting their value. and the most glaring omission is the old energy in/energy out part of the "losing weight" formula. i think his prescriptions allude to the fact that one needs to limit what they eat, but do so in a vague way without spelling it out. because, really, in the end, that is THE aspect of diet that HAS to be addressed, much much more so than what supplements one is taking, or how much cheese is one eating at a particular meal, or whether or not one exceeded 3 oz's of meat in a sitting . it's not entirely germane to the discussion at hand, but it would also be interesting to know how well his diet prescriptions are working for him. i mean, is he lean?? Great post. "Burn as many calories as you consume" if you want to avoid gaining weight is the dieting equivalent to the dictum that you should "Spend less than you earn" if you want to avoid going broke. Easy rules to understand, hard rule to live by - which is why so many people spend such a staggering amount of time and energy trying to figure out ways to evade them, and hucksters have made so many fortunes promising magical solutions that will allow them to do so. By the way - if me agreeing with you on this particular issue makes you consider disavowing everything you just said, feel free to pretend that I angrily chimed in and posted in all caps saying "ITS THE HFCS!" over and over again.

what's rather strange and akilter with the above sentiments of yours is that the sociopathy on display in boston so very much pales to the sociopathy that you supported with the invasion of iraq. let's see... two misguided youth in support of whatever ideology they might have been supporting: 3 dead a few tens wounded; 1 misguided man and his cronies, along with the american public, in support of a miguided ideology: a few hundred thousand dead, many more wounded, and millions displaced. who's really crazy in this crazy world? Hey - Look who's back in Spray! 1. "The Immune System," by Peter Parham is a great, concise reference on Immunology. I just started working through it, and after the 1st chapter my thought was, there's no way that that Kimmo guy could possibly continue to entertain his anti-vaccine stance after finishing this book. Prove me wrong! 2. Just don't have time to relitigate that case again these days, but if you're feeling inspired, maybe you can explain how that same line of reasoning doesn't implicate the Civil War, WWII, etc? I think the starting point for evaluating the organized use of violence are (1)the ends one hopes to achieve, and once you move beyond a moral assessment of the ends, you have to move onto a consideration of (2)the means used to achieve them, and then conclude with (3) an evaluation of what the war actually achieved in practice. If someone claims that 1 and 2 are irrelevant, and all ends/means are morally equivalent, then persisting in a conversation with them is about as appealing to me as having a discussion about arithmetic with someone who claims that 2+2 = "Milkshake." If someone concedes that ends and means actually matter, and you need to take them into account when assessing point 3, then I could probably have an interesting conversation with them, at least in theory. But, as I said, I just don't have the time or the inclination to pursue that kind of conversation here anymore. If you want to meet in person, after you've read Parham, *and* you buy the drinks I'll listen to you defend both points. E.g. that vaccines cause Autism and that I'm a sociopath, shoot me a PM I'll try to find the time. Happy Reading. yup, back to say hi to all my friends. would only a crazy person compare the iraq invasion to ww2? certainly seems that way, if that one uses the metrics you propose for establishing a defense for using an organized military action. i think i'd much rather prefer a conversation with someone who claims 2+2=milkshake, since they'd probably have something more interesting to say. and instead of me reading your suggested book, why don't you go back and read the thread where you seemingly got the mistaken idea someone here supports the notion that vaccines cause autism. after that, i'd be happy to buy you a drink. what's your preferred beverage? Hmmm - I wasn't intentionally tossing you into an anti-vaccine category that you don't belong in - it's just hard to keep them all straight. I did come away with the impression that you were interested in understanding how the immune system actually functions - maybe I was mistaken. If not, book I mentioned seems to strike a good balance between being thorough enough to cover all of the important ground and concise enough for someone with limited free time to actually get through it. Anyhow - if you change your mind, it's a good resource.

what's rather strange and akilter with the above sentiments of yours is that the sociopathy on display in boston so very much pales to the sociopathy that you supported with the invasion of iraq. let's see... two misguided youth in support of whatever ideology they might have been supporting: 3 dead a few tens wounded; 1 misguided man and his cronies, along with the american public, in support of a miguided ideology: a few hundred thousand dead, many more wounded, and millions displaced. who's really crazy in this crazy world? Hey - Look who's back in Spray! 1. "The Immune System," by Peter Parham is a great, concise reference on Immunology. I just started working through it, and after the 1st chapter my thought was, there's no way that that Kimmo guy could possibly continue to entertain his anti-vaccine stance after finishing this book. Prove me wrong! 2. Just don't have time to relitigate that case again these days, but if you're feeling inspired, maybe you can explain how that same line of reasoning doesn't implicate the Civil War, WWII, etc? I think the starting point for evaluating the organized use of violence are (1)the ends one hopes to achieve, and once you move beyond a moral assessment of the ends, you have to move onto a consideration of (2)the means used to achieve them, and then conclude with (3) an evaluation of what the war actually achieved in practice. If someone claims that 1 and 2 are irrelevant, and all ends/means are morally equivalent, then persisting in a conversation with them is about as appealing to me as having a discussion about arithmetic with someone who claims that 2+2 = "Milkshake." If someone concedes that ends and means actually matter, and you need to take them into account when assessing point 3, then I could probably have an interesting conversation with them, at least in theory. But, as I said, I just don't have the time or the inclination to pursue that kind of conversation here anymore. If you want to meet in person, after you've read Parham, *and* you buy the drinks I'll listen to you defend both points. E.g. that vaccines cause Autism and that I'm a sociopath, shoot me a PM I'll try to find the time. Happy Reading.

There's no shortage of violent ideologies, both secular and religious, that have been inspiring otherwise normal, sane people to commit acts of violence that they wouldn't have otherwise for all of recorded history and then some. It's not difficult to comprehend in the sense that it clearly happens all the time, even if I can't personally imagine believing in whatever ideology has inspired the latest batch of killers, much less being inspired to engage in violence by them. If only crazy people committed acts of mass violence, we'd be living in a much, much more peaceful world than we do or ever have.

Really?

NPR coverage from WBUR suggests that this wasn't the case, at least for the younger brother. Staff at the school were almost effusive talking about the guy, one of WBUR's on-air personality's nephews new the guy reasonably well and said he was a good student, had a nice personality, wasn't subject to any appreciable hostility/exclusion at school, etc, etc.

"Authorites are focusing their efforts in Watertown for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, the brother of the dead suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26. The Boston Globe is reporting that police fear Dzhokhar is wearing an explosive vest. The Tsarnaevs are believed to have moved to the U.S. from war-torn Chechnya in 2003, along with other family members, a federal law enforcement official said. Tamerlan was studying engineering at Bunker Hill Community College in nearby Charlestown." http://www.freep.com/article/20130419/NEWS/304190086/Boston-Marathon-bombing-manhunt

Could very well be an apt analogy. I'm not sure about the whole thing totally collapsing any time soon, but if it was a house it'd be composed of lots of incompatible parts and look like a mess cobbled together by a by a crazy person.

Thought you might appreciate that. "Building a shed on Vancouver marshland on a foundation of untreated 2*4's..." is evidently a metaphor for a special kind of heroic, defiant, Hemingway-code-hero-esque futility in several cultures. Fascinating.

Horribly misconceived and executed DIY project or performance art? Somewhere in Greater Vancouver..... http://vreaa.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/sturdy-with-views-calling-froogle-scott-is-dr-scott-in-the-house-not-in-this-one-certainly/#comments "I view it more as a freeform art piece, an installation, a site for the interplay between the organic forces of wind, rain, snow, and most compellingly, rot, in which the fallibility of humankind’s dreams and aspirations are made manifest. Particularly galvanizing is the unmediated interface between the products of industrialized deforestation and the local terrain, an offering back to Nature of the corpus to be progressively consumed. The artist engenders a powerful commentary on society’s fixation with the instantaneous and the temporary, and posits a tensional opposition between our depletion of the biosphere and our never-ending quest for human fulfillment."

The story and your comments do remind me of a good chuckle I had way back when when I heard someone on the radio pitching "customer service call centers" as one possible employment possibility for the out of work loggers in rural WA who weren't able to get jobs as prison guards.