mr.radon

Administrative, facilities, books, facility maintenance, utilities, etc.... Your obviously spouting foul smelling crap and have no clue how the current education system runs. I'm actually making fun of the 80%. The teachers get a huge slice of the educational pie, their performance yardstick? Students who can't perform at their grade level. Students, even those who take "HONORS" courses, that need to take remedial classes just to catch up in college. If we spend so much money shouldn't we expect to have the smartest students? Why can private schools produce so much better results with there students for a fraction of the educational dollar public schools spend? I know that half of the battle lies in the home. Parents uninvolved with their kids education don't do as well as kids with parents that do. I've also helped my girlfriends grade their papers late into the night before I could get some. I didn't like coming in second to the students, so I know most teachers are dedicated, but the really good ones are turned off by the crap Unions pull, and at least the ones I've run into aren't in it for the money. How would you like a doctor operating on you because the Hospital had to re-instate him because the Union filed a complaint? Or because the best doctor didn't have seniority and a crappy doctor did you got stuck with a botched operation. At least when I needed an operation to my shoulder I could shop around for the best one. The crappy ones didn't get recommendations. If it works in the private sector shouldn't it work to improve our public schools. Everywhere vouchers or charter schools have been tried, parents fight to get there kids admitted? Who's the MORON? Luckily for me I received some of my primary education outside the US. Entering grade school in the US without speaking the language. Twiddled my thumbs for two years until we started to cover stuff I hadn't learned yet. An old girlfriend loved to teach. She quit a public school job to work at a private school (without a union) at $19K per year because she loved her job, thought parents would be more involved with their children’s education and didn't want to belong to a union. There is zero correlation between teacher salary and quality of education. Educate yourself a little before spouting off. We need to fix our broken public schools.

Ha I have to laugh at this. First off they have a captive audience. If Boeing goes on strike Airbus can make planes. Since there is no voucher system in Washington we have to send our kids to the CRAPPY public schools. Next the average teacher makes over $54K in that district, second highest in the state. Third if you look at the districts financing they were grand-fathered in and got extra money from the state when they went to a standardized pay schedule. Now that about six years ahs elapsed they don't have the funds to keep the pay that high. Fourth, study after study has show we pay for the most for education and get the least, 80% of the cost is teacher pay. Fifth, the teacher unions are against pay for performance. Good teachers have no incentive to become or excel as teachers. Sixth, the teachers do not receive recognition for excellence, and the bad teachers due to union protection and seniority aren't weeded out. Seventh, $54K for 180 days in the class room. Add about 20 days of in-service days you come up with 200, add 10 bonus day 210. Alright, that’s 42 weeks of work! 52 weeks in a year, 10 weeks of vacation time PAID!! Better yet, lets say the average worker get 3 weeks vacation. If the teachers worked the extra 7 weeks they would be demanding an average salary of $63K, not a bad wage at all. Screw the teachers, they were totally off base. The Governor should immediately fix the loophole these sleazy union officials use to call a strike and pass legislation to allow WA to be a right to work state. Finally, I dated two public school teachers so I know what I'm talking about, I am very active in my sons education, and appreciate good teachers. The good ones are NOT rewarded in corrupt UNIONS. I have considered becoming a teacher giving up half my salary for the extra time off. I would apply in WA if it were not that I'd have to join a F-ing UNION. Maybe next year I'll be in the ATLP in Colorado and teaching in the Ouray school district. All you UNION lovers should wake up and realize the strangle hold these corrupt union bosses have on your poor kids. The future generation is TOO valuable to allow that kinda of a bargaining system. Lastly, how would you like to go to a school where a Judge had to force your teacher back into the classroom? I'm sure they are going to get an earful. BTW: I can see your wonderful UNION education allowed you to be so eloquent with your response that you had to resort to name calling right off the bat.

I raised my boy since he was about 4 months old. He started doing outdoor stuff as soon as he was potty trained. When we camped the first time I dug a pit and told him it was alright to poo outside in a hole. Well that Monday the babysitter had a few words with me. My boy told her I said it was okay to take a crap in the sandbox! Well, he summited his first 14'er at the age of 7 in winter no less. Learned to ski the double blacks with me at 10 and lead his first rock climb at 14. He's been to all the high camps all over the US, and up a few technical peaks. Typically he's the camp manager on summit day and we stay in touch via 2-way radio. Sometimes we joke how if he ever went to military boot camp he would be laughing all the time. "Well this is nothing compared to the time my dad made me haul my ass up...." Anyway I hope when we sit down later in life he will aprechiate some of the memories. I grew up with my dad hauling me around in Austria, I figure on returning the favor with my son. See the link to his first summit!

Teacher strike is finally over. What's the difference between the teachers going on strike holding the kid's education hostage for more money vs. a person holding a bunch of kids hostage in a classroom asking for money? NOTHING! Both cases are criminal and both cases harm kids. The teachers should have all been fired, the union banned and new teachers hired. Too bad we don't have a governor worth spit. Where was Locke? In China...... What a Governor, and people laugh at CA?

Sorry to hear about your shoulder problems. I had mine operated on almost exactly a year ago. I wish I had done it years earlier. If the pain persists demand to have an MRI. Check out my posts on the topic last October. I found a lot of information on the web. My doctor gave me PT and pain killers which ended up giving me more pain, esp at night. I had a tron Labrum and a compressed joint. The more PT the more pain I got. If the pain doesn't go away, go see a specialist and get the darn thing looked at proper like. My shoulder strength is now about 130% from where I was before the operation. I have NO pain and a huge increase in my range of motion, no ouch spots like before. Good luck with it.

Canada.

Not to sound callus but after reading some of the posts it is interesting to note this. How many of the some odd 140,000 US troops we have on the ground would have been killed through no fault of their own had they not deployed to Iraq? Are 4-6 casualties per week high? I don’t think so. The fact that a mighty country like the US can be hamstrung by Media hype over every dead soldier is perplexing. We have the world’s strongest military but any conflict has to be casualty free. Let us look at this in perspective. We lost over 3000 civilians on 9-11. To date we’ve lost about 300 soldiers taking over Afghanistan and Iraq. What a deal. The only effect the continual focus on all the negative events in Iraq have is to undermine the administration and motivate the Arab militants. I think we should treat the media as we did in the first Gulf War and not repeat the mistakes we made in Vietnam. The media would rather increase their ratings covering only the blood and gore in Iraq (motivating our enemies) then providing the American public with balanced news reports. Until the area stabilizes, I’d put the media in pools, and sensor all reports leaving the country. Anyone violates the rules gets kicked out of Iraq. Keep the policy until the new Iraq government takes power.

I have to disagree. Being from Colorado and having climbed in Ouray over many years, there are a lot of non-man-made ice climbs in the area. They aren't 5 minutes away from the parking lot like some in Canada but they are all worth the hike in. BTW what the hell is wrong with Colorado? All the sunshine not to your liking?

I found an old news article about Paradise and some of the things that were done. I guess they did do a motorcycle race up the hills of Paradise. Paul Sceva, 1890 - 1979 Entrepreneur’s grand ideas for the park never made it big By Rob Carson, The News Tribune Paul Sceva tried everything he could think of to get people to spend money at Mount Rainier National Park. For 46 years, Sceva ran the tourist facilities at Rainier, and he spent most of that time frustrated. The tourist season was too short, and there weren’t enough activities to keep people occupied longer than a few hours. Park development policies were too restrictive. The cost of labor was outrageous, and the winter weather laid waste to buildings. Worst of all, most of the tourists were locals who lived no more than a couple of hours away and rarely stayed overnight or ate at the restaurants. Behind their backs, Sceva and his staff members called the locals “toilet customers,” because that was the only park concession many of them used. But all this didn’t stop Sceva from trying. He was a determined and creative pitchman who struggled to boost business from the day he started with the Rainier National Park Co. in 1923 until the company finally gave up the enterprise as a lost cause in 1969. Some of the enticements Sceva cooked up sound preposterous in retrospect: a golf course at Sunrise, a motorcycle hill climb on fragile alpine slopes at Paradise , horse-drawn sleigh rides, downhill ski races and dude ranches. The Rainier National Park Co. was formed by Seattle and Tacoma businessmen in 1916, thinking they could use their exclusive contract to develop recreational concessions to turn Rainier into a profitable international tourist mecca. They were after tourists who didn’t mind spending money: those who would pay top dollar to stay in comfortable beds and eat meals off china on the table and ride to the top of the mountain on enclosed tramways. That approach had worked in the days of railroads. But the introduction of the automobile and constructions of roads to the park in the 1910s changed everything. Private cars made the park accessible to the thrifty middle class, who tended to bring their own sandwiches and sleep in tents. As the number of cars on the road grew, the Rainier National Park Co.’s revenues shrank, from $6.45 per visitor in 1920 to 41 cents in 1948. Sceva, with the backing of the state tourism industry, did his utmost to get federal money for a year-round hotel at the park, but it was a losing battle. In 1972, when it became clear that the federal government was not going to subsidize an all-weather hotel, Sceva complained that the feds were saving the parks for “long-haired, bird watching conservationists.” “I’m not an extremist, “ Sceva said. “I don’t think there should be merry-go-rounds in the park. However, I think there should be dancing on Saturday night.” Sceva died in Tacoma on Dec. 21, 1979.

I remeber reading once that many years ago motor-cross events were held at Paradise?!? Is this true? I recall in Colorado coming across wonderful alpine meadows that had been desicrated by a motor bike, even five years didn't heal the scars. If they ride motor bikes at Paradise how did they recover the area?

I got the 550's. I have to say that I enjoy a little bit of side cut, not radical. The pair before my V's were cut pretty agressivly. They were very hard to control in wind crust. Either the tail or head would break through and you would get a lot of torque on the ski. Hard to control. Check out the picture of last years nice weather durring the winter on Rainier. Check out the tracks behind us! I'm ready for snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Wow, your a stick. I made the investment to get Silveretta Easy-Go's. I tried a couple of skis before I finally got a pair that worked real well. Mind you there are so many different conditions in the backcountry. I went with a pair of Volki V's, twin tipped. They're 173mm long. I'm 5'11' 165#. I skied from high camp on Denali to base camp with a 60 pound pack and didn't sink too far in the light powder. I could not have been happier with them. They are also very light. I'm real happy with these suckers. They do everything well. In the powder on Denali they rocked. However, I tried to use my Super Salomon Mountain 9 Guide boots to ski down from Muir. What a trip! You better be damn good, I found no ankle support a killer in the wet snow after Panoramic Point. I managed not to kill myself. You can climb in A/T boots, just pick a good pair. I got Denali A/T boots and they work fine skiing and climbing.

I'll reply to this. Alright, I didn't give every detail in the first post. I did a follow up post. I worked for a company in Boulder where nearly everyone was a fitness nut. We would do the "Ride the Rockies" every year, along with many other events. A few of us would train in RMNP. I'll have to search the Rocky Mountain News archives. I remeber they did an article on this incident. I also think a police report was filed. My co-worker was never charged. He's a real stand up guy, which surprised us that he was involved.

RobBob said: If it were the "President's" Army we would be in a military dictatorship. Hitler co-opted the military by having them swear allegiance to himself. As I recall I did not swear alegance to support and defend the President of the United States but this oath: "I,(name), do solemly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed overme, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

Clinton was and still is a most dishonorable man, period. Accept it, the truth hurts. Nah, way off the mark. "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely" Democrats became absolutely corrupted. Clinton just acted as a catalyst. Democrats have got a long way to go to fix their party. Anyway, only a wishy, washy thinks he's an intellectual like Clark would feel comfortable in the Democratic party. Personally I hope Dean wins, it'll be like Mondale all over again.

First the jerk in the van tried to run them off the road as he passed. In other words squeezed them between the guard rail and his car. You ever been on the Ridge road in RMNP? Nice drop off. Second the jerk's wife threw the contents of her soda drink on several of the riders as they pulled this wonderful maneuver. A co-worker was one of the individuals. The jerk deserved to have a few tail-lights knocked out and hadn't he gotten out of the car everything would have been fine. Maybe the cyclists shouldn't have stopped when he did, but if I'm ever in the situation like that I'll take the guy out so he can't follow me any further in his car. As far as I'm concerned, while on a bike any hostile actions by a car should be considered a "Threat with a deadly weapon". Give the jerk a wide berth, take down his license number, pull out the cell phone and call the cops. If possible follow the car at a safe distance, then when they're stopped make judicious use of the U-lock so the cops have something to write a ticket on. I love BMW's.

No, thank you Reagan!!! Don't get me started on that pot smoking, skirt chasing, tax raising, two faced lying, yellow bellied, bureaucrat that Clinton was. Funny thing is that Liberals supported him even when he co-opted all the conservative Republican issues like Welfare Reform! Otherwise he never would have been elected or re-elected. Better yet, I love the fact Clinton was elected, without him we never could have won control of the Senate and House of Representative!

As an avid cyclist to cross train I find that a U-lock is a wonderful tool to get even with ass wipe drivers. In another state, CO, a couple of cyclists were honked at by an irate out-of-stater in Rocky Mountin National Park. He passed them but didn't know the cyclist would catch up on the flip side of the pass. As he soon found out his van could be dented by pumps and such. He pulled over, was beaten up in front of his kids and wife as the cyclist continued on. Just this Tuesday a biking buddy got rear ended by a car at the arburitum. At least she had the good will to drive him to a bike shop and pay for all his repairs on the spot, which included a new helmet. Too bad this state doesn't have more bike paths or wider lanes.

General Clark is the same ilk as General George B. McClellan; thinks he's so smart he knows better then the rest of us. (typical liberal attitude) McClellan ran for president, look what happened to him. Go Clark, go... Make it easy for us this year.

I rear-ended a truck with my car. To pull the body (front end) back into shape I tied my climbing rope to the workbench and the car. then backed the car up several times till I had the front end pulled back to shape. Also, used the same rope with some pulleys as an engine hoist. Used the same rope to tie up a particularly annoying friend of my son. Then tied up my son to keep him from squealing to the kid's mom. Then used the rope to tie up the kid's mom.

Hey but you also said: Lets see that again. Before you ream me a new one check out WTF I was answering. To me it sure sounds like you wanted to know what the rules were on the WT. My post was limited to the question of gear needed and the fact I didn't think there would ever be agreement on ground rules for getting into the record books for completing the Wonderland Trail. I don't really care about rules anyway, anyone that does it in less then four days deserves a nice pat on the back and they probably did it for their own gratification anyway. However, these guys deserve a few

What extra gear do you need if you do it in 25 hours???? Anyone who does it that fast gets the record. People running the Iron Man get free liquids and food. I figure anyone who is truly running the trail competitively can do whatever it takes to get the body from point A to point A (after 94 miles). And unless an official sanctioning body sets rules on running the Wonderland Trail we can debate the issue till we turn blue. As long as you don't run to Mowich Lake hop in a car drive to Reflection Lakes wait a few minutes then finish at Longmire

Great! I just found out I was hit. I was missing my credit card, but found it later in the car. I thought well maybe I misplaced it. I go to check my account, $0.00 left in it. I'm not out a dime, but it will take a few days to get the money back into the account. I wonder if we can set up some kinda sting on these bastards. We should be able to figure something out that will not risk anyone, but make sure the theives get caught. Maybe like call their plate info in on the police radio, report shots fired at a cop and give their vehicles description and direction of travel. Nothing that cops like more then to go after someone who shoots at them. I called the numbers listed earlier, I wish I had been keeping up on this thread. I feel like an idiot.

On the way to climb Outer Space this weekend I stopped at the Forest Service Station just before Steven's Pass to pinch a loaf. Unknowingly I left my wallet in the bathroom and didn't realize till we got to the trailhead. We drove back, but no wallet. Drove back to the trailhead and climbed Outer Space; great climb. However, the late start made the descent an epic, it was dark and we had one headlamp. Best of all I got a call Sunday. Someone had found my wallet and was able to contact me though my insurance agent. The guy was a fellow climber and only lived two blocks from my house! Climbers are cool

The regenerative braking technology has been around for a long time, thats nothing new. I don't understand why more people don't buy the TDI VW's? They are so much more practical. A Co-worker drove his TDI from Seattle to Denver and got 57mpg averaging 78mph. Cost is less and you get more car for the money, can put a roof rack on and if you get the Jetta station wagon, a place to sleep. Does this car have a crap load of earth unfriendly batteries? The TDI's only need a battery to start the car and get about the same gas milage....