Off_White

Christian Reich on the march, How're you gonna vote in 08, are you down with the man? Mitt Romney or Ron Paul, it's up to you mister poster child tighty rightie. When they kick out your front door How you gonna come? With your hands on your head Or on the trigger of your gun When the law break in How you gonna go? Shot down on the pavement Or waiting in death row You can crush us You can bruise us But you'll have to answer to Oh, Guns of Brixton The money feels good And your life you like it well But surely your time will come As in heaven, as in hell You see, he feels like Ivan BORN under the Brixton sun His game is called survivin' At the end of the harder they come You know it means no mercy They caught him with a gun No need for the Black Maria Goodbye to the Brixton sun You can crush us You can bruise us But you'll have to answer to Oh-the guns of Brixton

Ya know, I gotta respect Ron Paul for saying exactly what he believes, but the fact remains that it doesn't line up with what I believe more than about 38%. That puts him ahead of Mitt Romney, but considerably behind Dennis Kucinch.

Okay, I give up, you're as bad a "I'm never wrong" fruit loop as Dru. Liquified natural gas versus natural gas? WTF ya dipstick, stored under pressure, the gas is liquefied. Ya know, generally speaking, I consider you to be a fellow traveler, but in this thread you're a self justifying rabid weasel. I can't fucking believe I find myself agreeing with Fairweather with regards to anything besides which route we should take to avoid brush in the Olympics, but what can I say, you're a uniter, not a divider.

Did you know that "gullible" is not in the dictionary?

Okay, now we're talking. If those are the actual on the ground statistics for the vehicle, 47/70, then that's a whole different class of vehicle than what we've been discussing. Much more effective than Tvash arguing that he can't see your numbers. Maybe Daimler is your daddy?

Hmmm, I make that six conventional gas cars rated at 40mpg and above. Maybe you're trying to play some semantic/statistical game regarding the term "average"? I live in the country, so my "average" rather resembles the term "highway." Smartcar's website declares "The vehicle is designed to achieve 40 plus mpg under normal driving conditions." Frankly, given the constraints imposed by the size and capacity of the vehicle, the thing ought to offer considerably better mpg performance than a variety of other four passenger conventionally powered vehicles. Given the performance stats offered by the manufacturer, I can only conclude that there is more smoke, mirrors, and marketing hype than actual delivery on claims of impact. Greenwashing, while perhaps an effective sales strategy, is to be reviled no matter who makes the fraudulent claim. You know, it doesn't matter how the product actually performs, as long as the consumer feels good about it. Yes, higher mileage better performing small cars are desirable to a segment of the market, and necessary for a host of environmental & ecological reasons. No, Daimler is not your daddy.

____________________________________________________________________ TOP FUEL ECONOMY LEADERS - 2001 MODEL YEAR Manufacturer/Model City/Highway 1. Honda Insight (electric hybrid) 61/68 2. Toyota Prius (electric hybrid) 52/45 3. Volkswagen Golf (diesel, manual) 42/49 3. Volkswagen Jetta (diesel, manual) 42/49 3. Volkswagen New Beetle (diesel, manual) 42/49 4. Honda Civic HX (manual) 36/44 5. Suzuki Swift 36/42 6. Honda Civic HX (automatic) 35/40 7. Volkswagen Jetta (diesel, automatic) 34/45 7. Volkswagen Golf (diesel, automatic) 34/45 7. Volkswagen New Beetle (diesel, automatic) 34/45 8. Toyota Echo 34/41 9. Chevrolet Prizm 32/41 9. Toyota Corolla 32/41 10. Honda Civic 32/39 source

I gotta agree with the folks who say that smart car doesn't deliver the mileage performance you ought to get from something that size. We have a Toyota Echo, essentially the same chassis the original Prius had, but without the batteries and such. It's a 2002, bought new for $14,000 when my wife had to commute twice a week from Oly to Portland. It's got a good 140,000 miles on it now and still gets a pretty steady 43mpg on the highway. It does seat four, though there's not enough trunk space to make a four person road trip.

You might need to be patient. When I was 13 I had an ice skate fall from a storage bin in the rafters and land blade first on my big toe. I never fully lost the nail, but it was partially detached and funky for a long time, and would accumulate nasty smelly bits that could be scraped out. However, it did fully recover by the time I was 39.

Sexy, are you a mean drunk?

Arch, that's "right" as in Treaty Rights, part of an agreement that was made with the US Government in exchange for their land. For them, it's not a privilege, it's an integral part of the short end of the stick they were handed.

Oh dude, don't embarrass the cause. Is that what it's about for you? What have I done for YOU, personally? Not a thing, I assume, I haven't a clue who you even are.

a), b), c) and or d). why wouldn't you think what? Maybe my reasoning is wrong, like I say, I'm not a wall guy. but here's what passes for thought.. a)Mescalito - While it would seem to be the pick hit in that region of the big stone, it must have had more than 7 ascents by 1998, since at that time it was already 25 years old. Still, your position most suggests that route. b)Wall of the Early Morning Light - Bottom part is supposed to be sort of "ehhh" and the position doesn't seem quite right. Historic, but not sexy. c)Space - not really sure where it goes, but it doesn't get much press. On the otherhand, I'd believe it hadn't had a seventh ascent until 98. d)Reticent Wall - kind of a hardman route, I'd think you'd have shown more wall spray here if that was your cup of tea. Hockey Night? It's a Mescalito variant, isn't it? Odd enough to not get a 7th until 98? Yah, well, what do I know. You can wait until someone names it with confidence, then tell me where my guesses go wrong. Nice pic though, I've always loved those angles.

She doesn't look like anyone I'd call Knucklehead to her face, no sir.

Hef, I actually think it makes more sense. Modifying aid climbs makes the climbing itself easier, whereas adding bolts to free climbs makes the protection easier and the moves less committing, but the actual difficulty of the climb doesn't change. Add a bolt to a run out free climb, maybe you'll take a 20 footer instead of a 50 footer. Add a bolt to a hard aid pitch, and maybe you'll survive the fall instead of dying. Merely academic to me though, I'm not a wall aficionado.

oh, and in terms of an educated guess, if it was the 7th ascent in 98, it couldn't be Mescalito, and I wouldn't think it was either the original Wall of the Early Morning Light or Space. You haven't shown signs of being enough of an aid obsessive for it to be Reticent Wall. Hockey Night in Canada maybe?

link to more protest video, for your entertainment

I can't say that throwing rocks and covering your faces with bandanas impresses me much, and I'm an anti-war lefty. Masking up is not about pepper spray countermeasures, it's about hiding your identity. It's the demonstration equivalent of talking smack with an anonymous avatar. They haven't won any hearts and minds of average middle class residents, that's for sure.

On hard aid routes? You bet they do, and the issue of later ascents that add holes, enhance hook placements, break out the chisel, or apply a hammer to a pitch that's been done clean is hotly contested.

It's a funny old world, isn't it?

I dunno, looks like that last one was a republican drag queen? Who doesn't love a republican drag queen?

Does this mean you're a trendy clothes horse from way back? Ahh, the mystery of the selection criteria begins to come clear! Oh yeah, congrats on the swag, free stuff is cool.

Baseball is one of those games they play with sticks, right? But not the cold one?

Send me one of those jackets and I promise not to think less of you.

Tvash, it seems like most of the videos you've been posting come up as "no longer available." Have you got some kind of feed of marginally acceptable Youtube videos? I did one of those quizzes awhile back, wasn't surprised to find Kucinich at the top of the heap. It was interesting to see Mike Gravel close by in the number two position. He seems to have that charming ability to say whatever the hell he wants because he knows he hasn't got a chance. I have a fondness for politicians that say what they think, rather than what they think will get them elected. It also looks like Ron Paul would get my support long before Tom Tancredo . Would it take a constitutional amendment to force presidential candidates, as well as elected presidents, to write their own speeches?