Off_White

Dave Barry had a funny column once about "points." His rant ran along the lines that no matter what you did, you only got one point. Wash the dishes? One point. Mink coat? One point. I think there was a corresponding bit about how anytime you cashed in a point, you used them all and had to start over at zero. Kinda funny, but doesn't really relate to my life at present. My wife is very supportive of me going climbing, and I'm equally glad to do my bit to support whatever makes her heart sing. It's running my damned business that eats up my time, so all of the other things I do get neglected. I tell ya, the Wednesday climbing session here in Tenino has been a real boon to my chronically overextended life. That said, I probably got out climbing more days in 2006 than in the previous couple years combined.

Right on.

Honey, what Archenemy does here is called "workin' it," not "work." Not that I'm complaining, mind you.

Underworld, you're falling behind in your talking points. A global warming trend is pretty much accepted as a fact by most parties, your fallback position now is that it's not necessarily human induced, therefore we don't need to change anything we do. Note that the effect on glaciers is pretty much a given.

Reads like Adamson, but you should use your own voice.

"Dru, I am your father," declares Pink

Do you think the change happened because he entered the Witless Protection Program?

Why don't you all just make like a bakery truck and leave!

Oooh, well maybe if you'd love me all up, big boy...

I must misunderstand the reference, surely you're not endorsing sexual reassignment surgery? edit: Okay, now I see since you added the pic. Tammy hosted a talk show with a gay co-host, she's hardly the most vehement anti-gay warrior in the christian world. Have you seen the documentary "The Eyes of Tammy Faye?" I was thinking you were referring to the divine Fay Wray...

Exactly! Religious fervor is a kissing cousin to flat out insanity. Check out the Reverend Fred Phelps for a prime example.

Castrati for Christ!

What, you mean that earlier versions are not the revealed word of god, only the current sanctioned version is? Did you skip the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit because all that stuff that's been excised from King James on is invalid?

Oh c'mon, Christianity still embraces the concept of original sin and puts it off on those disgusting women. At least Islam believes everyone is born pure. Jay, if you were an Orthodox Jew, every day you would pray, "Blessed be God King of the universe that Thou has not made me a woman." Of course, if you ask me, all that religious crap is about putting the boot on someone's neck.

That all depends on which version you check

"If they become tired or even die, that does not matter. Let them die in childbirth, that's why they are there" Martin Luther blah blah blah, you get the gist. Women aren't better off here than in some Muslim countries because this is a predominantly Christian culture, it's because we're a significantly secular liberal democracy. As Dru aptly pointed out, we're not done by a long shot. Witness the recent question, "Gosh, is it even possible a woman could be president?"

"What is the difference whether it is in a wife or a mother, it is still Eve the temptress that we must beware of in any woman......I fail to see what use woman can be to man, if one excludes the function of bearing children." St. Augustine

"No wickedness comes anywhere near the wickedness of a woman.....Sin began with a woman and thanks to her we all must die" (Ecclesiasticus 25:19,24).

I'm glad I'm not a gay member of an evangelical christian sect. link Check out the list of bands to avoid.

Cheney gets points for standing by his daughters and not flinching. The "out of line" protest is a little weak, since his party has definitely made an issue out of this, but not every Republican agrees with the party or the religious right.

Most of "our" Canadians are from BC as well, and maybe they're not so sure about the rest of you either...

You haven't been banned because you've never done anything that merits that rather extreme measure and you've always been a reasonable person to deal with. I don't really understand your problem with wide acceptance of pot smoking around here. I'm pretty sure you count Libertarians among your allies in pursuit of a smaller more limited federal government, and they're all about legalization. Unless I misread you, I'd think you support less government intrusion into private lives. I suspect your real objection vis-a-vis the teacher thing is actually their politics, and the drug issue is just a tool, like talking about the spotted owl when your real goal is logging restriction. But then again, I guess we won't be having that debate. As the Olympics moderator, I hope that when summer rolls around you might post a TR or two from that under appreciated range and share a little of your knowledge gained over the years there. It was the climbing that first drew you here, not the arguments, right?

nope.