Thinker

people who want real content use rockclimbing.com. people who want spray and chestbeating post here. some are flexible enough to extract the valuable tidbits from each.

an article I read in the paper this morning says the higher levels of PCBs in farm raised salmon is probably due to the feed.

of the back room deals being cut here web page web page web page Biltmore gathering assailed Energy meeting is out of bounds, critics charge By Mitch Tobin ARIZONA DAILY STAR Critics say business executives are brazenly buying access to federal lawmakers and key energy officials this week at Phoenix's posh Biltmore Resort. The gathering includes a fund-raiser for Republican legislators, followed by an industry-dominated energy conference today. Both events were organized by the former communications director for Vice President Dick Cheney's controversial energy task force. At Wednesday's fund-raiser, a $3,000 donation allowed two members of a business to share "Mulligans and Margaritas" with lawmakers on the Biltmore's golf course before heading to a private dinner. Conference participants are invited to sponsor a panel on revisions to the Clean Air Act for $3,000, or spend $5,000 to support the keynote address by Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles. Organizer Jim Sims said about 10 Republican members of Congress, including several from Arizona, would attend the fund-raiser and then be at the Biltmore for today's "Roundtable Summit of the West." But Sims said "there's no linkage" between the fund-raiser and conference, even though they were advertised together. "Want to help Congress write its 'To-Do' list for next year?" the promotion said, pitching the gathering as "several days of events designed to give a limited number of business leaders the opportunity to share ideas, concerns and suggestions with many national policymakers." "I'm involved in both, but that's the only connection," said Sims, a former lobbyist who is now executive director of the nonprofit Western Business Roundtable. "I happen to have these members (of Congress) in one city at one time . . . that's how we always do these things." Activists are outraged and plan to hold a "counter news event" today in a rented conference room at the resort. "This conference is nothing less than a festival of access-buying," said Frank O'Donnell, executive director of the Clean Air Trust in Washington, D.C. Some in Congress also think the mixing of fund-raising and policy-making is inappropriate. Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., chair of the House Ethics Committee, is listed as a conference participant. But Hefley's office said he never planned to attend. "It may be legal, but there's an appearance of impropriety. It simply doesn't look good," spokeswoman Sarah Shelden said. "He's very interested in Western land, water and energy issues and thinks they can be discussed at a hearing in Washington, D.C., just as easily and effectively." After the Enron scandal, the transparency of federal energy policy became a hot political topic. Democrats accuse the Bush administration of excluding them from Cheney's energy task force. Republicans counter that Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean also held energy-related meetings in secret while he was governor of Vermont. Wednesday's fund-raiser supported the Western GOP Majority Committee, which divides money among 20 Republican congressional candidates in the West, including Arizona's Jim Kolbe, John Shadegg, J.D. Hayworth and Rick Renzi. Sims said only Kolbe, Shadegg and Hayworth were attending the fund-raiser and energy conference. "This event is no different than any other fund-raising event," said Neena Moorjani, Kolbe's spokeswoman. Shadegg's office said he would attend the dinner but not take part in the golf or energy conference. Hayworth's offices in Washington and Scottsdale did not return calls seeking comment. Kolbe, Shadegg and Hayworth have together received $56,488 from political action committees that represent companies attending the conference, according to figures provided by the Campaign to Protect America's Lands. "It is an alarming warning sign of how bad things have gotten that timber, oil and mining industries would be this brazen about buying their way onto the Capitol Hill agenda," said Peter Altman, director of the group. Registration for the conference, which is co-sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is $475 for businesses and $175 for nonprofits. "It's not a partisan event because we'll have a diversity of opinion," Sims said, noting that he invited many Democratic lawmakers and officials. But by midday Wednesday, no Democratic members of Congress had indicated they would attend the conference, he said.

Not precisely, he's more of a moderator-at-large. He has no authority in any of the forums, but still has access to the Moderator forum. As Alex alluded to, in many ways the moderators act as an advisory board, and Erik's input is still welcome. Like this contribution by Erik in the Red Rocks thread? "yeah who really cares...if someone is shallow enough to commit suicide then fuck them." Makes complete sense to me! edit: Someone deleted that little gem, too.......

Yes, maybe this is a good time to review the criteria for unacceptable posts. Edit: the only 'official' guidelines I see are here. Does this FAQ need to be updated?

Spray mode on: As the levels of bureaucracy here at cc.com increase I think we'll see more of this. Owners, senior moderators, junior moderators, tattle-tales, and posters. The personalities of each will continue to develop and finally we'll have moderators changing posts already changed by other moderators. Eventually one will have to have some sort of mod status to even play well here. Let's hope not!

5/16" = 7.9375 mm difference from 8mm = .0625 mm = .00246"

I don't know many architects who would put up with those conditions on a regular basis. How'd you get the short end of that stick?

Public restrooms can be scary places web page

Here is a fairly extensive list of websites that discuss the potential hoax. Here is a condensed version. I'm not saying I believe it, nor that I disbelieve it.

I think I have an explanation...... Dru today:

both of the 3 of them?

OK, who is logged on as Dru right now? It certainly doesn't act like him.....

There's actually some pretty good evidence to support the assertion that the original lunar landing was faked.

Actually, I spoke too soon. I should have read the article before posting. I stand by what I say about mercury, but I am familiar with the Lake Roosevelt project area. I've actually visited and sampled some of the mine sites in the area, on a couple Patty Stone actually came with and observed. Most of what we found at our sites was lead....huge hits of lead in soils. The refinery in Canada dumped tons and tons of lead slag into the Columbia just before it flowed into the USA. I sampled at an old lead mill in Colville, WA where we found huge levels of lead...to the point that the county health department moved renters with children off the site the day after we informed them of the analytical results. It wouldn't surprise me to find mercury at the mills in the area that processed gold ore.

I'm not extremely familiar with the area being discussed, but in general, tons of mercury were lost into rivers that were extensively placer mined (dredge boats with huge conveyor belts). It's not uncommon to find 'pools' of mercury in depressions in the bedrock in rivers mined this way. The Powder River in NE Oregon is a prime example of this. Natural sources of mercury do exist, and early prospectors often followed mercury in streams and rivers to it's source and started mining. Again, I'm not familiar with the specific geology or mining operations in the area being discussed.

Ingest this, monkey boy. http://my.webmd.com/content/Article/77/90361.htm

Arsenic is a known carcinogen.

more

I agree about the WB-400 as I have a jacket made out of it. It makes me question the methods used by the testers.

I bought these from Overstock.com earlier this year. They were actually shipped from ClimbAxe in Portland. I like em for those times when I'm tempted not to take crampons due to weight. They were perfect for Adams. FYI, there's a good deal on a few pair of Grivel 2F's in OR's sale section if you're looking for something beefier.

Oh PLEASE tell me you don't listen to Jerry Falwell!

The 'minimal tool' for a helluva wilderness area party.

That's not what this test says!

I'm SOOOOOOOOO disappointed! Didn't expect THAT reaction. Maybe the last gf was just trying to make me feel good, but she always told me I reminded her of PO.