billcoe

My son learned to say very early "Dad, you're swearing"...to get me to stop it. Sometimes it would just annoy the shit out of him when I was on my 3rd Fuck word in a sentence. I was always proud that he never picked up the filthy habit and I generally kept it under control. 2nd year of college I'm chatting on the phone to him, he was a resident assistant at the dorm. He says: "Hang on a moment" puts his hand over the mouthpiece but I still hear him yell to the room full of folks "Hey, Shut the Fuck up back there I'm trying to talk to my dad" LOL Ben and Ivan both have great kids, you should be getting them out together. I like what Stan did, he got them in a climbing club at the local gym. The kids have a ball and dad boulders while the team trains. His kids are not just real sweet kids but are also now real good climbers. Sometimes the gym is asshole to elbows in lil kids to the point where about all you can do is stand there and scratch your head, but it can't help but bring a smile to your face anyway as they have so much fun and joy in it that it's contagious. Man...some of these lil Sharmas out there:-0 It's amazing. (Rudys boy, Stans kids, they're about everywhere etc etc), there is some kick assed hard core strong lil kids coming along for sure.

Ian, you can't make everyone happy: but you can make up your mind what is the correct course of action and then go out and do the right thing. Which is what you did. That's really good enough for everyone, and a few might complain, but don't worry over the rest. You know it was the right thing. Accept the thanks and ignore the usual bitching that will crop up. Yeah, to the rest of you yahoos: I have grown kids who still accept and appreciate my advice. I'm just use to tossing it out there willy nilly, really can't help myself, and can't even stop myself once the lips start to flap. So what? Take care all:

Mikey answered it for all rational people. The RocPec's fast bit change out is awesome (careful that you don't pinch your hand it though).

Fine, no memes so let Rove and krew go back to using Willy Horton then. It was good enough to scare our parents to vote repub so it should be good enough for us. No need for any complex trickery here.

Way to smoke the Cap again lads! Woot! Enduro part deux.

You are talking about Michael Connell: it's enough to start believing in conspiracy isn't it? Hell of a story.http://www.velvetrevolution.us/prosecute_rove/

Todays Pam Anderson news wherein she explains why the F-22 Raptors are grounded due to O2 issues but the pilots will work it hard in the simulators to keep their mad boy skillz up till the issue is corrected. Fresh off the Department of Defense buzz. Read it and go limp boyz: http://www.dodbuzz.com/2011/07/11/af-no-word-when-f-22s-could-fly-again/

Oh my lord the world has turned upside down. Is this one of those pod people things.....or were you captured and tortured by the enemy? Gonna vote for Jane Fonda next? WTH?.... hmmmm, leg warmers, tight ass....hmmmm work it Jane work it....yeah I'd hit errrr, vote for that too, the dark side is all warm, soft, sexy and hot....OMG hand me a kleenex... lol wait, just re-read that and saw you used the word "might"...whew. It looked like the empire might collapse there for a moment Scott.

I was out with a buddy who had made his own but still a very small hammer. Figured he needed a bigger one so I got one of the Omega Pacific monsters for him. Realized that I had altogether too many of these things anyway. His is the new one with the tag in the bag on the left. Left to right CMI, Salewa, CMI, Salewa, Stubai 2 Kong Eagle heavy hammers (850 grams) 2 D5 (left) and 2 A5 Hammers (right) Some Chouinard hammers. The one on the right I was told was made by Chouinard for the 10th Mt division. Next up, arguably the best hammer ever made: Forrest.

No offense taken at all fellas. In either case I'm busy working on my superior new complex anchor rigging setup for climbing with multiple parties on multi-pitch climbs. I call it the "clusterfuckolet ™ ™ ™ ".

That your graph shows State of Washington total government spending drop a half a point decline relative to personal incomes in of interest to me Jfreeberg. I went searching around and found this article. That details the exact opposite of what your link seems to modestly imply. http://www.platformonomics.com/2010/11/fun-with-numbers-state-fiscal-policy-edition-2/ Couple of charts copied over, the guy says: "I pulled spending data on California, Illinois and New York as they’re the most often compared to Greece (Athens-on-the-Pacific/Great Lakes/Hudson respectively). I also threw in Texas which has outperformed most states economically over the last ten years without being completely dependent on natural resources (sorry Dakotas) and it supposedly has a different governmental philosophy (does “everything is bigger in Texas” extend to fiscal policy?). The results are surprising as seen in Figure 1 below. Since 2000, Washington state government spending has grown faster than that of California, Illinois and New York (gulp!). And that is after being the most frugal through 2006! New York is actually the most restrained state of the bunch. Figure 1: Growth in State Government Spending: 2000-2010" "Figure 6: State Government Spending Normalized for Economic Growth: 2000-2010" How do we have such radically different data I wonder? It must be that "economic growth" is significantly different and higher than personal income"?

A fine counterpoint to the Fuller text is Dore Golds work (Gold is former Israeli ambassador to the UN). "Hatred's Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism" http://www.amazon.com/Hatreds-Kingdom-Arabia-Supports-Terrorism/dp/0895260611/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310492890&sr=1-4 BTW, the 1 stars reviews on Amazon given for the Fuller work seem particularly well written. http://www.amazon.com/World-Without-Islam-Graham-Fuller/product-reviews/0316041203/ref=cm_cr_dp_hist_1?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addOneStar

Wow, awesome TR as always Ivan. BTW, fella in the valley told me that the nickname Ben and his brother have in Yosemite is "the Enduro Brothers" for getting on the Shield and refusing to quit till they topped out...LOL. But I suppose that Beckey is the secret weapon. I got to meet her couple years back and hung out in the meadow when my knee was all stitched up and trying to recover from an earlier hiking accident, and she was one of the most pleasant folks and 100% positive cheerleaders I've ever met. An awesome and kind hearted sweetheart to hang with. She was doing the perfect bacon that trip as well. Woot! Congrats on surviving that:-)

Major workout dude! Wow! Very nice.

Matt, when I drive out to the area where the $30 fee is, I see a Washington Dept of transportation project to straighten the road in a few spots that they are paying close to 10 million bucks for, that by all accounts doesn't appear to be necessary. That's 33,000 plus passes, with no extra fees and costs to administer them. Total money maker, just cease the bullshit project. So don't straighten out SR 14, and fund the parks. Ta da! You are welcome. The road was and is fine. Been that way for 50 years. How about $130,000,000 for a bridge that they have not even decided on a design for. Here's the spending details. You do the math on how many passes that "critical" $130 million they have already spent would get. HEY IT'S ONLY MONEY, GET MORE FROM THE TAXPAYERS LINK OK, full text of the story: "Nancy Boyd isn't seeing red. After reviewing the $130 million that has already disappeared down the rat hole, the Columbia River Crossing's new director notes, "I don't see any red flags on what's been spent." Seriously? Because the CRC could not find a qualified "traffic consultant" in the Portland metro area, the empire builders hired David Parisi of Mill Valley, Calif., and paid $19,200 to help cover rent on his Pearl District apartment. Parisi's consulting company -- which doesn't have a working website -- has billed CRC more than $1.4 million. No red flag? More The Oregonian’s continuing coverage of the Columbia River Crossing and the money behind it. Shortly after EnviroIssues hired communications director Linda Mullen away from the Washington State Department of Transportation in 2006, EnviroIssues was graced with a PR contract for the bridge project. The firm's billings for this public-relations disaster now top $5 million. No apologies? At the behest of the Oregon Department of Transportation, the CRC hired Tom Markgraf, a former aide for Rep. Earl Blumenauer, and paid him more than $1 million to chaperone public hearings and schmooze the body politic over four years. Eventually, lo and behold, Markgraf's son, Peter, was also drawing a CRC paycheck. C'mon, Ms. Boyd: Not even the hint of a blush? In The Sunday Oregonian, reporter Jeff Manning laid out, with his usual clarity, the fatuous finances of the CRC, a $3.6 billion train wreck whose promoters appear oblivious to the recession, regrets or reality checks. The current balance sheet is telling. When Govs. Ted Kulongoski and Chris Gregoire gave their DOTs a blank check, abdicating further leadership or restraint, the CRC evolved into a chummy fraternity of transit groupies. No one had incentive to save money. As is so often the case with ODOT, no one is accountable, much less disciplined, for runaway costs. And no one at CRC is sheepish about any of this. Heck, they all insist they're doing God's work. For what it's worth, I'm a huge fan of infrastructure. I believe future generations in Portland will be especially thankful for every mile of track that was set down when federal transit funds were still available, and that includes the ongoing $1.5 light-rail expansion to Milwaukie. But the Columbia River Crossing, as conceived, is built on fatally flawed assumptions about traffic patterns, congestion relief (the gridlock at the Rose Quarter will only grow worse) and available funding. And the run-up to construction has been marked by the arrogance and greed of engineers, consultants and urban planners who want us to believe they're doing us a favor as they enrich themselves and their liberal (in this case, at least) friends. Boyd told Manning she considers the $130 million spent to date "reasonable" because the tab is less than four percent of the $3.6 billion price tag. That she still believes a $3.6 billion project is possible is a troubling sign. That Boyd has finally requested an internal audit is more encouraging. But after six years of disdainful, irresponsible spending, we don't need a CPA to tell us that the public's reservoir of trust in this project, and the voters' confidence in its boosters, have been utterly depleted. " "Hey, lets get some $30 parking passes started cause we don't have nay money and it will make people sympathetic to our lack of money plight". HUH? They're going to spend 3.6 BILLION for a bridge that everyone is doing fine without and that is way overpriced. Minnesota just put up a bigger one for less money. Do the math on that: divide $30 (for a pass) int the billion...how many passes will they have to sell to build this bridge? Wrong, they have to sell 10 times more that any number you guessed, because the passes profit will all be spent on building up a new bureaucratic infrastructure to collect the $30 fees. If they make money at all it will be miniscule. Stupid. At Smith Rock, there is limited parking and it's always full, they charge, it's an annoyance. However, the sting dissipates as they actually make money, a lot of it. Yet Oregon should be bumping the income tax which would be fairer in may respects. OK, I did the math and they need to sell 120,000,000 passes to pay fro the bridge, but to only sell that many they need to not have any costs associated with the sale of the passes. OK, lets see, how many people live in "Washington? Hmmm, how many will buy the pass? Hmmmm - it's going to take a while to pay off this billion dollar bill isn't it. What was your question again? yeah....you suggested that I do not think that they spend our money wisely. That is true, I see examples all the time. BUT, the question remains, are they really spending less overall these days and really need the money? If they are, say so. You think that they need to find a revenue source. Many think they should find places to cut. I can't answer that one yet until I see your chart.

The message is that if we could all look at what the total annual state spending is, then we'd know for certain if they were really in dire needs with their backs against the wall In which case there would be many supporters and silence on this payment tax to park issue). I'd like t see it in steady dollars (with inflation factored in) over a 50 year or longer period. Until then, we are basically taking them at their word that this is mission critical. Some do not believe it. Count me in that group until I see some facts. I've been wrong enough in my life to not doubt I could be wrong again. Easily. And if they really need it, I have extra and would toss a few extra into the pot. Really. I really didn't see the chart I wanted and I looked Matt. Being straight up here, don't read any subterfuge into my words as I mean none.

No you don't get it. Re read my post, I asked for info. You have nothing? Just say so. I'd like to see a bar chart of the last centuries spending per person of total Washington Government spending. I was unable to find one. Really. They may be collecting less revenue and actually need more. Is that the case? I really do not know.

As I publicly stated on an earlier "CC.com thread, I have bet the farm on interest rates rising. China was divesting it's US T-bill holdings and the US would have to increase the rate to attract new $. It seemed clear until June 17th that this was a big money maker about to happen. Maybe the biggest no brainer thing I've seen in my lifetime. As you say above, when no one will loan you money anymore. Looks like ti was about to pop and I bet on it. Yet on that date, China suddenly reversed their policy of shedding US debt which they had initiated back on October and which they had accelerated through May to include some huge sales and reduction in US debt, and once again became a net buyer of it -inexplicably jumping into the Treasury auctions once again and becoming a buyer. Thus, I don't know if this was the result of a US government promise under the table (ie, "Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead!"), or that the Chinese got caught trying to Fu*k us over in a 9/11 style attack based on the economy like the 2008 Pentagon report suggests they were doing and the US played some unknown diplomatic card, or if it represents an actual long term correction of Chinese internal political and economic thinking. Regardless, I'm staying the interest rate guessing game course for at least a year and expect them to rise. I was thinking this was at least a 2 year issue, but am losing self-confidence now. If I screwed the pooch and the farm becomes worthless, it was still buttressed with some earlier actual gold purchases (averaged in the high $300 an ounce range) and some energy sector funds for balance. Furthermore, I screwed up and stuck a bunch of $ into a Yuan denominated US insured savings account. Oh, it's gone up, but if I'd spread it in a market basket of Se Asian countries, I'd be laughing on the way to the bank now. Look at the Aussie dollar which has kicked ass! vs the US dollar to see this effect. The market basket would have included the Aussie dollar and it would have spread it out, but I went for what I perceived as the sure thing and it cost me. I'm up and it's good, the Yuan is appreciating, but not as much. Next year I think real estate will be worth a look again. You?

Just you. I'll talk slower next time. lol

Well, what is the price tag for freedom Matt? Give us the number. Cause if you want to write blank checks, plan on giving it all over to the insatiable .gov. http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/2009/12/wa-state-government-spending For myself, I was curious what the last 50 years of Washington government spending per person looked like, and was unable to find it. Perhaps you'll have better luck, and I really do want to know what the dollar cost is for freedom. I'll pay it, no shit, just give me the number. If you find that they gov is spending less per person than previous years, I will run right out an buy my pass and not complain again. Really. Let me know, I'm curious.

No doubt it was a huge mistake that the jumper deeply regrets, but can see this kind of thing in car wrecks all the time and we are left just wondering WTF?! My kid got hit by a car, same thing: WTF?! She was in a crosswalk, how do you get hit in a crosswalk?! She did. Was sent flying, shoes blown off her feet, lucky to have lived, her friend who was right next to her in the crosswalk was hospitalized. Multiple witnesses say they had the walk signal and were inside of the crosswalk. Very unsettling and unnecessary. Accidents happen. Only if we can get rid of people, cars, bikes, etc etc will we have less. Popular places always have more of them, and from all kinds of ways too. Anyway, you might be right and the guy could have hit his own rap line left on Pioneer Tyler. Hey, aren't you too young for "health issues"? Hope all is well Tyler, feel like sharing?

Yield drift? Are you thinking 20 year US T-bill interest rates will be going up Jayb?

No particular reason? Seriously? Seriously. It just keeps going up through thick and thin, good and bad. Up up up. Look at the chart from 1923 - 2010. Up up up. Why did it increase during the Reagan and Bush years and has just continued to increase (based on 2005 dollars like the top chart shows)? Seriously. Up Up Up. More up.

You're right, I overstated the case. I don't disagree with your point, GE being the most egregious example not paying any taxes. You can search CC.Com and see my earlier rant on that very company and this very subject. I'm focusing on the growth of government spending that has been occurring for no particular reason for decades. You think you can flip a switch and make the large corporations pay off this bill? I don't. The cut off the corporation "loopholes" everyone is discussing is a market basket of mixed things that congress allowed in earlier times. Some of them make good sense for everyone, some undoubtedly were attached to some rider and slipped through to benefit someones home state corp and at best may bolster employment only. Focusing on these "loopholes avoids the multi-trillion pound Elephant in th eroom and that is that government spending has steadly risen this century through good times or bad, high revenue and low. And it has recently accelerated in a huge way. We need to turn the gov't spending around now or face severe structural issues when the interest rates increase and the borrowing costs raise even more. Government spending rises when revenue rises and then it rises some more when revenue drops. Look at the chart. There is no correlation and all that is seen is the steady increase of governemt spending. And interest rates (and the US borrowing costs) will rise. I'm personally betting the farm on it. The longer we wait, the more painful will be this process, and it cannot go on into infinity. In 2005 dollars here is the Federal Government spending. When you put it as it relates to GDP, it changes for the depression and WW2 years, but the steady inexorable rise is still there.

*Really? Damn. I might buy one too, but not without some serious grumbling first:-) *Timetraveler, slight heads up, although you are climbing well, and I do not think ill of JH that he would try to do you in or anything nefarious, be aware that JH has some of those routes ruthlessly wired. *Looking forward to it Ivan once you recuperate.