catbirdseat

Greg, I must be doing something right. And no, I ain't standing still. Why is it you think you're doing something "right" by pissing me off? You are showing that you have been spoonfed by the likes of James Carville, Terry McCauliffe, and a host of others who want to make you believe the soundbites and half-truth bullshit that the Democratic (and Green) Party wants you to swallow. You're not doing something 'right', you're proving to me how stupid and gullible people like you are; that's just sad. If you are truly pissed off by my post it shows how narrow you really are. For your sake, I hope you are just putting on a show. The liberals like Dave Schuldt don't get all pissed everytime the conservatives take a jab. Why is it some conservatives get all bent out of shape when liberals try to feed them back some of their own medicine?

You are a moron. Necro, just about all substances are toxic if the concentration is high enough. Even water can be toxic if you drink too much. As Thinker pointed out, CO2 is not toxic at the concentrations found in our atmosphere. Make no mistake (as Bush would say) as a contributor to global warming, CO2 is harmful. It will have to be dealt with, but I still say the EPA doesn't have the authority to do it, in the same way that the FDA doesn't have the authority to regulate "food supplements".

There were times when the smoke was pretty bad. It made Mars look all the more ruddy when it rose at night. I was suprised that the smoke didn't bother our lungs more than it did. I had to launder everything I owned yesterday, including slings, harness, pack, sleeping bag. Everything reeked of smoke.

Though it pains me to say this, the Bush administration is right on this issue. The statute which estabilished the EPA defined "pollutant" in a certain way. A pollutant is something which directly causes a toxic effect on an organism and CO2 doesn't fit in that category. If we want the EPA to regulate CO2 we'll have to get Congress to amend the law.

Greg, I must be doing something right. And no, I ain't standing still.

"In an unexpected situation, it did not come automatically. Todd believes he might have started off hacking at the snow with the adze instead of the pick" Many people carelessly hold their axe with the adze under the heel of the hand because it is more comfortable, but you can't arrest that way. A fellow named Peter Morse was killed on Kendall Peak that way. The adze is useless for self-arrest and it may not be possible to turn the axe around in the instant that it is required.

I don't believe that crude oil prices are what is driving up the price right now. It is refined gasoline markups. The most efficient place to sell North slope oil is the asian markets. The transport costs are less.

I have to say that Bill Clinton's record on anti trust issues was abysmal. There is no denying it.

Please, take Fairweather with you.

What is there to explain? Since you asked and I had a little time: The FTC initially tried to quash the sale [link ] . After the two companies agreed to divest themselves of a number of ARCO holdings, the sale was approved. The holdings as far as I was able to ascertain did not include ARCO's west coast refineries link which were its most profitable components . The supporters of the merger figured opponents would be mollified by divestiture of crude oil supply elements and would not realize that it was refining that represented the critical point for gasoline production. The current rise in gasoline prices on the west coast is a result of the merger. The merger was supported by the Republican led Alaska legislature link . "Big Oil has made similar demands. Is it just a coincidence that Republicans and Big Oil share the same agenda? Public Citizen is concerned that massive campaign and soft money contributions by the oil & gas industry have been influencing national energy policy in ways that benefit Big Oil at the expense of consumers, workers, and the environment. For example, as shown in Table 7, Republicans running for federal office (excluding the race for president) have taken in $680,000 in Oil & Gas PAC contributions versus $180,000 for Democrats, while the Republican Party has collected $1.4 million in soft money contributions compared with $510,000 for Democrats), as compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics." link

Swimming in the Hudson River. Stealing a loaf of bread from an old woman. Peeing in the parking garage and getting arrested. The Bubble Boy. The date who is sometimes pretty and sometimes ugly.

Tomcat

1. You have to believe the AIDS virus is divine retribution. 2. You have to believe that the same teacher who teaches bible school on Sunday is most qualified to teach 4th graders about sex. 3. You have to believe that if we only had enough guns everyone would be safe. 4. You have to believe that art should be only for the rich. 5. You have to believe that if we come up with enough excuses to do nothing we can ignore global warming and sell more SUVs to get rich while millions go under the waves in Bangladesh. 6. You have to believe that women should be kept barefoot and pregnant and that homosexuals should get electroshock treatment. 7. You rather kill people after they have become criminals instead of prevent them from being born as unwanted children in the first place. 8. You have to believe that business will take care of you even as they export your job overseases. 9. You have to believe that if you can't shoot it, log it, or dam it ain't worth shit. 10. You have to believe that money will make you happy. 11. You have to believe that with a big enough military, you don't need diplomacy. 12. You have to believe the NRA is good because it supports certain parts of the Constitution, while the ACLU is bad, because it supports certain parts of the Constitution. 13. You have to believe that if you cut taxes for the wealthy enough the deficit will go away. 14. You have to believe that Milton J. Freedman, Henry Ford and John D. Rockafeller are more important to American history than Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, or Albert Einstein. 15. You have to believe that "colored" races are poor because they are inferior and test scores prove it. 16. You have to believe the best way to keep the health insurance industry rich is to attack Hillary Clinton. 17. You have to believe that socialism hasn't worked anywhere it's been tried. 18. You have to believe liberals telling the truth belong in jail, but a liar and a coke head belongs in the White House. 19. You have to believe Christianity should be promoted by the government because "we were first", despite the fact that the Constitution forbids the favoring of one religion over another. 20. You have to believe that illegal Republican party funding by large corporations disguised as individual contributions is somehow in the best interest of the United States. 21. You have to believe that anyone who beats you in an intellectual arguments is a bigot. And finally... 22. You have to believe Richard Nixon covering up a burglary was just a faux pas. Bonus belief of a conservative: 23. If a woman is raped put the black man in jail for life. It doesn't matter what the DNA test says 15 years later. Believe all of the above, and THEN you will be a really good conservative

Sphinx, Destiny remains a clueless dumbfuck. If he believes that tripe, then he really is.

Quality Spray is an oxymoron.

Manboobs?

That's got to be cool to go climbing with your pop. You are a lucky man.

The way I went was I-5, I-205, SR-84/30, SR-26, SR-35. Don't know if it is faster or slower than erik's way.

I've heard several people say they "save time" in gear exchanges by organizing gear as they clean it. Does it really save time versus doing it at the belay? I like to follow just as fast as I possibly can so my leader doesn't have to belay me all day. I throw it over my shoulder and scamper up quick. When I'm clipped in at the belay, I've got two free hands and my partner has two free hands, so in my opinion that is the best place to futz with gear. Agree? Disagree?

I have been using a now dated version of Popup Killer and it kills MOST of the popups, but sometimes it kills cc.com. I'm not sure why.

What happened? Did Necro get the buxom blonde and leave you without a date?

I think it is too late to climb Cooper Spur. Ask JHamaker what it is like at this time of year.

In this unsuccessful attempt, our party of four approached via Gunsight Notch and camped below CJ Col where water is available by melting snow. Approach took 8 hours. Belayed a 3 foot step across at GS Notch (Right side). You can also go the left side over some snow bridges, but it is steep with crevasses waiting if you should slip. Don't take the gully below GS Notch, but rather the heather slopes to the left, then cut right to the goat path. After 6 hours running belays we reached the East Summit and realized we were going way to slow to go for the true summit and still get off early enough to get back to GS Notch before dark, so turned around there at noon. Might have gone for it if we had budgeted a third day. Made it back to the cars by 11 pm. Still it was a valuable learning experience. I learned the following: There is too much rock fall potential for parties of more than two. The route is so long that even running belays are too slow. You have to be willing to simulsolo fourth class rock if you are going to climb J'Berg. Only a few short sections needed protection [but one of our climbers wasn't comfortable with it so we were roped the whole way]. One should allow three days if going by GS Notch. The rock protects better than I thought it would. Bring a small rack of medium to large nuts and small to medium cams. The yellow and red Aliens got a lot of use. Bring two 37 m x 8 or 9 mm ropes for rappelling.

Just got back from an attempt on Johannesburg. The smoke from the fire to the west of Jberg was obscuring the valley about half of the time. All of my gear and clothes including my body came home reeking of smoke. I had to wash every thing, including my harness, pack, sleeping bag and slings. Met one party turning back from the Ptarmigan Traverse because of the smoke.