crackers

have you looked into the add on lenses for the canons? You can get optical 30x zoom lenses that work on the bayonet mount on many of the powershot series cameras.

Hey, any update you can get on the American climbers that died would be welcome...

Lehman really came through, but Germany really played a slow game...and I can't believe Messi didn't get in the game.

close! Go Germany!

So I read Q the other day, and I had to go and do some reading on the 30 years war and the wars of the reformation, since that's one thing I never bothered with when I was getting that economic history degree. Anybody know any good books on the economics of the reformation or the wars of the reformation?

It's not just the Turks. Some dude named John Keegan, the leading guy in the US Army, and a few others agree on that. If you ever go there, you'll see what it meant: the place they were supposed to land would allow for rapid movement inland, the place they landed is underneath a cliff. In any event, Hamilton--the british general in charge--completely blew it.

I would want to know how many of the respondents are eligible for pro-deals (or get them anyway...)

That's not actually true. That is a myth perpetuated by the ANZAC soldiers. What actually happened is a bit better and a bit worse. The Brits went in and put in wooden poles to direct the landings. That night Turks moved the poles to make the ANZACs land in their kill zones. The ANZAC officers in charge of the landing decided to go through with it although they knew the landing poles were in the wrong place. Go to Gelibolu on Rememberence day for a sober day of being drunk. They say that 1 in 5 Australians has a direct relative that died there.

england 3 portugal 1 germany 4 argentina 1 brazil 3 france 2 ukraine 0 italy 0 italy wins on referees!

Ralph can't legally have people camping there right now, and he's trying to sell the property. That said, he's brewing some pretty darned fine whiskey and other solvents from local crops. Bonnies roof direct goes at 9+/10- and it's rad. its one of the most asthetic open books i've ever seen.

the gear in the gunks tends to be much smaller than at other places i've climbed, but you don't *need* tricams. On the other hand, you're not allowed in without aliens.

i live above http://www.bhphotovideo.com/ want me to go down and touch them?

Comparative versus competitive advantage turns out to be all the rage right now! shoot! I leave academia for a minute and thousands of papers pop up! My apologies Jay, I will get back to you with a new and improved critique of your position ASAP!

Anyway, yeah, do some reading about why governments were first created. Basically, they were created to bring year long water supplies to communities that couldn't build the complex and difficult irrigation systems by themselves. Oh, and Pontifex --at least according to john gager, elaine pagels and peter brown, the leading scholars on this stuff-- was the title originally given to the dude responsible for the bridges over the tiber and the aqueduct system delivering water to rome. Interestingly enough, yes, when the water system brought by the aqueducts fails to work, citizens might well respond to the failure of the government by relying on the private sector to sell them water bottles. i thought that your basic statement was historically wrong, and while you might want to reduce the role of government to fit a particular viewpoint,it is my opinion that a firm understanding of the historical forces enjoined in creating government would be useful in discussing how Mr. Buffet chose to donate his money to Mr.&Mrs. Gates' foundation rather than to the Mellenium Challenge Corporation (the US gov'ts version). I did not seek to marginalize your opinion, I simply believe that any understanding of the role of government that does not include water supply is wrong. Having worked to found a private municipal water supply, my experience is that anybody who seeks such a thing is crazy. There aren't any in the USA and its for a very good reason.

As discussed with Oly, I'm willing to donate a pack for an auction with all proceeds going to Kurt. Can one of the other mod's make it so?

In my opinion, that's an assinine view of economics. Where is the competitive advantage in a world dominated by the commoditization of natural resources? There isn't much value in natural resources: the value is created after extraction. To continue your example, crude oil is less than $75 for 50 gallons, but gasoline sells for $150 for the same amount. Refining, however, can be done anywhere on the planet for virtually the same costs. If you are equating possession of natural resources to some nebulous concept related to a country's economic development, you are way off from the conceptual framework developed to support the (in my opinion) specious, nationalist idea of 'competitive advantage'. BTW, I've never heard of in the literature before. wow. how's that for off-topic?

The select guides are all out of print. If you can find one, buy it. There is a new guidebook for the trapps by Dick Williams, and the new near trapps guidebook is coming out soon. There isn't a new guidebook for Millbrook, and Skytop is offlimits. If you see an old black guidebook for the Near Trapps or MillBrook / Skytop, buy it. The sting is easy for its grade, if you can pull the first move. The gear shop is Rock and Snow. http://www.rocksnow.com/ There are many many world *** climbs under 5.10. Try them!

security = justice?

Clean water comes out of the mountains Remind me to bring a water filter with me when I go camping with you. What about those of us who don't live near mountains? Everyday people are perfectly capable of designing, building, and maintaining water systems. Oh, I get it, no specialization of labor. Or education. Cause we'll be too busy maintaining that water system... In fact, i doubt you can find a single example of a water supply system built without a form of government. The oldest governments in the world (in iraq) were created to service the water system. In fact, the title of the Pope-Pontifex Maximus-referred to bridges for water, aka aqueducts. But have fun in your dream world of self sufficiency!

over a million.

That's what I thought! I mean security really doesn't get any more basic than clean water!

I am a local. You can search the forums over on gunks.com or read the article. BTW, I'll be writing with max = ***. Search the gunks.com gunks section of the forum for linkups and classics. that said...Here's the thing: the gunks was cutting edge from the 1930s till the 1990s. Its getting there again, thanks primarily to Cody Sims, who's doing his best to put in some pretty damn hard stuff. So, for each grade, there is going to be one of the first in the USA at that grade. In my opinion, honestly, the best three grades for leading in the gunks are 5.7, 5.8 and 5.10. The 5.11s that you can lead are pretty out there in terms of protection, so you'd better be solid. For example, the super classic 10d Coexistence was done the week after the FA party returned from Yosemite where they did the third ascent of some 11a offwidth. They said, well, it's not as hard as that offwidth is, so it must still be 10d. Fast forward twenty five or thirty years, and the offwidth is an 11+/12- and Coexistence is a 10d, totally in character with 10d in the gunks. At the same time, something like Hawk (5.4, world ***) is one of the scariest --not do to difficulty or pro-- most fun routes in the world. Arch-Wrist (5.4, world *) takes you through some of the wierdest stuff you'll climb on, and Madame Grunnebaum's Wulst (5.6, world *** as one pitch route) is the best 5.6 I've ever climbed. A lot of the early routes were put in by the guy who was probably the best climber to ever live in America--Fritz Weissner. According to people I know who climbed with him a bunch, he was still following 10+ in his 70's early 80's, but it wasn't his preference. The first 5.8 was put up in 1946. Okay, a couple of notes: 5.10: Balrog-I don't love it. YMMV. Nosedive-Tricky hold sequence. Retribution-Straight forward easier 10. Nosedive and Retribution bracket a 12 called No Solution. Lead the climb on the right, and drop a TR off the bolts for the lap. I am not lying when I say that No Solution is not a particularily hard 12a for the gunks. If you cruise it, you should go climb the Throne and the Sting, and Enduro Man's Longest Hangout. Welcome to the Gunks is a standard 10d, but it's hard in terms of the power endurance needed for it. Its easier than most of the 11a's though --harvest moon is the easist 11. 5.10 Feast of Fools is awesome. So is Carbs and Caffiene, Try Again, and Fly Again. Erect Direction is my favorite ever 10c. 5.9 Bonnie's Roof Direct is supposed to be a global *** route, but I haven't done it. M.F. is good, but it's harder if you're tall. Grim Face Ace is really good. First pitch of Erect Direction to do Keep On Struttin' 5.8 Birdland. Camp at Camp Slime unless you want to party all night with high school kids and random climbers.

yeah, too bad we penalized other countries that want to compete in their 'competitive advantage' areas. What is a 'competitive advantage' anyway? Sounds to me like an article of faith from some mid nineteenth century peddler of snake oil. And I thought the role of government was to provide uneconomic basic services --clean water, roadways, etcetera?

i make bags out of spectra to send to pakistan: 20 liters, 6 ounces.

My fiance works with the Gates foundation on a regular basis (among others) and says that they are far better than any other group active in the area, including UNDP, the Mellenium Challenge or anything else. If there is a malaria vaccine, it will be because of the Gates foundation...