ericb

wtf are you talking about, eric? Children CHOOSE to be raised poorly. Aren't you listening to KaskadskyjKozak? Sheesh. Interesting dichotomy with the liberals - while the urban poor don't always consciously choose to get pregnant, abortion affords them the ability to consciously choose to give birth to the child. If they didn't have some notion of the character of the guy they screwed....even with late term limits, they have 3 months to figure out that the guy is a fuck-up. They have another 6 months to choose to give the child up for adoption, and yet they choose to keep in and raise it despite their lack of resources and despite the fact that the father is a drug dealing fuck-up. You are right....kids don't choose poverty - their parents choose it for them.

Regardless what you paid for it, REI's selling it new for $100 plus you get the rebate, and an unconditional money back guarantee.

I think a lot of research supports that having two parents in the house has a big impact on the trajectory of young kids

And the conservatives were shocked to learn that the dems were against the war. I think the strong message was sent a long time ago (i.e. the congressional elections). In the meantime it provides a good excuse for why they've been unable to accomplish anything else. That said I suppose I'd rather have them thrashing around like a bunch of idiots than pushing their liberal social agenda.... For instance, how about a bill that makes it legal to kidnap a minor over the age of 12 and bring them across state lines as long as it's for the purpose of performing an abortion. Or how about a bill that makes it legal to dispense the morning after pill for free from the ice-cream truck. I'd also like to see a law that makes all infant onsies that refer to "dad" illegal as they are secretly trying to attack the emotional health of same-sex lesbian couples. Finally I'd like to see a law that specifically excludes Christianity and Judaism from constituitionally granted protection against religious discrimination.

Our right to effect change went by by the minute Bush took office. hmmm...no right to effect change?? whatabout the dem congress?? that was a change voted in. aren't they s'posed to be making changes? they're too busy spraying too. pulling an all-nighter on something they admit won't pass....and wouldn't be binding if it did. Oh but that Dem congress has really been busy enacting laws to bring about the social change they've been promising. Or wait.....What they've actually been doing is voting on resolutions to take our troops out of Iraq, that the president subsequently vetoes that the Senate subsequently doesn't have the votes to overcome nor will it until perhaps the next election. You talk about a bunch of posers....when in the hell are they going to quit their political posturing and start bringing about the social change that they keep talking about.

fuck that, the damn rope is expensive. I would hope he would be kind enough to untie. CBS -- hauling systems are easy. I think a more challenging scenario is an unconcious leader, more than half a rope out. I bet there are lots of seconds in the alpine who wouldn't know how to handle this. Good point....this thread has definitely got me thinking. Other than books, I know NC Mountainguides has a High Angle rescue course. I'm thinking I might want to take it, or something like it at some point.

Standing on concrete floors hurts my back....that's why I moved to Issaquah

"Quadrant Homes - You could have bought a Burnstead, but then you couldn't afford to commute to work in your SUV from BFE, now could you, yuppie scum."

get to work

Thanks all....I think he's pretty beautiful, but I'm pretty biased. Now if he could just figure out that he's supposed to sleep between 2 and 5 AM......

$250 bucks.....that's stiff

So back in college we had a 5'0 Vietnamese guy in our house....like 98 lbs. dripping wet. Walks up to a girl at a party...."you look like you have a little Vietnamese in you"....she responds "nope...mostly northern European, but my Grandpa is Brazilian"....to which he responds...."well, would you like one?"

I hear John Edwards is looking for a new place....apparently 28,000 SF was not big enough

Yes....AKA health insurance.....it's a good idea....as far as who should pay for it - that discussion should be in spray

I like my BDs except for the button locks on the lower sections - they're very difficult to collapse to begin with but on a cold outting they're nearly impossible. Might just be my particular poles (lemons?). The newer BDs I've seen are all Flik-loc I think I have all Flik-loc BD poles. I can't complain but they are definitely NOT the lightest. The newest BD 3-section poles have a button lock on the lowest section , which is the problem referred to above, except the carbon fiber ones which appear to have 2 flick-locks. The lightest current offering from BD are 2 carbon fiber models at 17 oz, FYI. Yep....not particularly light although not monsters. I really like the flik-lok vs. the twist, but not sure it's worth the 5oz. it costs you relative to the Rei poles. I like the extended choke up grip on the BDs as well.

not sure about those grips though...don't look to comfy

I like my BDs except for the button locks on the lower sections - they're very difficult to collapse to begin with but on a cold outting they're nearly impossible. Might just be my particular poles (lemons?). The newer BDs I've seen are all Flik-loc I think

I think that the REI poles mentioned above are the lightest - based on my limited research.

less obvious is that it's a bitch, not a bastard

Fair enough, but I was a new trad leader last year, and worked up to comfortably leading 5.8 by J-tree in November and following 5.9. I tore my ACL and had it reconstructed in March and am hoping to be back to climbing by August after a 9-month break. NWC been on my list for a long time and just trying to figure out if this is a realistic objective for this year. 5.9 face moves vs. 5.9 foot jams matter to me and my new ACL. I'm a new father, so pretty risk averse at this point. Thanks all for the beta. I may be looking for a rope gun in a month or two!

Perhaps I can infer, but what makes the flake pitch so strenuous in your opinion??? I think it's technically rated 5.8, correct?

How are the rests on the flake pitch? Can you power up to rests to place pro w/o a lot of run-out, or do you need to place under the flake with one hand while underclinging with the other?

Porter is to blame for Arch's body image issues

word on the street is that formula digests more slowly (4 vs. 2 hours), so I know folks that have introduced formula at the last pre-bedtime feeding and extended at least the first stretch of sleep considerably..... gotta love sensitivo

JayB will come to the rescue