el jefe

climbers are brain-damaged -- this is news to someone?

nice work.

nice one! but i thought the british decided against siding with the south because they quickly discovered they could replace southern cotton with cotton from india? even if secession had occurred "peacefully", bad feelings would have persisted between the usa and csa, probably forcing the british to choose anyway and there's no reason to think they would have chosen differently than they did. i still see the south living under the shadow of bigger cousin up north, just like the rest of central and south america ended up...

the south had no industry and its only resource was cotton, so it would have required foreign investment (probably from the north) in order to develop the oil in texas. this would have probably worked better for the north anyway since the south would have become one of the banana republics on the state dept payroll -- that way the yankees could control the south but not let the rednecks have the vote.

i'm just glad i didn't take the bait and get a subscription when they offered that 33% off deal right before going under. $48 or whatever for a single issue of alpininst would have been seriously annoying.

i think the idea would be to have let the south "secede" ("suceed" is almost freudian for "succeed"). in any event, my opinion is that if the south had been allowed to secede, then they'd have been a 3rd rate banana republic with a backward agrarian economy and no one would have cared whose side they chose during ww1 or ww2. even today the southern state receive more money from the federal government than they contribute in terms of federal tax revenues. that part of the country is a liability.

wishful thinking is what keeps the screw there. also, i've found that sprinkling a little pixie dust on it never hurts. and no, i've never fallen on one, either.

i think the complaint that obama's resume lacks heft is just a publicly acceptable way for white men to say that they can't bring themselves to vote for the dark-skinned candidate. if anything, ron paul's resume is significantly less impressive than obama's (i.e., he is just a congressman from hicksville, texas, has never been a governor or even run a large family farm), yet that fact doesn't seem to disqualify him like it does the democrat with the funny-sounding name.

billcoe, the fact that "George Bush had significantly BETTER credentials" and nevertheless did an absolutely terrible job as president seems to argue that your concern re: obama's resume is essentially irrelevant. in fact, based on your bush analogy, we would in fact be wiser to choose the guy with the slimmer resume. as for me, i'm voting obama because i believe mccain would be a continuation of the bush disaster, especially if he dies in office and leaves dimwit sarah in charge. also, ron paul isn't an option because i find his libertarian views simpleminded and naive.

i've had one pair of evolv shoes and thought the trax rubber wasn't very sticky, so i traded them with a friend who liked them a lot, although i think he plans on resoling with fiveten rubber.

in my experience, onyx rubber is very sticky, but wears out pretty quickly, too. i've been using miuras for a number of years and like the vibram rubber, but am pondering (as usual) trying something new.

i haven't yet tried the acopa shoes. i hear rthe rubber is supposed to be pretty sticky, though. what other opinions are out there?

pope, you are an ass and everyone knows it.

here's my answer: i relish talking back to assholes who never have anything good to say about anyone else.

spoken like a tired old fart has been, pope. why is it that guys like you relish knocking other people down? is your life really so small and pathetic that you can only make yourself bigger by criticizing others?

you just gotta love the way old (very old) raindawg doesn't take himself too seriously...

apparently larrythelamo hasn't been to skull hollow in a long time yet nevertheless knows who has trashed the area...

thanks for the link, tvash. it was indeed an interesting read. i suspected mccain was a phony, but the depth of his phoniness is unreal!

don't underestimate the prognostic capability of bonghits and cheerios...

where are you guys getting your information? just curious. it is almost too much to hope that this year could be as good as last year. hood got a big dump of snow almost every day last year through the heart of winter and late into spring...

mountain soles does a good job, but the turn around on my last resole with then was one month, which isn't really what i'd call "quick turn around".

Laugh all you like. Do you really think that some of us will sell-out our strong values after only 15 months??? Go away for another 15 months and you'll still find us here when you come back. idée fixe |ēdā ˈfēks| noun ( pl. idées fixes pronunc. same) an idea or desire that dominates the mind; an obsession. ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: French, literally ‘fixed idea.’

awesome pics! you must be the proud papa to see the little one cruising on crime of the century!

whether judgment is compromised depends on whether the individual in question has good judgment to begin with, and that is something only time will tell. however, i think this sort of event is high profile and is going to mean that alex honnold will likely be seen in more magazine ads in the future.

i don't quite follow your thinking here, g-spotter, you claim that sponsorship caused dean potter to solo delicate arch? where does personal responsibility come in to play? lots of climbers have been sponsored and haven't soloed delicate arch, so my thought is that maybe dean potter should be held accountable for what dean potter does. i hope we do see photos and dvds of this remarkable solo effort, and i hope alex honnold gets some sponsorships (if that is what he wants).