Winter

ah man, i remember the good ol days when we got beat in school by grizzled old career teachers that had been beatin kids for decades. if we could only take the ruler and belt to the delinquint kids these days, i'm sure we could fix our education system and crank out more happy, healthy, well-adusted youth ready to go out into the world and do good. *warmfuzzy*

I'd actually be in favor of full legalization of all drugs, extending the legal benefits of marriage to any two consenting adults, etc - but this isn't about my policy preferences. I've just been arguing that there may be people who may feel that their lifestyle choices may not be an ideal template upon which to base the construction of public policy. So long as they're candid about their own behavior, I don't think that charges of hypocrisy are warranted. Different standards apply to different behaviors - especially those involving consensual behavior between two mentally competent adults, or behaviors which don't harm anyone else directly - but I think there are cases in which one can engage in behaviors and still conclude that they should be condemned, illegal, etc. I don't think that Patrick Kennedy, for example, is under any ethical obligation to argue that driving while gorked out on prescription meds should be decriminalized because he was caught doing so. T craig hasn't exactly been candid about his behavior (unless you're in a bathroom with him) or admitted to anything (apart from his guilty plea) and apparently continues to lie about his own sexuality. if he comes clean, admits that he's gay, that he wanted to get laid in the men's bathroom, that he got laid in the DC airport bathroom, and that his own actions directly conflict with his policy position, then let's talk again. at that point, it will up to his constituency to determine whether he can effectively represent them in DC.

McClane's description should get you down. But you could also get wicked lost. Good luck!

how is being gay=gambling addiction?

well at least we know he can hear and speak. thinking and problem solving are different skills altogether.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals just ruled against the Access Fund in a case challenging the FS's decision to close Cave Rock to climbing at Lake Tahoe. The Access Fund basically argued that the FS's decision violated the Est. Clause of the constitution because it promoted the religion of the Native group that used the historic site. Thought some of you all may be interested to see how the Ninth Circuit handles access issues. Ninth Circuit Opinion

Pervert? Why do you hate gays, Dru? You know what the difference is between kinky and perverted? Kinky uses a feather. Perverted uses the whole chicken. Are you accusing Craig of screwing chickens?

Craig was apparently arrested and plead guilt for lewd behavior in a bathroom stall - propositioning an undercover cop in the next stall over. Should be fun to watch this unfold.

my roommate had a pet python, and we were learning to feed it live mice with the cats around - they were prett fascinated and pretty jealous of the snake. next day my cat had caught a large rat, brought it into the backyard, and left it next to the snake's bucket for breakfast.

if you don't like the message, assassinate the character of the messenger.

Retired NASA astronomer Steve Maran said of the discovery: "This is incredibly important for something where there is nothing to it." Now I remember why I did so poorly in physics for astonomy majors in college.

Alien Cams - Nothing works better - as long as you don't take a huge whipper on them.

he sucked as a quarterback anyway. he's done in the nfl. they will impose a lengthy suspension, falcons will sue his ass to get part of his signing bonus back, he'll spend $$ on lawyers, he'll sit in jail, he'll get out and try to play in a couple years, he'll suck again, he'll get cut during training camp, and he'll be back hanging out with his convict bro marcus. the silver lining in all of this is gonna be watching joey harrington try to carry the falcons this season.

"The camel was just 10 months old but already weighed 152kg (336lbs) and had come close to suffocating the family's pet goat on a number of occasions." and just how did this camel try to suffocate the family goat I wonder?

aw yeah, can a photo really do the OW dry heaves justice? let's see 'em!

Trip: Katahdin - Armadillo Route, III+, 5.8 Date: 7/31/2007 Trip Report: Because the cc.com bretheren generously contributed beta for the trip, I'm posting a TR. Thanks Kenford for the efforts. Thanks to all the folks that offered up beta for the trip. No hard man climbing. No grand explorations. No FAs. But still worthy of a drop in the bucket of cc.com history to prove that random calls for beta sometimes get put to good use. Sitting down with the calendar last winter, I realized this summer wasn't going to offer the same climbing ops as the last few. We committed to a two-week trip back east to see the family, and work had already filled up a lot of the other free time. What else could we do? Had to try to squeeze in a little alpine adventure during the east coast holiday. I spent my childhood summers in Maine but had never been to Katahdin, so that's where we headed. We planned on climbing the Armadillo Route on the north side of the mountain. This is the view from the 3+ mile, 1500' approach to the Great Basin. Once there, we checked in with the climbing ranger. We had heard nightmares about red tape and silly hassles, but the ranger greeted us with a smile and a positive attitude. We talked a bit about the route, showed him our gear, and then he sent us off under glorious weather excited for us to be there. From the Great Basin, its about 2500' to the summit. Two pitches got us over the initial easy buttress/waterfall, and then we got into endless, polished slabs cut with bushy ledges. We started soloing, then roped up and simulclimbed most of it. I kept wanting to head straight up to the buttress, but I kept getting shut down by loose dirt over polished slabs mixed in with wet seeps and shitty pro. I'd climb straight up, get to a shitty ledge, and then traversed back into the gully, refusing to accept our ultimate fate of just following the obivous weakness. The stellar part of the route climbs up the right hand side of the big flake lying up against the bottom of the buttress. At the top, the route traverses onto the face across a hollow, thin expando flake, offering a couple hundred feet of solid exposure - super fun 5.8 climbing. Manky pins interspersed with decent pro, near vertical rock, and interesting face moves at the end of a long pitch made for fun climbing. Once on top, a sweet 5.7 fist crack climbs up from the top of the giant flake, past a fixed bong (prolly shouldn't be there), to a nice ledge out left. The route turns the corner, climbs back right and up to the buttress crest, and then runs along the ridge top for several pitches to the Knife Edge on super fun easy terrain with most excellent views and positions. Once on top the, you meet up with the hikers, pack up the gear, and hike up and over. A few last glimpses of the route. We really enjoyed the route. The actual climbing is pretty short with a lot more 4th and easy 5th class at both the bottom and top of the route. But we had the whole basin to ourselves, and we didn't expect such a grand alpine setting on the east coast. We didn't set any speed records, but he had a great time and soaked this place up for all it was worth, because we may never be back. After waking up at 4:00 am and 15 hours of hiking/climbing, we got back to the car around 7:30, packed it up under a swarm of man-eating mosquitos, and drove off towards Bangor en route to Mt. Desert island. We finally pulled in around 11:45 pm - long day. We spent the next several days enjoying childhood stomping grounds on the SW corner of the island - a cabin overlooking Duck Cove. Got in a little climbing at the Precipice. Ate popovers at the Jordan Pond House. Note the Bubbles in the background - one of the local crags in Acadia NP. Relaxed. The East Coast ain't so bad. Gear Notes: Small set of nuts and single set of cams to #4. 10-12 slings. Many fixed pieces and lots of simul climbing. Approach Notes: Roaring Brook to Great Basin - 3+ miles. Easy in easy out.

The thread's about P-Town - not Vancompton, WA.

Spectacular trip report! Congrats on the engagement.

I say go ahead and bolt it, but I'll bet you $20 they get chopped.

Lance would have bunny hopped that dog and rode on to victory! What kind of loser runs over a dog on a bike?

The descent down Kraus-McCarthy will go with a single rope but is more convenient with two ropes. Personally I would take a tag line so you can push your limit and have the ability to retreat, but if you're just going to climb routes you feel are well within your ability than a single rope should do.

I prefer self-loathing ambulance chaser.

imho, y'all are kind of analyzing a pretty straighforward pitch to death here. it protects - its 5.8 to 5.9 - and its fun as hell.

its all there - get on it! it ain't run out.

fill your pack with beer and have a party on the summit!