Winter

Oh yeah, drinking Coca Cola, selling arms and weapons to the Saudis, funding Bin Laden to fight the Soveits - its all the same. They're rich - they have ties to everything. Bury your head in the sand and ignore it - you'll feel much better. JB, I never alleged that Bush brought down the towers. That may or may not be true - but I think there are much larger questions of whether and how the Bush family's business dealings have impacted our national security interests and whether they have used their political positions to financially benefit themselves and their friends to the detriment of those security interests. But the Bin Ladens probably eat pop rocks too, so I'll just tune back into infomercials for the ginsu knive knowing you're on the muthafucka. Your seem to think that your allegations are actually more fully substantiated and more consequential than the pop-rocks example, but your essential claim is no more well established. Take a fact, make an allegation, and then engage in some far-ranging speculation. Same model, different specifics. This "Until someone can prove otherwise, I believe X" model of thinking is a hallmark of the paranoid and the deluded, and your last post should be included in the revised-and-updated edition of Hofstatder's tome. "Until you can prove to me that the toaster in my kitchen DIDN'T come alive and try to molest me last night, you've got no right to question this claim. There is a toaster in my kitchen. I was in my house last night. These are facts...." Sorry - but the passion and commitment behind your claims is not the least bit consistent with the either the magnitude of the evidence nor the power - cough - of the arguments that you've brought to bear to support them, so don't be surprised if folks beyond the ideological ramparts are not persuaded by either. JB, what allegations and what passion and commitment? I have posed a couple of questions - I offered no answers and I set forth no hypotheses or speculation and certainly not an argument. You dogmatic fascination with labeling people paranoid/ideological/deluded and generally intellectucally inferior to yourself is seriously clouding your basic reading comprehension skills amigo. Dissent is partiotic - we ought to look skeptically upon our leaders when their business deals overlap with their political roles as public servants. You can label people, call them names, belittle them and generally be an elitist ass towards them with your fancy prose and acadmic theories, but our leaders should answer the questions instead of hiding behind a wall of elitism and privilege. The American public is tired of being ridiculed for posing perfectly good questions - witness the last election.

Alright then. Thanks.

Oh yeah, drinking Coca Cola, selling arms and weapons to the Saudis, funding Bin Laden to fight the Soveits - its all the same. They're rich - they have ties to everything. Bury your head in the sand and ignore it - you'll feel much better. JB, I never alleged that Bush brought down the towers. That may or may not be true - but I think there are much larger questions of whether and how the Bush family's business dealings have impacted our national security interests and whether they have used their political positions to financially benefit themselves and their friends to the detriment of those security interests. But the Bin Ladens probably eat pop rocks too, so I'll just tune back into infomercials for the ginsu knive knowing you're on the muthafucka.

The Union Banking Corp was shut down by the US Govt for funding the Nazis - that's a fact. The Bin Laden's were key investors in the Carlyle Group - that's a fact as well. When are we allowed to ask questions about the Bush's "coincidental" connections to some of the worst villains in modern history? Oh its just because they were all rich and involved in business deals unrelated to their politics? I don't think you have to be a conspiracy theorists for these facts to bother you.

I just got a new pair of STS skins - haven't gotten a new pair of skins in few years. What gives with the non-sticky black strip down the middle? Someone told me it peels off - when am I supposed to peel it off? How do you reglue these things if it doesn't peel off? Any insights? The instructions were totally silent about it. Thanks.

Bo Jackson fetish?

Dude the Guardian? Are you serious? Its British! You can't trust those carpet baggers. The British are all paranoid conspiracy-minded liberals. NBC is a WAAYY more credible source of news and information. Wake up!

you're just a paranoid schizoliberal that can't quote from obscure academic literature. please go back to writing a manifesto and hiding out in a Montana outhouse.

hmmm ... lickin puss, killin arabs ... lickin puss, killin araba ... lickin puss, killin arabs. Life is so unfair - why can't we have our puss lickin and arab killin at the same time?

your car must have pissed off God - or maybe the deer pissed off God. Or maybe the deer was God and was trying to teach you a lesson about driving. Or maybe your car is God and the deer his followers and the insurance company is satan.

you da shizzle! i owe you beers. pm me next time you're in p-town.

Schweet! Who's up for a winter ascent of Beligerence?

My guess is you can't admit when you're wrong. We were talking about Sadam being put to death - i.e. capital punishment. But you can keep moving the goal posts if it makes you feel better about all this nonsense.

yes.

Yeah, but you'll have to pay him to be your "mentor."

Scandinavia, Holland, Britain - many European countries have outlawed capital punishment and yet the violent crime rates have not gone up and in fact are lower than what we see here in the US. There are other systems and they work. Furthermore, subsequent decreases in violence cannot be attributed to this change in policy. Most often, decreases in violent crimes (I mention these because they are most often the common capital crimes)are attributed to increases in economic and political security. You asked for an example and I gave you one. I didn't argue about cause and effect. Face it - there are other models of criminal justice that work and that do not involve capital punishment. End of story.

Scandinavia, Holland, Britain - many European countries have outlawed capital punishment and yet the violent crime rates have not gone up and in fact are lower than what we see here in the US. There are other systems and they work. Do a little homework before throwing your hand up in and saying "Earth is violent, we need to kill the killers." Here in the US, you are MUCH more likely to be put to death for killing a white man than a black man - what does that tell you? There are also several well documented cases of people being exonerated for crimes after their executions. Is that really the system of criminal justice you want to defend to fulfill a need for revenge?

Ok, no some real beta - thanks Ken. Much appreciated. I'd love to see the topo you have if you manage to track it down.

That's a nice witty smart ass remark. But who would Jesus kill? If we punish violence with violence, then we doom ourselves to living in a culture of violence. There are many other options.

uggghhh ... death begets more death proving once again we failed to evolve.

dude you should try clipping your toe nails once in awhile. if you're really flexible you can even bite them off.

Thanks the beta guys. Much appreciated. I'll check out that guide book but I couldn't tell if it had the rock routes in it or just the walk ups so was kind of hesitant to buy it. Sue, let me know if you're gonna be back east sometime around the end of July early August 'cause that's when K and I wil be there.

Hey Sue, what up? Thanks for the beta. I'd really like to find some info on the more techincal routes but am having some trouble digging it up. I'll track down some of the leads. Did you hear about the earthquake on Acadia earlier this year? Apparently it sent down some serious rock fall at the Precipice/Story of O area and shut it down to climbing for the time being - bummer. Not sure what the current status is. We climbed there in 2004 and loved it. We plan to pass through Acadia again this summer and will do some more climbing as well.

This dude is not left-handed. He clearly lost his other arm in a horrible and ugly failed self-arrest accident in which his partners and his right arm perished. Luckily the rest of his body survived. His arm has yet to be located, prompting caveman speculators to call for new laws requiring PLB's for each separate limb.

I sleep well at night knowing that SuperKitty is protecting us from the evil-doers.