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Sierratradingpost has Cloudveil's for $36 w/$0 shipping.

I think we need some more pics of iron horse riding steppe children to get back on track

Your SS funds are invested in TBills, one of the most stable investments in the world. The low rate of return on the investment stems from the Ponzi nature of SS - your money is paying off those who have withdrawn more than they contributed. It isn't "mismanaged" it's invested to minimize risk.

I dunno. That'd be a bit of a huck. Stephen's been having a Q & A in the couloir mag forum recently; might be interesting to ask him directly.

I find "personal freedom" and healthcare today amusing. For those with employer provided healthcare, the employers pick the service provider and pay a majority of the cost as part of our compensation package. That portion is part of your compensation whether you choose to obtain health insurance through your employer or not. I've never heard anyone succesfully ask for a 10% raise because they've sought insurance on their own. It's a tax - I pay for it whether I use it or not.

Left Gully by Doug Coombs (1997), Right Gully by Stephen Koch (snowboard 1992)

Ain't the government paying for your schooling Harpell?

If it's so universal shouldn't this be born out in data? It's not well shown in the Nordic countries; hence my comment about dogma. There are many solid arguments to make about whether or not their system is sustainable(also for ours). That their system isn't working now, and hasn't worked for the past 40 years, is not an argument to make in my mind. And no I don't think that style welfare style would work well in other countries - but I don't think any one form of government would work everywhere. Pax et Cervisia

Nonsense! I believe in modern science! "SnowLab -Four 5 gram packets of fake snow powder makes 32 ounces of fake snow. Just add water and get pure white snow in any temperature. It is just like the real thing (wet and slippery)and it does not melt. Safe and non-toxic it's great for all ages." I've got several cases on order.

As have I; given your conclusion included "less productivity" and "lower incentive to work" I think some of your datapoints may be faulty. And I'm currently working on emigration plans. F the taxes this country's going to have to raise to pay for our leaderships dumb ass war plans, the f'ing boomers social security & medicare.

Trickle down Oil PP? What good is 35 days supply? Especially when 60% is High Sulfur Oil?

Keep on believing that dogma if you want; it doesn't fit the Nordic societies. They have some of the highest standards of livings, highest incomes, and highest rates of startups/entrepeneurship. And lots of vacation. And very hot women.

Yawn. Highest standard of living in the world. Those taxes end up paying for things that I pay up the yingyang here for - like college, student loans, etc. The Norwegians I've met have reasonable equivalent salaries, and equivalent disposable income - which in the end is all that matters to me. Seperate argument entirely Melbourne's supposed to very nice - decent MTB'ing as well. Most Aussie's head to NZ for skiing (or the states)

Yeah, that Vancouver, real cultural backwater There's a reason every Kiwi has an OE - they spend lots of their life hearing about everywhere else, and both NZ and Australia are a long ways from anywhere. Get used to 744's! Europe would be nice - Switzerland, Nordic Countries, bits of E Europe - high standards of living, excellent recreation.

hmm. Since when does Alpine Granite suck? The drawback to NZ is the only place to make a reasonable wage/comparable standard of living is in Auckland, which most Kiwi's will tell you isn't living in NZ. Australia would be a better choice - live by the beach, rock climbing, great weather, and NZ's a couple hour flight away.

The staff is the power behind any politician - the key is to watch for changes in the West Wing staff and in the past few days they've assumed the public positions of power some have said they already held - Gonzalez to Justice, Rice to State. I don't think this contradicts that theory an iota.

It's fairly common in recent 2-term administrations for substantial staff turnover for the 2nd term. These days 7-figure salary's in the private sector have to be a factor.

I was referring to Portland print journalism. I don't do TV news - but then the falling ratings on national newscasts suggest I'm not alone. For PDX papers: The Oregonian has missed the boat far too often too depend on them(Goldschmidt, Packwood, the cruddy sensationalism of the Woo revelation); Willamette Week has too little "real" news - but occaisonal gems like the Goldschmidt story; the Portland Tribune forgets little things like the "not" in front of a guilty plea when reporting. As John said - they aren't bad small town papers, tidbits of local news with lots of wire service stories; they aren't "real" papers to me.

In prior wars supply trains were staffed with military personnel - convoys were driven by soldiers, meals were fixed by soldiers, repair work was done by soldiers. In Iraq the fuel trucks are driven by US contractors, the meals fixed by contractors. Same roles, same duties, different "boss" than in the past, and one that to my mind places themmin the role of unarmed combatant.

Especially since those same jobs would have been performed by soldiers in past wars. We've outsourced the logistics of our army and somehow expect our enemy's to respect this.

And miss out on all the real news in Oregon. Like sexual harassing senators, governors who have "affairs" with 13 year olds, etc. Oregon news is bush league. It says alot that Bill O'Reilly spent time here.

Of course it is! The before and after pictures are fare less shocking; we don't have anytime to prep the life stories. This whole thing is starting to stink worse.

That's NSC - National Security Council, advisors to the President (she is the National Security Advisor) not NSA - National Security Agency the largest US spy agency. She got run over in most every administration argument.

There was a reason the White House loathed Foggy Bottom the past 4 years... So when's Rummy gone? 6 months? 1 year? I bet whenever we have an apropriate "milestone" in Iraq.

I think there are several "splinter" forums now. Maybe we can have an FBI agent focus on us now