Getting equipped for waterfall ice climbing, a highly equipment-intensive activity, used to be easy. You just had to buy some screws, technical ice tools, crampons, and wander around the mountains until you found a frozen cascade. Fortunately, recent advances in technology now enable us to climb and protect ice much more efficiently than in years past, but these advances have also made buying ice equipment much more complex. Here I’ll delve into some considerations for selecting equipment for waterfall ice and mixed climbing.

Screws
The base component of an ice climbing rack is the tubular ice screw. Modern screws feature high relief threads that greatly increase the holding power over older, pound-in, and fine-threaded designs. Look for a model that is tapered from the teeth to the hanger since they fracture less than non-tapered models. Models that are coated in stainless steel like the Black Diamond Turbo Express rust much less, giving you piece of mind (even though the typical amount of rust is merely a cosmetic annoyance, not a structural hazard). Hangers that facilitate rapid placement with features like “turbo knobs” or wire handles are worth the extra cost because they are so much faster and easier to place.

Determining how many screws to bring depends on the difficulty of the climbing, how thick the ice is, and the length of the pitches. I typically bring around a dozen, using two or three for each belay. This leaves six to eight screws to protect the upcoming pitch. The newest ice screws are all rated to hold falls (the 10 cm screws used to be rated only as aid climbing protection and not for falls), so you should decide what length of screws to bring based on the thickness of the ice you’ll be climbing. A typical rack usually consists of:

• One or two 10 cm screws (aka “stubbies”)
• Four 13 cm screws
• Four 16 cm screws
• Two 22 cm screws

Using a load-limiting sling to reduce force on a screw placed in aerated ice.

Rock Protection for Mixed Climbing
It is often possible to protect ice climbs with supplemental rock protection if you are climbing an ice route directly adjoining rock. In addition to being fast to place, rock gear can inspire confidence when attacking hard sections of ice climbing.

Rock protection is also critical when climbing “mixed” routes, or routes that necessitate both rock and ice climbing in varying amounts. Depending on the ratio of ice to rock on the route, I adjust my rack accordingly. More ice means more screws; more rock means fewer screws and more rock gear.

A typical traditional mixed rack looks something like this:

• Four to ten ice screws
• One set of stoppers
• Two tri-cams (pink and red)
• Three to six pitons from knifeblade to 1/2″ angle
• A few cams from 0.5″ to 2″
• One to two ice pitons/hooks

The rock type dictates the exact composition of the rack. For limestone routes with lots of parallel cracks, I emphasize cams and pitons over stoppers since stoppers don’t tend to place well in that type of crack. For routes on granite, conglomerates, or chossy/broken rock, I reintroduce the stoppers to the mix. Pitons are universally good. Ice pitons don’t work well in ice, but are invaluable for driving into dirty cracks and frozen moss.

Traditional mixed climbing on "Mixed Master" in the Canadian Rockies.

Load Limiters, Slings, and Carabiners
Designed to reduce the peak impact force on a piece of protection, load-limiting slings, such as the Yates Screamer or Petzl Nitro, deserve a place on your rack. These quickdraw-like slings are designed to elongate when a high force is placed on them, thus lengthening the duration of the fall and resulting in less force being transmitted to the piece of protection holding the fall. I always place these on the first piece of protection off the belay and also on dubious pieces thereafter. For the remaining slings, I find that models composed of Spectra/Dyneema work better since they are lighter, more packable, and don’t absorb water.

Carabiners are a great place to save weight on your rack. All non-locking carabiners should be wiregate models that are large enough to manipulate with gloves on. These are much lighter and are also much less susceptible to freezing shut and suffering from gate flutter. Avoid using those tiny sport climbing carabiners since they are impossible to be efficient with while wearing gloves. Locking carabiners (like the Petzl Attache) should be large enough to use a munter hitch on in case your rope freezes or you drop your belay device.

Rope Systems
Because ice protection is generally less bomber than rock protection, falling on ice is always a bad idea, and anything you can do to reduce impacts on protection is in your best interest. Rope systems can effect those impacts.

Rope systems for ice and mixed climbing have the same variability as protection. The simplest system is a single rope, usually 60 meters long and with a 9 to 10mm diameter. With a single rope, rope management is greatly simplified as it mimics the typical rock climbing setup, but it halves the length of any rappels you have to make. When used properly, double ropes(sometimes called “half ropes”) with a diameter of 8.0 to 9.0 mm allow full-length rappels and can decrease the amount of rope drag (because you clip each rope into alternating protection) as well as impact force (because of greater stretch). Twin ropes, another type of rope system, are clipped into each piece of protection just like a single rope, but they offer full length rappels and increased redundancy (since there are two ropes in case one is cut over an edge, hit by an errant tool placement or crampon, or chopped by ice or rockfall). It should be noted that twin ropes result in more impact on protection pieces than either of the other two ropes systems. In rock climbing where protection for the most part is very sound, this isn’t as much of a concern as in ice climbing where impact force can be a very bad thing. My preferred option is a single rope combined with a tag line. Generally speaking, the tag line, which is a 7mm nylon cord, serves as a pull cord for your single rope, thus allowing full-length rappels with less weight than a double rope system. No matter what rope system you choose, get dry treated ropes. They last longer (because the sheath is more resistant to wear), and they absorb less water than non-treated ropes.

Putting it all together on Gibraltar Wall, British Columbia

Boots
There are a number of boots that are well suited for ice climbing. The key characteristic of a good ice climbing boot is fit. Find a model that minimizes or eliminates heel lift when standing on your toes and that is comfortable to wear all day while walking and climbing. Other important features are:

• A 3/4 or full length shank – This stiffens the boot sole to provide a solid platform while climbing.
• Insulation – to keep your toes warm
• Flexibility – for ankle mobility and walking comfort
• Welts – think of these as “benches” for your crampons to sit on.

Crampons
The most important feature of crampons for ice climbing is their ability to fit onto your boots securely. Choosing between horizontal or vertical frontpoints can be challenging. For pure ice climbs, horizontal frontpoints offer more surface area and stability, especially in porous or aerated ice. Vertical frontpoints offer greater precision for technical ice and really shine on difficult, mixed climbs. An added bonus of vertical frontpoints is that replacement frontpoints are available, meaning that after a sharpening them over and over, you only have to replace the frontpoint and not the entire crampon.

Scarpa Freney XT boots, Lowa Civetta boots (with Intuition Denali liner) with Grivel G12 crampons, Koflach Degree boots with Black Diamond Cyborg Crampons, and Raichle 90 Degree boots with Petzl Dart crampons

Ice Tools
All modern ice tools climb well. The debate rages on about leashed versus leashless models and each has its merits. Each type of tool has different characteristics (swing, weight, balance, etc), so it is ideal to climb on a variety of models and select the one that fits your swing style best.

On pure ice and alpine pitches, I prefer to climb with a hammer on one tool and an adze on the other. Adzes are indispensable for clearing away large amounts of poor ice, chopping bivy ledges, or camming into cracks. Hammers are crucial for placing and removing pitons. The consequences of your tool popping out and the adze smashing into your face is more severe than a hammer, so beginners may find that using two hammers may be safer (i.e. you’ll get a bruise instead of stitches); I also prefer using two hammers on bolted mixed routes.

Helmet
Always wear a helmet when climbing ice. Period. I’ve seen too many people who would have gotten seriously hurt or killed if they hadn’t been wearing one. Be sure your warm hat or balaclava fits underneath it.

Backpack
You have to get your gear to the route somehow. For ice “cragging” days, I choose something in the 35 to 40 liter size. A small “summit” style back like the Black Diamond Bullet or the Cilogear 20L  are excellent for longer routes where carrying a parka, food, and water are critical for success. Find a model that doesn’t affect your swing and that has a streamlined profile.

A full arsenal for a day of ice or mixed climbing.

Other Essentials
In addition to everything mentioned above, I always have these other items squirreled away in my pack for every foray out on the ice.

1. Harness. By using a model with adjustable leg loops, you can put it on after your crampons. Mine always has my trusty ATC-Guide belay device attached with its dedicated locking carabiner.
2. Abalakov Tool. Otherwise known as a v-thread tool, these are indispensable for building rappel anchors in ice. A pocketknife for cutting cord is nice to have also.
3. Headlamp. The days are short during the winter, so don’t forget your headlamp! I prefer a high output LED model like the Petzl Tikka XP or Black Diamond Spot.
4. A belay jacket. Either down or synthetic is fine. This jacket goes on over all my layers upon reaching the belay and comes off just before I start climbing. Be sure that the hood fits over your helmet.
5. Superlight rain shell. I only put mine on when I’m starting up pitches that are dripping wet.
6. Buff or balaclava. In addition to your ‘beanie’ hat, a thin insulating layer for your head is often the ticket for staying warm at belays and while climbing.
7. Small file. Keeping your tools and crampons sharp greatly increases their effectiveness and ease of placement.
8. Spare gloves. In addition to my climbing gloves, I always throw a spare pair in the bottom of the pack for when my main pair gets soaked.
9. Nourishment. Foods high in fat content help keep you warm. Combine these with lots of water in a thermos (or bring a Jetboil to heat up water at belays) to help keep yourself toasty throughout the day. Think of it as gas for the tank.
10. First Aid Kit. Bring enough supplies to bandage small lacerations (ice is sharp!), a splint, and some heat packs (to ward off frostbite on extremely cold days).

Recommended Reading:

• Alpine Climbing: Techniques to Take You Higher by Kathy Cosley and Mark Houston (Mountaineers Books, 2004). Kathy and Mark were guides for AAI for many years.
• Mixed & Ice Climbing: Modern Technique by Will Gadd (Mountaineers Books, 2003)

This article was originally posted in the November 2007 issue of the American Alpine Institute newsletter.

Als moeder zie ik mijn kind door speciale ogen. Ik vind de kleur van zijn wimpers perfect, de klank van zijn stemmetje. Ik zie natuurlijk wel dat hij lelijke teentjes heeft, een veel te dik buikje en sprieterig haar. Maar dat alles maakt hem net zo Tadeusz en zolang er nog hoop is dat die buik maar een tijdelijk verschijnsel is, dat die haartjes nog wel wat voller zullen worden en dat de vrouwen een man niet enkel op zijn tenen gaan beoordelen, maak ik mij geen zorgen over het verloop van zijn leven. En dan nog.
Hij heeft een paar vriendjes in de crèche, hij eet goed, hij vindt veel dingen grappig. Hij amuseert zich. Wat wil ik nog meer?

Ik besef dat hij nu al een leven leidt dat los komt te staan van het mijne. Soms brabbelt hij dingen die hij onmogelijk van mij heeft kunnen leren. Ik weet dat hij avonturen beleeft waar ik niks vanaf weet. Het is niet ‘mijn’ kind. Een kind is geen auto. Het is een menske en hij is van zichzelf.

Maar een kind is natuurlijk wel een beetje een uithangbordje. Als hij er goed uitziet en schattig is, zich goed gedraagt, dan lijkt dat ook iets over mij te zeggen. Ik wil dat hij er leuk uitziet (kleren kopen voor een dreumes met zo’n dikke buik is geen sinecure als je wil dat hij er cool uitziet – in de foute broek denk je steeds dat hij om zal vallen). Ik hoop dat hij braaf en lief is als ik ergens op bezoek ga. Ik geef hem vermoedelijk nu al conformisme en schaamte mee. Maar vermijd dat maar eens…

Ik hoop ook dat de wereld lief zal zijn voor hem. Als hij in het karretje van de supermarkt zit en vrolijk zwaait naar iemand, dan hoop ik dat die terugzwaait. Als hij bij een ander kindje ‘aai’ gaat doen, dan hoop ik dat dat kindje hem niet omver duwt. Maar hij zal zijn eigen weggetje wel aflopen en daar zullen ongetwijfeld ambetante dingen op het pad liggen. Dan krijgt hij gewoon af en toe van mij een kus…

Binnenkort gaat hij babbelen. Dan begint de echte pret. En hij is nu al zo grappig…
(Als ie een kikker ziet roept ie ‘Kikkie!’ En als ie hesp roept ie ‘Ep!’)

The most awaited meeting is going to be scheduled the coming week, where next week could be a crucial one for airlines in India with government holding two meetings. While the committee of secretaries headed and cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar will discuss the long-pending issue of allowing foreign airlines to invest in desi ones, the whole team is gonna decide on funding on AI.

Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher words are gonna come up live soon, where he was demanding about foreign airlines be allowed to invest in fund-starved Indian airlines.
The govt has so far not taken a decision about this and  headed by Naresh Goyal’s Jet, has been opposing this on the ground that in the current environment no player can expect a good valuation. However, the trickiest of all seems to be the question of funding AI and saving it from a collapse.

If I could find a time machine, I might be tempted to travel back to November 3, 1929, when the doors opened for the first day of school at the fledgling missionary school that would come to be known all over South America as “La Academia Alianza.” 

from- http://www.alliance.k12.ec/history.html

The Alliance Academy International (http://www.alliance.k12.ec) has seen many changes take place its eighty years of existence.  We are excited to be a part of this ministry during this time in which we have the opportunity to commemorate the past 80 years of academic school years that have taken place within the school. 

The school began as many missionary schools do.  A group of missionaries with the mission known as “Christian and Missionary Alliance” (CMA) were concerned about the quality of education that their children were receiving and wanted to start a school where their children could get the education they needed to attend a college of their choice.  The couples organized a classroom atmosphere in one of the rooms of the Alliance Mission House on Cuenca street in downtown Quito, and that is how eight students became the first alumni of the Alliance Academy.

One of the interesting ways in which history comes full circle is that I (Cristina Meier) am currently teaching the great-grandson of the one of those first students.  I taught him last year as an eighth grader in Computer 8 and now he is also in my High School keyboarding class as a freshman.

The school was known simply as the Alliance Academy back then.  They occupied the Mission House classroom for 10 years until they were able to afford property across the street from another strong mission in Quito known as HCJB radio.  For the next 60 years, they have been building, expanding and finding new ways to use the property. 

One of the biggest changes the school faced was in the past 10 years.  CMA decided to pull its foreign missionaries out of Quito and leave their projects primarily to their national staff.  What this meant for the school was a huge turn over in faculty and staff.  Those CMA missionaries who wished to stay on were required to find a new mission to support them.  Some of those missionaries did that, while others decided to go home or another country to continue their ministry elsewhere.

The school itself was turned over to the Ecuadorian ministry of Education.  This meant that the school was no longer exempt from Ecuadorian national laws and had to comply to their standards of education.  The school also began to see a change in its student body. It is slowly becoming less of a missionary school and more of an international school with a strong Christian influence within its curriculum.  More Ecuadorian students are now attending the school than ever before.  More than 50% of the student body in the secondary school is from some Latin American origin. 

The school also modified its name to be called “Alliance Academy International,” in order to move away from the mission name of Christian and Missionary Alliance.

Although many big changes have taken place, this is still the school that I remember attending from eight grade to my senior year.  Some of the same lockers, furniture and equipment is still being used.  Last year, I taught Journalism using the same textbooks I had used as a student.  I was shocked to find the book with my own name still in it! 

I was excited when we were finally able to purchase new Journalism text books this year that better reflect Journalism of the 21^st century.

As the month of October draws to an end, I am looking forward to the special days of celebration to take place in mid-November.  There will be a special chapel for all the secondary students on Friday, November 13.  One of the former principals of the high school, Dan Egler, will be the guest speaker.  He has a special place in my heart, because he was my principal during the years that I was a high school student at AAI.  This will be followed by a weekend of alumni events.  We are all hoping that many alumni will come back and reconnect with the school of their past. 

And we are looking forward to many more years of academic success at the Alliance Academy International.

From past 4 years .. I have been down and out completely … mentally, physically, socially and even professionally coz of mother’s illness.

During this nightmarish phase, I put on weight (106 kilos to be precise).. because of the immense tension.
Stopped meeting media related people, thus giving them a thought that I am disinterested in the profession I am in.

I am a happy go lucky person, I am known for my smile .. but in this phase of mine, I forgot how to smile.

I lost the will to live, living just for the sake of living and my family.

I agree, all people do face issues in life and they fight back too and take it all in their stride, but somehow, I couldn’t.

I too am a mere mortal, I fear tensions, deaths, illnesses.

At one point of time .. I had thought that coming out of this trap was practically impossible.

And when life was at its bottom, I met a person who was like an oasis in a desert for me. This person, like an angel, changed my way of looking at things, inspired and motivated me to look into my life and now, life takes a new angle, a new perspective and i realized that there is more to me still left and waiting to be explored.

Slowly but steadily, I started picking up/re-joining the loose ends with work outs, diet control, creative and positive thinking, started seeing life as that person wanted me to see and without being too pushy or lecturing me on the dos and dont’s and also without pressurizing. The message came so beautifully that I followed these steps that i was just thinking about in the past 3 to 4 years but hesitating/procrastinating to implement the same.

My Saviour taught me the most important lesson of my life, “there is just one life, one Humayun and one lives life on a day to day basis .. whatever will happen will happen”.

In a couple of months, I have lost 16 kilos, I see myself as a renewed person, full of vigor and positivity, all set to take on the world of modeling and acting once again.

Coming Sunday (26/10/09), I am clicking my new photographic portfolio and hoping to re-enter the world of modeling and acting for which I need all my friends good wishes and blessing, which I am sure I have.

Lastly I thank that friend of mine who showed me that life is nothing but spreading cheers and spreading smiles against all odds.

I am indebted to you my friend for life. I hope that i will tread the path of glory and success once again and make u proud, but don’t forget to inspire and motivate me from time to time.

Hopefully .. Humayun Season II is on the way. Ameen.

These are ten of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen early this Monday morning from Wall Street research notes:

Accenture (NYSE: ACN) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Air Tran Holdings (NYSE: AAI) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
CareFusion (NYSE:CFN) Started as Market Perform at Leerink Swann; Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.
First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) Cut To Neutral at Macquarie.
Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM)  Cut to Underperform at KBW.
Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) Cut to Underperform at KBW.
Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) Raised to Buy at Merriman Curhan Ford.
Marvell Tech (NASDAQ: MRVL) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Tellabs (NASDAQ: TLAB) Cut to Neutral at UBS.

You can join our open email distribution list to get updates on top analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s, secondary offerings, Warren Buffett and other guru activity, M&A and more.

Jon C. Ogg
October 19, 2009

It seems rational discussion is passé.  I was recently forbidden to make comments on PZ Myers incendiary blog Pharyngula for attempting to engage in a rational discussion over a lecture he gave at AAI.  To my great disappointment, I was denied the privilege of commenting on PZ’s site after leaving only two posts.  Perhaps, if I had peppered my comments with profanity, ugly ad hominem attacks, and a *facepalm*, I would still have access to his site.  As it is, I won’t be making comments on Mr. Myer’s site any time in the foreseeable future.

For those interested in reading PZ’s blog and my original comments please follow the link below (my first comment is # 68):

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/10/my_talk_at_aai.php#comments

To my opponents, who believe they have delivered decisive blows to my arguments, here are my rejoinders:

Mr. Nerd of Redhead,

You say, “don’t lie to us about the real amount of scientific research being done. We know better.”

Thus far, I have made no comments regarding the amount of scientific research being done on ID Theory–it’s simply not an issue I’m interested in discussing at this time.  What does interest me is the fact that we make design inferences all the time and that the ability to make such inferences seems to be crucial to the sciences—a point that PZ demonstrates beautifully in his lecture.

So, the question still stands:  If distinguishing between things which have arisen from undirected natural processes and things which have arisen from intelligent design is a valid, and important, aspect of science, why can’t biologists employ such methods when analyzing biological systems?

Mr. CJO,

There are two things about your response I’d like to address:

(1) If your assertions are correct,  S.E.T.I is a complete waste of time and money–the extraterrestrial agents they seek evidence for are not, “extremely well understood in terms of motives and capabilities.”  If the S.E.T.I researchers followed your way of thinking, it would be impossible to determine whether an alien signal was designed unless they had already come into contact with the very extraterrestrials they were searching for.

The fact of the matter is, we know what intelligence is and we are capable of recognizing intelligent activity or involvement when we see it.  Distinguishing between things which have arisen due to undirected natural causes and things which are the result of intelligent design is a fundamental aspect of science; an aspect S.E.T.I researchers rely upon when they analyze radio signals from outer space.

(2)  You say, “if you want to “detect design in biology,” first you have to identify where the apparently unbroken chain of reproduction was broken in order to do this design work, and second you have to identify an agent capable of conceiving and carrying out the design.”

Why?  I don’t have to know when and how a brick wall was built to recognize that it is not the product of undirected natural causes.  Similarly, I don’t have to know when or how a molecular machine was designed to recognize that it is the product of intelligence (if, in fact, it is).  The methods we are discussing involve how scientists recognize the difference between something that is the product of undirected natural causes and something that is the product of intelligence—not when and how design was implemented.

These are this Wednesday’s top early-bird analyst downgrades and cautious research calls out of Wall Street:

Agco Corp. (AGCO) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Apartment Investment & Management Co. (AIV) Cut to Underperform at BofA Merrill Lynch.
Airtran Holdings (AAI) Cut to Underweight at Barclays.
JetBlue (JBLU) Cut to Equal Weight at Barclays.
Tractor Supply Co. (TSCO)  Started as Underweight at JPMorgan.
Valero (VLO) Cut to Sell at Soleil.

You can join our open email distribution list to get updates each morning on analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s and secondary offerings, Warren Buffett and other guru activity, M&A and more.

JON C. OGG
October 14, 2009

white text

This is approximately the talk I gave on October 3rd at the Atheist Alliance International convention. You see, that presentation was not recorded; so I did it myself, a few days later, at home in Sacramento. Therefore, this video shows something similar to what you would have seen in Burbank. Here is an abstract:

As Wittgenstein observed, “one cannot mean a senseless series of words.” Religious propositions have no meaning, so they cannot be meant; and if they cannot be meant, they cannot be believed. One cannot believe a pseudo-proposition. “I believe in God” (for example) sounds like a report of an internal state, but that cannot be exactly what it is. What, then, is it, really? If the person making this statement it is not meaning or believing, what are they doing? Here at last is a question about religion that can be answered! Such “professions” are not reports of private mental states, they are public tokens of affiliation. Thus, the “sincerely held beliefs” paradigm used throughout our society (in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, for example) is wildly inaccurate. This has important implications for cultural debate and for public policy.

You are welcome to embed this video on any other website.

perdi o ar

While at the AAI Convention, I was able to participate in several press events to talk about SCUSA and AAI. It was my first experience in front of cameras, and once I got over the nervous jitters I was excited to talk about SCUSA and AAI.

The first media event was a short interview on Friday afternoon for a documentary about Atheism. The documentary’s goal is to show Atheists as normal people who are good, moral, and tries to combat the misconceptions about Atheists, which is very much in line with SCUSA’s mission and vision. During the interview, I spoke about SCUSA’s purpose, what we are trying to accomplish, and why we are needed. I’m not familiar with a website or title for the documentary yet, but once I get more information I will post it.

The second interview I did was with Joe (moJoe) from Atheist Nexus and the Chariots of Iron podcast. We discussed AAI and the Ambassador Program for about 1 minute before the conversation deteriorated into them teasing me about zombies (which I strongly dislike). You can view the video on the Atheist News page at www.atheistnexus.org.

Finally, I participated in the Dogma Free America live feed on Saturday night during the Atheist News party. People go online and ask questions to the interviewees live and we answer them. There was more teasing about zombies, but I did get a chance to get some good information out to the public.

Thanks!

These are this Wednesday morning’s top day trader and active trader stocks with price and volume moves.  More detailed price and volume analysis has been provided with a link to each stock story over at VSInvestor.com:

Citigroup (NYSE: C) is lower by less than 1% on what seemed like decent news.

Repros Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: RPRX) is up over 100% on huge volume.

AirTran Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AAI) is down over 12% on a secondary offering announcement.

AVANIR Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVNR) is up over 6% on a patent allowance to treat pseudobulbar affect, which the company says there are no treatments on the market yet.

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) was very active in stock options late yesterday ahead of today’s earnings report.  We’d look for a continuation of that today as traders take deleveraged bets after such a large run up in the stock.

Linn Energy LLC (NASDAQ: LINE) is getting hit on high pre-market and also after-hours yesterday after it reported it would sell 6 million units in a secondary offering.

Vical Incorporated (NASDAQ: VICL) is trading up on positive Phase II trial data against CMV disease.

You can join our open email distribution list which goes out several times per week for reminders of the top day trader alerts, analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO’s, key secondary offerings, guru investor data on Buffett and others, mergers, and more.

Jon C. Ogg

AirTran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AAI) is being punished after the close after it announced a securities sale.  The discount air carrier plans to sell $75,000,000 in convertible senior notes due in 2016 in an underwritten registered public offering.  Concurrently with the note offering, the company plans to sell 9,000,000 shares of its common stock as well.  The company does note that neither offer is contingent upon the other.

Morgan Stanley is the sole bookrunner and Raymond James is co-manager for each offering.AirTran intends to grant the underwriters of the notes offering a 30-day option to purchase an additional $11,250,000 aggregate principal amount of the notes and an additional 1,350,000 shares of common stock to cover over-allotments.

The notes will be convertible into AirTran common stock, at the option of the holders of the notes until the business day prior to the maturity date.  AirTran said that it intends to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes.

AirTran is expected to be profitable on a proforma basis:  Thomson Reuters expects $0.11 EPS for its September quarter and $0.08 EPS for the December quarter.

What is interesting is the reaction to the offering.  The market cap at the close today was $737.7 million based upon a $6.14 share price.  If you add the total up before the overallotment options it comes to roughly $150 million in gross proceeds, although the convertible feature of the notes does add to further dilution ultimately.  Still, we show shares down some 13% at $5.31 in the after-hours session.  In a bull market that seems like a steep punishment.

Obviously, the concern here is what price the airliner will have to sell the shares to new buyers.  With a 52-week trading range of $1.50 to $8.68, some must think a deep discount sale is coming.

JON C. OGG

Kolkata jaane ke theek ek din pahle .. main apni mummy (jo ki Dementia patient hai) ke paas gaya aur unse kaha ki

Humayunn:  Mummy main Kolkatta kisi kaam se jaa raha hoon.

Mummy: Kolkatta .. Kitne din?

Humayunn: 6 dino ke liye jaa raha hoon …

(she turns sad when she hears 6 din)

Mummy: 6 din ??????????

Humayunn: Haan Mummy 6 din ..  jis kaam ke liye jaa raha hoon uske paise ache milne wale hai.

Mummy: Kitne?

Humayunn: Kareeb 25 hazaar …

Mummy: Mat jaa na beta … paison ke liye jaa raha hai to mat jaa .. mere paas bahut paise hai .. mere kitne Fixed deposits hai .. woh kiske liye hai .. tere hi to hai woh paise … usme se 25 hazaar nikal le … magar mujhse door mat jaa … bas mere nazdik rah .. tujhe dekhe bina mujhe kahan chain aata hai ……

Happy Blasphemy Day, everyone!  For the last 5 years, to commemorate the anniversary of the publication of the now infamous Danish cartoons of the Muslim prophet Muhammad, on Sept. 30th the Center For Inquiry has celebrated International Blasphemy Day.

**Aside: Even if you’re religious, read this article all the way to the end.  There’s an interesting twist at the bottom – and a very important message for my fellow skeptics/atheists.

International Blasphemy Day isn’t about the non-religious thumbing their noses at the religious so much as it is about defending free inquiry and demanding that the free & unfettered exchange of ideas be respected.  More specifically, in CFI’s own words…

Free speech is the foundation on which all other liberties rest. Without having the right to express our opinions, however unpopular, those willing to use political clout, violence, and threats will stifle dissent, and we must all suffer the consequences of this. As George Bernard Shaw quipped, “Every great truth begins as a blasphemy.”

Blasphemy Day International is a campaign seeking to establish September 30th as a day to promote free speech and to stand up in a show of solidarity for the freedom to challenge, criticize, and satirize religion without fear of murder, litigation, or reprisal. The event was created as a reaction against those who would seek to take away the right to satirize and criticize a particular set of beliefs that have been given a privileged status over other beliefs.

And that freedom to analyze & criticize covers all beliefs, or non-belief.  Freedom of speech is a two-way street: I have the right to criticize religious organizations and the idea of a god, and the religious have just as much right to criticize my atheism. Let the free exchange of ideas flow uninhibited – I am not afraid of what someone has to say about me concerning my skepticism of woo and/or a lack of god belief.  And even if I were afraid of such criticism, too bad – I don’t have the power, nor should I, to determine anyone else’s right to free speech!

But, sadly, there are those who would use their religious beliefs as a cover to avoid criticism and/or exposure of fraud.  Worse yet, there are those who would use this religious charade as a way of shutting people up and denying them their right to free speech.  This is because, in the United States at least, there has been a relatively widespread & long-standing social contract to not discuss religion in mixed company.  For the most part, I can understand the wisdom of not acting like a fire-breathing atheist when you’re out with your religious pals (I have many religious friends, and I’d like to keep them).  The problem is that when some people couch their dangerous nonsense under the umbrella of “religion”, there are far too many people who are simply unwilling to provide criticism for fear of “offending someone’s religious beliefs”.

For example, there are fundamentalist Christian creationists who attempt to shut down the teaching of evolutionary science in our public schools who scream about how they’re undergoing “religious persecution” when called out on their pseudoscience.  And there’s New Age woo masquerading as “religion” – for the tax breaks (in the U.S.) as well as the social protection of religion – as in the case of psychic Sylvia Browne’s Novus Spiritus. Then there are those who claim a “religious-exemption” to otherwise mandatory child-vaccination programs, thus endangering their kids as well as the children of others when small-scale epidemics of easily preventable diseases crop up.  Also, on the issue of protecting children, there is the utterly reprehensible behavior of the Roman Catholic Church in covering up and prolonging the despicable sexual abuse of thousands upon thousands of innocent boys & girls over half a century.  Not to mention, the overly & outrageously litigious nature of the Church of $cientology as they attempt to use their considerable funding and bullying legal (and sometimes illegal) tactics to shut up critics of the cult.  And let’s not forget what got Blasphemy Day started in the first place: the threats of violence & murder against journalists in Western Europe and the Islamic World for daring to publish cartoons – cartoons! – of the Muslim prophet Muhammed.  Speaking of those cartoons, here’s a link to them

Do you see a pattern here?  The message is: “You can’t criticize me, you can’t analyze my beliefs, you can’t ask hard questions about my religion, because that would offend my religious sensibilities – Wah!”

What a stupid, childish, and dangerous cop out.  Dangerous, that is, if those of us – religious & non-religious alike – who consider ourselves lovers of liberty allow such arguments to go unchallenged.

And now, the twist: Let me not get too high & mighty from my atheist perch, folks.  Because every single criticism I’ve leveled at the religious community in the paragraphs above also goes for the non-theistic community.  As a perfect example of what I’m talking about, let us consider the recent debacle of the Atheist Alliance International bestowing their 2009 Richard Dawkins Award on comedian & talk-show host Bill Maher. As The Amateur Scientist blog states…

The Value in Skepticism

This has upset a lot of skeptics, since Bill Maher, in addition to being a loud and open atheist, is also a promoter of pseudoscientific “alternative medicine” treatments, a promulgator of paranoid conspiracy theories about pharmaceutical companies and western medicine, and an antivaccinationist. The Dawkins Award, in the words of AAI, is supposed to be given to those people “whose contributions raise public awareness of the nontheist life stance; who through writings, media, the arts, film, and/or the stage advocates increased scientific knowledge; who through work or by example teaches acceptance of the nontheist philosophy…” Bill Maher may meet the secularist qualifications, but he fails miserably on the increasing scientific knowledge front. And the nonsense he spews could keep people from seeking life-saving medical treatment.

More upsetting, even though he isn’t a member of the board which gave the award to Maher, it seems that Richard Dawkins himself has decided to turn a blind eye to Bill Maher’s blatant promotion of anti-science-based medicine.

Folks, this is wrong, and the AAI & Richard Dawkins are not acting by the standards of rationality the skeptical movement should expect of them.  They are giving an award, of which a chief criterion is the promotion of science, to a man who – despite all the good he’s done in promoting the non-theistic viewpoint regarding religion – advocates some extremely dangerous & irresponsible views on medicine, views which will get people killed. The fact that Bill Maher is a famous, high-profile atheist does not give him a free pass from science & reason-based scrutiny; and the fact that AAI and Richard Dawkins are very powerful & influential in the atheist & skeptical movements does not give them a free pass from our criticism of them speaking out of both sides of their mouths on this issue!

If I were a member of the AAI, I’d rip up my membership card in disgust.  That is my suggestion to all you AAI folks out there.

To close, the lesson of Blasphemy Day is about so much more than just “bashing religion”, as too many of my atheist brethren think.  It is also about something much deeper & more fundamental than being able to criticize religion openly & freely; it’s about having the moral courage to extend the reach of free inquiry, the asking of tough & critical questions, and the demanding of satisfactory answers into our own beliefs.  If we, as atheists & skeptics, cannot apply our own values and standards of free inquiry upon an analysis of our own house, then we are no better than the deceitful & self-serving religious and wooish charlatans whom we criticize so often.

Richard Dawkins is in hot water! The Atheist Alliance International has an award named after him which they award during their annual conference, and its description reads like this (according to Wikipedia, I can’t find a description of the award at the AAI website at all):

The Richard Dawkins Award will be given every year to honor an outstanding atheist whose contributions raise public awareness of the nontheist life stance; who through writings, media, the arts, film, and/or the stage advocates increased scientific knowledge; who through work or by example teaches acceptance of the nontheist philosophy; and whose public posture mirrors the uncompromising nontheist life stance of Dr. Richard Dawkins.

I was able to find this short post on the AAI website about the upcoming 2009 convention though, and from there I get this quote which seems to validate the Wikipedia entry (emphasis mine):

We are also pleased to announce that Bill Maher, effervescent host of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher and host and co-producer of the 2008 documentary movie Religulous, will be in attendance Friday evening to receive the 2009 AAI Richard Dawkins Award for his efforts to further the values science and reason in the world.

The case against this nomination has been made brilliantly by Orac, and I don’t need to repeat what he said except for the main point. One of the criteria for awarding the RDA is “advocates increased scientific knowledge”. Bill Maher does the exact opposite, and not only when medical issues are involved. To this day I remember listening in horror to the podcast version of the show when he and Ashton Kutcher, I think if my memory serves me correctly, were talking crap about the NASA orbiters sent to Mars!

Newsflash AAI: Bill Maher makes no effort to “further the values of science” in the world. He does make a great effort to further atheism, but he is as anti science as NaturalNews.com!

The AAI is whoring itself for the spotlight a celebrity like Bill Maher can shine on them, and I for one, and it appears Orac also, do not support this sort of behavior.

So why is this Richard Dawkins’ problem?  Well for one, even though he did not have anything to do with the selection process, the award bares his name. Secondly, he will be there at the convention, thus lending credence to the idea that he approves of Maher as a receipient. Thirdly one only needs to look at the convention website to see Maher’s and Dawkins’ pics front and center, and the Richard Dawkins Foundation Emblema right on the website banner, almost as big as the AAI portion of the banner.

For all intents and purposes it seems clear to me that RD is not an innocent bystander, whose name was “hijacked” by the AAI. If he did not support Maher as a recipient of an award bearing his name, he would say so openly not hide behind the “I did not choose him” excuse, because that is what in reality it is. It is clear that Richard Dawkins has no problem at all with this, even if Maher most clearly makes no effort whatsoever to advance the values of science; even though Maher takes every chance to trash science and push ridiculous “holistic” treatments whenever he cans; even when Maher ridicules the Mars probes as a waste of money. I guess having a celebrity on your side is more important than being intellectually honest. Here is a telling quote from an entry on the RichardDawkins.net website:

Whilst Richard was not involved in the decision, he is nevertheless happy to go along with it. Just as he worked with Bishop Harries to protest against creationist schools in the UK, and just as he regularly recommends Kenneth Miller’s books on evolution to religious people, he understands that it is not a prerequisite to agree with a person on all issues in order to unite in support of a common objective. Richard and Christopher Hitchens don’t see eye to eye on all political matters, but that doesn’t stop them from working together against the dangers of religion. Honoring the creation of ‘Religulous’ does not imply endorsement of all of Bill Maher’s other views, and does not preclude Richard’s arguing against them on future occasions. It is simply showing proper appreciation of his brilliant film.

This is a load of crap, and I call bullshit. I am disgusted to see this sort of straw man arguing on this reputable website. No one is implying that Dawkins has to agree with Maher on everything. Our argument is simple, Maher does not fulfill the criteria that the AAI itself has set up for its award recipients. Dawkins needs to acknowledge this, and not pretend he does not understand our point, or pretend that he was not aware of Maher’s anti scientific views, and, at this point when it has all been pointed out to him, ignore it completely. That is not what a man of reason does!

Also, the point about disagreeing with Hitchens on political issues is a false analogy that does not apply. We’re not saying that Dawkins needs to agree with Maher on political issues, or social issues. We’re saying that it is dishonest to endorse Maher as the recipient of an award which in part is meant to honor him for his advancement and support for science, which he most certainly lacks to the highest degree, and at the same time try to hide behind the “I did not know/ I didn’t have anything to do with this” excuse. If you knew or not, were involved or not,  is irrelevant so long as you think they did the right thing and you ignore the evidence to the contrary. If you endorse this recipient, you cannot put up this sort of defense. It is dishonest and pathetic, and we expect more from one of the most prominent public figures of our movement.

Bill Maher may be a great atheist, and may have done more than anyone alive today to advance the cause of atheism. However, either the AAI needs to change the criteria for the RD Award, or they need to retract the award from Maher. Somehow, knowing human nature, I suspect neither of these will happen. They will proudly use Maher’s name and face until they can squeeze no more publicity out of it, and keep the word “science” in their award description, because everybody knows that word is prestigious. In the mean time a dangerously misguided woo woo lover will keep on spouting anti scientific nonsense as much as he can, because hey he got an award for advancing scientific knowledge. How’s that for irony?

Thanks again to everyone for your votes! Our appearance on Fame Games was a big success. Check out what the judges had to say after the break.

By the way, if anyone else wondered what “tickle my tittler” meant urban dictionary gives us the following definition:

1. Tittler – A small alcoholic beverage that is intended to stop after just one. Usually followed by many other tittlers. Usually consumed by people on shift in the restaurant business. tit-ler

“Hey Cypress, is it time for a tittler yet”?

So apparently one of the judges did not believe that our music tickled his small alcoholic beverage.

If you feel that you can’t stop after voting for just one a’tris song there’s good news! Thanks to your support, “Chasing Rabbits” will make its Fame Games debut this coming Monday, 28 September! I can’t tell you how excited I am to see that one getting this type of exposure.

Some songs take days to write, some take weeks; “Chasing Rabbits” took months. My writing partner, Michael Kreher, came up with the foundation for this tune and I knew he was on to something the moment he first shared it with me. Even in its early form, CR held a lot of potential; but I didn’t know where it wanted to go until I watched a speech that Sam Harris, the author of The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation, gave at AAI 07. If you would like to get some more insight into the source material for this song please visit samharris.org.

To help “Chasing Rabbits” advance please use the following links to vote and review for it!

More news to come!

-Mason

आपल्या प्रत्येकाच्याच घरात वडिलधारी माणसं असतात. मग ते वडिल असो, आई असो, की आजी आजोबा असोत. आपल्या काही वाईट सवयींच्या मुळे त्यांना किती त्रास होतो ?? वय झालं की गुडघ्याचा त्रास हा बऱ्याच लोकांना सुरु होतो. गुडघ्याचा त्रास सुरु झाला की  मग मात्र जिने चढणं आणी उतरणं  ही एक शिक्षा होते.आधार घेतल्या शिवाय पाय टेकवला तर अगदी जीवघेण्या कळा येतात.

अरे बेटा  राजा, जरा मला घेउन चलतो का रे मंदिरात , असं आजी म्हणाली की मी लहान पणी पळ काढायचो. आज त्या गोष्टीचा खुप पश्चाताप होतो. वाटतं, थोडा वेळ दिला असता आजी ला तर काय झालं असतं?? अशा बऱ्याच गोष्टी असतात की ज्या होऊन गेल्यावर आपल्याला खुप पश्चाताप होतो, आणि वाटतं.. अरे.. मी जर असं नसतं केलं.. किंवा असा नसतो वागलो तर किती बरं झालं असतं? पण आता वेळ निघुन गेलेली असते आणि आपल्या हातात फक्त रहात ते पश्चाताप करणं!!!

समाजाचा सिव्हिक सेन्स जरा कमिच झाल्या सारखा वाटतो मला आजकाल..दुर कशाला, एक साधी गोष्ट घ्या.. पान खाउन थुंकणे…   बरेच लोकं प्रवास करतांना कारची  खिडकी खाली करुन थुंकतात, मग ते मागच्या दुचाकी स्वाराच्या अंगावर उडलं तरिही त्याची यांना काळजी नसते. दुचाकी स्वार पण काही कमी नाहित, हेल्मेट तर मागे कॅरियरला लाउन ठेवलेलं असतं, त्यामुळे डाविकडे तोंड करुन पचकन पिचकारी मारतात, तेंव्हा पायी चालणाऱ्यांच्या अंगावर वगैरे उडेल याची अजिबात त्यांना पर्वा नसते.आपली पिचकारी मारायची आणि भर्ऱकन निघुन जायचं. जर एखादा माणुस मागुन ओरडलाच तर इंग्रजांनी दिलेला एक शब्द आहेच ना साथीला. “सॉरी”!!

म्हाताऱ्या लोकांना जीने चढतांना किंवा उतरतांना जिन्याच्या भिंतीचा आधार लागतो. माझे आई वडिल जेंव्हा मुंबईला आले होते- मागच्या आठवड्यात तेंव्हा एके ठिकाणी आम्ही गेलो असतांना आईला भिंतीचा आधार घेउन उतरावा लागला होता जीना.जिथे गेलो होतो, ती एक दादरमधली खुप जुनी बिल्डींग होती. आणि त्या बिल्डिंगमधे रहाणारे पण अगदी १०० टक्के मराठी लोकंच होते. तरी पण इतका गलिच्छ पणा ?? काय फायदा आहे उगिच इतरांच्या नावे बोटं मोडण्यात?

भिंतिवर बऱ्याच ठिकाणी कोणी तरी *******ने (जितक्या  शिव्या असतित तितक्या )भिंतिवर तंबाखु, पान, आणी बहुतेक गोवा खाउन थुंकुन ठेवलं होतं.खुप राग आला, आणि वाईट पण वाटलं, की आपल्या देशात इतका पण सिव्हिक सेन्स असु नये?? आईला त्या घाणीने भरलेल्या भिंतीचा आधार घ्यावा लागला. वडिलांचे वय ८१ च्या वर आणी आईचे ७६ तरी असेल.त्यातल्या त्यात नशिबाची गोष्ट म्हणजे आईला दिसत ही नव्हते व्यवस्थित त्यामुळे तिला मानसिक त्रास तरी झाला नाही त्या  घाणेरड्या भिंतिवर हात टेकवल्याचा, ( बरं हात धरुन आधार दिलेला पण आवडत नाही या मोठ्या लोकांना).

आई जिना उतरत असतांना हे पाहिलं आणि हा प्रसंग कायम लक्षात रहावा म्हणुन मागुन फोटॊ काढला. तेंव्हाच ठरवलं होतं की यावर कधी तरी लिहायचं. पण राहुन गेलं. आज जेंव्हा जुने फोटो पहातोय तेंव्हा दिसला हा फोटो म्हणुन आठवण झाली.

माझी एक कळकळीची विनंती आहे..  जर तुम्ही कोणी तंबाखु किंवा पान वगैरे खात असाल, तर या पुढे कृपया जिन्याच्या भिंतिंवर थुंकू नका. कदाचित उद्या तुमच्याच आई वडिलांना त्या भिंतीचा आधार लागेल… !!

PORTO ALEGRE AGENDA
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