Bronco

Nice Gorts!

Here's a marathon that drops about 2000' in elevation and you could drive there in a day. http://www.lewisandclarkmarathon.com/

Facing criticism, Philippines, Spain defend decisions to pull troops from Iraq Sunday July 25, 2004 By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press Writer MANILA, Philippines (AP) Facing strong criticism, Spain and the Philippines on Sunday defended their decisions to pull troops out of Iraq, insisting they had the right to do what was best for their countries. Earlier, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the withdrawals ``encouraged'' Islamic militants who have stepped up kidnappings and demands that more nations leave Iraq. His comments came after the al-Qaida-linked Tawhid Islamic Group threatened in a Web site Saturday to turn Australia into ``pools of blood'' unless it recalled its troops from Iraq. The Philippines withdrew its troops this month, a few weeks earlier than scheduled, after militants kidnapped and threatened to behead Filipino truck driver Angelo dela Cruz. After the withdrawal, dela Cruz was freed and returned to a hero's welcome last week. Downer said that because the Philippines capitulated to the terrorists, more hostages have been taken in Iraq. ``Unfortunately these actions have encouraged terrorists to continue these threats, so now we are subjected, as the Italians are and the Poles and the Bulgarians, ... to further threats,'' Downer told Nine Network television. ``It's very important we send a strong message that we will not be threatened by terrorist groups.'' The Philippine's national security adviser, Norberto Gonzalez, lashed out at Downer for linking the new threats to the troop withdrawal. ``It's very narrow-minded,'' Gonzalez told The Associated Press by telephone. Instead of looking for scapegoats, Australia and other countries in the coalition that invaded Iraq should re-examine why the insurgency there has intensified in recent months, Gonzalez said. He didn't elaborate. He also said Australia should try to understand the predicament of the Philippines, which wanted to ensure the safety of its workers in the Middle East. There are some 4,000 Filipino contract workers in Iraq, and Gonzalez argued they could do more good than the 51-member peacekeeping force that was withdrawn. ``Our condition is different. We have over 1 million Filipinos scattered in the Middle East, and we need to safeguard them,'' he said. Gonzalez also cited his country's efforts to fight terrorism in Southeast Asia, including joint counterterrorism training with U.S. troops. In Spain, Socialist party spokesman Trinidad Jimenez said Sunday the government would ``never have accepted threats of a terrorist group'' and described its withdrawal of troops earlier this year as fulfilling a campaign pledge based on long-standing opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Jimenez called Downer's remarks ``totally unacceptable.'' ``The Spanish government would never have accepted threats of a terrorist group,'' Jimenez said. ``Spain's troop withdrawal is part of an electoral promise and a firm conviction that from the beginning it was an unjust and illegal war.'' Spain pulled its 1,300 troops out after Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's conservative government was defeated by the Socialists in elections March 14. The voting came three days after the nation was shaken by the Madrid train bombings, which killed almost 200 people and injured 2,000. Authorities blame Islamic terrorists for the attack.

Has the world's view changed on this? Where is the public outcry for Spain and the Phillipines folding to meet the demands of the insurgents/terrorists in Iraq? The "we don't negotiate with terrorists" policy has always made sense to me but it only works if other leaders are willing to follow through with it. Has there been some change in policy that I'm not aware of? Is it just accepted a result of the fluid nature of international politics and society recently? WTF?

You guys are way off base here. Everyone knows nowadays it's the carbohydrates, not the calories, duh.

Mark Twight N. Face of the Eiger

Yes. The fact that you ask anonimous screen names over the internet what boots to buy verifies you have significant chemical imbalances in your brain. You are indeed crazy. Welcome! I read a TR where DavidParker wore the Towers out of the box to do the long approach to Goode and climb a route with no blisters over a 2-3 day trip and a pack. I wore mine "out of the box" on a long day schwack & scramble with no problems either. I'd say go for it if they feel good after wearing them around the house for a few days. Can't be any worse than the risk you'd take wearing your old boots. I shelved some leather hunting boots for 2 years and almost died from bleeding blisters when I wore them again.

I'd bet on Fife over Gore in a street fight. I think Fife was half ninja.

Needless to say, they don't have a problem with this in Mayberry -

Did you already see this: http://www.nps.gov/dena/home/mountaineering/englishbooklet.htm I have a slightly used EXPEDITION PACK for sale in the Yard sale forum that would be perfect for Denali.

I've been using some Garmont Tower's for snow/choss/dirt/talus/mung/brush climbs and am pretty happy with them. Good summer boot. They kick steps and take crampons much better than standard approach shoes.

speaka da engrish? Loren: I keep pretty current on the windows updates. I need to install the spyware stuff becuase I notice all kinds of stupid programs running when I do ctrl+alt+delete. Thanks for the advice.

Yeah Wave Trek is great! Cris knows her stuff. Although our guide took us through Boulder drop and we ended up swimming for a bit. Pretty cold! Funny how the guides always seem to stay in the boat.

eh, yeah I'm still on '98 but, hey it is the SECOND EDITION! Loren, I did get the Sandisk micro flash USB drive thing with 256 kb. I think it was around $44.00 after rebate from Staples. I'm scared of cd burners. I managed to totally debilitate 2 computers while trying to install one. One computer was garbage, something went very wrong on the first attempt. The second attempt I actually got the dang thing to work but, only for 2 cds, then things started going haywire. I took it out and it sits in the store room. If anyone wants it, I'll throw it in with the EXPEDITION PACK listed on the Yard Sale.

IT'S ONLY TAKEN ME SIX HOURS OF DOWNLOADING DRIVERS AND SOFTWARE AND CRYING TO THE TECHNICAL SUPPORT TO GET THE FRICKING "FLASH" to accept a file. grrrrr.

I don't want that POS! Doh!

bush pushes commies into a mud puddle.

I feel like uselessly whining on the internet today. Here goes: I just saw a couple in their early 20's with a cardboard sign on the corner of Broadway and Everett Aveneue (not that that's unusual) but I noticed right away that they were lacking in a few area's for panhandleing. 1. Dressed in current trend apparel, dirty but, current. 2. Each was 40 lbs overweight. 3. Missing the look of "desparation". Appeared bored. So I get up to the light and read the sign. I didn't get past the first 2 lines. It said: Traveling! Need Food! and a bunch of small writing I couldn't read beneath that. I rolled down the window and shouted my standard "Get a Job HIPPIES!" as I drove away (real tough guy I am ) Now here's what really pisses me off, I look in my rear view mirror as I drive away cackling to myself about how clever my statement was and see some lady handing the hippies money!!! Ancient redneck proverb say, "a hippie and their money are soon seperated"

The great northern slab is 3 short pitches and is usually done by newbies in less than an hour. The approach hike is less than 5 minutes. However, you rap the route and I've seen some pretty bad clusters as a result of having 4 parties coming up behind you. The belay for the 3rd pitch is also the belay station for 2 other popular 5.8 or easier routes so it can be interesting when there's a bunch of us gumbies out there. Good opportunty for recovering booty though.

$32.00 for cassin STEEL crampons here: http://www.sierratradingpost.com/xq/asp/base_no.69338/special_type.bargain_barn/dept_id.L2~325/qx/product.htm I bought a pair for ski mountaineering. [edit] Then I canceled the order once someone pointed out they were steel. [edit]

Thanks for the info you guys!

get yourself one of these and you'd be set!

Yeah, that's the little dojobber I was thinking of, the memory key. http://www.usbkeydrive.com/Mini_USBKey.htm thanks! If anyone has an opinion of the memorykey vs the zip drive feel free to speak up. I'm interested.

I'm looking for a device to save a bunch (140 MB) of pictures to and occasional use. I've heard talk of the zip drive but it seems like there was a smaller device available. Is the zip drive what I'm thinking of or is there some other type of external storage device?

Looks to me like the republicans do a better job of hiding who the money actually comes from. Kinda cornfusing about Goldman Sachs. They've given over $1 million to each goll dang party. How's that work?