Peter_Puget

Just some more thoughts on Media Bias: But first here is another reason why Columbia sucks: Professor Said: "[Al-Jazeera has shown] the resistance and anger of the Iraqi population, dismissed by Western propaganda as a sullen bunch waiting to throw flowers at Clint Eastwood lookalikes ... The idea that Iraq's population would have welcomed American forces entering the country after a terrifying aerial bombardment was always utterly implausible ... One can only wince at the way weak-minded policy hacks in the Pentagon and White House have spun out the 'ideas' of [bernard] Lewis and [Fouad] Ajami into the scenario for a quick romp in a friendly Iraq ... pity the Iraqi civilians who must still suffer a great deal more before they are finally 'liberated'." Edward Said, London Review of Books April 17 From his bio is this revealing paragraph about media. What a joke. Although he occasionally writes opinion pieces for leading American newspapers, he finds overseas publications and radio much more receptive to his critical view of events in the Middle East. He eschews the “sound bite” mentality of the American television networks, in favor of the longer pieces produced by NPR and similar radio networks abroad. He views major U.S. publications as “ideologically hostile” to his viewpoint. “I’ve lost my taste for this type of forum,” he said. Columbia Link Some headlines: "U.S. Troops Sweep Aside Hussein Rule" Washington Post "An End to 30 Years of Brutal Rule" The Guardian "Saddam Defeated Militarily" USA Today "U.S. Troops Free Iraq From Hussein's Control." LA Times "Iraqi Government Apparently Breaks Down But Fighting Persists in Parts of Capital." NYT (early edition at least) These beauties where published yesterday – the day Saddam’s Statue was toppled. Note no hedging of bets or unnamed sources just direct attributable nonesense - or perhaps just poor media. "The huge psychological victory for the coalition produced by the arrival of US tanks in front of the media centre in Baghdad has not finished off the regime, even though this coup came so soon after their shock arrival at the international airport. A compilation of the military detail in reports from journalists in Baghdad and an ear for the changing spin from Centcom gives a less victorious picture of the battle for the Iraqi capital than is shown in the media. For example, for three hours on Saturday Centcom said the US was in Baghdad to stay, not on a raid. Then, after some armoured vehicles had been damaged and some troops killed and injured, it became a raid as the troops withdrew. The selective and censored TV coverage obscures a military reality that has been neither as successful nor as difficult as it has seemed. Now, reports of total victory may be premature." Dan Plesch, Guardian "It looked grimly like that scene in A Bridge Too Far, Richard Attenborough's epic on the Arnhem disaster, in which a British officer walks slowly up the great span with an umbrella in his hand to see if he can detect the Germans on the other side. But I knew the Americans were on the other side of this bridge and drove past it at great speed. Which provided a remarkable revelation. While American fighter-bombers criss-crossed the sky, while the ground shook to the sound of exploding ordnance, while the American tanks now stood above the Tigris, vast areas of Baghdad – astonishing when you consider the American claim to be "in the heart" of the city – remain under Saddam Hussein's control." Robert Fisk, Independent J_B recommended the great site Buzzflash.com which carried at least five stories about Iraqi civilian deaths yesterday and mentioned the jubulation in Fridos Square only once in a reference titled "Ah, Yes, Democracy. Iraqis Looting and Dancing in Baghdad." It carried more stories about Haliburton and Enron than yesterday's Iraqi celebrations. Plenty of bias there. PP

Red Eye is a fun route!

The center hand crack on Fairview Crag! PP

Just had a minute to sneak in and check the poll. Hell Yes is way ahead followed by Yes. Forum! Forum! Forum! Scott – I need my cams back for the weekend! PP

Peace

Ah another skier!

Keep spreading the love! Let's Go Climbing! PP

And by the way Erik, did you vote "Hell yes"?

Well It really just a saying. Trying to raise team spirits get weveryone off the war stuff and back to the rock stuff!

That is where I draw the line!

Thanks for the thoughtful reply Syz! But you are wrong this idea What are you a skier? Let's Go Climbing! PP

Of course there is always FOX Balanced and unafraid: Taken from their webpage moments ago! Iraqi civilians are rising up against Saddam Hussein's militia in Baghdad and Basra

J-B thanks for the following: Quote from J-B reference: To conclude: Remember the following first rule of disinformation analysis: truth is specific, lie is vague. Always look for palpable details in reporting and if the picture is not in focus, there must be reasons for it. Hopefully the BBC will read your post as well! They seem to just be outright telling lies! , Gilligan had told World Service listeners that he was there, at the airport - but the Americans weren’t. Gilligan inferred that the Americans were lying. An hour or two later, a different BBC correspondent pointed out that Gilligan wasn’t at the airport, actually. He was nearby - but apparently far enough away that the other correspondent felt it necessary to mention that he didn’t really know if Gilligan was around, but that no matter what Gilligan had seen or not seen, the airport was firmly and obviously in American hands. It was important to the BBC that Gilligan not be wrong twice in two days. Whatever the truth was, the BBC, like Walter Duranty’s New York Times, must never say, "I was wrong." So, despite the fact that the appearance of American troops in Baghdad was surely one of the war’s big moments, and one the BBC had obviously missed, American veracity became the story of the day. Gilligan, joined by his colleagues in Baghdad, Paul Wood and Rageh Omaar, kept insisting that not only had the Americans not gone to the "center" - which they reckoned to be where they were - they hadn’t really been in the capital at all. Both Omaar and Wood told listeners that they had been on hour-long Iraqi Ministry of Information bus rides - "and," said Wood, "we were free to go anywhere" -yet they had seen nothing of an American presence in the city. From Qatar, a BBC correspondent helpfully explained that US briefings, such as that announcing the Baghdad incursion, were meaningless exercises, "more PR than anything else." Maybe, implied the World Service, the Americans had made it all up: all day long, Wood repeatedly reported that there was no evidence to support the American claim. Yawn…

No chat until you vote in the super important poll!

A forum dedicated to rock climbing both traditional and sport and bouldering. Heck the Town Walls appear in at least three different forums. The same with Darrington and Leavenworth. Imagine what a great forum it would be……Smith.. Squamish….Index…..Aid climbing….bouldering all in one place! Why heaven would be its name! PP

I'll have to look up the exchange rate to convert your vote to the US system!

...last weekend?

Read this on the might BBC: BBC Link Here is a source I can recomend! Good Ole USA Let's Go Climbing! PP

Minx In French perhaps? It's proper name Lemonade!

I would suggest the good ole BBC which has earned the nickname Baghdad Broadcasting Corp.! Of coure the NYT is also a nice source for you Allison. Last week I posted references where they misrepresented what Gen Wallace said; what I didn't post was how on a frontpage story they claimed Cheney said the war will be a "cakewalk" only to correct it later because it was in fact complete BS. Allison how often you look in the correction section when you read the paper? By the Way Trask is right about LD! Let's go climbing! PP

Damn Evil Amerikans! Afghanistan (2001-2): The LA Times found "a civilian death total of 1,067 to 1,201" from US attacks. Kosovo (1999): Human Rights Watch found that "Some 500 Yugoslav civilians are known to have died" from US attacks. Bosnia (1995): A Harvard Kennedy School of Government working paper (link in PDF format; HTML version here) found that "The war resulted in the deaths of about thirty civilians." Gulf War I (1991): Human Rights Watch declared themselves "reasonably confident that the total number of civilians killed directly by allied attacks did not exceed several thousand, with an upper limit of perhaps between 2,500 and 3,000 Iraqi dead." Panama (1989): Human Rights Watch reports an estimate of 300 civilians killed. All of these deaths are tragic, but they are by no means a bloodbath. In fact, the death toll from all these conflicts combined is probably less than the number of people who would have died from starvation had the US not invaded Afghanistan. All of them combined are probably less than the number of people Saddam would kill this year if left in power. Now I would ask interested readers to review a thread where J_B was spewing forth facts and figures related to Israel-Palestine conflict. I noted and produced references showing how the “press” J-B uses have consistently proven themselves shameless in it overstatement of deaths - both civilian and military. Who knows what the final toll of this conflict will be but whatever the results J_B will prefer those “claims” which support his before the fact thought process without regard to the Truth!. Let’s climb! PP

How much snow is at the higher elevation crags? I am thinking Bob's and higher.

I believe in the larger sizes axle width is a very important factor in placement stability and the tendency to walk. With respect to this factor BD cams are clearly inferior to Friends. You raise a good point when you mention the double axle design and tipped cams. BDs are the one design where "cam stops" (in BD case the other axle) are a real advantage. For other cams the cam stops only work when the cams are working against each other.