billcoe

Oh, the interesting part. Jim O had told me months ago that the US gov't had been buying extraordinarily massive quantities of freeze dried foods from ALL the Freeze dried food Mfgs all year long, making them sell to them in fact, as if expecting that something big was happening. Hmmmm

Think N.Korea here. Link " WND Exclusive Congress examines EMP threat Iran believed to test missiles for attack on U.S. Posted: July 07, 2008 10:42 pm Eastern © 2008 WorldNetDaily WASHINGTON – More than four years after a stunning report about America's vulnerability to a nuclear electromagnetic pulse attack was released to Congress, the House Armed Services Committee will hear testimony from the scientist who issued the warning and who believes Iran is pursuing such an option. William R. Graham, President Reagan's top science adviser and the chairman of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack, will update the committee Thursday morning. Graham warned in 2005 that Iran was not only covertly developing nuclear weapons, but was already testing ballistic missiles specifically designed to destroy America's technical infrastructure with the aim of neutralizing the world's lone superpower. (Story continues below) The radical Shiite regime has conducted successful tests to determine if its Shahab-3 ballistic missiles, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, can be detonated by a remote-control device while still in high-altitude flight, Graham said in his report. Graham said then there was no other plausible explanation for such tests than preparation for the deployment of electromagnetic pulse weapons – even one of which could knock out America's critical electrical and technological infrastructure, effectively sending the continental U.S. back to the 19th century with a recovery time of months or years. Iran would have that capability – at least theoretically – as soon as it has one nuclear bomb ready to arm such a missile. The stunning report was first published in Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, the premium, online intelligence newsletter published by WND's founder. Iran surprised intelligence analysts by describing the mid-flight detonations of missiles fired from ships on the Caspian Sea as "successful" tests. Even primitive Scud missiles could be used for this purpose. And top U.S. intelligence officials reminded members of Congress that there is a glut of these missiles on the world market. They are currently being bought and sold for about $100,000 apiece. Others agree with Graham's sobering assessment. "A terrorist organization might have trouble putting a nuclear warhead 'on target' with a Scud, but it would be much easier to simply launch and detonate in the atmosphere," wrote Sen. John Kyl, R-Ariz., in the Washington Post in 2005 after reading Graham's report. "No need for the risk and difficulty of trying to smuggle a nuclear weapon over the border or hit a particular city. Just launch a cheap missile from a freighter in international waters – al-Qaida is believed to own about 80 such vessels – and make sure to get it a few miles in the air." The Iranian missile tests were more sophisticated and capable of detonation at higher elevations – making them more dangerous. Detonated at a height of 60 to 500 kilometers above the continental U.S., one nuclear warhead could cripple the country – knocking out electrical power and circuit boards and rendering the U.S. domestic communications impotent. In 2005, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security chaired by Kyl, held a hearing on the electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, threat. "An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack on the American homeland, said one of the distinguished scientists who testified at the hearing, is one of only a few ways that the United States could be defeated by its enemies – terrorist or otherwise," wrote Kyl "And it is probably the easiest. A single Scud missile, carrying a single nuclear weapon, detonated at the appropriate altitude, would interact with the Earth's atmosphere, producing an electromagnetic pulse radiating down to the surface at the speed of light. Depending on the location and size of the blast, the effect would be to knock out already stressed power grids and other electrical systems across much or even all of the continental United States, for months if not years." The purpose of an EMP attack, unlike a nuclear attack on land, is not to kill people, but "to kill electrons," as Graham explained. He serves as chairman of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack and was director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Graham told WND he could think of no other reason for Iran to be experimenting with mid-air detonation of missiles than for the planning of an EMP-style attack. "EMP offers a bigger bang for the buck," he said. He also suggested such an attack makes a U.S. nuclear response against a suspected enemy less likely than would the detonation of a nuclear bomb in a major U.S. city. A 2004 report by the commission found "several potential adversaries have or can acquire the capability to attack the United States with a high-altitude nuclear weapons-generated electromagnetic pulse (EMP). A determined adversary can achieve an EMP attack capability without having a high level of sophistication." "EMP is one of a small number of threats that can hold our society at risk of catastrophic consequences," the report said. "EMP will cover the wide geographic region within line of sight to the nuclear weapon. It has the capability to produce significant damage to critical infrastructures and thus to the very fabric of U.S. society, as well as to the ability of the United States and Western nations to project influence and military power." The major impact of EMP weapons is on electronics, "so pervasive in all aspects of our society and military, coupled through critical infrastructures," explained the report. "Their effects on systems and infrastructures dependent on electricity and electronics could be sufficiently ruinous as to qualify as catastrophic to the nation," Lowell Wood, acting chairman of the commission, told members of Congress. The commission report went so far as to suggest, in its opening sentence, that an EMP attack "might result in the defeat of our military forces." "Briefly, a single nuclear weapon exploded at high altitude above the United States will interact with the Earth's atmosphere, ionosphere and magnetic field to produce an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) radiation down to the Earth and additionally create electrical currents in the Earth," said the report. "EMP effects are both direct and indirect. The former are due to electrical systems, and the latter arise from the damage that 'shocked' – upset, damaged and destroyed – electronics controls then inflict on the systems in which they are embedded. The indirect effects can be even more severe than the direct effects." The EMP threat is not a new one considered by U.S. defense planners. The Soviet Union had experimented with the idea as a kind of super-weapon against the U.S. "What is different now is that some potential sources of EMP threats are difficult to deter – they can be terrorist groups that have no state identity, have only one or a few weapons and are motivated to attack the U.S. without regard for their own safety," explains the commission report. "Rogue states, such as North Korea and Iran, may also be developing the capability to pose an EMP threat to the United States and may also be unpredictable and difficult to deter." Graham describes the potential "cascading effect" of an EMP attack. If electrical power is knocked out and circuit boards fried, telecommunications are disrupted, energy deliveries are impeded, the financial system breaks down, food, water and gasoline become scarce. As Kyl put it: "Few if any people would die right away. But the loss of power would have a cascading effect on all aspects of U.S. society. Communication would be largely impossible. Lack of refrigeration would leave food rotting in warehouses, exacerbated by a lack of transportation as those vehicles still working simply ran out of gas (which is pumped with electricity). The inability to sanitize and distribute water would quickly threaten public health, not to mention the safety of anyone in the path of the inevitable fires, which would rage unchecked. And as we have seen in areas of natural and other disasters, such circumstances often result in a fairly rapid breakdown of social order." "American society has grown so dependent on computer and other electrical systems that we have created our own Achilles' heel of vulnerability, ironically much greater than those of other, less developed nations," the senator wrote. "When deprived of power, we are in many ways helpless, as the New York City blackout made clear. In that case, power was restored quickly because adjacent areas could provide help. But a large-scale burnout caused by a broad EMP attack would create a much more difficult situation. Not only would there be nobody nearby to help, it could take years to replace destroyed equipment." The commission said hardening key infrastructure systems and procuring vital backup equipment such as transformers is both feasible and – compared with the threat – relatively inexpensive. "But it will take leadership by the Department of Homeland Security, the Defense Department, and other federal agencies, along with support from Congress, all of which have yet to materialize," wrote Kyl, so far the only elected official blowing the whistle this alarming development. Kyl concluded in his report: "The Sept. 11 commission report stated that our biggest failure was one of 'imagination.' No one imagined that terrorists would do what they did on Sept. 11. Today few Americans can conceive of the possibility that terrorists could bring our society to its knees by destroying everything we rely on that runs on electricity. But this time we've been warned, and we'd better be prepared to respond.""

Taking the words out of my mouth John. Even getting to one of the zones is near impossible unless I leave work early. Last year I did beacon twice after work and the Zone once. The driving to get there makes me mental anyway, and the climbing time is correspondingly shorter as well. Last year I did a 2 + hour drive to Ozone and I don't want to duplicate that one. Having kids, the drive time back was an additional factor as it was always nice to get home before bedtime as well to touch base and read a book or 2 with them. Great time last night with John and Troy. Met old buddy Larry and his 3 charges Tom, RJ and Andy. Good times, got enough laps, no pulled muscles!

WWJJS? (What would Jesse Jackson Say?)

LINK I have 6 shoes coming to me and the total cost was $129, I wear a popular 8.5, so they still have stock for now, but jump on this quick.

Alright: this is the deal this week. Get one. Don't be climbing on that shit rope you know you want to retire. This even comes with a rope bag and no charge for shipping. I bought one of these 2 years ago from REI for $100 and it's still going strong, $115 is a good price in todays market! Mammut Promo 10mm X 60M Climbing Rope $115.20 The Mammut Promo is a classic all round rope for a great price. * UIAA Falls: 6 * Weight: 66 g/m * Impact Force: 9.2 kN * Elongation in Use: 7,6% * Elongation at First Fall: 30% * Sheath Slippage: 0 mm * Proportion of Sheath: 36% Link

cu folks there, where do you want to climb?

New meaning to the words "Cleaning tool"!

anyone gona be workin laps in the heat after work? Say 5:30 at R butte?

Tommorrw after work for sure. Tonight's a rest day you can ask Jeff about that last night stuff.

PRG #1, then check the Mazama clubhouse.

Boulder DA clears family members after almost 12 years. Link to wall street journal "Regarding JonBenet Ramsey Case July 9, 2008 5:23 p.m. Prosecutors say new DNA tests have cleared JonBenet Ramsey's family in the 1996 killing of the 6-year-old. Here is the text of the Bolder, Colo., district attorney office's press release. Ramsey Press Release Boulder District Attorney Mary T. Lacy issues the following announcement with regard to the investigation of the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. On December 25-26, 1996, JonBenet Ramsey was murdered in the home where she lived with her mother, father and brother. Despite a long and intensive investigation, the death of JonBenet remains unsolved. The murder has received unprecedented publicity and has been shrouded in controversy. That publicity has led to many theories over the years in which suspicion has focused on one family member or another. However, there has been at least one persistent stumbling block to the possibility of prosecuting any Ramsey family members for the death of JonBenet – DNA. As part of its investigation of the JonBenet Ramsey homicide, the Boulder Police identified genetic material with apparent evidentiary value. Over time, the police continued to investigate DNA, including taking advantage of advances in the science and methodology. One of the results of their efforts was that they identified genetic material and a DNA profile from drops of JonBenet's blood located in the crotch of the underwear she was wearing at the time her body was discovered. That genetic profile belongs to a male and does not belong to anyone in the Ramsey family. The police department diligently compared that profile to a very large number of people associated with the victim, with her family, and with the investigation, and has not identified the source, innocent or otherwise, of this DNA. The Boulder Police and prosecutors assigned to this investigation in the past also worked conscientiously with laboratory analysts to obtain better results through new approaches and additional tests as they became available. Those efforts ultimately led to the discovery of sufficient genetic markers from this male profile to enter it into the national DNA data bank. In December of 2002, the Boulder District Attorney's Office, under Mary T. Lacy, assumed responsibility for the investigation of the JonBenet Ramsey homicide. Since then, this office has worked with the Boulder Police Department to continue the investigation of this crime. In early August of 2007, District Attorney Lacy attended a Continuing Education Program in West Virginia sponsored by the National Institute of Justice on Forensic Biology and DNA. The presenters discussed successful outcomes from a new methodology described as "touch DNA." One method for sampling for touch DNA is the "scraping method." In this process, forensic scientists scrape a surface where there is no observable stain or other indication of possible DNA in an effort to recover for analysis any genetic material that might nonetheless be present. This methodology was not well known in this country until recently and is still used infrequently. In October of 2007, we decided to pursue the possibility of submitting additional items from the JonBenet Ramsey homicide to be examined using this methodology. We checked with a number of Colorado sources regarding which private laboratory to use for this work. Based upon multiple recommendations, including that of the Boulder Police Department, we contacted the Bode Technology Group located near Washington, D.C., and initiated discussions with the professionals at that laboratory. First Assistant District Attorney Peter Maguire and Investigator Andy Horita spent a full day with staff members at the Bode facility in early December of 2007. The Bode Technology laboratory applied the "touch DNA" scraping method to both sides of the waist area of the long johns that JonBenet Ramsey was wearing over her underwear when her body was discovered. These sites were chosen because evidence supports the likelihood that the perpetrator removed and/or replaced the long johns, perhaps by handling them on the sides near the waist. On March 24, 2008, Bode informed us that they had recovered and identified genetic material from both sides of the waist area of the long johns. The unknown male profile previously identified from the inside crotch area of the underwear matched the DNA recovered from the long johns at Bode. We consulted with a DNA expert from a different laboratory, who recommended additional investigation into the remote possibility that the DNA might have come from sources at the autopsy when this clothing was removed. Additional samples were obtained and then analyzed by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to assist us in this effort. We received those results on June 27th of this year and are, as a result, confidant that this DNA did not come from innocent sources at the autopsy. As mentioned above, extensive DNA testing had previously excluded people connected to the family and to the investigation as possible innocent sources. I want to acknowledge my appreciation for the efforts of the Boulder Police Department, Bode Technology Group, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, and the Denver Police Department Forensic Laboratory for the great work and assistance they have contributed to this investigation. The unexplained third party DNA on the clothing of the victim is very significant and powerful evidence. It is very unlikely that there would be an innocent explanation for DNA found at three different locations on two separate items of clothing worn by the victim at the time of her murder. This is particularly true in this case because the matching DNA profiles were found on genetic material from inside the crotch of the victim's underwear and near the waist on both sides of her long johns, and because concerted efforts that might identify a source, and perhaps an innocent explanation, were unsuccessful. It is therefore the position of the Boulder District Attorney's Office that this profile belongs to the perpetrator of the homicide. DNA is very often the most reliable forensic evidence we can hope to find during a criminal investigation. We rely on it often to bring to justice those who have committed crimes. It can likewise be reliable evidence upon which to remove people from suspicion in appropriate cases. The Boulder District Attorney's Office does not consider any member of the Ramsey family, including John, Patsy, or Burke Ramsey, as suspects in this case. We make this announcement now because we have recently obtained this new scientific evidence that adds significantly to the exculpatory value of the previous scientific evidence. We do so with full appreciation for the other evidence in this case. Local, national, and even international publicity has focused on the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. Many members of the public came to believe that one or more of the Ramseys, including her mother or her father or even her brother, were responsible for this brutal homicide. Those suspicions were not based on evidence that had been tested in court; rather, they were based on evidence reported by the media. It is the responsibility of every prosecutor to seek justice. That responsibility includes seeking justice for people whose reputations and lives can be damaged irreparably by the lingering specter of suspicion. In a highly publicized case, the detrimental impact of publicity and suspicion on people's lives can be extreme. The suspicions about the Ramseys in this case created an ongoing living hell for the Ramsey family and their friends, which added to their suffering from the unexplained and devastating loss of JonBenet. For reasons including those discussed above, we believe that justice dictates that the Ramseys be treated only as victims of this very serious crime. We will accord them all the rights guaranteed to the victims of violent crimes under the law in Colorado and all the respect and sympathy due from one human being to another. To the extent that this office has added to the distress suffered by the Ramsey family at any time or to any degree, I offer my deepest apology. We prefer that any tips related to this ongoing investigation be submitted in writing or via electronic mail to BoulderDA.org, but they can also be submitted to our tip line at (303) 441-1636. This office will make no further statements. To read the text of the letter to John Ramsey click here." Link

"SHOCK: REV. JESSE JACKSON SLAMS OBAMA, WANTS TO 'CUT HIS N**S OUT'... APOLOGIZES FOR 'CRUDE AND HURTFUL COMMENTS' CAUGHT ON TAPE... FOXNEWS WILL PLAY JACKSON TAPE IN ITS ENTIRETY TONIGHT ON 'O'REILLY' 8 PM ET/5 PM PT... DEVELOPING... Jackson Statement: For any harm or hurt that this hot mic private conversation may have caused, I apologize. My support for Senator Obama_s campaign is wide, deep and unequivocal. I cherish this redemptive and historical moment. _My appeal was for the moral content of his message to not only deal with the personal and moral responsibility of black males, but to deal with the collective moral responsibility of government and the public policy which would be a corrective action for the lack of good choices that often led to their irresponsibility. _That was the context of my private conversation and it does not reflect any disparagement on my part for the historic event in which we are involved or my pride in Senator Barack Obama, who is leading it, whom I have supported by crisscrossing this nation in every level of media and audience from the beginning in absolute terms._" Link to NY Times artical Video of it as well. Interesting, I think Obama is on the money with most of that stuff, telling blacks should be reading to their kids etc etc. .

The only solution is to post our trip reports in spray. To make it interesting, do it on page 2 or 3 of spray as an Edit to an existing post. I've been fairly successful with this, and nobody gives me any shit at all about it, unlike putting them in a regular category and having assholes, blowhards, jackasses, pricks and shitheads Pontificate and piss on them. Example removed via edit

[envious rant]Bryan got in 80 days of water ice climbing last year and road tripped all around the country rockclimbing all summer long. [/envious rant] Very modest, very kind, you'd like him, good guy. We should be encouraging dudes like that to get on here and post pics and other interesting things IMO. Thanks again

U Da man!

The funny part is that the kid he slams with those words is possibly the nicest person on this site. Just young is all. Sorry ya feel left out Hugh, something wrong with the world today!

I thought this would be an interesting corollary to the Obama Momma thread where everyone is thinking she hates our country and all going on right now. I'm sure she'll feel better about our country as First Lady. Compare and contrast comments welcome. Snopes, the well known independent online fraud checking site, has this post about the other woman. Link to Snopes Edited to add: I'm leaning to Obama now, but that could change when I change my underware.

Get a used Forrest Mjollnir like Fenderfour says. It had interchangeable picks and the thing was an incredible advance for the time that in some ways has not been matched. See the screws there? They unscrew and you can put on a classic alpine pick (like a regular ice axe has), a drooped Ice pick like the ice tools today have, a tubular water ice pick like the Lowe Hummingbirds had, a little nub of a thing perhaps to whack in a copperhead (also invented by Bill Forrest), and a rock climbing pick like the picture here shows. Tubular waterice pick Rock pick top - Ice pick bottom: note the improved handle on that one.

Thats too bad. I enjoyed him popping in here and giving us the odd history lesson here or there. Glad he got to say a few things to us all before his time. Now for the part that sucks, when we see one of our bros step off, it reminds us that, ...well, ... that now we all have to take a step closer to the edge ourselves. By Don, glad you were here. Hope to catch you again when my turn comes.

even better: a place to sleep!

Full value fer sure! Love those added pics Ivan! MikeR, holding my breath waiting expectantly for the TR.

You'll make someone a very fine wife I'm sure!

BTW, for Euros, I often heard it was easier to get in the Old "Soviet Union" than the US.

Congrats Paul! Hope ya make lots and build the best RR bridge the world has seen that outlasts your grandkids grandkids!