JosephH

So, the plan now is to align with the interests of an Australian right-wing media mogul who sold out to China and two uber-wealthy, polluting bigots in an attempt to counter 'big government'? Dude, where's my country? It got played hard and OBL is laughing his ass off...

That would be national rather than regional.

Hard to think of a more concise symbol of regional embarrassment than utilikilts.

Maybe you were out doing snow & ice alpine or out the desert, but June was the worst for rock climbing here in pdx since '87 when I moved out. It hasn't been a typical or good year - it's been a short one.

Given 'summer' didn't start until July this year and East winds in the Gorge are singing their song a month earlier than normal I'd say we're fucked with weather kicking in beginning of October like last year. Hope that isn't the case, but not holding my breath for more either. Make the best of every day out you get at this point.

Stone Rodeo is one of the last on the list and I stopped to look at it again today. The two pins high on it are likely not good at this point and Vern, who did it last, also didn't think they'd hold. It's a bit of a special case, as setting up on it with a load is a bit of a hassle, but I'll be trying to get it done in the next week or two.

They were replaced in 2007. Note that the part of the bad pins from both DDO and FoF that was visible looked fine, but it only took a slight tap of the hammer to hear that they were bad and a breath of a funk to remove either. The outwardly 'good' appearance a pin can exhibit to the eye is no different than that of a bolt which looks good but in reality has been rotting away back in the hole. At least with pins you can test them and get some idea of how sound they are. After what I've seen at Beacon with bolts I'd say you should definitely be using SS in the Gorge and surrounds on up to around Mt Hood otherwise some percentage of them will just end up time bombs with a 10-15 year lifespan yet still look good to the eye.

You're the one that's been making it happen so thanks back at you...

Yeah, essentially the same condition the Fear of Flying pins were in. KBs overall just don't last out there, where as the Bugaboos do. You also have remember pins need periodic maintenance checks every five years or so no differently than bolts. Here's the upper FoF pin contrasted with a good KB:

Yes, total space case by the time I finished climbing the other day and drove off despite LCK texting me they were there. Just drop them off at the ranger station if you could. Thanks.

Political correctness aside, I'll be out there.

Nice paint job...

The Elk make the trip over to the island a couple of times a year, but I don't recall seeing them over there in August before. I've been seeing small groups of them head over the tracks during the past two weeks - always with a male standing on the tracks seemingly overseeing the crossing and signalling small groups of 2-4 down in the brush to come up and go across. If you go over to their crossing point when a full herd goes across in the spring it's interesting to see it's usually so muddy they're almost post-holing down from the tracks. It was a long winter and it's been kind of a lousy growing year - maybe the low water right now has made the grass on the island that much more attractive. Haven't seen any bears or bobcats on the tracks or down on trails by the slough yet this year. Yeah, Dave, what's the story on the work thing...

Well, let's tally it all up: * Roughly a trillion in direct costs * Throw in another trillion for on-going costs, re-capitalizing the military, and of course veteran benefits given the numbers of returning troops with 'survivable' brain damage from IEDs * Deployed roughly a quarter to a third of the force level necessary to even begin to secure the country * Perfected the IED as the weapon of choice in asymmetric warfare * Exposed the logistical and operational limits of our military to the Chinese * Exposed the limits of the collective will of the American people to the Chinese * Allowed the Chinese unchallenged momentum in Africa and South America * Destroyed the Iraqi infrastructure which the Chinese will now rebuild * Destroyed a largely secular nation and government with the highest education levels (particularly for women) in the region and replaced it with an Iran-backed Shiite nation * Set the stage for decades of turmoil in Iraq - IF Iraq survives as a nation * Turned Iran into a regional heavyweight overnight * Dramatically destabilized a significant portion of the MidEast * Oh, and failed to bribe the Turks into letting our troops open a northern front in Iraq (somewhere between $6-26 billion was offered depending on who's counting in a master stroke of last ditch invasion diplomacy that exemplified pre-war planning as a whole) In short, we spent two trillion dollars to aid and abet Iran and China's interests in the region in ways they themselves could only have dreamed of. Invading Iraq was the very definition of insanity in terms of attempting to use that action to restore and reassert America's superpower status.

Those are exactly the strategic national interests I'm speaking of when I say our interests are at risk. We will remain at a disadvantage relative to those interests every month there is not a peaceful resolution of the Israeli / Palestinian problem.

We did lose the day we invaded and, in case you haven't been following along, the real war in and for Iraq is only now about to begin.

Want to contrast the funding to Israel with that of Egypt and Jordan for us? Do you want to contrast the political influence of those nations on US foreign policy decisions compared to Israel? How about talking about the number of US troops dying in Iraq and Afghanistan because the neocons thought that would be a clever way to solve the 'MidEast problem' without actually breaking the Israeli / Palestinian impasse. In the end, if it has to do with the MidEast, at it's foundation it's a Israeli / Palestinian problem and until and unless a US president leans on Israel there will be no peaceful resolution of the conflict and by extension the continued risk to US interests in the region and the loss of American lives.

I have no 'hatred' for Israel or Jess whatsoever. What I do have is a very specific concern about Israel as an unacknowledged 51st state based on our financial support of it on an annual basis and the deleterious effect that has on our own national security and interests in the world. Israel as a standalone sovereign nation I have no problem whatsoever with - Israel as quasi-US state with AIPAC directly influencing US foreign policy to the detriment of our national security and interests I do.

As I said, let us know when you want your tongue off that pole...

Republican electoral strategy has been almost exclusively about race since they figured out how to turn the South. They haven't changed a single aspect of that strategy since other than to find new and creative wrappings for it. This cycle it's islam and illegals - but only an idiot or an operator would claim it isn't about pandering to racial fears.

Ah, the socialism as fascism double-dog dare reversal. Well executed too, let us know when you want your tongue off that pole.

The "problem of Islam" is better stated as the 'problem with Israel and the Palestinians'. As a strategic concern compared to China, it is simply an unfortunate (and entirely self-inflicted) political distraction no different than the "problem with illegal immigration". It serves solely to bring out the correct [Pav]Rovian response in right-leaning electoral sheep.

Maybe passing out blankets from a smallpox hospital would do the trick - worked for Lord Amherst & co.

It wasn't a "war of convenience", it was a war to restore honor to the U.S. status as a superpower and recoup that ole' Reagan feeling - both desperately essential to white male manhood of the chickenhawk persuasion.

I would say if you are comparing apples and oranges there. A more accurate comparison based on the development of societies and military capabilities / proclivities at an 'inception' point would be to compare the early Umayyads with Constantine I.