tvashtarkatena

I've been very happy with my Garmont Ferratas. Sadly, they are no longer available. When the time comes I'll probably replace them with the Garmont Vetta Plus. I agree here. Note that a) this boot is for narrow feet, b) it does not have a front ledge for step in crampons, and c) it is completely non-insulated, but if all that's cool its a great summer climbing boot, particularly for the kind of rock routes the asker described, and its fine for hiking.

My camera uses a Viking Interworks SD 256 MB memory card. Anyone out there with a camera that takes the same memory card; can you help me at least download the photos from my dead camera? Again, thanks.

I'd guess THAT bolt hanger caused a bit of noise at the moment of failure.

It's most likely the camera itself that's dead. I'm just trying to diagnose if that's true.

Does anyone in the Seattle area have a Canon Powershot that uses a Canon NB-4L battery? My camera (a Canon Powershot SL 200) died, and I'd like to borrow your camera/battery to diagnose whether my camera or battery pack is dead. I'd love to at least get my photos downloaded too, before throwing the thing away. Recommendations for a new digi camera of around the same portable size also appreciated. Thanks in advance.

If a recalled bolt hanger hangs in the woods, and there's no one there to clip it, it seems to make a hell of a lot of noise anyway.

"Gear to 4 inches" has orthogonal meanings, depending on the sex of who will be tied in.

I prefer a gear anchor. Where does one put the cams and hexes? Nevermind the Big Bros....

Fuck off Buddy No threesomes.

I prefer a gear anchor. Judging from recently posted photos, I'd say triple equalized redundancy is recommended.

I used to keep an old rusty cannon ball on my desk. Six pounder. EVERYONE fondled that thing...until one guy managed to drop it on his foot. It's at home now. Biners are also great for tying stuff down to your vehicle, securing yourself when you go up on the roof, stringing party lights, and looking really f'in stupit if you happen to have way too many keys.

install bolt hangers to you bed posts

Now I know where I'll be hunting morels next season. Thanks for the linky and info.

Will you two little bitches kindly get a room?

Here's a couple of apples for ya. According to this graph, the debt/GDP ratio has exceeded 60% less than 10% of our history: and the only other point where that occurred was WWII, when nearly all of our industries and workforce were unsustainably mobilized. This was followed by an unprecendented period of prosperity, where we were the only effective industrial producer for nearly a decade. I'd be worried.

Yeah, Porter's just another whiny liberal crying wolf about a non-problem. I'd go with KKK's 'everything is beautiful' approach: his track record of being right about everything so far speaks for itself. Nothing to see here. Move on.

That explains your car's appearance.

What really happened...

I wouldn't be the best person to ask, as I have a 100% success rate...er, except that one time with you.

FW, his head is way too big for a political icon. Sorry to dissappoint you but....ooooogo CH. sucks democratic ass. He's a predictictable clown. Sorry, amigo.

Your original statement; and your most recent statement; aren't even in the same universe. But let's take your most recent, watered down paragraph. The one supported by 'the literature'. I'll simply address it by listing the nations of OPEC and their types of government. Frankly, I don't see the pattern your scholarly citations suggest. I'm guessing that your citations are opinion essays rather than data driven studies. What's more, I'd conclude from this list that oil wealth seems to favor democracy and social liberalism, even in the Middle East. In any case, the only two countries that truly match your combination of repressive autocracy and single resource (oil) production are Libya and Saudi Arabia. Two. A bit of a minority, especially from a population standpoint. Not a very predictive model, I'd say. The most you can say is that oil wealth had something to do with the politics of these countries, although exactly what that is varies all over the map country by country. I wouldn't bank your Phd on what is essentially a statement, predictive as it may be, that "Yeah, oil matters...somehow." OPEC Nations: Algeria: Constitutional democracy Angola: Constitutional democracy (new as of this year) Libya: Autocracy Nigeria: Constitutional democracy Iran: Autocratic theocracy Iraq: ? Kuwait: Constitutional monarchy with elected legislature, socially moderate Qatar: Monarchy, socially moderate Saudi Arabia: Monarcy, socially repressive UAE: Federation of seven monarchies, socially moderate Venezuela: Constitutional democracy Indonesia: Constitutional democracy

Damn, JayB, if you don't even read your own citations, who will?

Apparently the Bush administration also takes bin Laden's word at face value. We pulled our troops out of Saudi Arabia after his proclamation.

Perhaps not, but I've successfully refuted you in front of this audience. BTW: My aunt's pushing 90. She's been smoking for 70 years.

I recently debated the former deputy director of the CIA under Reagan in a public forum. He is still a security consultant for the higher levels of Homeland Security and writes copiously on the subject of national security. His thesis was that we are at war with fundamentalist islam that seeks to impose it's 'operating system', as he phrased it, on 'our hardware'. His made it clear that his views are widely held in the current administration at many levels. The problem is, the view is wrong. Statistics show that most terrorist acts to date are motivated by a political agenda, not a religious one. Prior to our invasion of Iraq, well over 50% of all suicide bombings were conducted by the Tamil Tigers; a political separatist, not religious, organization. Those who seek to promote the myth of the 'war on terror' systematically downplay the political agenda of the attacking groups; choosing instead to lump them into a single, 'islamofascist' (sub in your favorite religious variant here) entity. In Iraq today, attacks are motivated by a grab for power in a splintered, non-functioning country that lacks even the most basic security. Religious rhetoric is employed at times, but the primary purpose is for your militia based group to wind up on top. That has pitted Sunni against Sunni as well as Sunni against Shiite, and vice versa. By mischaracterizing the conflict as a bunch of fanatics who hate freedom, and this has consistently and unwaveringly been Bush's message, this administration has not sought to address the real political agendas being pushed, and therefore has had little success pushing their foreign policy agenda. When Al Qaeda attacked on 911, bin Laden explained in no uncertain terms what they wanted and why they attacked 1) Cessation of US support for Israel. 2) Withdrawal of US troops from Arabian soil. 3) Cessation of US interference with arab affairs in the Middle East. Right or wrong, crazy or sane, It was a political, not religious, agenda.