text:
|Trad, Alpine
|YDS: 5.0 French: 2- Ewbanks: 4 UIAA: I ZA: 6 British: MM 1c [details]
|Joe Merhar and Dale Norton, 1931, FWA: Charley Mace, solo, 1981
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|Josh Janes on Sep 1, 2003
|Comments on Little Bear-Blanca Traverse
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By david goldstein
Sep 4, 2003
Poor rock (and judgment) on this route was the cause of my closest call ever. Somewhere in the middle of the traverse I tried to cut straight across the face of a pillar rather than taking the less technical, but longer, path up and down the pillar. Midway across the face, as I was committed to glued-on holds and thinking, "Messner must deal with sketch like this all the time", my sole foothold broke off. I fell a few feet, slammed into a small, sloping slab and started sliding towards the several hundred foot drop off. Just before the abyss, I grabbed a projecting rock and stopped my slide. My partner, who had observed the full sequence of events, said he had been sure my number was up and had already started envisioning/planning a body recovery.
Great route!
By Darren Mabe
From: Flagstaff, AZ
Sep 4, 2003
|No rope?
By Darren Mabe
From: Flagstaff, AZ
Sep 5, 2003
|I was just playing devil's advocate; I haven't done the route, but would probably not rope up if there was potential of killing my partner. Two more cents.
By joshua deuto
Sep 9, 2003
I agree that the use of a rope on this rig would be a bit tedious. I guess it would be safe to say that this ridge is low fifth class for the medium-to-upper-fifth-class climber. It could be a nightmare in a few spots.
I thought that this was the single coolest traverse I've done in the state of CO. It really does flow, and one can move fast across it. I think it took me 1.5 hours from the summit of Little Bear to the summit of Blanca. The beta provided in these postings is accurate... stick to the ridge crest and don't fall, be careful around a few of the little towers.
I thought the traverse between Blanca and Ellingwood Pt. actually contained more fifth-class climbing, sticking to the ridge crest proper, although with much less commitment and exposure (which define the Little Bear/Blanca ridge!)
By George Bell
From: Boulder, CO
Sep 9, 2003
rating: 5.2 3 8 II 8 D 2c
Josh says: "this ridge is low fifth class for the medium to upper fifth class climber". I find this statement confusing, the difficulty of a climb should not depend on the ability of the climber! What would you rate the traverse for a "lower fifth class climber"?
Let me see if I understand what you are getting at. By strict definition, a rope is needed for any climb rated 4th class or higher. However, sufficiently advanced climbers may choose to climb routes at the bottom end of this scale unroped (so called "third classing", which further confuses the issue). So are you saying that in your opinion a medium or upper fifth class leader (what is "medium", though, 5.8?) could do this traverse unroped? Just trying to understand where you're coming from!
If you can't get good anchors in, it's debatable how much safety a rope adds. It could actually become more dangerous because the rope gives a false sense of security, or you could trip on it and it will slow you down. But it sounds like a rope could have halted the type of fall taken by Dave Goldstein (if he hadn't saved himself!).
By joshua deuto
Sep 9, 2003
Hey - sorry George, I put the wrong 'josh' in. That previous post, and this one, are from me, josh deuto.
My point about the comment 'lower fifth class for the medium to upper fifth class climber' is simply an attempt to put the climbing in perspective. If I had little to no experience in the technical rock climbing realm (i.e. no real fifth class experience) it would still be conceivable for me to be physically able to pull off many lower fifth class rock climbs (5.0-5.5) This said, in my experience, one would want to tackle this particular ridge traverse only after establishing a comfort level in the 'medium' fifth class range (5.5-5.8). I say this because I believe it to be requisite on this ridge to move fast, and limited climbing experience significantly slows things up. I think everyone would agree that a party should 'move out' as not to get caught on this thing in a storm, for instance.
I think a rope would only be useful on this climb if used to simul-climb, with the knowledge and experience to do so. ..or to have in the event that an emergency retreat becomes necessary.
By Mark
Jan 7, 2004
rating: 5.0 2- 4 I 6 MM 1c
|Awesome route; I would do it again any time. Try to do it when no one else is up there, because getting to the top of Little Bear is very dangerous.
By Mark Hyams
From: Albuquerque
Mar 28, 2004
rating: 5.2 3 8 II 8 D 2c
This has to be one of the greatest fourteener outings in Colorado. I did this ridge in 1996, and one of my main motivating factors was that I didn't want to downclimb the route on Little Bear! It was also the first of the "four great 14er traverses" that Roach describes that I tried, mainly because the route-finding seemed simpler than the rest: just stay on top.
I also had one of my closest calls ever on this route. After skirting the vertical wall about two-thirds of the way along by going right, I was climbing up the talus to regain the ridge, and I pulled on a very large boulder, maybe 4x4x1 feet, and it shifted on to me. It was balanced perfectly, but I could not push it at all up, so I figured what I had to do was let go and jump aside and let it go crashing down the slope, unfortunately my left foot didn't get out of the way in time, and it smashed down right on it. I credit my Sportiva Makalus for saving my life. Any flimsier footwear and my foot would have been shattered into a thousand pieces. In fact, I thought it was, until I took my boot off and probed around a bit, and it was okay. I laced my boot up and limped off to finish the route okay. I then hobbled down back to Lake Como, where I was sure there was no way I could make it down without help, but I rested a day, and my foot felt a lot better, and I climbed Ellingwood before leaving the following day.
All in all, this route has it all: views, position, good rock. Spectacular! But don't tell anyone about it!
By Cory Cleveland
From: Missoula, MT
Aug 11, 2004
Great route. Worth a trip, in spite of the crowds of vehicles and campers at Lake Como. The road to the lake (and beyond) is a 4-wheeler testpiece, so don't go expecting an alpine wilderness experience. The crux of the route is probably avoiding rockfall on the way to Little Bear's summit.
The rock on the ridge is nice, and the route went quickly unroped. The distinction between 4th and 5th class climbing on here was difficult to discern. It all felt about the same to me. Like 4th class, that is. Routefinding along the ridge was straightforward, just follow the path of least resistance. Most of the time you are right on the ridge, with some amazingly airy knife-edge traverses along the way.
By George Bell
From: Boulder, CO
Oct 29, 2004
rating: 5.2 3 8 II 8 D 2c
|We walked in to do this last August, and one problem we discovered is that snow/hail lingers on the standard route up Little Bear (which faces approximately west). It probably takes a couple afternoons of good sun to melt summer snow/hail off, but instead we got another storm and a few more inches overnight. Snow on this route was more than we bargained for, so we just hiked up Ellingwood and Blanca.
By Chris McEvoy
May 14, 2006
|I would like to add my two cents to the Little Bear/Blanca Traverse.... I would highly recommend a running belay for the traverse from Little Bear to Blanca. Yeah, tripping over your rope might be a problem, but that is typical when climbing low class rock. It is better to have your seat belt when you need it than to need it and not have it like mentioned earlier in this string of beta. It is each person's choice depending on their ability and confidence level but keep in mind... if you fall or f... up, someone is going to have to risk their life to get you out dead or barely alive. A rope and a spartan assortment of pro is a must for any exposed alpine line.
By Merlin
From: Grand Junction
Aug 6, 2006
rating: 5.2 3 8 II 8 D 2c
|No rope needed, it would get in the way, be OK with 5.0 and 4th class climbing and OK with exposure.
By -mn
Aug 25, 2006
|Did this car to car in 10 hrs. from the 8,000' level (about 2 miles from Hwy. 150). Finished with Ellingwood Point then down its W. Ridge. Thought I would post this for others curious about times. I was movin' pretty quick, but I'm definitely no speed demon. Hint: do the W. Ridge of Little Bear instead of the shooting gallery of the normal route. Stayed right on the ridge except for one spot. Beautiful exposed ridge with a few spots of low 5th - a little harder than the traverse itself and a great way to wake up - sans rope.
By Charles Danforth
From: L'ville, CO
Sep 5, 2006
The comments here are all good. In particular, the difficulty is not that high, but it's a "long" ridge and is mentally and emotionally taxing. In particular, getting over/around the four big towers at the Blanca end was a real struggle. The rock is mostly solid, but I still had two close-calls; one foot-hold broke when skirting a tower, and one body-sized block cut loose just after I stopped hanging on it. Yikes!
As far as statistics, we took 3.5 hours from Lake Como to the summit of Little Bear (Hourglass Rt), 4 hours on the ridge, and 2.5 hours on the descent (total of 12 hours camp to camp with various summit lounging). My flatlander partner had to stop a lot to rest and we took our time on the summits and on the descent. I suspect I could do the traverse in 3 hours otherwise.
By George Bell
From: Boulder, CO
Aug 27, 2007
rating: 5.2 3 8 II 8 D 2c
FA: Joe Merhar and Dale Norton, 1931
FWA: Charley Mace, solo, 1981 (first winter traverse)
Josh: I would think traverse times of 4-8 hours are from roped parties.
We did this traverse yesterday and it was fantastic! This route is far better than any other 14er traverse I've done due to staying on the crest almost the whole time and the generally solid rock (it is best on the Little Bear side). Out of habit, we kept looking for ways around the towers, but invariably the only possibility is going right over the top (ex Cpt Bivwacko). We took no rope and this worked out well. There is tons of exposure, however, and everybody needs to be comfortable soloing 5.2. Perfect weather and dry rock are also helpful (necessary, in fact, for us).
It seems to me the traverse might be slightly easier technically from Blanca to Little Bear. I guess the reason why the guides recommend the other way is that you don't want to be going down Little Bear late in the day. Also, the one spot where you leave the ridge and traverse the south side would be less obvious in the "wrong" direction.
Two local students from Alamosa were doing the traverse at the same time. One of them carried nothing but the shirt on his back. If that isn't going fast and light, I don't know what is! I don't know how he managed it without any water.
By Kaner
From: Eagle
Sep 9, 2007
Be cool free soloing high altitude, sketchy, exposed low 5th class, and you don't need a rope or climbing shoes. We did it in hiking shoes, 2 hrs, 20 min to cross the ridge with few breaks and a steady, but safe pace. After Blanca, we tagged Ellingwood for a 3 14er day.
George Bell- we signed Blanca's register under yours!
By Mike McMahon
From: Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah
Sep 16, 2007
|Wow; high exposure on a fantastic ridge. More than anything, I found this one to be a real mental challenge of staying completely alert for the entire traverse. In a few spots, the ridge is severely doubly exposed, a slip, trip, or missed step would surely result in death. This would certainly be a bad place to be in a storm. Anyway, if comfortable with the grade and heavy exposure, I highly recommend this one!
By jhump
Sep 24, 2007
September 22, 2007- Little Bear-Blanca Traverse.
7000? altitude gain, 14 miles?
Below are some times and conditions notes for someone who wants to do a day climb late in the season. Watch the ice on the NW Face!
1:30 am: Wake up.
2:00 am: Start driving south- 470 to 25 to 160 to 150.
6:30 am: Arrive at a point where I no longer want to subject my truck to abuse, about 2.5 miles from Route 150 turnoff at about 8,000 feet altitude.
7:00 am: Fanny pack is loaded with 40 oz Cytomax, 2 iodine tabs, 3oz wind shirt, 5 gels and cell phone. I begin my run up the jeep trail.
-1 hr 27 mins- Arrive at Como Lake. The jeep trail is very poor for running. Those Jeeps really do a number on that trail.
-3 hrs 05 mins- Summit of Little Bear. I climbed the NW Face. It was pretty tame and going very quickly until I reached the last 100 feet which was covered with frozen snow and verglas. This portion took me a solid ½ hour. I spent 15 minutes frozen in one spot. I had to decide if I wanted to commit to verglas moves left or grab portable shale holds to the right. I went to the left of the summit block and arrived safely. The summit is baking in sunshine. I call home and take a minute to warm my frozen hands.
-4 hrs 35 mins- Summit of Blanca. The traverse is good fun. I stay to the south and east aspects even if it means harder climbing. The north and west sides are dangerously icy. I descend the slope between Blanca and Ellingwood to the lakes.
-5 hrs 34 mins- Arrive at Como Lake, sit down to make some water with the iodine pills. I have been dry for a while.
-7 hrs 00 mins- Arrive back at my truck.
6:30 pm arrive back home in Golden, 16 and 1/2 hours after leaving.
By AJS
From: Boulder, CO
Jul 7, 2008
|Did the Ellingwood to Blanca to Little Bear traverse this past Saturday - after all that loose scree I was SO happy to realize this was the first weekend of Sunday liquor/beer sales in CO when we got back out of there on Sunday!
By mark felber
From: Wheat Ridge, CO
Jul 19, 2008
rating: 5.0 2- 4 I 6 MM 1c
I did this 5 years ago and came back for a repeat a few days ago (7/16-7/17). Bivying at Blue Lakes and going up the NW face lets you avoid a lot of the crowds at Lake Como and rockfall that I've heard about on the West Ridge. There are existing bivy sites at and around Blue Lakes, so no need to trample the vegetation, just use an existing site.
The Lake Como road seems to be losing its appeal to the 4WD crowd, more people were parking passenger cars at the bottom trailhead and walking the length of the road instead of driving their trucks and jeeps as high as they dared and walking from there. High fuel prices aren't all bad, are they?
By Jesse Morehouse
From: CO
Aug 23, 2009
rating: 5.0 2- 4 I 6 MM 1c
If you are reasonably fit and a mediocre climber or better, I'd plan on 2 hours to summit LB, 2 hours for the traverse and that leaves you the rest of the day since you probably started up LB at 5 AM to avoid the crowds (I counted 8 on LB's summit at 7:45 in mid August on a Saturday)
I'd recommend at least filling the rest of your morning by hitting Ellingwood and descending its SW ridge (fun 3rd class) for an enjoyable loop. Back at the Como area by noon and plenty of time to act like a lazy climber and sip whiskey all day or hike out and do something else!
By mountainmicah83
From: Colorado Springs
Jan 31, 2011
rating: 5.4 4a 12 IV 10 VD 3c
|I can now certainly say that Charley Mace is not "possibly the only" to do this traverse in Calendar Winter. This past weekend on 1/29/11, Matt Bruton and myself (Micah Morgan) did this winter traverse 30 years later in 4.5 hours and although we carried technical climbing gear, we used none.
By George Bell
From: Boulder, CO
Jan 31, 2011
rating: 5.2 3 8 II 8 D 2c
|Awesome job, Matt and Micah! Congrats on the winter traverse!
By Ryan Marsters
Jul 24, 2014
rating: 5.0 2- 4 I 6 MM 1c
|The second headwall after the saddle that is usually skirted on scree can be climbed directly via a right side chimney at 5.easy. This is more enjoyable than scree and stays the ridge to Blanca. A third smaller step can be climbed at exposed ~5.4 on the left side of the face (loose).
By Eric Porritt
May 24, 2015
|Many people have obviously traversed this free climbing without rope or protection. Many of the comments make me think that a lot of the American sport and trad climbers are not familiar with running belays as in true alpine climbing. A good running belay does not slow you down and is SAFE. How many falls occur because of over confidence or fatigue on easier terrain? If it is exposed or 5.2 and greater, traversing unroped is a good way to shorten your climbing career.


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(CINCINNATI) — As Sen. Rick Santorum holds on to his lead in the polls, Mitt Romney arrived in Ohio Monday for a speech with little fanfare, walking out without his customary campaign music and without an enthusiastic response from the crowd.
Speaking at a biopharmaceutical manufacturer, Romney repeated his latest attacks on Santorum, accusing the former Pennsylvania senator of overspending during his years in Congress, but did so to a crowd that was more muted than his usual animated, sign-holding, autograph-seeking audiences.
"One of the people I'm running against, Sen. Santorum, goes to Washington and calls himself a budget hawk," said Romney, who received only halfhearted applause during his speech, which clocked in at just under 15 minutes. "Then after he's been there a while he says he's no longer a budget hawk."
The latest daily Gallup national poll shows Santorum with a 10-point lead over Romney.
While Romney usually walks out at events to a blaring rendition of Kid Rock's "Born Free," on Monday he walked out silently next to Sen. Bob Portman, who endorsed Romney earlier this year and introduced him at the event. At the end of the event, a softer version of the song could be heard humming quietly from the speakers.
Missing was the standing ovation the former Massachusetts governor usually receives upon entering a room, and in its place shy waves from a group of supporters standing behind Romney's podium.
"Well, I am a budget hawk," Romney told the crowd of about 100. "I don't want to spend more money than we take in. I don't believe it's appropriate for us to keep raising the debt ceiling every year. He voted five times to raise the debt ceiling without getting compensating cuts in spending. During his time in the Senate, only two terms, the size of the federal government grew 80 percent."
"When Republicans go to Washington and spend like Democrats, you're going to have a lot of spending, and that's what we've seen over the last several years," he said.
This was Romney's only campaign event on Monday, while Santorum had four events, traveling to both Michigan and Ohio. Romney was scheduled to hold a private fundraiser in Cincinnati Monday night before heading to Shelby, Mich., for a town hall there on Tuesday.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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Crist gives USF Polytechnic, shout-out to J.D.
The governor signed into law SB 186, officially turning USF's Lakeland campus into the state's first polytechnic university, not far from where Sen. J.D. Alexander owns land.
Gov. Crist sent out a mass e-mail with shout-outs to lawmakers including Alexander and Lakeland Rep. Seth McKeel "for their leadership on this issue." He also thanked Rep. Ed Homan of Temple Terrace and Sen. Carey Baker.
Crist also is expected to leave intact the $15-million in the proposed 08-09 budget that USF needs to start building a new campus for the polytechnic.


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There's a reason why 'Where's Wally' is so effective and enduringly popular. The human brain is evolved to use colour, shapes and patterns as catalysts for cognitive recognition. These originally enabled us to spot threats in the environment; now they enable us to spot trends and sequences in charts more easily.
In a recent post at the HuffPost UK I wrote about my conversations with Liam Kavanagh, Managing Director of The Irish Times Group, on the lessons learned from The Digital Challenge.


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Posted by: Josh Kendall on December 13, 2012
Willie Taggart delivered a message Thursday morning to Will Muschamp, Jimbo Fisher, Al Golden and George O'Leary.
"I am so excited I have the same size stick now," Taggart said on 1080-AM in Orlando. "Before we had a switch, swinging it. Now we have a stick. We're going to see where it takes us. We're not going to bow down to any program."
Taggart was responding to a question about recruiting against those established coaches at traditional powers in the state of Florida.
"If we want to be one of those teams that competes for championships, we have to compete against those guys in recurring," Taggart said. "Those schools have been around longer than us, but we've got a lot to offer at South Florida."
It's recruiting where Taggart has spent most of his time in his first days on the job, he said.
"That's the only thing I dislike about being a head coach is you are so restricted in recruiting," Taggart said. "I try to take advantage of every day. I really, really enjoy that I have the best job in America, every year I get to meet new families and friends and also make a difference in somebody's life."
Recruiting has postponed Taggart's hiring of assistant coaches, but he promised Thursday "it's coming quick."
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Taggart promised to bring a "very, very tough football team" that plays with great passion and enthusiasm to Tampa.
"I truly believe winning is not complicated," Taggart said. "People complicate it. I am looking forward to putting it all together because it's going to be something special when it's all done."
Here's Taggart speaking after taking the Bulls top job:
Josh Kendall is a staff writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered the SEC for more than 15 years for papers such as the Athens Banner-Herald, Macon Telegraph, and The State. He's the father of two boys who he's hoping don't inherit his wide receiver frame and offensive guard feet. Follow @EyeOnCoaches on twitter and send your feedback to firstname.lastname@example.com


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The current debate occurring in Washington is centred on the Israeli aggression on Gaza. Thus, it is important to try and comprehend the relationship between what is happening in Gaza and what has been happening in the Arab world since the outbreak of the Arab Spring in 2011.
It is impossible to know precisely what is being said in private negotiation rooms; however, one can infer the general direction of these conversations based on leaked information published by American newspapers and the official stances adopted by research centres since they often reflect these negotiations, at least partially. In fact, the official stances adopted by research centres are often a truer reflection of private negotiations than the official statements made by officials who are bound by diplomatic restraints as a result of the positions they hold.
The Arab Spring and new alliances
American researchers, with a focus on matters in the Arab world, have collected data on "the rules of engagement", according to Hollywood terms, or the map of alliances as it is referred to in the Arab world. They have concluded that alliances in the Arab world look entirely different today than they did before 2011.
In this context, many Arab regimes have been accused of standing with Israel against the Islamic movement Hamas and, therefore, against the people of the Gaza Strip. The majority of these allegations would go unnoticed were it not for their publication in the newspapers where often one side accuses the other of backstabbing or treason and tries to justify their opinion.
The idea that there is an Arab bias for Israel is one that requires us to meditate on what happens and what will continue to happen from here on out, as this is a notion that is being fostered not only by the American media but also by international media outlets.
In this context, it is important to keep in mind the words of US negotiator Aaron David Miller of the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars, when he said, "I have never before seen anything like the current state in which we find many Arab states, which are accepting, if not indifferent, to the killing in Gaza. Indeed, it is a deafening silence."
Miller went on to explain this deafening silence by saying: "The fear that many Arab states have of political Islam far exceeds their sense of hatred for Benjamin Netanyahu."
The American Soufan intelligence research group, which is run by former members of the FBI, had a more clear explanation of the Arab attitudes towards the Israeli aggression on Gaza: "Israel's current battle against Hamas is part of a wider regional battle against the Muslim Brotherhood."
The quote above serves as a direct and simple explanation for what is happening in Gaza regardless of the fact that it contradicts the nature of the aggression on the Strip. Moreover, resistance against Israeli occupation is not new to the Palestinian territories and uprisings have occurred numerous times prior to the onset of the Arab Spring. And yet, the new regional sentiment is one that evokes the old saying, "My enemy's enemy is my friend and my enemy's friend is my enemy".
Since Hamas is considered to be an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in the region, the Arab regimes now have the desire to neutralise the movement as part of their greater fight against the group. It is not unlikely that US Secretary of State John Kerry had encouraged this Arab sentiment himself during his tour of the region as he obeyed the regional desire not to put any more pressure on Israel.
Arabs against the Islamists and resistance
According to Al-Araby's sources in Washington, it appears as though the US administration received advice from Arab countries suggesting that any direct negotiations between Hamas and Israel would strengthen Hamas politically and grant it recognition and legitimacy, which would abort the region's mission to uproot the Muslim Brotherhood.
It should be noted that the debate in Washington has been centred on how to best fuel conflict in the Middle East and this has been the case since the Bush administration when it was believed that the best way to do so was to ignite sectarian conflicts between Sunni and Shia Muslims; however, both of these parties agreed on their anti-Israel positions.
There were also attempts to promote conflicts between liberal Arabs and Islamists; however, those who supported this idea later differed on their stances concerning the Brotherhood. There were many American politicians and thinkers who thought highly of the Muslim Brotherhood because their ideology is closer to liberalism and the centre than other extremist groups that identify with Islamism.
This difference in opinion on the Muslim Brotherhood were later affected by a number of strategic errors which co-existed with other political trends in the Arab world resulting from the Arab Spring, primarily the Muslim Brotherhood's access to governance in both the Egyptian and Yemeni cases.
The fears resulting from the Brotherhood's ascension to power have been flowing in from two different sources. The first is Israel whose fear of Arab democracy exceeds its fear of the groups affecting its own people. The second are the Arab regimes themselves who for decades have considered the Muslim Brotherhood a threat that is more dangerous than armed Sunni and Shia militant groups.
The Arab sentiment was spelled out explicitly in 2000 during Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, the Saudi interior minister's interview with a Kuwaiti newspaper. The Saudi prince described the Muslim Brotherhood as "the source of hardships in the region" whose existence was a "curse and a threat to existing Arab regimes".
Supporters of the group acknowledge that the Brotherhood is indeed a threat to existing Arab regimes in the region because it based on establishing a democratic system in the Arab world. The Brotherhood's ideology is based on notions of social justice which threaten greedy politicians who are stakeholders in today's systems of terrorism and armed rebellion.
On this basis, many American analysts have concluded that Israeli interests have been intermarried with those of current Arab regimes based on one common goal: the elimination of the Muslim Brotherhood. The lack of consensus on one common opinion in the United States can be due to the efforts of various political groups who have leaked information to the press about opposing parties.
The ability of governments to completely influence what the media portrays has now become a memory in the glorious past and this is true even in the most notorious dictatorships. While this does not mean that democracies do not have some influence on what the media portrays, they can influence the direction of the debate in a way that helps them achieve a political objective. This reality, at least, affords them the opportunity to spare themselves some embarrassment or even grants them the ability to expose opposing parties.
There is no doubt that the Arab regimes have an interest in destroying Hamas and it is this interest that led to US Secretary of State John Kerry's failures during his tour of the Middle East. He should not have tried to expose the Arab regimes in front of their own people for their own people know them very well. Instead, the world is now baffled as it witnesses a superpower such as the United States become paralysed in its ability to stop the massacre or demonstrate a single shred of humanity when it comes to the crimes in Gaza.
The American people still remember quite well when former Secretary of State Colin Powell was able to force Israel to immediately withdraw from Khan Younis, Rafah or anywhere else by merely placing a call with his demands. So, how is Secretary Kerry unable to have any influence on Israel when he went there in person?
It is hard to imagine that the United States would not want a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas because if that were the case, why would they send their Secretary of State to embark on a mission they would want to fail? It is difficult for the average human being to admit to a failure let alone a politician with Kerry's high political capital.
I do not want to participate in the common narrative of the average underrated mind that suggests that Israel is able to control the US administration and the American people collectively. Instead, I will argue that Israel is, in fact, able to sway the US government into seeing its perspective and by consequence, is able to direct in whatever way it so chooses. Israel could not have achieved what it has done so easily without the support of neighbouring Arab regimes which seek to wage war on Hamas and bring it to its knees.
Will they succeed?
While many American thinkers can agree that there does in fact seem to be an agreement between Israel and the Arab regimes, one still wonders whether or not they are able to succeed in their objectives. A paper published by the Suphan Group on their website suggests that Hamas will face many obstacles and hardships in the coming years due to the changes in its map of alliances and its loss of Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Egypt post-Arab Spring.
And yet, it remains a challenge nonetheless for Israel to impose a political solution via military force regardless of whether or not it has the support of Arab regimes. All that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be able to achieve is a temporary ceasefire that will not last long unless the problem is addressed from the root.
Many western diplomats believe that the only parties who would be able to achieve a true solution are those in Doha and Ankara. By contrast, officials in Cairo have done very little except to give Israel sufficient time to destroy Hamas by continuing to practice policies that draw out the length of this conflict.
Perhaps Secretary Kerry's problem is that he tried to appease all parties and by doing so, he lost the trust of all parties. While Kerry did not fail in achieving a truce between Israel and Hamas he did fail to choose the correct location to achieve his objective. In other words, he made a mistake in choosing Cairo instead of Ankara.
Translated from Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, 5 August, 2014


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Title fighter Tommy Bridewell begins Showdown battle with two top-six finishes at Assen, sets sights on improvement at Silverstone this weekend
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Supersonic BMW's Tommy Bridewell made a solid start to the Showdown opener at Assen as he notched a brace of top-six finishes.
Title fighter Bridewell battled with Swan Yamaha's Noriyuki Haga and Padgett's Honda rider Luca Scassa for much of race one, eventually finishing sixth after edging ahead of Michael Laverty on the last lap.
After securing a second row start for race two, Bridewell dug deep to hold off the advances of Haga and Laverty to collect 11 points courtesy of an impressive fifth place finish for the Italian outfit, although he remains sixth in the championship standings with the final two rounds still ahead.
A satisfied Bridewell said afterwards: "We made some big changes to the bike and improved a lot over the weekend so I'd like to say thanks to the team for their hard work.
"It was a tough weekend for everyone but we managed to get it right for the race again so I'm happy and let's see if we can improve for Silverstone."


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Entertaining the Gods:
Yarn Paintings of the Mexican Huichol
Continuing through May 15th, 2011
These striking artworks are contemporary versions of nierikas or "mirror images of God," created by native Huichol (WEE-chol) people of Mexico. Bright, bold and joyful, they originally functioned as aids to spiritual leaders, as they communicated between the Gods of the Huichol peyote religion, and earthly life.
The Huichol are native Mexicans who were relatively untouched by the Christianity of the invading Spanish, in part because they relocated to remote locations in the Sierra Madres Mountains. In a land of steep canyons, sparse rainfall, and uncertain crops, Huichole survival has depended upon their close psychic connections with nature.
While its materials have changed from stone to yarn, Huichol art has changed very little. The works in this exhibition are drawn from a set of twenty-four Huichol yarn paintings which were donated to the Tweed Museum of Art in 2009, by a generous private patron.
Symoblic Images: Metaphors Deployed and Preserved
Yarn Painting: Methods and Materials


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CNBC "Halftime Report" trader Sarat Sethi bought shares of an electronics audio equipment maker on the belief it can leverage the booming "Internet of Things" trend.
On Tuesday, Sethi, who's a managing partner at Douglas C. Lane & Associates, decided to restructure his model portfolio by selling out of BorgWarner in favor of Harman International Industries.
In the past 12 months, shares of Harman plummeted more than 40 percent on global economic concerns, but Sethi believes the stock is trading at a discount and is poised to move higher.


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Jack Wilshere's cold handshake fails to ruffle goalscorer Robin van Persie
Robin van Persie provided a perfect response to former Arsenal team-mate
Jack Wilshere's cold greeting during the pre-match handshakes as the striker opened the scoring for his new side Manchester United within three minutes of kick-off, before the Arsenal man himself saw red.
Wilshere, making his long-awaited return to the Arsenal starting XI against United, did not refuse to shake the Dutchman's hand during the much-maligned pre-match ritual – but the look he gave his former close friend in the build-up said it all.
However, the midfielder lasted just 70 minutes of his return to first-team action, after he received a red card for two bookable offences.
Earlier it hadn't taken long for Van Persie to come up with an answer to Wilshere's hostility, as he took advantage of a poor slip by Thomas Vermaelen to fire United in front just a couple of minutes in.
A good move down the United right saw Rafael set free of Arsenal full-back Andre Santos.
And despite his cross falling to the feet of Vermaelen, the Belgian made a hash of his clearance and Van Persie pounced to fire a right-footed shot beyond Vito Mannone.
Van Persie's name had been roundly booed by the travelling Gunners fans prior to kick-off but their taunts were drowned out by loud cheers from the home supporters.
Despite the poor reception from the away end for Arsenal's former hero, Van Persie at least showed restraint after his goal – raising his arms above his head to signify he would not celebrate.
That didn't stop his United team-mates swamping him shortly afterwards – signifying the importance of the goal to the team's start as they look to usurp Chelsea as the Premier League leaders with a victory.
And it could have been worse for Arsene Wenger's men before the break, as Santi Cazorla was adjudged to have handled inside his penalty area, but Wayne Rooney fired the resulting penalty wide of Vito Mannone's goal.
It always looked to be a matter of time before the hosts extended their lead and it came in the 67th minute, when a short corner was crossed into the edge of the six-yard box by Rooney and met with a virtually unchallenged header from Patrice Evra to double United's advantage.
Just three minutes later, Arsenal's task got all the more challenging when Wilshere received his marching orders after a second yellow card for a foul on Evra, reducing the visitors to ten men.
Cazorla managed a brilliant late consolation strike for the Gunners, but it was too little too late as United claimed all three points to climb to the top of the Premier League, at least until this evening.
PICTURES: Robin van Persie helps Man United beat his old club Arsenal


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AURORA, Colo. - A few of his high school players sauntered out to the diamond on a balmy Thursday afternoon, congregating near the infield grass that's beginning to turn brown.
A day after hearing the news that Walt Weiss, their coach at Regis Jesuit, was heading back to the big leagues as manager of the Colorado Rockies, they were still a little stunned. That was their coach, the one who just six months ago was taking grounders with them in practice as he guided the team to the state semifinals.
Now, Weiss is making the unusual leap from high school coach to major league manager.
His players are already imagining the possibilities: Maybe Weiss will give them a tour of the clubhouse, or perhaps invite them to watch batting practice at Coors Field.


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Broken front sight. Help please
I was looking to buy a used Browning Buckmark 22, only the front sight came off as I was test firing it. The screw that holds the sight on broke and part is still in the hole.
Can a gunsmith extract this broken screw and remount the sight. Are there any other sight options? Any I idea on costs to repair?
Thanks for any help.
A good gunsmith should be able to use an easy-out type tool and remove the broken screw\bolt. He can then redress the threads and re-install the sight. This is something unless you are very mechanical I would leave to a professional
A competent DIYer should be able to handle all but the reinstall. All it would really take is a drill press and vice, and the appropriate drill bit and tap.
Sounds like a good candidate for a red dot or reflex type sight though.
You use your front sight? Maybe I should start doing this..... If it is way down in there then I would have a smith do it. But if it were clost to the top I would do it myself. It is not that hard. worse comes to worse you drill it and tap it bigger and call it a day.
How in the world do you hold elevation?
Bob Wright
|All times are GMT. The time now is 09:02 PM.
Copyright ©2000 - 2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.


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Hot off the heels of the American launch of the upgraded Nintendo DSi handheld, the system has gained three new colors. That's the good news. The bad news is that for now, they're exclusive to Japan.
The DSi, already on shelves in Japan, comes in black and white, and to that Nintendo will add Pink, Lime Green, and Metallic Blue varieties.
When the DSi hits American shores on April 5, it will come in black and blue.
{ad}The newly colorful systems will have the same ¥18,900 ($195) price tag as the original. While they won't be for sale in American stores, Nintendo DS systems are not region-specific, so if you have to have your DSi in Pink, you can order one from a game import shop and still play all your American games.
Read more at 1UP


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Three workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant's reactor No.3 were exposed to high radiation, Japan's nuclear safety agency said on Thursday.
Two of the workers were hospitalised "after being exposed to radiation ranging from 170 to 180 milli-sieverts", NISA spokesman Hideyuki Nishiyama said.
They were working in a building where the turbine is located.
An exposure of 100 milli-sieverts a year is considered the lowest level at which any increase in cancer risk is evident.
The news came as Australia, Canada and Singapore on Thursday joined the list of countries shunning Japanese food imports as radioactive steam wafted anew from the plant, which was crippled in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that has devastated Japan's northeast coast.
Japan has estimated the economic impact of the disaster could hit ¥25 trillion ($306 billion) – double that of the 1995 Kobe quake and nearly four times more than Hurricane Katrina.
Workers doled out bottled water to Tokyo families on Thursday after residents cleared store shelves because of warnings that radiation from the Fukushima plant had seeped into the city's water supply.
Anxiety over food and water supplies surged when Tokyo officials reported on Wednesday that radioactive iodine in the city's tap water was above levels considered dangerous for babies. New readings showed the levels had returned to safe levels in Tokyo, but were high in two neighbouring prefectures – Chiba and Saitama.
Government spokesman Yukio Edano sought to allay fears over the tap water readings.
"We ask people to respond calmly," he said at a briefing on Thursday. "The Tokyo metropolitan government is doing its best."
Households with infants will get three, half-litre bottles of water for each baby - a total of 240,000 bottles – city officials said, begging Tokyo residents to buy only what they need for fear that hoarding could hurt the thousands of people without any water in areas devastated by the earthquake and tsunami.
Nearly two weeks after the magnitude-9 quake, about 660,000 households still do not have water in Japan's northeast.
Fears about food safety began to spread overseas as radiation seeped into raw milk, seawater and 11 kinds of vegetables, including broccoli, cauliflower and turnips, grown in areas around the plant.
About 40 kilometres northwest of the Fukushima nuclear plant, levels for one locally grown leafy green measured 82 times the government limit for radioactive cesium and 11 times the limit for iodine.
Australia and the US said they were halting imports of Japanese dairy and produce from the region; Hong Kong said it would require that Japan perform safety checks on meat, eggs and seafood; and Canada said it would upgrade controls on imports of Japanese food products by requiring documents verifying their safety.
Concerns also spread to Europe. In Iceland, officials said they measured trace amounts of radioactive iodine in the air, but assured residents it was "less than a millionth" of levels found in European countries in the wake of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
Meanwhile, nuclear workers were still struggling to regain control of the power plant 220 kilometres north of the capital.
The plant has been leaking radiation since the quake and tsunami knocked out its crucial cooling systems, leading to explosions and fires in four of its six reactors.
After setbacks and worrying black smoke forced an evacuation, workers were back inside on Thursday and had restored power to a second control room.
The number of people confirmed dead or listed as missing in Japan rose above 26,000 on Thursday.
There are fears of a much higher toll from the disaster, which flattened entire towns along the Pacific coast of northern Honshu island.
The National Police Agency said in its latest update that 9700 people had been confirmed dead and 16,501 officially listed as missing - a total of 26,201 - as a result of the March 11 catastrophe.
A total of 2766 people have been injured.
The quake has become Japan's deadliest natural disaster since the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, which killed more than 142,000 people.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced from their homes and have taken shelter in evacuation facilities.
Meanwhile, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday said it was launching a two-pronged review of US nuclear power plant safety.
The US regulator called for an agency task force to be set up to conduct "both short- and long-term analysis of the lessons that can be learned from the situation in Japan," the NRC said in a statement.
"Our focus is always on ensuring the health and safety of the American people through our licensing and oversight of plants and radioactive materials in this country," NRC chairman Gregory Jaczko said.
"Examining all the available information from Japan is essential to understanding the event's implications for the United States."


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Pour spout
April 1, 2008
Seaquist's Ultra pour spout features soft, round edges, a rib pattern on the outer wall, lower profile design, ergonomic finger recess and drain hole options for hot fill applications. Light in weight, it is available in 33-400 and 38-400.
Seaquist Closures;
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