don't believe the hype

Here is a very interesting article regarding the events preceding and the consequences of the Iraq war. The main thrust of the article (I think) is that the Iraq war has damaged the reputation of the neoconservative movement, and the U.S. must rethink it's foreign policy or face isolation from the rest of the world. It's by Francis Fukuyama, a fairly influential political scientist who argued for the Iraq war post-9/11 but now appears to realise it wasn't the right way to bring democracy to the world.

A very interesting article about the emusic.com and how they've managed to build a business without using DRM. Not using DRM allows them to sell to iPod users (the only online music shop outside of iTunes to do this), however it means they can't sell major-label music. But they have built a large catalogue of independent music to sell, and also recognise the importance of helping customers discover new music. Recommended if you are interesting in indie music or DRM issues.

Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez is up to his tricks again. This time he's offering cheap oil to Britain's poor. I think this guy should be applauded for his audacity. As one British MP said "We in Britain are in danger of subcontracting out most of our foreign policy to Washington. Chavez is the antidote to that". The same applies here in Australia.

Meanwhile, Bush banned arms sales to Venezuela.

Well-written article in the New York Times about the paradigm shift that's occurring due to the internet.  Explains things fairly clearly (I think). Well worth the read.

Since the weather had been so great lately, I rang Rob on Saturday and arranged to leave Albury at 1. The days had been 15-20 degrees with clear skies, perfect for climbing. It was Mother's Day so I had coffee with Mum in the morning and then rang Rob to see if he wanted to leave at 12. Drove out to Pilot, and decided to go to Bakery Wall. We got there and found Andrew and Tim (who I didn't know) there already! Andrew's mate had cancelled the tree-chopping session so he came out climbing. Anyway, we started on a short 16 on the little boulder opposite Solo Man but I was really struggling - just didn't seem to be able to trust my feet. I don't know whether it was the new shoes (Mad Rocks that I bought at the Araps Mountain Shop) or I was just not feeling confident, but it kept going all day. Anyway, I finally got up it after realising I was missing a hold (although it still didn't seem very easy).
Then we tried the short 21 on the very right of Bakery Wall which was way too hard for me, I couldn't stick my foot on the crystal which is used for the crux and had no chance. Rob did very well to get up this one, it looked very technical with very thin holds.
Next up we tried the 18 just to the left, which I had done quite well on last time we came out, but this time I struggled on every move, and couldn't do the bit that I'd pushed straight through on my first attempt. Oh well.
After that, Rob led Breakfast at the Ponderosa (15), albeit with one fall. He got a cam stuck and spent too long trying to get it out. Anyway, he finished the climb, and I followed. My new shoes are good for cracks, because I didn't hurt my feet at all on this one, whereas last time I found it quite painful. I got a little pumped on the second half of the climb since I was trying not to use the tree which is growing out of the wall where you top out, but I couldn't get around it, and eventually gave in to temptation. Rob managed to get his cam out quite easily on abseil, fortunately.
Andrew and Tim had headed around to Yeddonba Wall (just below the fire tower) and we followed them around there. They were just finishing up the 40m grade 10 there which they did in 2 pitches. We didn't have heaps of time left (sun was just above the horizon) but decided to rap in off their rope and quickly go up it. I got the lead. Luckily it was pretty easy because there's absolutely no pro for the first 6m (except a very rattly flake about 2m off the ground which isn't worth stopping for). Then there's a bolt that sticks out quite a way, followed by nothing for another 6m when you get to a thin (just less than fingers) crack. This takes some OK wires (the angle of the slab means that it's a little tricky to place things). You can basically run up the slab from there, stopping a couple of times to place a wire. Got up it pretty quickly and Andrew had set up a belay for me (nice guy). The sunset was beautiful, pink fluffy clouds, orange skies, and a jet trail highlighted across the sky. Rob came up pretty quickly and by the time we packed up it was dark.
The best thing about the day was the weather, it was one of those perfect days that you really only get once or twice a year because most of the time you're working and it rains on the weekends!

A good summary of the various opinions on this. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldopinionroundup/2006/05/iran_letters_surprising_result_1.html

Well it's certainly been a bit colder here lately, earlier this week it felt like it was already winter! We're currently having a spell of cold, clear days and I hope it holds out until the weekend so we can get outside. Last weekend I'd arranged to go climbing but it decided to rain. I'm also trying to make an effort to do some kind of training every day, whether it's leg raises and push-ups, bouldering in the garage, or actual climbing. If I can keep it up it will hopefully make a bit of a difference.

Not sure if anyone else did it, but I completed the Da Vinci Code Challenge this morning. Probably won't win anything, but it was fun anyway.