It’s climbing season again on Mt. Everest. As you might remember, I’m kind of obsessed with reading about every death on Everest. It didn’t take long for a fatality to occur this year:
An 82-year-old former Nepalese foreign minister has died in his attempt to become the oldest person to climb Mount Everest, a government official said Monday.
Shailendra Kumar Upadhyaya died Monday afternoon, hours after arriving at Camp One in his record attempt, the official told AFP by telephone from Everest base camp. The cause of his death was not yet known.
Upadhyaya had said he wanted to raise awareness about the capabilities of elderly people by scaling the world’s highest peak, which has claimed the lives of hundreds of mountaineers.
“The former minister died at around 4:00pm Monday,” said government official Tilak Pandey.
Camp One on the Nepalese side of the mountain is only 19,000 ft. (5943m). That’s high enough for a normal person to want some supplemental oxygen, but far below the 26,246 ft. (8000m) death zone where oxygen should be mandatory. In any case, it’s sad that Mr. Upadhyaya wanted to do something nice and lost his life because of it.
In other news, both Obama and the Democrats got a big boost out of the death of bin-Laden. I don’t think this is a temporary bubble. I think the episode fundamentally resolved questions many people had about Obama. Coupled with the release of his long-form birth certificate, you can see what it did to Donald Trump, whose teevee show has plummeted in the ratings. Trump is kind of a metaphor for a larger phenomenon, where people are able to embrace the president and get beyond identity politics.
The dragging economy will pull Obama’s numbers back down from their peak, but I think he will stay at an elevated level for the remainder of his first term. And the Republicans will assist him by launching one of the strangest, most implausible and frightening presidential campaigns of all time.
I saw earlier in the week that a study found that half the citizens of Detroit are functionally illiterate. Now I learn that you can buy crack pipes disguised as pens in Detroit dollar stores and gas stations. How hard is it to find the people who manufacture these crack pipes? If the Detroit metro police are fining the merchants who sell them, doesn’t anybody ask who makes them?In any case, just one more thing for Republicans to freak out about.
I did not realize that Maine was trying to horn in on our whoopie pies. Not cool.
Breitbart got pwned.
Can someone tell the Philadelphia Union that scoring is permissible in soccer matches? Their defense is great but…
Talking SlutWalks on BBC.
What’s going on in your neck of the woods?
For Boo and any climbing fans out there:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-dPjDYVKUY&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-dPjDYVKUY&feature=player_embedded
That dude is crazy.
Better make that three people who have died.
Read more:
Here’s the first tweet from the summit of Everest. Happened on May 5th.
Coupled with the release of his long-form birth certificate, you can see what it did to Donald Trump, whose teevee show has plummeted in the ratings.
According to Dave Weigel, The Combover has dropped like a rock to fifth in the GOPer race.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/weigel/archive/2011/05/10/is-the-trump-boomlet-over.aspx
What worries me about that poll is who is first. Huckabee should pick up the people that would vote for The Quittah and Batty Bachmann, right?
No, not necessarily.
Palin and Bachmann have some disproportionate levels of “hero worship” in the eyes of many Republican women. Some of their support might actually go to Mitt Romney or Tim Pawlenty or some other “reasonable” candidate if Palin and Bachmann aren’t options.
Palin and Bachman also have much of the wild-eyed crazy support and Huckabee’s image is that he’s not a wild-eyed crazy person – he’s not a Palin or a Bachmann or a Trump. So he might not pick up that support.
I’m worried about Huckabee, but I take some solace in the fact that the anti-tax nutters still hate him because he once advocated for raising taxes to pay for shit when he was governor. That kills sets a ceiling for his support that is hard to overcome so long as there are other candidates who can realistically court that anti-tax nut vote and keep him out of the race. Romney gets the support of the corporate CEO types but the Huckster just can’t get the anti-tax nutters to love him – the combination of his past history and the fact that he’s a minister both work against him with that crew.
Palin and Bachman also have much of the wild-eyed crazy support and Huckabee’s image is that he’s not a wild-eyed crazy person – he’s not a Palin or a Bachmann or a Trump.
I figure some portion of their support is from the fundies, which is where Huck gets his support. And that’s the other thing. He’s especially dangerous because he is bat guano crazy but doesn’t give off the vibe like Palin and Bachmann do.
He’s especially dangerous because he is bat guano crazy but doesn’t give off the vibe like Palin and Bachmann do.
So, he’s a Republican…?
Graduation is a buzz. I’m just studying for my last final for calculus of several variables (not to be confused with multivariable calculus, they are different). I need a 90 on it for an A in the class without a curve. Not sure if I’ll get that, as the class average is around a 75 right now, but we’ll see. Then graduation weekend and partyin’ partyin’ yeah! Fun Fun Fun Fun!
Awesome. And what’s next for you?
Peace Corps in Africa.
You know, as much as I criticize and fault the president, and as much as I do not trust politicians for anything, I will say that he has changed my life. My entire life all I wanted to do was work for NASA and be an astronaut. I got accepted into the Air Force Academy, and thought that was my best route to get there. I thought about it, and eventually declined their offer (along with Eric Cantor’s nomination, that asshole). I’m now at Virginia Tech, graduating with a degree in Aerospace Engineering.
But after the campaign, or rather during, a lot of his words made me re-think what I want to do. And despite being in $50,000 worth of debt (not including interest), and graduating with a degree that could no doubt make me live a very comfortable lifestyle, I don’t want to do what I’ve always wanted to do. Obama has inspired me to go into public service, and for a while I thought of being a teacher or a professor. But for now I’ve decided to do the Peace Corps, and then use that as a launching pad for whatever happens next.
So thank you, Mr. President. Without you, I doubt I’d have become the person I’ve become.
That’s admirable.
I think Tweety did the same thing, so make sure you don’t come home and become a professional ass-hat on MSNBC.
That’s great! Where in Africa are you going? I have a friend who did 2 stints in the Peace Corps after graduating from undergrad, he went to Cameroon and Tanzania. Had great experiences in both places.
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Many, many moons ago … calculus. Busy playing varsity soccer and started 1st term with a C, improved via a B and ended with an A in Calculus III. Had some extraordinary professors like Dr. Cronin teaching the sciences and being employed as an advisor with McDonnell’s Space Center in St. Louis.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Daley begins his last week as mayor. Contrary to most of my lefty associates, I think I’ll miss him despite his great failings.
I usually have ESPN on in the background throughout the day, and today there was a great discussion on homosexuality in professional sports. The panel included LZ Granderson, John Amaechi, Jemele Hill, Barry Melrose, Herm Edwards, Sean Avery, and Brendan Ayanbadejo. I have to admit, I gained a lot of respect for those last two guys. They have both recently made videos supporting marriage equality that deserve watching.
Some good news on the heels of idiot Republicans in my state moving backwards in time.
People who are touting Trump’s decline in ratings should remember that there was some counter programming there. Though apparently Trump’s Apprentice audience skews left for reasons I can’t even begin to understand.