tvashtarkatena

I knew you'd weigh in, Rooster, but you've got to believe that WE TRIED, but even Jaws couldn't get through that retread. It shoulda been one of your fat, tender girfriends.... Anyway, you didn't wind up in the garbage can - there were none! I think we had a drumstick throwing contest down the canyon, as I recall. They're probably still there.

FUCK YEAH Obama reconsiders closing Gitmo due to hunger strikes

In our 6 weeks climbing in the Khumbu, long, long ago: 5 porters skipped off after getting their half up front. 1 porter got kicked in the face by a horse. Broken cheekbone. What he was trying to do with the horse remains unknown. 1 yak with 2 duffels of gear fell in the Kali Gandaki. Recovered without injury, although there was a lot of screaming and some therapeutic rum drinking afterwards. 1 porter got PE, was sent down, then came back up the next morning because he 'felt better'. We listened to him gurgle all night, hoping he wouldn't die on us. He didn't, but he hated us afterwards for sending him down. Among our own party - 1 case of life threatening dysentery, for which we had to bribe our way onto a plane (weather was backing flights up), 1 case of Ronnie the Roundworm, 1 nagging flu. Most trekking parties we ran into were faring worse. Our 'cook' was nothing of the sort - just someone's nephew. After 2 weeks without meat, other than canned bacon (probably the most disgusting food I've ever seen), he finally relented and had a chicken slaughtered by our token non-buddhist. Actually, it was a rooster. Boiled. No one in our party could get their teeth through it, so we just threw it away. The drumsticks kind of bounced like super balls. We saw the same cook get water out of a cow pond - with the cows still standing in it. Not complaining, just relaying some realities of intercultural climbing. Thank Dog a couple of us had massive quantities of locally purchased hash on hand. What a life saver. We eventually shortened our Nepal leg by a week and went to Thailand. GREAT move.

Italians dress better.

The Sherpas did have their say. They issued a formal apology.

If Steck wasn't so Swedish he would have hired a couple of the top locals as 'guides'. It's not like he doesn't have the cash. Problem solved.

Doesn't sound like anything a short chat with Mister Lee Enfield couldn't clear up.

I'd say the Khumbu's Sherpas enjoy a cozy little negotiating position. Sherpas have been a lively bunch since climbers first started hiring them. Nothing new under the Himalayan sun.

I can understand the envy, of course. It comes from people who couldn't make it up Everest with or without the proper hair care products. People who Can't. People who Won't. The People of 'No'. Annabelle is a woman of 'YES'.

I'd heard of her, but never read her blog until GGK made me aware of it. Now here is a woman I can admire - one who sets tough goals for herself before achieving them, looking good all the while. Loving mom, girlfriend, climber, activist, celebrity. It can't be easy to be always stunning. A true modern day hero, if you will.

This thread is its own reality show.

Do you piss in every party's punch bowl? Actually, the big three fireball/mushroom clouds are about right RE: relative size to each other. The bomba went up 60 miles - kind of far.

If you want to see some holy ground, Google Earth 'Sedan Crater NV'. It's midpoint on a line between Vegas and Tonopah, NV. You can walk to the bottom of the crater, too. Next road trip... HOLY HELL that valley is fucked up.

A little visual perspective:Mushroom cloud comparisons - Trinity to Czar Bomba Czar Bomba fireball versus NYC

The crew of a Japanese fishing boat found Castle Bravo interesting as well. They wandered into the test area and got a very big, very nasty surprise. If you're going to die from a nuclear blast, being closer is arguably better. What's with the Rooskies? No good pics of Czar Bomba to share? The only ones I've seen suck. COME ON!

Per capita consumption of calories from meat would be more relevant. US red meat consumption has gone down - any increase is due to the substitution of fish and fowl. The US population has grown 4x since 1909 - so the per capita graph would be far less steep (and misleading) than shown here. In addition, people throw away over 30% of what food they do buy. This has gone way up as refrigeration, convenient shopping, dropping normalized food prices, and rising incomes have become the norm. If the data is based on food purchased, this factor alone could easily outweigh any increase in meat consumption, caloric or otherwise, indicated in the graph provided. In the end...who cares? If an individual wants to lean out, its not rocket science: Eat whole foods. Minimize processed foods. This includes fruit juices. Eat at home. Learn your portion sizes. You can enjoy all the steak you want - all 3 oz of it. Buy good food. If you're going to limit your quantity, you might as well enjoy what you do eat. Add your own sugar to things to control intake. Commercial stuff is way too sweet anyway. Eat your veggies. Cheese is a condiment, not a course. Dietary supplements, with the exception of Omega 3, Vit D, and perhaps joint support, are a scam. Get your sleep. Avoid cars as much as possible. Exercise.

Meh. Ivy Mike produced way better photos. The French also snapped some nice stills of their tests.

Inspire Magazine is also a UK based Christian rag. Oops!

I just think it's a bit strange that both FBI and CIA investigations of the older brother in 2011, after being tipped off by the Rooskies, turned up squat, then this. Weird. BTW, Inspire ran an article in 2011 entitled "How to make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom" - so even radical jihadists get a kick out of the mom thing. It seems that visitation to that site by the bombers = radicalization. It could just mean "Thanks for the bomb making tips", however.

There's nothing funny about your mom.

Judging by the sophistication of the bombs, I'd say Band Camp is more likely.

The mother is just another passenger on the Bullshit Train.

FOX, of course, is reupping its perpetual "Islam Sucks, Christianity Rocks" campaign. Hannity must have said the word "radicalized" 50 times in 3 minutes while shitting out another propaganda piece with Bitchiest Little Dragon Lady on Television.

I'm a little worried that not a single story involving the Turpolev brothers sounds even remotely plausible. The event appears to be awash in a tsunami of bullshit.

They actually moved the mountain, shot the movie, then put it back. You could get away with that kind of stuff in those days. They harnessed the power of De Niro's method acting to do it.