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Messages 1 - 28 of total 28 in this topic |
couchmaster
climber
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Topic Author's Original Post - Mar 11, 2008 - 02:50pm PT
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http://mounteverest.net/news.php?id=17097
North side will be closed for some political maneuver that relates to the Olympic games, despite earlier denials from the Chinese Gov't that this would not occur.
BTW, during trip to China last year, I was surprised to hear from a former Communist party member that it is well known within China that the Mainland Communist Chinese will also be attacking and invading Taiwan within 5 years. Not a joke.
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TradIsGood
Chalkless climber
the Gunks end of the country
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Mar 11, 2008 - 03:11pm PT
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When that is done and the base camp development project is complete there will be hotels, restaurants, places for climbers to sell autographs to help defray expedition costs.
Phase II is direct road to summit and
This Car Climbed Mt. Everest
bumper stickers.
Photo kiosk at the top.
Hilary style pictures in 5 minutes.
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morphus
Mountain climber
Angleland
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Mar 11, 2008 - 04:09pm PT
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building a road? is this for all the gas necessary to keep the olympic flame alight all the way to the summit?
they naively think banning climbing will stop the free Tibet protestors, but little do they know that Bjork is planning to fly in by 'copter to perform 'declare independence' (unplugged), followed by throwing the torch off, and everything that she finds lying around
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TradIsGood
Chalkless climber
the Gunks end of the country
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Mar 11, 2008 - 04:42pm PT
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The will be a Hilary burger available at the step. Have it your way, with or without oxygen.
And Italian ice at Khumbu.
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Mar 11, 2008 - 05:27pm PT
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Tibet just can't keep it's nasty little self out of things can it? Uhh..wait, that's western China, or..er...Damn Chinese!
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Ricardo Cabeza
climber
Meyers,CA
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Mar 11, 2008 - 05:31pm PT
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Can I play skee-ball and Whack-a-Mole in the new arcade at basecamp? Just asking, cause last time was such a bore.
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cintune
climber
Penn's Woods
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Mar 11, 2008 - 05:39pm PT
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And the sherpa can build casinos with complimentary O2 bars and David Lee Roth shows. Party Time on the Roof of the World.
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mojede
Trad climber
Butte, America
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Mar 11, 2008 - 06:24pm PT
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I'm waitn' for the on-location TV series to be shot there--following DLR, of course.
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nutjob
Stoked OW climber
San Jose, CA
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Mar 11, 2008 - 06:31pm PT
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A rotating restaurant at the summit would be sweet.
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TradIsGood
Chalkless climber
the Gunks end of the country
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Mar 11, 2008 - 06:41pm PT
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I am waiting for somebody to call me out on my BS.
Funny how we take certain things for granted.
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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Mar 11, 2008 - 10:11pm PT
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I say we close Mt. Rushmore. We need a response that tells them we mean business.
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sketchyy
Trad climber
Vagrant
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Mar 12, 2008 - 11:18am PT
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graniteclimber, there is a good story in alpinist about this.
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wbw
climber
'cross the great divide
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Mar 12, 2008 - 11:49am PT
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Ok Trad, I'll call you out. Khumbu is on the other side of the mountain. You'll have to set up your Italian ice stand somewhere else to fit into the Chinese developement scheme.
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TradIsGood
Chalkless climber
the Gunks end of the country
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Mar 12, 2008 - 12:08pm PT
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wbw - thanks. That was just an error of ignorance on my part. :-)
There is still more...
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happiegrrrl
Trad climber
New York, NY
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Mar 12, 2008 - 12:12pm PT
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Even back as a designer traveling in Taiwan/Hong Kong(when still under Britain) and China, it was understood that China had every intention of taking care of Taiwan.
What seems odd to me is how, during the cold war and even now, the US policy is so overtly anti-Communist, but opening/developing and maintaining relationships with China, a Communist-governed country, is "different" and okay.
Don't get me wrong - I have met many, many wonderful Chinese citizens, and I wish them all the best. I'm talking political. To compare an average Chinese citizen as a representative of China is as to compare me as representing the leaders of the US.
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cintune
climber
Penn's Woods
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Mar 12, 2008 - 12:20pm PT
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Nixon started that.
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tomtom
Social climber
Seattle, Wa
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Mar 12, 2008 - 12:21pm PT
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When that is done and the base camp development project is complete there will be hotels, restaurants, places for climbers to sell autographs to help defray expedition costs.
Sounds like they are just trying to catch up with the European huts in the Alps.
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Delhi Dog
Trad climber
Good Question...
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Mar 12, 2008 - 12:28pm PT
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Graniteclimber you want to check out my earlier post...
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=537100&tn=0
an excerpt below about the murder:
"As climbers I think we are all keenly aware of the injustice that has been done to Tibetans by the Government of China. Just over a year ago you may recall the situation of the Tibetan Nun who was shot in the back in the vicinity of Nangpa Pass in plain sight of many climbers at the advance basecamp in Cho Oyu.
Sadly little was done by those who witnessed the event though one may argue as to what they could have done...
http://www.savetibet.org/news/newsitem.php?id=1036 "
Cheers,
DD
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TradIsGood
Chalkless climber
the Gunks end of the country
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Mar 12, 2008 - 12:36pm PT
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Having a diplomatic or even economic relations with a country does not constitute approval of its political, economic, or social structures.
China certainly was large enough and potentially dangerous enough, and certainly had enough history of government stability, that Nixon's bold move made sense. You could make the same argument for Cuba with respect to its governmental stability.
Without a diplomatic relationship, sensitive negotiations can't take place effectively where there needs to be a sharing of information that is not to be shared with some intermediary. It is highly likely that we needed to share with China at least some of our classified knowledge of that country - knowledge that we might not have shared with others.
end drift.
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dirtineye
Trad climber
the south
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Mar 12, 2008 - 02:23pm PT
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The US and the rest of the west will fight a war with China over diminishing resources. It's just a matter of time.
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happiegrrrl
Trad climber
New York, NY
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Mar 12, 2008 - 02:59pm PT
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RE: Nixon opening China - True - I remember the Panda pandering, and also some tv stuff when it was happening.
Aside from the trading with communists thing, I wonder if economists and others who study shifts in societies based on commerce could have ever foreseen how opening China would affect the world as it has.
Interesting bit(to me, anyway):
One of the companies I used to work for, as a handbag designer, was THE first one to go to Taiwan to make handbags. This was way before I came along, of course. Until then, it was all Europe, and handbags were pretty pricey compared to what they are now. Materials used were mostly leather and cotton.
I don't know any detail, but the guy who started the company(Abe Sarway, of Sarne(with one of those swishes over the "e"), figured out he could make bags in Taiwan and so....he went over and pretty much held the hands of some business men, pushing, prodding, demanding and troubleshooting, until they had a factory up and running, making bags to his spec.
He was able to undercut ANYONE on prices, and he was also using the new faux leathers - pvc. perhpas Taiwan already had the vinyl thing going for upholstery or something, and he saw the possibilities - I'm not sure. But he TOTALLY rocked the lower price point handbag business in america with his new country of origin.
Soon, of course, others jumped on board, and Taiwan became the place to make bags for stores such a KMart, JCPenney and such.
This guy built and ran the most successful handbag company in the market, and stayed there for many years. Unfortunately, his daughter had been in Taiwan on her honeymoon, and riding the back of her new husband's scooter. There was an accident and she was killed. He was devastated and had a nervous breakdown. He walked away from operations, and the company began the slow slide downward. They guys who took over(son-in-law and sales manager) never had the foresight he did, and didn't see the change in the air(move to China).
Maybe 15 years later, when I began my career as a handbag designer, Taiwan was still THE country to go to for vinyl piece goods. They were on the cutting edge in technology. Most companies still had a sample room there, but production had begun shifting to China, and only higher priced "cheap bags" still were made in Taiwan. There was just no way to compete against the lower China price.
Within a frame of 4-5 years, I watched the Taiwanese makers begging us for business, trying to hold on, and losing the struggle. A very few had connections still in China, and they fared better - but it was very sketchy. Tawianese employees traveling to and fro were nervous about it when they had to do it. And the ones with the connections were sort of looked at as traitors to Taiwan....
I watched the shift from Tawianese pc. goods to chinese piece goods. At first, the chinese production SUCKED. Awful, crappy stuff. Quality control was barely in existence. But the prices! For some things, the trade-off was acceptable, and so they gained a toehold. Eventually they learned how to make vinyls of ALMOST the same calibre. It LOOKED good, but wasn't quite as nice Close enough that an importer simply could not afford to stick with the better materials.
By the time I left handbags(13 years or so in the biz), nobody did handbags in Taiwa any more, and China had begun getting the squeeze out by yet cheaper countries of origin.... Korea, Thailand, Turkey....
When I started, and saw the Tawianese struggling to hold business,I felt awful for the people I had befriended and was walking away from. But I was just a low level designer and only saw them twice a year.
As I saw the process beginning to repeat, I had grown up and reached my pinnacle as a designer. I had worked with many of these people all through my years with different importers. I saw them go from fresh from school girls into executives with companies. And I saw the shift from the "country" sample shop and factory worker girls. Form very, very provinvial, to having Hello Kitty accessories of their own, radios, CocoCola in lieu of tea....
I couldn't do it. Along with a few other factors, this using of others(countries) was one of the factors in my decision to walk away. I loved designing bags. I was good at it too, and my work made a lot of people many millions of dollars. But it just wasn't right.
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happiegrrrl
Trad climber
New York, NY
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Mar 12, 2008 - 03:05pm PT
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I know my last post was waaaay drift...Not trying to Loisify! Back to MT Everest and the Olympics....
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Gene
climber
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Mar 14, 2008 - 02:00pm PT
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BBC reports:
Nepal has agreed to a Chinese request to temporarily block access to Mount Everest, amid fears Tibetan activists may stage a protest at the peak.
Climbers will be banned from going beyond Everest's base camp until 10 May, Nepal's tourism minister said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7296677.stm
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