27 May 2006

Mount Everest and Ethics

This apparently must be the climbing season for Mt. Everest. My understanding is that it is rather short, because once the monsoons come in, you cannot climb anymore.
In any case, climbers have been leaving their fellow climbers to die as they ascend to the top.
This article from the New Zealand talks about one climber who was passed by forty people on their way to the top (and I presume, also, on their way back from the top).
On the other hand, this article from the CBC describes a climber who aborted his ascent to help them.
I understand from reading Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air (an excellent book by the way) that the less time you spend at the higher altitudes, the better off you are, but this definitely raises moral questions. I think they probably ought to have stopped and helped this man.

18 May 2006

Cleveland Rapid Transit Brochure

I was looking at a Cleveland Rapid Transit Brochure that I found lying around my house. It's also online, here:

http://riderta.com/howtoride_bus.asp

It has step by step instructions for riding the bus (or train, if you click the link at the top) including:
going to your bus, waiting for your bus at the stop, getting onto your bus, and then getting off your bus (I suppose this last step is pretty important), but it really makes people from Cleveland look pretty stupid (and I am sure they are not), if they cannot figure out how to ride a bus.