Adventures in Onionism

I learned on Saturday that my friend Ben Horne and his climbing partner Gil Weiss died in a mountaineering accident after a successful first ascent of a route on the south face of Palcaraju Oeste in the Cordillera Blanca near Huaraz, Peru. Ben and I went to high school together. We were friendly, but I can't claim to have been incredibly close back then. After graduating I quickly realized the error in my ways, and we got together to share adventure stories a handful of times. I liked to point out the similarity in the paths our lives took--we did the same stuff, just in a different order. Immediately after high school, I spent two years living abroad in South Korea; after college Ben spent two years living abroad in the Peace Corps in Kyrgyzstan. He thru-hiked the AT, and when I got back from my two years in Korea, our mutual friend SC told me that Ben had thru-hiked the AT, and that I should read Bill Bryson's Walk in the Woods . I'd always thought about doing the AT, a...

I sent this a couple days ago but it didn't go through. http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2012/07/26/meatless_monday_at_the_u_s_d_a_is_off_the_table_.html Conservatives flipped out when the USDA suggested its employees eat Meatless Mondays. Because humans are the only lifeform worth caring about, global warming is a hoax, large corporations have no unfair influence over government policy, and meat must be eaten at every meal or the terrorists win.

Do I know anyone, or know anyone who knows anyone, with access to a light plane, or other means of assisting in S&R near Huaraz, Peru? Please contact me if so. My buddy Ben is 5 days overdue.

http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2012/07/24/court_upholds_s_d_mandated_suicide_warning_to_women_seeking_abortions.html Seriously. Scalia made it obvious during the health insurance reform arguments that he doesn't understand moral hazard or adverse selection, and now more circuit judges demonstrate incompetence with regards to correlation and causation. Abortion _causes_ suicide. I'd love to read the IRB protocol on that RCT. Oh wait, an RCT totally didn't happen because it would be unethical so we're taking away rights from women based on meaningless statistical correlations? Humans are awesome.

From The New York Times: A Runner's Belief: God Is His Coach As he prepares for the London Olympics, the marathoner Ryan Hall has embraced an evangelical Christian faith and has found biblical reinforcement for his training. http://nyti.ms/LhmiDm Fascinating and extremely disagreeable. Must read for angry atheist American runners.

ht NYT

My friends are doing awesome things. Krudmeister just finished his bike/hike/paddle trip from Reno to the Chilkoot pass and down the Yukon to the Bering Sea. Read his most recent post on his facebook fan page . Here's a bit I liked. This has been a very positive way for me to re connect with the state I was born and raised in. It feels like home even though I haven't lived here for 20 odd years. It is changing fast up here due to global warming. The perma frost in particular is melting rapidly and the Yukon for example is literally washing away its banks and carving the river at a pace never seen before. I was blown away by what I was seeing. I apologize in advance for being pessimistic, but I really feel I need to see this stuff now. It isn't going to be around much longer. The villagers along the way told me they are seeing Polar Bear in Ft. Yukon and at the mouth of the Yukon near Emmonak. That is nuts! Musk ox in Galena? The villagers don't need any scientists to te...

My project has a website .

My friend MacGyver, Mack, or sometimes Mackadoodle passed away last night. He'd been getting tired, acting well older than his age for a long time, but late last week he started losing weight, had no appetite, and couldn't keep anything down. We called both the district veterinary officer and Robert, but neither of them could really do anything, or even tell us what was wrong. He died last night with our whole house at his side. We buried him in our back yard this morning. 

I thought a few people might be interested to hear thoughts on my somewhat recent safari. Ngong Hills I started in Nairobi and built in a spare day in case GF's flight was messed up. It wasn't, so we spent the day hiking around in the Ngong Hills. If the guidebook tells you anything about them, it's probably that they're not safe and you need a guide. Perhaps true, but only if you get there early enough in the morning that you want to hike more than 5 miles or so.  Otherwise, just get a bus to Karen Connection then the 128 to Ngong, turn right at the only intersection in town, curve up behind town, and start walking up the hill across from the police and KWS station. It's all uphill from here. There's an obvious guard station after a mile or so where you have to get a guide/guard if you want one. They're stupid expensive, so don't bother. The next 3 to 4 miles are free and safe. The ridge gives you great views. Lamu I basically hate everything abo...

http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2012/07/02/romney_olympics_the_romney_family_vacation_in_new_hampshire_.html Do you remember the episode of South Park where the Mormon family drove by on their way to volunteer at the homeless shelter and yelled "Our faces are painted!" as they drove off? I sure as shit do.

Ran my 10th marathon, 42nd race of marathon or longer, this weekend in the Lewa wildlife conservancy in a time of 3:47, my 4th fastest time in the marathon. The motorcycle ride was beautiful, with only 100km along the annoying, truck-filled Nairobi-to-Eldoret highway, and the rest either pleasant (if pot-holed) or gorgeous and right next to a wildlife reserve fence. More details to come. Probably not many pictures--motorcycle riding doesn't lend itself well to photography, especially when your electric starter is on the fritz.