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Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

kathmandupost.com

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Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#131

Post by leoedin »

mikkupikku wrote: post #70
datadrivenangel wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nepal is a low income and high corruption country, where the government and formal business structures are unstable enough that 'tipping' becomes common even for government investigators... It's basically a way for everyone to get more tourists dollars, which is one of Nepals primary exports.

Why don't they just charge [more] for a mountain license? A few thousand per hiker would probably be tolerated by people who view the hike as a lifetime achievement kind of thing.

There’s far more tourists in Nepal who are trekking than mountaineering. And those tourists are going to be much more price sensitive. It’s not just wealthy Americans, but people from all over the world - India, China, middle income countries etc. All those people are spending money in tea houses and hiring local guides.

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#132

Post by ahepp »

quickthrowman wrote: post #93
kjkjadksj wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went from sea level to 11k feet in the same day many times before. I would say the altitude effect is there but not as much as you might expect. A little quicker to be out of breath a little longer to recover it. Not sure what it is like at higher elevations or greater daily altitude delta.

I went from ~500 ft above sea level (Palm Springs) up to 8,500 feet above sea level (San Jacinto Peak) in less than an hour via the aeria tram a couple months ago and it was very noticeable, my walking speed fell by a third and I was breathing a lot harder than I usually do.

San Jacinto is 10,834 ft, for what it's worth.

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#133

Post by happosai »

t0mas88 wrote: post #108
sonink wrote: post #39

> The second method is more troubling. At altitudes above 3,000 metres, mild symptoms of altitude sickness are common. Blood oxygen saturation can drop, hands and feet tingle, headaches develop. In most cases, rest, hydration or a gradual descent is all that is needed. ...investigators found that Diamox (Acetazolamide) tablets, used to prevent altitude sickness, were administered alongside excessive water intake to i…

Were there other issues involved in the fatalities around 12-14k ft? Freezing etc? In aviation rules you can have passengers at 12k ft without oxygen for an unlimited amount of time. The crew needs to use oxygen if you're between 10k and 13k for more than 30 minutes. Above 13k both crew and passengers must use oxygen immediately (EASA rules, FAA is different). So they seem to consider 12k to not be dangerous to passe…

There are like a half dozen cities with 100.000+ population at over 12k feet altitude. And towns and villages a lot higher. So right, 12k is no's dangerous per se.

The problems come if you haven't acclimatized.

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#134

Post by Toutouxc »

cwmoore wrote: post #118
coldtea wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Continental "could" include Alaska (it's even in the official U.S. Board on Geographic Names definition), but in practice when "continental US" are casually mentioned, it's rarely implied as included. Most use it as interchangeable with contiguous.

Contiguous states is the correct term. “Continental” would be in Europe.

Wait, you guys don’t live on a continent?

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#135

Post by 14 »

EA-3167 wrote: post #94
embedding-shape wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The very next sentence from that quote sounds a lot worse and harder to explain away though: > In at least one case cited in the investigation, baking powder was mixed into food to make tourists physically unwell.

An amount of soda sufficient to make you ill would be very VERY detectable in food. Speaking as someone who makes their own honeycomb toffee and soda bread, it's really easy to mess up the ratios and end up with an excess that tastes nasty, and that excess is pretty small. A small amount won't make a different, it'll just stimulate a bit more H+ production from your stomach's proton pumps. Edit: The article I read cl…

I have to agree. A handful of times during my life that I had some bad heartburn but no antacids I used the tried and true method of a teaspoon of baking soda mixed in a shot of water and slammed it back. It tastes horrible. Even a teaspoon is so strong in taste I guess I would describe as salty. And no I did not feel unwell but my heartburn got better. And as a kid I once mistook 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and added 1/2 cup to a batch of cookies. The taste was so noticeable and disgusting the only option was to throw out the cookies. So a teaspoon is a home remedy, a half cup is impossible to ignore, I just don't understand how this report about it in the food could be true.

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#137

Post by tancop »

if you leave out the poisoning part who is really losing money off this? insurance companies getting scammed is a good thing unless they go and pass on all of the extra cost to customers. its basically DIY wealth redistribution when you consider that nepal is a developing country and most of the local business that make money like this probably have lower profit margins than some american insurance.

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#138

Post by ecshafer »

tancop wrote: post #137

if you leave out the poisoning part who is really losing money off this? insurance companies getting scammed is a good thing unless they go and pass on all of the extra cost to customers. its basically DIY wealth redistribution when you consider that nepal is a developing country and most of the local business that make money like this probably have lower profit margins than some american insurance.

What an absurd claim. They are acting immorally. They are lying and stealing. Under your logic if you are richer than me I can rob you and aims its weakth redistribution. You have more money, youll get it back!

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#139

Post by coldtea »

cwmoore wrote: post #118
coldtea wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Continental "could" include Alaska (it's even in the official U.S. Board on Geographic Names definition), but in practice when "continental US" are casually mentioned, it's rarely implied as included. Most use it as interchangeable with contiguous.

Contiguous states is the correct term. “Continental” would be in Europe.

Both "contiguous us" and "continental us" are correct terms for referring to sets of US states, even though they are mistakenly often used interchangeably in casual talk:

"On May 14, 1959, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names issued the following definitions based partially on the reference in the Alaska Omnibus Bill, which defined the Continental United States as "the 49 States on the North American Continent and the District of Columbia..." The Board reaffirmed those definitions on May 13, 1999."

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_United_States

"The contiguous United States, also known as the U.S. mainland, officially referred to as the conterminous United States, consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the District of Columbia of the United States in central North America."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contiguous_United_States

"Continental" is also a casual way to refer to European things, but that's a different overloading of the term. Continental is not confined to meaning "European", except where the context implies so (e.g. "continental philosophy", or "continental breakfast"). A leftover from the British refering to Europe as "the continent", it being the nearby continental body next to them.

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#140

Post by zippyman55 »

14 wrote: post #135
EA-3167 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An amount of soda sufficient to make you ill would be very VERY detectable in food. Speaking as someone who makes their own honeycomb toffee and soda bread, it's really easy to mess up the ratios and end up with an excess that tastes nasty, and that excess is pretty small. A small amount won't make a different, it'll just stimulate a bit more H+ production from your stomach's proton pumps. Edit: The article I read cl…

I have to agree. A handful of times during my life that I had some bad heartburn but no antacids I used the tried and true method of a teaspoon of baking soda mixed in a shot of water and slammed it back. It tastes horrible. Even a teaspoon is so strong in taste I guess I would describe as salty. And no I did not feel unwell but my heartburn got better. And as a kid I once mistook 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and added 1…

Ahhhh! Mystery solved. About 40 yrs ago I came to work to taste the most foul cookie (pretty cookie at that!). This is what they must have done. Nobody admitted to making the cookies. I always thought it was a gag. LOL
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