Republicanism, the morning after: Has the end of the monarchy now slipped out of sight? (David Allen Green, 30 April 2011, New Statesman)
The monarchy looks like it is here to stay a while longer.
The wonderful — and popular — spectacle of yesterday’s wedding of William and Catherine reminded all republicans that there is a genuine and deep domestic regard for the royal family.
If the sentiments manifested yesterday continue, only a dedicated anti-monarchist would campaign to deprive the British people of the prospect of having their Queen Kate.
Reform ought to reverse directions, giving the Lords and the King increased veto power over the Commons.
from: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BrothersjuddBlog/~3/D_QY1F0fu5o/a_parliament_cant_love_you_bac.html
Here it is, Rants! & Raves!, your weekly opportunity to sound off about the week past.Remember the rules: A Rave! is something that happened during the past week that you’re pleased about and is signified by the word “Rave!” and/or an appropriately peppy emoticon (see Website Help to learn how to use emoticons, aka “smileys”). A Rant! is [...]
from: http://online.worldmag.com/2011/04/30/rants-raves-4-30/
Dzongri, India
We got up at 2.30 am. It was pitch dark. We had to trek
for 2 hours to be able to view the sun rises at 5.00 am. We had packed
everything to be taken the previous night itself. The only thing left to do was
to load ourselves with more sweaters and jackets for the morning trek. By the
time we were ready to leave, it was 3.30 am and we were heavier by atleast
2-3kg. We started our hike up. We had thought we had taken care of every single
detail. Little did we know that gloves was such an important thing. Just as we
started to climb I realized that my fingers were already numb. It was biting.
And Bhagirath generously offered me his pair. Even though I politely refused,
he insisted that I keep it! It was such a huge relief. Niks was also bearing the
brunt of the cold but he refused to borrow d gloves. We kept on walking. I don’t
know how many pairs of jackets and sweaters i must have worn. Only our hands
were numb. At last we reached the Dzongri pass at 4.40 am. We had 20 min to set
up our tri pod and wait for sunrise. My god at the top the minute we stopped
trekking we felt the chill winds biting us. It was so cold that we couldn’t
even press the camera buttons. Niks hands were all swollen but it was an
awesome sight to see. From d Dzongri peak 360 degrees around us, we could see
few of the tallest peaks like Kanchendzonga, Mt. Pandim, Kabru peak, Frey peak,
etc. It was like a big blue screen with white peaks in between. It was a very peaceful
and serene atmosphere yet there was an intense element in the wind. Finally at
about 5.00 am the sun rose and we could see the mighty Kanchendzonga peak shining
brightly. It was a stunning sight. The peak was completely snow covered and
white. We took some good shots of the view. It was quite difficult to even
click snaps because of d chilling cold weather. We were waiting for the sun to
come out completely so that it would be warmer and we could take some better
shots. But in spite of the sun out in full glory the winds dint give up either.
So we left by 7.00 am after some more shots. We reached down by 8.00am and first
thing dipped our hands into a bowl of hot water 
Some of the best moments are
priceless!
Now the thing about these treks in Sikkim is that
everything depends on the weather. The trekking trail is all through the woods
so you won’t get to see any views. Its only until you reach the final view point
that you get rewarded. Now to reach Goecha la we had to trek for another 2
days. And then climb to the base of Goecha peak to get a good view of Kanchendzonga.
But during our Dzongri trek the weather started getting cloudy and overcast. We
would have had to take the risk because if it snows then we would not get any
view. We decided not to take the risk and headed back to Tsokha that very day.
In fact most other people also returned back along with us. We started back at
9.30 am and reached back by 3.30pm. The trek was pretty decent. It was raining
for quite some time on the way back. But once we reached back into the hut it
started pouring cats and dogs. And that definitely meant snow in upper areas.
Guess we made a good decision. Hopefully!
from: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nikhilesh/2/1304183800/tpod.html
