Random Access Memories

Body of “flying priest” balloon adventurer recovered off Brazil


July 5th, 2008 by Mohit Joshi


BrazilRio de Janeiro – The body of “flying priest” balloon adventurer Adelir de Carli has been recovered some 100 kilometres off the Brazilian coast, local media reports said Saturday.


Father de Carli went missing in April while attempting to fly with 1,000 helium-filled party balloons tied to a chair. The body was recovered by a tugboat crew off Rio de Janeiro state, reports said.


Police said clothing, a rucksack and shoes left little doubt that the body was that of the priest. DNA tests would be conducted to provide final proof.


Father de Carli, 42, had set out on April 20 on what was planned to be a 20-hour flight from the town of Paranagua, in the state of Parana, to Dourados, in neighbouring Mato Grosso do Sul, to break a 19-hour world record and “to promote religion,” as he put it.


He had also been seeking to raise money to build a chapel and to contribute to the cause of long-distance lorry drivers demanding longer breaks.


He went missing eight hours into the flight attempt as the wind blew him off course towards the sea. Rescue teams at sea later found the balloons the Roman Catholic priest had been using and fragments of what may have been his chair some 50 kilometres from the seaside resort of Florianopolis, in the state of Santa Catarina.


Authorities feared at the time he had fallen into the sea and been dragged south. They broadened the scope of the search, hoping to find De Carli at sea or on an island in the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul.


On January 13, the priest made a successful attempt to fly supported by balloons, travelling 110 kilometres from Ampere, in Parana, to the Argentine town of San Antonio, in a four-hour flight. He used 500 balloons and reached an altitude of 5,300 metres


Friends did not regard de Carli as a “crazy priest” but as an experienced flier and parachutist, who completed several survival courses.

Recently, the list of world’s happiest countries was out.




The winner? Denmark!




The survey for happiest nations was conducted by University of Leicester,and what exactly was asked isn’t revealed. But,what’s striking is that the list which is here, is appearing to be more or less the same in any survey conducted across the globe.
The 20 happiest nations in the World are:




1. Denmark
2. Switzerland
3. Austria
4. Iceland
5. The Bahamas
6. Finland
7. Sweden
8. Bhutan
9. Brunei
10. Canada
11. Ireland
12. Luxembourg
13. Costa Rica
14. Malta
15. The Netherlands
16. Antigua and Barbuda
17. Malaysia
18. New Zealand
19. Norway
20. The Seychelles




Other notable results include:




23. USA
35. Germany
41. UK
62. France
82. China
90. Japan
125. India
167. Russia




The three least happy countries were:




176. Democratic Republic of the Congo
177. Zimbabwe
178. Burundi




What do I personally find striking about this list? That most of the happiest nations tend to be welfare states, have extremely high tax rates, or general socialistic tendencies.




It’s also worth noting that another survey by livescience.com showed: “Americans are no happier today than they were 50 years ago despite significant increases in prosperity, decreases in crime, cleaner air, larger living quarters and a better overall quality of life.”




So, exactly what gives?




My opinion? The USA will never be happy with “what it haves”. It’s far too busy trying to get more and more and more that people cannot stop and enjoy what they have currently.




Maybe in a few decades that’ll change, but either way we have to drop pure individu