[pittsburgh gop guy]

Nope, Mt. Everest is the highest peak in the world. In the last couple of years, "they" have changed the elevation for it from 29,028 feet to 29,035 feet. The change was made by the National Geographic Society and geological groups after using lasers and other high tech equipment to figure out how high it is. http://classic.mountainzone.com/features/everestht/

There are none higher.

K2 - the second highest is 28,250 feet.

See here for more about rumor you mentioned:
http://www.jimloy.com/geology/everest.htm

[kms61]

Everest actually rises from a high plateau...If measured from its base, Denali is the highest mountain on earth, rising from about a thousand feet above sea level to over 20,000 feet. If you include submerged mountains, it's the island of Hawaii at over 30K.

If we're going to rename Everest, I vote for the Sherpa name, which means something like "Mother Goddess of the World."

[Sloth]

That all depends on what your definition of "is" is. Mt. Chimborazo in Ecuador has a peak almost 3,000 meters farther from the center of the Earth than Everest, but it's not nearly as high above sea level because of the planet's equatorial bulge.