Category: world

China & The South China Sea: Are You Fucking Kidding?

On April 12, 2012

Apparently China was absent for the “Sharing The Ocean” lesson during country kindergarten. Their claims to the South China Sea are fucking ridiculous:

The UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) sets a 200-mile limit on sea territory & was ratified by China in 1996. However China insists that historical claims dating back to ~200 BC – 200 AD supersede the international law that it has agreed to.

An excellent article titled ‘Abusing History’ from The Diplomat goes into more detail.

Beijing, it appears, wants to be made an exception in international law. It wants to have its cake and eat it. But law is law. What is the point of having international law when it is no longer international, and when it is no longer law?

It doesn’t help that Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency, publishes articles like this one:

[China Institute of International Studies Vice-Director Dong Manyuan] said China has been improving diplomatic efforts and has maintained its position of seeking diplomatic solutions to the current situation, asking the Philippine side to correct its wrong position, drop unreasonable demands, and return to a right course as soon as possible.

Nice “diplomatic solution” there — blame the other side entirely for China’s huge sea area grab — one big F-U to some neighboring countries they don’t already occupy.

The birth of an island near Tonga

By Wick

On January 3, 2007

In world

the birth of an island

The yacht Maiken witnessed the birth of a new island near Tonga. Some pretty amazing photos, a sea of floating stone & the volcanic island rising up out of the water.

Wreck of the Selendang Ayu, Alaska

By Wick

On October 27, 2006

In Machines Of Unusual Size, nautical disasters, world

The Selendang Ayu disaster caught my attention as the wreck happened almost two years ago. The Coast Guard photos are phenomenal, with the developing tragedy pictured against the Alaskan winter. Click the photos below to see them full-size.

Dec. 8, 2004: still in one piece with Unalaska Island looming, before the anchor lines parted

Dec 9, 2004: bow & stern sections of the Selendang Ayu after it broke in half

Dec. 11, 2004: stern section takes a beating

Jan. 4, 2005: things are not looking good for the bow section

Feb. 1, 2005: last view of the bow section. 8 days later, it completely submerges. The stern section remained grounded & visible above water until October 24, 2005.

“For nearly two weeks the Malaysian-flagged freighter Selendang Ayu had been struggling through deteriorating weather to carry a load of soybeans from Seattle to Xiamen, China. Day in and day out, the crew of 26 rode the seven-year-old, 738-ft. ship like a roller coaster, lurching through gale-force winds, snow and 15-ft. seas.

The Bering Sea during winter is one of the most treacherous bodies of water in the world. Conditions change from fair to ferocious in an instant, and winds can rage in excess of 140 mph. Each year, thousands of ships test the sea’s temperament as they follow a major shipping lane along the Alaskan coast and through the Aleutian Islands. The route, connecting North America and Asia, is perilous on the best of days. Add a fierce storm and a run of bad luck, and it can become deadly.”

What Went Wrong: Wreck of the Selendang Ayu »
by Jeff Wise, Popular Mechanics, May 2005

Unified Command: M/V Selendang Ayu photos »

Falkirk Wheel rotating boat lift, Scotland

By Wick

On October 27, 2006

In Machines Of Unusual Size, wikipedia, world

Putting ordinary canal locks everywhere to shame, the Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift in Falkirk, Scotland, & is a rather facinating example of Archimedes’ principle. More large-scale public works projects should be constructed with as much artistic vision as the Falkirk Wheel.

“…Despite its enormous mass, it rotates through 180° in less than four minutes while using very little power. It takes just 22.5 kilowatts (kW) to power the electric motors, which consume just 1.5 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy in four minutes, roughly the same as boiling eight kettles of water. The wheel is the only rotating boat lift of its kind in the world, and is regarded as an engineering landmark for Scotland.”

The Falkirk Wheel is constructed in the shape of a Celtic-inspired double-headed axe, & uses a planetary gear system to keep the 80,000 gallon caissons level.

Wikipedia: Falkirk Wheel »

Strépy-Thieu boat lift » .. another neat boat lift in Belgium, the tallest in the world.

Bagger 288 bucket-wheel excavator, Germany

By Wick

On October 26, 2006

In Machines Of Unusual Size, wikipedia, world

I assumed NASA’s Crawler-Transporter was the largest tracked vehicle in the world.. but no! Years ago, German engineers developed something much, MUCH larger, in every sense of the word. The Bagger 288 is a bucket-wheel excavator mobile strip mining machine. It is the largest tracked vehicle in the world at 13,500 tons — in comparison, the Crawler-Transporter weighs a measily 2,700 tons.

There is something I find facinating about large machines. It’s unfortunate this particular machine’s primary purpose is strip mining. Incidentally, the bucket-wheel excavator & its devastating effect on landscape can be easily seen in Google Maps satellite photos. The power supply required for operation is the same as for a small city. The Bagger 288 was the inspiration behind my blog category, Machines Of Unusual Size — yes, M.O.U.S.’s. Watch out for them. Fire swamps have large coal deposits, no doubt.

Wikipedia: Bagger 288 »

more Bagger 288 photos »

Abkazia refugees, Zugdidi, Georgia

By Wick

On October 23, 2006

In photos, world

Abkazia refugees, Zugdidi, Georgia

“On the Georgian border a remote settlement now houses refugees from Abkhazia. Built originally to house construction workers for a Soviet-era dam the dilapidated buildings now have no running water or electricity and in winter the refugees barely survive in the freezing conditions. Zugdidi, Georgia.”

Thomas Morley has taken incredible photos of some pretty awful living conditions. I ran across Morley’s photo collection of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict in which “20,000 to 30,000 ethnic Georgians were killed and more than 250,000 Georgian refugees were displaced.” Not quite to the same scale as Darfur (400,000 killed and 2.5 million displaced) but terrible nonetheless.

The photo above makes you want to fly some propane heaters, a water pump & a power plant out there, doesn’t it? Great mountains but the reality of the situation is brutal.