The Boys Are Back In Town

We're baaaaaa-aaaaaack!

It was nice while it lasted!
But from tomorrow (Sat.4th Dec.) cars once again must share the two outside lanes of the Auckland Harbour Bridge with trucks.
It's been great to have some truck-free lanes on "The Coathanger": the traffic has flowed more freely and motorists have surely felt less intimidated than when boxed in beside a big rig.
The restrictions on heavy vehicles using the extreme left-hand lanes north- and south-bound are being lifted, because the NZTA’s 2½ year strengthening of the "Nippon Clip-ons" is complete: well done! The restrictions helped to reduce vibrations and keep the bridge stable during precision welding inside the box girders.
By keeping freight trucks off the "clip-ons", the work was able to be done at night with little disruption to the nearly 170,000 commuters who rely on the bridge daily.
Still to come over the festive holiday break is the annual reseal, which is done at Christmas when traffic volumes are lighter. Hmmm, wonder why they didn't do that at the end of the strengthening work, and kill two birds with one stone?
NB: Readers outside Auckland may wonder: what's with the "Nippon Clip-on" business? Well, soon after the Harbour Bridge opened in '59, it became obvious that traffic was far more than planned for. Duuuuuuhhhhh! So less than 10 years later, two extra lanes were "clipped" onto both sides of the bridge. The additions were built by a Japanese firm – hence the "Nippon Clip-on" nickname...

Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are

A Sea Shepherd communique (Dec.1st) has raised the tantalising possibility that the Japanese whaling fleet may have thrown in the towel... well, at least that's what SS hopes.
Normally by now, the butchery flotilla would be en route to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary but (at time of writing the press release) it still hadn't left port. The whalers have not officially said they won't be back in the Southern Ocean, but they are acting as if they may not be.
This could be merely a ploy, however over the last ten years the fleet has consistently sailed between Nov.6th and 19th. It's factory ship Nisshin Maru is still moored in Hiroshima. At this rate, they've already missed up to a third of their hunting season.
One of the Japs' problems is that they don't have a refueling ship: their usual floating petrol station was scrapped in August due to old age. The whalers have had plenty of time to find a replacement, but their challenge is finding a company willing to charter a vessel for the Southern Ocean, risk SS harassment and be associated with illegal whaling.

Go, Gojira, go!

SS's three ships Steve Irwin, Bob Barker, and Gojira will depart from Tasmania today. Gojira is the new name for the fast interceptor Ocean Adventurer and significantly, it's SS's first Australian-registered vessel, with Oz crew defending Oz territory and upholding the Oz Federal Court ruling. For the first time ever, SS will be ready and waiting in the whale sanctuary when the nasty Nippons turn up. The whaling fleet normally arrives in the Antarctic mid-December and starts the return voyage in March. So SS will be able to start it's campaign of harassment more quickly this year.
But for the first time in three years, armed Japanese Coast Guard officers will be onboard the whaling vessels to defend against SS interventions (a la Pete Bethune's boarding). Japanese weapons, coupled with SS's 'bullet boat' could make Operation No Compromise 2010-2011 even more volatile than last year.
That's assuming of course that the Japanese even come out to play... 
PS: 03 Dec.2010 - Down but not yet out, the Japanese factory ship Nisshin Maru left port yesterday.

The Mad Dog Gets His Bone!

Wikileaks unveiled 250,000 diplomatic documents last weekend, and what do we find? *Shock!*Horror!*Probe!*
Nothing that'll stop the world turning. No smoking gun. No cat out of the bag. No fox in the hen house. For all the mutterings in the corridors of Langley, the juiciest tit-bits so far (and I use that term intentionally) involve the Mad Dog of Libya, Muammar Qaddafi. Wait, stop the bus: maybe the fox is in the hen house...!

More tea, darlink?

Classified diplomatic cables reveal the 68yr.old Libyan leader actually has good taste! Seems he has a staff of four Ukrainian nurses - including one named Galyna Kolotnytska who's described as a "voluptuous blonde". Galyna is 38, and the only one of the four-gal team that knows Da Boss's routine inside-out. So just how well does she know his routine? Inside-out!
The cables state Qaddafi has female bodyguards rather than males, and say "it's unknown currently why he travels like that". Well, duuuuuuh, think about it!! Voluptuous? Blonde? Able to leap large beds in a single bound? Unt vis an irrrrrrresistable Rrrrrrrussian accent, and a 9mm Makarov tucked in her garter belt!

See the attraction?

There's even *gasp* a suggestion that G and G are "doing the wild thang"! Wow, those US diplomats must have very high IQs: I'd never have figured that out! So...just how well does he know her routine? Say all together: inside-out!
Other earthshattering revelations are that Qaddafi loves horse-racing and flamenco dancing. So...? To hell with all that: the man likes blonde voluptuous Ukrainian nurses... inside-out!
Qaddafi, you've just risen in my esteem by mega-points! Go, you Mad Dog, you!