Til Death Us Do Part

With the changing-of-the-guard in the Democratic (yea, right!!) People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), its military was urged yesterday to become "human bombs" to defend new leader Kim Jong-un unto death!
The late Kim Jong-il's youngest son has recently become supreme leader of party, military and people. The Great Chubbycheeks' working knowledge of the Green Machine barely extends beyond finding the mess hall, yet at 28 he now heads an army of 1.2-million, the world's fourth largest.
Neighbour China sent congrats - as you would, with that many soldiers on your back doorstep! Very few other countries did. South Korea expressed sympathy to the North's people but not its regime. Ha-rumph! DPRK has threatened unspecified retaliation for this perceived disrespect.
The impoverished country's also set a goal (read: hopeless pie-in-the-sky) of becoming a powerful and prosperous nation this year. April's the 100th anvsy of the birth of the country's founder: if DPRK hasn't got itself out of the proverbial by now, it sure won't be happening in the near future! But its ever-jingoistic fawning press wrote "This is the year when plans for achieving prosperity will bear a brilliant fruit," calling for "an all-out drive to implement our party's grand strategy for achieving prosperity." No mention of its nuke weapons programme, which has earned it international sanctions and pariah status.
So the despot dynasty rolls on, feathering it's own nest while its people starve. This totalitarian Stalinist dictatorship seems to be stuck in re-runs of old B-grade Stalin movies (was there any other kind?), starring the Kim family in a 'cult of personality'. 
But let's forget for a moment the 24m starving populous, nuclear

"I'll bloody KILL the bastard!"

threats, "Axis Of Evil" label, and one of the worst human rights records of any country. The burning question to arise from the DPRK musical chairs surely must be this:
Has Kim Jong-un executed his lousy barber yet?

Rena: Still There DESPITE The Media!

The large storm that hit NZ over New Year also played merry hell with the stranded container ship Rena.
Heavy swells have opened the crack in her hull even further. This is the fourth storm the 47,000-tonne ship has endured since running aground in early October. At least two more containers washed overboard, and the break in the ship has widened to 1.5m. Maritime NZ (MNZ) confirms however that the vessel IS firmly grounded on the reef. Confirmed?
Was there any doubt? Well...er...yes, there was.
Within the last two days, some radio reports erroneously said the ship had broken in two! In fact, salvors have been assessing the latest damage, and no-one's panicking (except perhaps those journalists who're gagging to be first with the story!). MNZ says the crack is similar to a chip on a car windscreen: over time it'll grow until the ship breaks apart. Tugs are on-station should anything happen, if it starts to float off or break up.
TV journos also have the bloodlust, reporting the salvors Svitzer would not return property unless container owners guaranteed to pay them 80% of a container's value. Bzzzzzzzzzt!!! Wrong again! Svitzer says owners of personal property (such as household furniture, appliances and vehicles) not destroyed or lost should get their belongings back, regardless of whether or not they were insured: "There has never been an intention to hold security over such personal items.''
And while talking 'accuracy', have you seen Greenpeace's emotive tv ad campaign, selling prints of dead penguins? It claims 20,000 seabirds died in the Rena oil. 20,000!!! (I'd sure like to see the source of that figure. I've written to Greenpeace, but so far no response.) MNZ says 2,049 dead seabirds. Anyone lose a zero somewhere? Seems Greenpeace FOUND one...
Now, I know the Rena story is an ongoing one which shoots up the interest scale whenever there's a storm. And because NZ hasn't had a case like this before, there's a certain level of sustained media attention. But for crissake!!!! These're supposedly qualified and skilled journalists. This ain't a knock-up for News Of The World, a la
"Aliens Raped My Cat - She Gave Birth To a 30kg Trout"! There's NO excuse for such horrendous mistakes!
Get - the - facts- right!!! Triple-check 'em!!!
The ship will break up soon enough. But if these hacks are hangin' around desperately for a media award, the only one they'll get with this standard of shit journalism is a POO-Litzer!

[for more musings on Rena, click the 'ships and wrecks' search tag...]

Fly My Pretties

Fishing these days is a hi-tech business. So is whaling.

Toys for the boys...

So too is anti-whaling activities.
This year, Sea Shepherd's campaign Operation Divine Wind is armed with long-range drones that can seek out the whalers' mothership. The drones were donated by an environmentally-active US company, Bayshore Recycling of New Jersey.
And...bingo! The best present SS could get was locating the factory ship Nisshin Maru on Christmas Day, with the help of their new eye-in-the-sky. It was found 800km off W.Australia’s SW coast, due W of Perth, after a tip-off from fishermen.
The drones also showed elements of the Japanese beefed-up security. Men heavily protected by dark paramilitary uniforms were pictured crouching behind screens on the whalers' security ship Shonan Maru 2. Anti-boarding nets and spikes were also seen.
Once the pursuit began, three Japanese harpoon ships crowded Steve Irwin, to allow NM to escape. But that tactic won't work now because the drones, one each aboard Steve Irwin and Bob Barker, can easily track NM and relay its position back to the SS ships (they probably have a greater range than the SS helicopter, but their light build makes them more susceptible to the Antarctic weather, so shouldn't be regarded as a miracle coup de grace).
But to illustrate just how unforgiving the Southern Ocean can be, last Thursday the Brigette Bardot's hull was cracked by a 6m 'rogue wave' slamming into its port side, and SI had to divert to its rescue. BrBt also suffered severe damage to one of its pontoons (it's the sort of incident that I raised doubts about, back in May 2011). This leaves only the BB now tailing the Japanese fleet, as BrBt limps back to Fremantle escorted by SI.
The Japanese whaling fleet is expected to start taking the first of more than 900 whales it plans to kill in the Southern Ocean this season, later this week.

Update: the crippled BrBt and escort SI are struggling northward through another storm towards Australia. The seas are growing rougher and the winds are increasing, with a great deal of pressure on BrBt's damaged pontoon. As a precaution, the ten crew are wearing their survival suits. They hope to reach Fremantle by mid-week. And - as overkill - the Japanese security ship Shonan Maru 2 continues to tail the pair. Dunno what the nasty Nippons think a seriously damaged ship is gonna do to 'em...!