A literal cold war

 

Russian scientists have supposedly discovered an enormous amount of oil in Antarctica, enough to last for 500 years. There is just one problem: it´s on territory claimed by the British. And very close to territory claimed by both Britain and Argentina. These territorial claims are invalid according to an international treaty, but who will care in the future? If Russia and/or China moves to extract the oil, all bets are off. 

Argentina currently has a pro-Western government, but this could change in the future, and then Argentina´s old claims to the Falkland Islands might be dusted off. Thus, we could see a geopolitical confrontation over fossil fuels in the South Atlantic between a Sino-Russo-Argentine alliance and an Anglo-American ditto.

The consequences for the world´s climate if even more oil is used up is not mentioned in Daily Mail´s article (probably because of their right-leaning political sympathies), but Russia and China are not known for giving a damn about "green transitions". The massive use of aerosols to mitigate global warming is probably inevitable at this point...  

The scramble for Antarctica´s black gold

Albatross

 

Credit: A. Vente

LOL. Probably just a ruse to portray himself as "nationalist", but many Amerikwan libertarians are probably shitting in their pants just now. 

The irony is that Milei probably could take the Falklands with little or no resistance from the British if he wanted to. I mean, what could the UK possibly do to prevent it? Call him "transphobic"? Or scream "Bloody albatross flavour" at the top of their voices? 

Argentina wants the Falkland Islands back

Don´t cry for me, Argentina

 

I have no idea why a guy like Milei could become president of Argentina, but a couple of immidiate reflections do come to my mind.

For instance, why did the US Alt Right (or what´s left of it) support this man? Aren´t Alt Right trolls supposed to be "based", nationalist, anti-Israeli and pro-Russian? Well, it seems Milei supports Israel and Ukraine. He also wants Argentina to leave BRICS. And while Milei says he will abolish the Argentine central bank, his plan to introduce the US dollar as currency will (surprise) make Argentina subordinate to the whims of the *American* Federal Reserve! 

In other words: Milei is a fraud, at least if you believe in Nationalism (TM). Or perhaps it´s really the Alt Right which is a fraud? This bizarre and postmodern phenomenon, always a meme more than a movement, was apparently nothing else than libertarians against immigration (or libertarians who read "The Bell Curve"). When the libertarian and nationalist tendencies clashed, they went all in with the former and some Latino anarcho-capitalist superhero.

Class interests never lie, it seems. 

Ironically, Milei´s landslide victory also shows that democracy doesn´t work...since 56% of the Argentinian electorate essentially voted to abolish their national sovereignty. That´s democracy for you, right there. LOL. 

But whatever. Milei won´t be able to solve any problems, of course. But when the masses come for him with the noose, as they inevitably will when the dollar crashes and burns, I suppose he could save his neck by pretending to invade the Falkland Islands! 

Islands in the sea

“Peoples of the Earth” was a series of popularized anthropology books, published during the early 1970's. Sir Edward Evans-Pritchard was the editor of the series. This volume covers the Caribbean, the islands of the North Atlantic (except Greenland and Iceland) and the ditto of the South Atlantic. This gives the book a somewhat peculiar look, since it includes articles on such unrelated places as Cuba, the Canary Islands and the Falkland Islands.

Many of the articles are written in a slightly condescending style - brace yourself for expressions such as “one fat Negro woman and four Mulattoes”. Jamaica and Haiti are solely represented by pieces on Rastafarianism and Voodoo, respectively. Other articles seem to be authored by anthropologists with a longing for poor, pristine and noble savages. That being said, I admit that I found this book fascinating. It mentions islands or ethnic groups I never heard of before: the communistic clan society at St Kilda in the Hebrides, the British settlers on the Bay Islands, the last remaining Caribs on Dominica… One article covers Tristan da Cunha, a small volcanic island in the Atlantic and the location of the most isolated human settlement on Earth. But yes, I did hear of Tristan before reading this volume. The photos are equally fascinating, one showing a female leader of the Haitian Ton Ton Macoute militias. Another picture shows American businessmen during an orgy at a hotel in Jamaica!

Unfortunately, I haven't seen any other books in the series, and since this volume was published in 1973, the information is probably in need of an update. That being said, I was sufficiently intrigued by this little gem (I bought the Swedish translation at a library clearance sale) to give it…five stars.

If it quacks like a donald...

I believe that The Donald should be stopped from entering the British Antarctic Territory. Why? Because he's a DUCK, that's why!!! I have signed petitions and affidavits from 500,000 albatrosses and 75,000 penguins to this effect, and tomorrow my proposal will be discussed by the Eldermen at Port Stanley, Falkland Islands. So be 'fraid, Donald from Ducksburg Manhattan, be very 'fraid, we don't want your golden eggs (or your trump towers or your duckling values) on our distant and icy shores, get it?

Penguin power

I haven't seen this particular product (which hasn't been released yet), but I've seen BBC's three-part documentary about the lives, times and contretemps of penguins. I must say that these flightless birds are both interesting and fascinating! 

We get to follow the entire life cycle of three penguin species: the Emperor Penguin of Antarctica, the Humboldt Penguin of Peru and the Rockhopper of the Falkland Islands. The two latter live really rough lives, attacked by an assortment of vicious predators and competing sea birds, the Humboldt Penguins even being forced to cope with vampire bats. Another classic is a battle between over-sized ducks and five eagles, with a poor Rockhopper stuck in between! It seems juvenile albatrosses don't say no to catching some penguin meat, either. (Always wondered what albatrosses were eating out there?)

As for the Emperor Penguins, they really do look like strange humans in tuxedo, while their chicks look like badly made toys... Sorry, can't help anthropomorphizing. The documentary shows how the adults deliberately abandon the chicks, in order to trigger the latter's survival instincts. On their difficult journey to the sea, the Emperor chicks are escorted by Adélie Penguins, a different species. Why would one species want to help the chicks of another one? Pardon my cynicism, but I think the helpful Adélies simply want to get rid of the Emperor Penguins from what they consider Adélie territory.

The documentary was taped with the help of spy cams disguised as (you've guessed it) penguins or penguin eggs, creating all kinds of humorous situations. One penguin attacks a spy cam which spurned his amorous advances, while one of the egg-cameras is taken by a flying seabird, giving us an excellent panoramic view of the penguin colony from above!

Probably this year's best nature documentary. This is Penguin Power and definitely worth five stars. Let's hope the DVD is as good as the televised version...