The Antarctic mission that keeps on giving...

[Hawkmoon]

*raises hand* why can't we just leave down there and say "That way you can wait till it melts and then come back and tell us how bad this global warming really is."

Sure, it's a waste of a good boat (s) (how many are stuck now?) and a polor bear might eat one of the "researchers" and get sick, but I think the potential reward outweighs the cost.

The problem is the dang eco-tourists (is that significantly different from eco-terrorists?) have gone home, leaving two ships stuck in the ice. I would have been much happier to see the ships go home and leave the tourists on [the] ice.

[Scout26]

They probably were going to plant the trees on Antarctica thinking the global warming would make it a new tropical paradise.

jim

[RoadKingLarry]

http://aso.gov.au/titles/documentaries/home-blizzard/clip2/

[41magsnub]

They feel bad about the extra carbon footprint from their rescue!

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11181470


 

[freakazoid]

http://aso.gov.au/titles/documentaries/home-blizzard/clip2/

Jeezus!

[Perd Hapley]

Hmmm . . . why am I thinking we should have dropped them two books - one, the saga of the Donner Party (just to set the mood) and second, the book from the famous Twilight Zone episode To Serve Man. And then just sat back to see what happened.   

Didn't Lovecraft write something vaguely relevant to their location?

[freakazoid]

Didn't Lovecraft write something vaguely relevant to their location?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_the_Mountains_of_Madness

[lee n. field]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_the_Mountains_of_Madness

Director Guillermo del Toro and screenwriter Matthew Robbins wrote a screenplay based on Lovecraft's story in 2006, but had trouble getting Warner Bros. to finance the project. Del Toro wrote, "The studio is very nervous about the cost and it not having a love story or a happy ending, but it's impossible to do either in the Lovecraft universe.

[roo_ster]

Director Guillermo del Toro and screenwriter Matthew Robbins wrote a screenplay based on Lovecraft's story in 2006, but had trouble getting Warner Bros. to finance the project. Del Toro wrote, "The studio is very nervous about the cost and it not having a love story or a happy ending, but it's impossible to do either in the Lovecraft universe.

Damn skippy. Best you can do is die sane or maybe live on in gibbering insanity.

[lee n. field]

Damn skippy. Best you can do is die sane or maybe live on in gibbering insanity.

Playing with e-texts on the tablet, I re-red "The Shunned House" yesterday.  That Lovecraft story ends with a rare win. 

[freakazoid]

Playing with e-texts on the tablet, I re-red "The Shunned House" yesterday.  That Lovecraft story ends with a rare win. 

Was that the one with the vampire under the floor?

[zahc]

Dursban. Diazinon. Betasan. Original formula Scotchgard. All gone.

Gasoline undiluted by alcohol - gone. (At least locally.)

Mail order gun sales. Bayer Heroin. (OK, that last disappeared way before my time

Saran wrap

[Hawkmoon]

Saran wrap

Saran wrap is gone?

When? I still have a box in my kitchen drawer.

[lee n. field]

Was that the one with the vampire under the floor?

Yup.  Dumped acid on him down a hole he dug in the basement floor. 

[bedlamite]

They're free from the ice.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25635690

[Sergeant Bob]

They're free from the ice.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25635690

From the article:
[quoteA US Coastguard icebreaker, Polar Star, is heading towards the two ships, responding to an earlier request for help. It left Sydney, Australia, on Sunday and will take a week to get there.][/quote]

I wonder who's paying the price for that little excursion?

[AZRedhawk44]

Why the heck do we have US Coast Guard vessels stationed in Australia?

That's not our coast.

I could see Navy assets being out there, but not Coast Guard.

Does the Coast Guard now guard everyone's coasts in the whole world?

[Ben]

Why the heck do we have US Coast Guard vessels stationed in Australia?

That's not our coast.

I could see Navy assets being out there, but not Coast Guard.

Does the Coast Guard now guard everyone's coasts in the whole world?

Uhm...Mcmurdo?

[AZRedhawk44]

Uhm...Mcmurdo?

I know there's antarctic research facilities down there, but I don't see what that has to do with the mission of the USCG.

[AJ Dual]

I know there's antarctic research facilities down there, but I don't see what that has to do with the mission of the USCG.

fed.gov base, supplied/supported by a fed.gov agency.  I suppose the Air Force C130's with the ski's that support the various bases are a problem too?

Not sure what the issue is?

I mean, one could have all the other conservative, libertarian, or an-cap objections to the activity overall... but, I'm having a hard time understanding the specific complaint.

[AZRedhawk44]

I guess I'd object to the USAF and Navy assets as well on libertarian grounds, but it just seems to me that USCG has about as much a duty to Antarctica, as the NYPD would have to Antarctica.  Libertarian stuff aside, USCG is supposed to guard the US coast.

I'll admit I've never given much thought to the market mechanisms in place to supply arctic oil drilling operations or antarctic research operations... I just figured that sufficient free market resources existed to accomplish these objectives and were probably operated by the major stakeholders in ocean drilling and large scale construction/salvage concerns.  Between BP, Haliburton, Maersk, Exxon and all the other major efforts out there I assumed most ice breaker ships were capitalist operations.

[RevDisk]

I guess I'd object to the USAF and Navy assets as well on libertarian grounds, but it just seems to me that USCG has about as much a duty to Antarctica, as the NYPD would have to Antarctica.  Libertarian stuff aside, USCG is supposed to guard the US coast.

I'll admit I've never given much thought to the market mechanisms in place to supply arctic oil drilling operations or antarctic research operations... I just figured that sufficient free market resources existed to accomplish these objectives and were probably operated by the major stakeholders in ocean drilling and large scale construction/salvage concerns.  Between BP, Haliburton, Maersk, Exxon and all the other major efforts out there I assumed most ice breaker ships were capitalist operations.

We, the United States, reserve right for territorial claim in Antarctica. Ergo, USCG is guarding potential US territory.

[Tallpine]

All your earth is belong to US.   

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

does the navy have any icebreakers of that class?

[230RN]

"Why our icebreaker?"

The way I understand it under my foggy understanding of international maritime agreements, all ships must attempt to help or rescue a ship in trouble, if reasonably possible.

At least, I think that's the way it goes.

I assume it works differently in wartime naval battles.