Mar 2, 2013 - Stanley, Falkland Islands

March 2, 2013 Stanley, Falkland Islands Because the port is not deep enough and the dock big enough to accommodate cruise ships we had to drop anchor outside the harbor and tender in. We were treated to exceptionally good weather with clear skies, calm water, a mild breeze and temperatures in the mid 60’s. We were told that usually the wind blows all the time. The last two cruise ships were not able to go ashore because of the wind and choppy seas making tendering unsafe. Back in December, we had scheduled an excursion to North Pond for an...

Feb 7, 2013 - Falkland Islands - Great Britain really did win the war of 1982

Sailors have a saying: Fair Winds and Following Seas. That means that they hope that when at sea they will not encounter undue winds to hamper their progress nor rough seas to hamper their digestion. Today we were blessed with both – up to a point. We anchored off Port Stanley on East Falkland Island at about 7:00 AM. The seas were relatively calm and the Captain’s announcement that we would be asble to go ashore was greeted enthusiastically be all aboard. The tender ride in to the harbor was reasonably smooth as well. As luck would have...

Dec 30, 2012 - Port Stanley, Falklands Island

We arrived around 07:30 and there is another cruise ship in the bay. We hadn't booked any tours and walked around the town of Port Stanley. As it turns out the weather has dampened this visit. The only shelter is in the various shops open today and we return to the vessel slightly damp making good use of our raincoats. Both still a bit unwell. There is a delay in departure of the ship as one of the hired tour vehicles became bogged. The roads are not sealed on most of the island. Eventually we depart and pass some sandy beaches in the...

Jan 27, 2012 - Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

We only had a 50/50 chance of stopping in the Falkland Islands. Port Stanley’s location and tricky coastline makes any visit here a true “bragging rights” memory. It turned out to be a beautiful day so we tendered over to Port Stanley. Port Stanley is a small town lying along the East Falkland coastline. The landscape is tree-less and wind-blown with low growing vegetation. Hard to believe that Great Britain fought to keep it in 1982 when Argentina invaded it. There are still areas roped off because of land-mines. It is an area only the...

Feb 7, 2011 - Port Stanley

Monday, February 7, 2011 There was a delay getting off the ship because a naval ship was in our space and Discovery couldn’t hold anchor where we were. The captain announced that he would have to move to another location which took about 45 minutes. Then there was the 15 minute tender ride to the island. The docking area had been used for ship repair in the past for those ships damaged while crossing the Cape. Richard was our guide who would take us on a bus tour of the points of interest. And English is spoken here! I was very surprised...

Mar 10, 2010 - Beijing May Face Waste Crisis in Four Years

"China's capital city Beijing may face ""garbage crisis"" in four years, if no more waste disposal facilities to be built in time, the city's municipal administration warned on Tuesday. The volume of trash in the capital city is growing by 8 percent annually. 90 percent of garbage is buried in landfills, officials with the city's commission supervising cityscape told Chinanews.com. Beijing, with a population of about 20 million, currently generates 18,000 tons of trash every day and the designed capacity of its garbage disposal plants is...

Mar 10, 2010 - "Russia Needs to Develop Offensive Arms: Putin s

"Russia should develop offensive weapons systems to counter against U.S. missile shield plans, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday. ""The problems of missile defense and offensive arms are very closely linked,"" Putin was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying during a working visit to Russia's far east region. Putin said the U.S. missile defense plans would destroy the strategic balance between the United States and Russia, so Russia should develop offensive systems to preserve the balance. He added that Russia...

Mar 10, 2010 - Musical torture incurred rages

"Nine Inch Nail's Trent Reznor and Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello petitioned the U.S. government for information about how their music was used and on whom, because they have learned that their music was used to interrogate the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay prison. ""Just as we wouldn't be caught dead allowing Dick Cheney to use our music for his campaigns,"" said the Roots in a statement, ""you can be sure we wouldn't allow him to use it to torture other human beings."" "

Mar 10, 2010 - Mozart symphony

The 2010 New Year's Concert performed by the Mozart symphony orchestra is on this evening at Haidian Theater. Conductor Philip Mackenzie, violinist Amanda Lake and percussionist Owain Williams have been invited to join the ensemble, along with Chinese soprano Liu Hongling and baritone Wang Yining. In addition to the traditional repertoire, concertgoers can also enjoy some Chinese music selected to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the PRC.

Mar 10, 2010 - Science vs. Birdss

"On Nov. 3 the Large Hadron Collider was briefly taken down by a baguette carried by a bird. A piece of baguette fell into the LHC and caused it to over heat. The 17-mile underground atom smasher was designed to find evidence of the Higgs boson which is a hypothetical subatomic particle that in theory is responsible for imparting mass to everything in the universe. "

Mar 10, 2010 - France Protests Torture of Its Citizen in Mexico Kidnap Case s

"The French embassy in Mexico said Thursday it had lodged strong protests with Mexican authorities over the alleged torture of a French citizen by Mexican police. Gilles Francis Moreaux, who is now being held in a jail in the central state of Puebla, accused the regional police of beating him repeatedly for two days until he signed a confession they had prepared, according to the embassy. Moreaux was accused of being involved in kidnapping his friend Irianelly Miranda Dominguez in September 2008, local media reported. Moreaux has sought...

Mar 10, 2010 - Accusations against Iran's Nuclear Program "Irresponsible:" Russian Diplomat s

"Russia has no proof of Tehran's alleged intention to create nuclear weapons, says a Russian diplomat. ""We have no reason to believe that Iran plans to move in this direction (developing nuclear weapons),"" Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told Russia Today on Tuesday, adding that ""without serious proof (of this), it is irresponsible to pose such accusations."" Ryabkov said Russia remains convinced that the only realistic way of solving the Iran nuclear problem is ""through the political and diplomatic settlement of widely known...