Posted on 01/06/2016 1:23:46 PM PST by Trumpinator
On a glacier-filled island with fjords and elephant seals, Russia has built Antarctica’s first Orthodox church on a hill overlooking its research base, transporting the logs all the way from Siberia.
Less than an hour away by snowmobile, Chinese laborers have updated the Great Wall Station, a linchpin in China’s plan to operate five bases on Antarctica, complete with an indoor badminton court, domes to protect satellite stations and sleeping quarters for 150 people.
Not to be outdone, India’s futuristic new Bharathi base, built on stilts using 134 interlocking shipping containers, resembles a spaceship. Turkey and Iran have announced plans to build bases, too.
More than a century has passed since explorers raced to plant their flags at the bottom of the world, and for decades to come this continent is supposed to be protected as a scientific preserve, shielded from intrusions like military activities and mining.
But an array of countries are rushing to assert greater influence here, with an eye not just toward the day those protective treaties expire, but also for the strategic and commercial opportunities that exist right now.
“The newer players are stepping into what they view as a treasure house of resources,†said Anne-Marie Brady, a scholar at New Zealand’s University of Canterbury who specializes in Antarctic politics.Correction: December 29, 2015
An earlier version of this article referred incompletely to a treaty banning mining in Antarctica. It is expected to come up for review by 2048; it does not expire then.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Huh.
I wonder what Barry wants to plant.
Because Russia just does not have enough frozen wasteland.
http://www.ktva.com/russian-icebreaker-breaks-speed-record-on-arctic-route-568/
Russian icebreaker breaks speed record on Arctic route
By Emily Russell / KNOM 2:48 PM December 31, 2015
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And
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http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/europe/article4649723.ece
Russia sends troops and missiles to Arctic bases
Tom Parfitt Moscow
Published at 12:01AM, December 26 2015
Some sort of a joke?
That is a beautiful church
No comment? More passive aggressive Pro-Putin claptrap from you I see.
The Russians build a church....
...Obama and NOAA would plant the rainbow flag, no doubt, with a dildo as a marker.
No doubt at all.
And onion domes are optimal for resisting hazardous snow accumulation roofs.
I am honored you await my every comment with ‘bated breath and I am sorry I had no comment for you today. Better luck next time.
Save Thy people, O Lord,
and bless Thine inheritance.
Grant victory to Thy Church over her enemies,
and protect Thy people by Thy Holy Cross!
The founding of Holy Trinity, Antarctica, is old news. It’s been there since at least 2009 (the date on the jpg file of the picture I pulled from the internet when I first read about it).
The Rev. Benjamin Maltzev in the bell room at the Church of the Holy Trinity. The church offers regular services for the 16 or so Russian speakers who spend the winter at the base.
From Siberia to the South Pole? Must have fast snowmobiles!
Fools! Don’t they know it’s all going to melt soon? The Goron said so.
Very pretty. Looks like Christmas Village Church.
Where’s the train and the skaters?
They probably use fjords because there isn't enough electricity to power tjeslas.
It is nice to know, however, that the first religious structure was not a mosque.
They ate all the polar bears down there.........
Good!!!!
Now let’s see more canonical Orthodox missions in the US, including English-langiage ROCOR!!!!
Joyous feast(s) (Old Calendar Christmas Eve and New Calendar Theophany)!!!!
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