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Posts published in September 2015

Rant: Some government people in Norway did a stupid thing and we’ll all be stupider for itbarentseditorfired

Rant: Some government people in Norway did a stupid thing and we’ll all be stupider for it

By Mark Sabbatini on September 29, 2015
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Read Time:2 Minute, 41 Second

BarentsObserver, one of the best English-language news sites in the polar regions, apparently is taking its final steps toward becoming a government propaganda rag as longtime editor Thomas Nilsen was fired Monday.

For everyone interested in Svalbard, especially those not fluent in Norwegian and wanting information about Russian activities here, this is a very bad thing.

About Post Author

Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.
marksabbatini@yahoo.com
http://icepeople.net
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Storm alert: Heavy rain/snow, gale-force winds and ‘severely elevated tides’ Tuesday and Wednesdayrainaltert2

Storm alert: Heavy rain/snow, gale-force winds and ‘severely elevated tides’ Tuesday and Wednesday

By Mark Sabbatini on September 29, 2015
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Read Time:1 Minute, 7 Second

Update at 5:30 p.m.: The forecast for the storm’s severity Tuesday night and Wednesday has been reduced somewhat, with about 16 millimeters of precipitation and winds reaching speeds of up to 50 km/h now expected in Longyearbyen. Top winds speeds in Svalbard are still forecast at 80 km/h and some areas such as Ny-Ålesund have already received heavy precipitation.

Original story: A gale-force storm with winds up to 80 km/h, and heavy rain and snow is expected to reach Svalbard early Tuesday afternoon and last until midday Wednesday, according to the Norwegian Meteorological Institute.

About Post Author

Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.
marksabbatini@yahoo.com
http://icepeople.net
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Host apocalyptic: Syria makes first withdrawal from Svalbard seed vault as war damages facility with key cropseuguyinvault

Host apocalyptic: Syria makes first withdrawal from Svalbard seed vault as war damages facility with key crops

By Mark Sabbatini on September 28, 2015
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Read Time:1 Minute, 50 Second

Its creators hate the term “Doomsday Vault,” but for Syria that day has arrived.

A historic first “withdrawal” from the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on behalf of Syria occurred during a visit Sunday by Norwegian and European Union leaders. A seed bank in the city of Aleppo is still partially operational despite the civil war that has heavily damaged the city, but can no longer function as a hub for providing seeds to other countries in the region.

About Post Author

Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.
marksabbatini@yahoo.com
http://icepeople.net
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Dock in pay debate: Longyearbyen gets 15M for new harbor; local pols differ on how much it will help during crisisnewharbor

Dock in pay debate: Longyearbyen gets 15M for new harbor; local pols differ on how much it will help during crisis

By Mark Sabbatini on September 28, 2015
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Read Time:2 Minute, 39 Second

Eventually, Longyearbyen will probably get lots of money to build a new harbor, providing lots of jobs during construction and creating new long-term economic opportunities to replace the collapsing coal mining industry.

But as of now it’s not going to happen during the next year, despite the pleas of local leaders and residents for the government to take some kind of remedial action as the town faces losing up 400 of its roughly 2,100 residents by next summer.

About Post Author

Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.
marksabbatini@yahoo.com
http://icepeople.net
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Svalbard priest details efforts to save Palestinian villages from Israeli soliders in new bookpriestisrael

Svalbard priest details efforts to save Palestinian villages from Israeli soliders in new book

By Mark Sabbatini on September 28, 2015
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Read Time:3 Minute, 38 Second

The village relied on the same communal bread oven for 50 years until soldiers demolished it. They brought a new one so the residents weren’t deprived of one of their main food sources, but then destroyed that one as well. And the next.

About Post Author

Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.
marksabbatini@yahoo.com
http://icepeople.net
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Random weirdness for the week of Sept. 22, 2015svalandbard

Random weirdness for the week of Sept. 22, 2015

By Mark Sabbatini on September 28, 2015
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Read Time:2 Minute, 5 Second

These guys are supposed to be our new role models for proper behavior in Svalbard. What’s wrong with this picture?

About Post Author

Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.
marksabbatini@yahoo.com
http://icepeople.net
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Briefs from Svalbardposten for the week of Sept. 22, 2015planestuckatbarneo

Briefs from Svalbardposten for the week of Sept. 22, 2015

By Mark Sabbatini on September 27, 2015
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Read Time:1 Minute, 48 Second

Russian airline goes silent about fate of plane at N. Pole
The fate of a Russian plane carrying tourists that crash landed near the North Pole in April remains unknown as the airline, Shar Ink, has stopped responding to inquires about its promise to remove the aircraft this summer.

About Post Author

Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.
marksabbatini@yahoo.com
http://icepeople.net
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Rocking their world: Scientists discover Svalbard’s mountains are at least 100X older than thoughtoldmountains

Rocking their world: Scientists discover Svalbard’s mountains are at least 100X older than thought

By Mark Sabbatini on September 20, 2015
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Read Time:2 Minute, 3 Second

It’d probably be a shock discovering your favorite young-looking rock star is actually a centenarian, so imagine how these scientists felt discovering the stars of the show were at least ten times times older than that.

About Post Author

Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.
marksabbatini@yahoo.com
http://icepeople.net
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Random weirdness for the week of Sept. 15, 2015starvingbear

Random weirdness for the week of Sept. 15, 2015

By Mark Sabbatini on September 20, 2015
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Read Time:1 Minute, 23 Second

Remember this photo of a starving polar bear we published nearly a month ago, in large part because some skeptics thought it was a Photoshopped fake designed to win converts to the climate change crowd? Well, there’s not much doubt the photo is real, but the hype that’s exploded during the past week or so making the poor creature the poster child of the “new normal” for bears in our warming world is a much, more crazier fiction.

About Post Author

Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.
marksabbatini@yahoo.com
http://icepeople.net
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