Geographical Misconceptions: Part Two

On November 13, 2023November 20, 2023 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Geography

I had a meeting a few weeks ago with Some Geek Told Me’s Social Media Consultant and Creative Director. I’ll admit that the discussion was fairly one-sided, however, a decision was made that another Geographical Misconceptions blog needed to be created. The first list of geographical misconceptions can be found here, but it’s nearly two years old. That seems like a long time, though I feel that’s the same length of time it takes a Greenland Shark to blink.

To clarify what a geographical misconception means; at least to me, is a piece of information that people believe to be true, but actually is false.

Just like Superman has various weaknesses, my weaknesses are disinformation, misinformation, and misconceptions.¹ Whenever I hear one of those three types of garbage, my left eye twitches, and my right foot starts tapping. This is me fighting the urge to say something, until I fail, as always, to shut my big fat mouth.

The first list had seven geographical misconceptions, but for the sequel, I’m only going for five. So without wasting any more time, I’ll quote the creator of New Zealand’s fifth least favourite website:

Here are some geographical misconceptions that, to my eternal shame, upset me.

1.) Europe is a country

Very much like the misconception of Africa being a country, this falsehood is very convincing to some people. Their argument would be that Europe has its own currency (Euro €), and its own flag, so it must be a country. Oh, alias, the supermarket is open, but nobody is shopping.

The Euro (€) is a form of currency that’s used in 20 of the 27 countries in the European Union (EU). This means a €20 note you received in Germany, could be spent in Spain or Italy; it has the same value.

There are some countries, microstates, and territories in and outside of Europe that use the Euro as well. However some countries like the United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Sweden are located in Europe, but they still use their own currency.

As for the flag, they would be referring to the EU flag, and it represents the union of the 27 countries of the EU. As the United Kingdom is a great example, not every country in Europe is in the EU.²

Europe is not a country, simply because it is a continent.

2.) Mount Kilimanjaro is in Kenya

I can understand why this misconception exists, I really do, but it’s still wrong. Everybody knows that Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa and that it is located in Kenya, right? Not quite. Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa, but it’s not in Kenya; it’s actually in Tanzania.

Kenya shares a border with Tanzania to the south, and Mount Kilimanjaro is extremely close to the border. However, 100% of the mountain is on the Tanzanian side of the border. A lot of famous photos advertising Mount Kilimanjaro have been taken in Kenya, but make no mistake, Mount Kilimanjaro is not in Kenya, it’s in Tanzania.

3.) The Giza necropolis is in the middle of a desert

Let’s clear something up first. The Giza necropolis refers to the Giza Plateau, which includes; along with other ancient structures, the Pyramids of Giza and the Great Sphinx of Giza.

We’ve all seen amazing photos of the Pyramids and the Sphinx, like these for example:

The photos give the impression that the Giza necropolis is in the middle of a desert, well away from human civilisation, but the truth is always stranger than fiction. The Giza necropolis is extremely close to the city of Giza, which is also known as Greater Cairo, so it’s actually a short bus ride from the city.

So there you go, these ancient structures are over 4,000 years old, but they’re actually close to roads, apartment blocks, hotels, and a Pizza Hut.

4.) Mount Everest is the tallest mountain on Earth

This misconception is a technicality, but like any good Vulcan, we should embrace it. Mount Everest is located in the Himalayas, along the China–Nepal border. From the base to the summit, Mount Everest measures 8,848.86 m (29,031.7 ft). It’s the roof of the world, there is no other point on Earth that is higher. So naturally this would mean that Mount Everest would be the tallest mountain on Earth, correct?

That’s not entirely correct. This is confusing, but on the island of Hawaii, which makes up one of the several islands of the US state of Hawaii, there is a volcano named Mauna Kea. Above sea level, Mauna Kea measures 4,205 m (13,796 ft).

But here’s the technicality; over 50% of Mauna Kea is actually underwater. From the underwater base to the summit, Mauna Kea is actually 10,211 m (33,500 ft), which is more than 1.3 km higher than Mount Everest. This makes Mauna Kea the tallest mountain in the world because it is taller than Mount Everest; measured from the base to the summit.

There is nothing wrong with saying Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world; provided you say: Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world, above sea level. By saying it’s above sea level, it makes the statement more accurate. However as I previously said, this misconception is a technicality, because Mauna Kea is actually taller.

5.) Great Britain and the United Kingdom are the same country

This one really rips my undies. It’s simple, but to explain this better, I’ll use some maps.

The countries we are discussing involve England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland.

Great Britain (territorial and legal term) is a coalition made up of England, Wales, and Scotland.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (territorial and legal term) is made up of surprise, surprise, England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

The British Isles (geographical term only) consists of England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland.

Great Britain and the United Kingdom are not the same country.

There are so many more geographical misconceptions, that I’ll have to badly write another list. I’ll even attempt to tackle some historical misconceptions one day. Alright, that’s it for another week. Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. I’m also on Twitter and Mastodon, so drop by and make fun of me for not getting paid for this.

Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, donate to the Gaza Humanitarian crisis, watch the Cricket World Cup semi-finals and final, and I’ll see you next week.

¹I know I didn’t list Sour Cream and Chives. I can and will never forget my original nemesis.

²Give us a B, give us a R, give us an E, give us a X, give us an I, and give us a T. What does it spell? DISASTER!

How do we help Türkiye and Syria?

On February 13, 2023February 20, 2023 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Geography, Politics

I’m sorry, but I had another post lined up for the blog. Because of what’s happened, I’ve posted a different one for obvious reasons and it has serious tones. Again, I’m very sorry.

I want to talk about Türkiye and Syria. Why? Well you don’t have to be a torpedo technician, to figure this out. On 6th February, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the neighbouring countries of Türkiye and Syria, across various regions. At the time of writing, the earthquake had killed 34,870 people, with 94,770 injuries and over 1.3 million people have been displaced.

You’ve probably seen the photos and read about the devastation across the countries, and it’s heartbreaking. Families are broken, lives have been lost and homes destroyed. There’s also the historic and cultural impacts to consider, like the 2,000 year old Gaziantep Castle, the Yeni Mosque and the Latin Catholic Church in Türkiye, as well as Syria’s Aleppo citadel being damaged and ruined.

People are scared and fearful. Their loved ones are dead, missing or trapped; their homes and schools are gone; while food, shelter and water are in short supply. Aftershocks, hunger, disease, and the cold, will be stalking the survivors; but also the thousands of people working to help. Another heartbreaking thing to think of, are the thousands of pets like cats and dogs, that are now homeless and ownerless.

I’ve said this before, but watching and reading about a disaster such as this, can give people the impression that there’s nothing they can do to help. That’s a lie. Even witnessing this catastrophe from different places around the world, you can still actually help and make a difference. I promise you that you can.

Right now, the fastest way to help the people of Türkiye and Syria is to donate. Yes, I know times are tough with the economy and inflation. We’re an one income family, so I get it. But please consider what money can do in the modern world: you can buy a PS5, the latest phone, season tickets to your favourite team or maybe Twitter Blue. Money is great and we all would like some, but it can also save lives.

A donation of any amount, can go towards buying blankets, first aid kits, torches, food, water, clothes, medicine, shelter, books or even toys. Whatever the amount of money you can spare, it will make a huge difference to the people of Türkiye and Syria. Case in point, and although we’re a small country, the New Zealand government has donated $1.5 million in humanitarian aid.

If you would like to donate, here are some international NGOs and charities that are working on earthquake relief in Türkiye and Syria:

ActionAid

Disaster Emergency Committee

Doctors Without Borders

International Committee of the Red Cross

International Rescue Committee

Oxfam International

Save the Children

UNICEF

UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)

World Vision

I really don’t know what else to say about this, except the regions are decimated; but just like everything, there is always hope. Hope that people can be found and rescued, houses and schools can be rebuilt, and families will be reunited. If you think you can donate, any amount would be amazing. And speaking of amazing, let’s give it up for the thousands of rescue and first aid workers from Türkiye and Syria; but also from around the world, working to help the people Türkiye and Syria.

And with that, I’m done. I’m back next week with the first stop on our Tour of the Solar System, which will be The Sun. It should be blazing. Look after yourselves and I’ll see you next week.

U.S. Elections: Exporting ideas to the World

On November 28, 2022December 5, 2022 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Geography, Politics2 Comments

I want to talk about the U.S. elections. Why? That’s a very interesting question, considering I’m not a U.S. citizen and not able to vote in their elections. So that being the case, why would I have an opinion or have anything at all to say about another nation’s democratic elections?

That is another great question. Wow, I’m full of them today, aren’t I?

The dust is still settling after the U.S. midterm elections, with the Democrats retaining the Senate and the Republicans taking the House, while Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock will be involved in a run off on 6th December, for the Georgia Senate race. Though if Walker does lose, it appears he has a back up job as a vampire-hunting werewolf.

I find the whole American election process quite fascinating, however this blog is looking at how the United States of America and their elections, actually exports ideas.

For context, I live in the South Island of New Zealand. If you don’t know where we are, find a world map and look down in the South Pacific Ocean. Though to be fair, we are getting missed off maps recently, so that doesn’t help. Anyway, with just a hop, skip and a jump to the North East and across the Pacific Ocean, is the United States.

Living in New Zealand is quite odd, because of how much American culture has been actually being incorporated into our own culture.

We have an abundance of American culture here. Some easy food examples of these would be McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Dominos, Pizza Hut, KFC, Subway, and recently Taco Bell; which I have to be perfectly honest, I really want to try. Not that I’m expecting too much of the food, but it’s just the fact that we have Taco Bell now, so I just want to tick that box off my list.

We also have a steady diet of American literature in the form of magazines, comics, newspapers and of course, books. A whole lot of books.

There’s also television and streaming services, where the majority of content on our limited amount of channels is American, with a dash of British, Australian, and New Zealand shows. It would also be pretty remissive of me, not to also mention the massive impact American cinema and social media has had on this country.

The uncountable information about U.S. movies that are locked in my head, serve absolutely no purpose to humanity other than, “Oh cool, that’s a nice fact. Thanks for sharing, Scott!” is quite astounding.

Another way American culture has influenced us is fashion; which let’s be honest, I’ve only had two blogs about that, so I need to up the ante on social media fashion trends. Though I feel old every time I have to ask my wife about the new trend.

Of course all of this babbling, is steering towards politics. America is a superpower in the world. It’s a global leader, whether you like that or not, it just is. America influences the world with it’s choices and ideas, but also food, literature, cinema, fashion, and the list goes on and on.

America export ideas. Now you can debate about which ideas are positive or negative, but that’s up to the individual or each nation’s government. It doesn’t matter, but what does matter is that America is a trendsetter; the world looks to America.

If America started a campaign to ban Sour Cream and Chives crackers for some good reason, you only have to start looking at other countries to see whether they would follow suit or not. I’m not a big fan of that flavour; as you all know, so if there was a campaign to ban them, I would probably be alright with that.

Even though America is not the world, the choices and policy decisions their local and federal governments make, ripple across the world; they really do. Whether these ripples are social reforms, book banning, tax cuts, abortion, military spending; it doesn’t matter, America is the world’s leader and the world takes notice of what they’re doing.

Because they export ideas, you would have to talk to every country to determine whether they like those ideas as well or if they will reject them. Some of these ideas are not exclusive to America, just like the fight against climate change.

You’ll probably thinking, “That’s all well and good, Scott, but what’s your point?”

Another amazing question asked, thanks for that. After the U.S. 2020 general election, sometime in late December, I saw something that, I’ll be honest with you, completely stunned me. As I was driving to my local discount supermarket, I looked over and I saw a Trump 2020 flag flying in someone’s front yard. I’d never seen that before. The Trump flag didn’t offend me, it was more the fact that it’s a campaign flag from another country over 10,000 km away. It’s around the same distance from New Zealand to China for comparison.

For me, I’m a little bit nervous. Next year is our general election which we hold every three years. I’m worried because there’s a possibility that next year, whether it’s a political party or an individual candidate that has lost fairly, will now have a back up plan. They just need to start saying that the election was rigged, or it was stolen. I find it hilarious and horrifying that’s a real possibility now, but I think the general public would call them out.

I care about America and their elections, because America is a global leader. Whatever positive or negative policies that are introduced and supported through their law makers, the repercussions of those policies vertebrate through each country in the world. They look at them and decide whether they are going to implement similar policies or if they are going to reject them. This includes us, through discussions at work, home, gyms, parliament, schools, and social media; especially social media.

If I was a better writer, I would have done a far greater job at conveying my point, so I’m sorry about that. I’d love to visit the United States of America one day, because I have a mental list of the things I would love to do. However, I do need to check their policies on Sour Cream and Chives and save a whole lot of money.

This is my 101st blog post, which over two years is quite pathetic; however this ridiculous project does keep me off the streets and away from sports bars, just so my wife can watch me. She’s doing it right now, sitting in the same room as me, pretending to read one of the Outlander books, but I know the truth.

With Christmas less than a month away, take it easy on yourself. Thanks for following, walk your dog, read a banned book, and I’ll see you next Monday.

Four Former Failed Fluttering Flags

On October 17, 2022October 24, 2022 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Flags, Geography, History

I want to talk about flags, in particular flags that are no longer used. Why? This pains me to admit, but Sheldon Cooper and I have many things in common; and one of them is vexillology. If you’re not familiar with the term, you will be familiar with what it actually means: the study or love of flags.

When talking about myself, I don’t have an elephant in the room; I have a herd of them. However one of those elephants is all about flags. It’s not really the source of conversation for a first date, is it? Or the second, or the third, or the fourth.

I remember eventually explaining my love of flags to my future wife, like I was confessing that I had a window licking habit. Her response was something along the lines of, “I didn’t know that about you, though it does make sense. I knew there would be more stuff. I knew it.”

I’m not an expert on flags, far from it. Though I do like learning about them and trying to identify them as much possible. Please remember I am a geek, and I have been very upfront about that from Day One. That fact that the title of my blog is called, Some Geek Told Me, is a huge red flag.¹

Because of this, I thought I’d talk about some countries that have changed their national flag. There could be many different reasons for the change, from social, political, or cultural issues, or maybe someone smeared tomato sauce on it, so they needed to redesign it.

The point is a country changing their national flag, happens a lot more than you realise. I’m going to list some of the most famous national flag changes in the world, but as usual, there are some exemptions. I am not going to discuss a country’s flag change, where it has gone back to using the original version like Russia-USSR-Russia. What I’m talking about is a completely new design for a country’s flag, that is still being flown today.

Canada

Canadian Red Ensign (1957–1965): Image by Denelson83

The Canadian Red Ensign served as the unofficial national flag and symbol for Canada throughout the years, from as early as 1868. Canada had gone through several versions of this flag, with small differences with each one.

However there had been a call for an official flag of Canada to actually exist for decades, so during 1963-1964, the Great Canada Flag Debate was born. During this time, a new design for the flag was sought and after 3,541 entries, a winner was eventually found. On 15th February, 1965, the “Maple Leaf” flag was inaugurated as the official of flag of Canada. This flag could never be mistaken for belonging to another country, other than Canada.

The National Flag of Canada (1965-present): Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

South Africa

Just like the different flags throughout Canada’s history, South Africa has gone through many versions. This changed in 1928, when the country adopted the Union of South Africa flag. The problem with this flag is that it’s tied to the Apartheid system that the South African government used, which was based on racial segregation.

With the end of Apartheid, a new flag was purposed for the country to move past the injustices, and look towards a brighter tomorrow. Over 7,000 entries were received and on the day of the 1994 South African general election; the first general election open to citizens of all races, the famous Rainbow Flag was first flown.

The National Flag of South Africa (1994-present): Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

Zimbabwe (Formerly known as Southern Rhodesia)

Flag of Southern Rhodesia (1968-1979): Image by Actarux

The next two entries are rather unique, because these countries didn’t just change their flag, but also their name. From 1895 to 1990, Southern Rhodesia was the name of this Southern African country. It had been a British colony ²and over the years it was known as Southern Rhodesia, the Republic of Rhodesia, Rhodesia, and finally Zimbabwe Rhodesia; with a white minority government.

This changed when the country gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1980, but also with a black majority government. Because of this, the country changed it’s name to Zimbabwe and the flag; to greater reflect and honour their African heritage.

The Flag of the Republic of Zimbabwe (1980-present): Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

Myanmar (Formerly known as Burma)

The Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma Flag (1988-2010):
Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

Just like Zimbabwe, Myanmar has a troubled past. It has been part of the Pagan Empire, a British colony ³, been ruled by the military, and littered with civil wars. Having won its independence from the United Kingdom in 1948, the country was known as the Union of Burma. Fast forward to 1988, where the country received an updated version of their old flag.

After some voting, social, and economic reforms from the military junta, the country stepped into a new era. It was given a new name for three reasons:

1.) Myanma is the official name of the country in the native Burmese language.

2.) It was thought that the name Myanma was more inclusive of minorities than the name Bama.

3.) The military junta had long been suspicious of the casual Burmese language, which it had perceived as inferior; the English name “Burma” mirrors the Burmese name Bama.

Because of these reasons and others, a new flag was adopted in 2010.

The Republic of the Union of Myanmar Flag (2010-present):
Image by Adam Lapuník from Pixabay

And that’s a wrap from me. I realise I missed many other flags, but are there some I should have listed? Please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks for letting me share my love of vexillology, because there is no known cure. Anyway, I’m off to persuade my dog to sleep somewhere else, other than my pillow. Read some banned books, eat some ice cream, and I’ll see you next Monday.

¹Pun very much intended.

² To nobody’s surprise.

³Oh no, not again!

The Ever Growing List of Russian Sanctions

On March 7, 2022March 14, 2022 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Geography, Politics

Last year I wrote a blog about the Ukraine-Russia conflict, where I did my best to try and explain what was going on. After going back and looking at it again nearly one year later, there are things I realise I could have explained better, expanded more, or even things I just forgot to mention.

When I wrote it, I was concerned about the future of the region, because I thought it was a geo-political hot spot. That fear is a reality for millions of people across Ukraine, but also Russia, the neighbouring countries, and the entire world.

I try and fail, to make my blogs to be funny, entertaining, or interesting; so it could make someone smile, laugh, or at least to give them something to think about. This blog will be about the latter, because I find nothing funny or entertaining about the invasion of Ukraine. Nothing.

Before I level up and go into rant mode, please read the hundreds of articles and updates about the invasion, from various news sites around the world. Thousands of journalists and reporters are providing us with information and photos, that are changing minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day; detailing the horror and carnage of this utter madness.

So, am I angry about this insanity? Yes. Am I shocked and stunned by it? Yes. Am I afraid for Ukraine? Yes. Even though, I’m about 17,000 km away, I still give a damn. So, in my totally bias view, whom has the power to stop the war? Only the Russian government.

This brings us to the start of my rant for this Monday; I want to talk about sanctions and responses the world has given Russia, over the invasion of Ukraine. As the days have passed, I am amazed, truly amazed, about how united the world has been.

Except for Belarus, Cuba, Syria, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Russia of course.

For all of the things wrong in our world, they are some things that are right. These things have crossed genders, races, politics, religion, social economic backgrounds, languages, cultures, countries, and even sports.

Also can I just point something out? How badly do you need to have stuffed up, to have the Pope turn up on your door step, and ask you to explain your actions? Pretty badly, I think.

Anyway, I am in awe of the sanctions and responses, the international community have given the Russian government, over the Ukrainian invasion. Now I realise these sanctions and responses may change over time, and new ones will be added; however at the time of writing this blog, these are correct.

Another thing I want to add, is that I am very aware of other conflicts on the planet; such as Palestine, Yemen, Chad, Syria and many others. These conflicts are no less important, and still deserve the world’s attention and support.

With that in mind, may I present, a small list of Russian sanctions and responses by the international community, over the invasion of Ukraine. By the way, some of these sanctions and responses include Belarus, but not all of them.

Image by Miguel Á. Padriñán from Pixabay

Sports

Basketball

The EuroLeague have moved all games that were to be played in Russia, to other countries outside of Russia.

Football

UEFA has stripped St. Petersburg of hosting the 2022 UEFA final, scheduled for 28th May.
FIFA has suspended Russia; both men’s and women’s teams from international competitions. This means, the men’s team will not eligible to play at the World Cup in Qatar later this year.
Manchester United have terminated their sponsorship deal with Aeroflot, a Russian airline.
Schalke 04 have terminated their sponsorship deal with Gazprom, a Russian gas supplier.
After 19 years, the Russian oligarch, Roman Abramovich, is selling Chelsea FC. This is because of the mounting pressure of his association to President Putin.

Formula One

The Russian Grand Prix at Sochi, which was the 17th round of the Formula One championship was suspended.
Formula One now has terminated it’s contract with the Formula One promoter of the Russian Grand Prix.

Gymnastics

The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) has banned Russian and Belarusian national flags at events, and their national anthems will not be played at any FIG event.
There will no FIG events to be held in Russia or Belarus, until further notice.

Ice Hockey

Two teams from the Russian owned, Kontinental Hockey League, have withdrawn from the competition.

Martial Arts

The International Judo Federation suspended President Putin as it’s honorary president.
The European Judo Union withdrew President Putin’s status as Honorary President.
World Taekwondo has stripped President Putin of his honorary 9th dan black belt.
World Taekwondo said that no Russian or Belarusian national flags or anthems would be displayed or played at their events.
No taekwondo events would be organised in Russia or Belarus.

Paralympics

The International Paralympic Committe has banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing at the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing.

Rugby Union

The full and immediate suspension of Russia and Belarus from all international rugby and cross-border club rugby activities, until further notice.
The full and immediate suspension of the Rugby Union of Russia from World Rugby membership, until further notice.

Skiing

The International Ski Federation (FIS) said there will no events in Russia, for the rest of the 2022 season.

Swimming

The World Junior Championship event in Russia, has now been allocated to another country.
The International Swimming Federation (FINA) withdrew the FINA Order previously given to President Putin.

Entertainment

Movies

Film studios like Disney, Sony, and Warner Bros, have stopped the release of their films in Russian cinemas. These include major films like Turning Red, Morbius, and The Batman, respectfully.

Music

The New York Metropolitan Opera is cutting ties with musicians connected with President Putin.
Russia has been banned from the 2022 Eurovision competition.
Green Day, Eric Clapton, Imagine Dragons, Iggy Pop, Louis Tomlinson, the Killers, and Franz Ferdinand; along with others, have cancelled upcoming shows in Russia.
Spotify has removed content from Kremlin backed outlets; RT and Sputnik, but also has closed their office in Russia.

Finance

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and the Bank of China, are limiting finances to purchase Russian raw materials, which limits Russian access to foreign money.
Russia has been cut off from SWIFT, the global messaging network for international payments.
Western countries have placed sanctions on the Russian Central Bank. This is to stop it from liquidating assets to counter balance the impact of sanctions.
The World Bank has stopped all activities in Russia and Belarus.
Singapore became the first Southeast Asian nation to impose sanctions on Russia. This was done by restricting banks and transactions linked to Russia.
Switzerland has frozen a number of Russian assets and joined EU sanctions; which has been described as unprecedented. (You know it’s bad, when the Swiss are pissed off!)
American Express, Visa, and Mastercard have blocked international credit card transactions made in Russia.
Samsung Pay, Google Pay, and Apple Pay have announced that their systems will no longer work in Russia.
Trafigura, a commodities trading company has frozen all of its Russian investments, which includes its share in Rosneft led project, Vostok Oil.
Personal sanctions on President Putin and Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov. This means the men’s collective assets in United States of America, European Union, United Kingdom and Canada, have been frozen.

Sanctions in other areas

Education
Research
Science
Energy
Electronic games
Food
Beverages
Furniture
Cars
Clothes
Technology
Services
Tourism
Aviation

There are many comprehensive lists of Russian sanctions out there, if you are curious. Over the coming weeks and months, this list will continue to grow, forcing the Russian government to the negotiating table. Sadly, only time will tell about how long this will be.

In the meantime, if you would like to donate money to support and protect Ukraine, there are many different agencies you can go through. The following list was complied by Vox.

Children

Medical Supplies

Journalists on the frontlines

Other ways to help

Seriously, any amount of money you can give, will help with the crisis.

With that, I will leave you, because my children are still talking in bed. Stay safe and I’ll see you next week. Glory to Ukraine!

Seven of the World’s Longest Ongoing wars

On January 17, 2022January 24, 2022 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Geography, History, People, Politics

I want to talk about war, in particular, some of the ongoing conflicts that are raging across this planet. Why? The Temptations and Edwin Starr had similar feelings towards it, as I do.

The thing is, I’ve been rattling this blog around in my antique head for awhile now, trying to decide whether I should write it or not. It’s not like I’m trying to glorify war, or celebrate it. It’s quite the opposite.

Because of this, I feel it’s important to highlight seven of the longest ongoing wars, currently being fought. Maybe you have never heard of them, or maybe you have. However, I think it’s extremely relevant to know about these things, because to quote Scarlet Johansson’s character in Lucy, “Ignorance brings chaos, not knowledge.” Being informed about something, equips you to make better choices.

This can certainly relate to nations or factions waging war against each other, whether you’re directly or indirectly supporting them. I’ve chosen one war from each continent, just to demonstrate that war is not trade marked; because as Billy Joel said, “It was always burning, since the world’s been turning.”

I’d like to point out, there are many wars currently being fought across the world, that have become humanitarian disasters, like the Yemeni crisis; the Tigray war; Chad; Syria; and Ethiopia. The only reason these conflicts are not on the list, is because they are quite recent, compared to the others. Sadly, these conflicts will be on a future blog.

Asia: Myanmar Civil War (73 years: 1948-Present)

The former nation known as Burma, Myanmar has been at war with itself since 1948. The whole situation is quite difficult to unravel, but there have been many different players and events in this debacle, ranging from the Empire of Japan; the British Empire; the Communist Party of Burma; Karen National Union; the Panglong Agreement; Aung San; the Chin, Kachin and Sha people; Military juntas; Burma Socialist Programme Party; Aung San Suu Kyi; the Rohingya people; the Tatmadaw; the People’s Defence Force; genocide; and one or two Coup d’états; among others.

The brutality of this conflict, has cost an estimated 150,000 lives from 1948-2011, with millions of people being dispossessed. This does not even include the Rohingya genocide, or the current military junta’s killings. Myanmar has a rich and proud history, but in the eyes of the world, the civil war is a problem that nobody quite knows how to solve or permanently end.

Europe: The Georgian conflicts with Abkhazia and South Ossetia (33 years: 1989-Present)

Since 10th November 1989, Georgia was been fighting on two fronts: to the west against Abkhazia; and the other to the centre, against South Ossetia. Abkhazia and South Ossetia, are both former autonomous regions of Georgia.

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the region has been rocked with various ethnic conflicts. This has led to various factions to declare independence, which has divided not just countries, by also ethnic boundaries; the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Georgia in 2014 and 2008, are perfect examples of this.

Over the years, Georgia’s conflicts with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, have killed over 30,000 people, with tensions still running high between the neighbouring nations.

Africa: Lord’s Resistance Army Insugency (35 years: 1987-Present)

This is a brutal one to discuss. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is a terrorist army that mainly operates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and Northern Uganda.

Some of their crimes include abduction, murder, war crimes, child-sex slavery, mutilation, and recruitment of child soldiers. Their fight against the Ugandan government has spilled over to neighbouring countries, which in turn has brought in the United States military, the United Nations, and other international watchdog organisations.

Because of the actions of the LRA, over 100,000 people have been killed, over 20,000 children had been abducted, and over 1.5 million people have been displaced. The LRA have been reduced in size over the years, however their leader Joseph Kony, is still evading capture.

North America: Mexican Drug War (15 years: 2006-Present)

This entry is not a traditional war between two nations, over religious, political or ethnic issues. It’s about the flow of drugs; namely cocaine, through Mexico, via the drug cartels.

On one side, you have the Mexican drug cartels, which covers all of Mexico. They control a huge amount of illegal drugs for drug trafficking, and they are heavily resourced and organised.

And on the other side of the conflict, you can find the Mexican government; which consists of the Mexican Armed Forces, The National Guard, and Federal Police, and other police forces. They also an ally/ enemy in the Popular Revolutionary Army, whom hate the government, just as much as the drug cartels.

The United States government, and the Australian and Colombian Police, also provide training and support against the drug cartels. All of these groups are trying to stop the flow of the illegal drugs.

Since 2006, this unorthodox war has claimed between 40,000-400,000 lives, depending if you are counting homicides from organised crime or not. In 2018, the Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, stated that the war was over, but boots on the ground tell a different story.

South America: Colombian conflict (57 years: 1964-Present)

Just like the Myanmar Civil War, the Colombian conflict is complicated, because there have been several factions and groups involved over the years. The major players are the Colombian government, army and police, right-wing paramilitary groups, drug cartels, crime syndicates, and left-wing guerrilla groups.

These groups have changed and evolved over the years, but the constant theme is that they are still fighting each other. Each group has their own reason for fighting, with each one believing they are justified in waging war.

The problem is that Colombia is still suffering because of this. 220,000 men, women and children have been killed during the conflict, with 7 million people have been displaced, because of the fighting. An estimated 16.9% of the Colombian population has been identified as a victim of the war.

When will it stop? You tell me.

Oceania: Papua conflict (59 years: 1962-Present)

Even my beautiful continent of Oceania,¹ has not been spared. The Papua conflict is about the island, Western New Guinea, also known as Papua; which belongs to Indonesia, and shares a border with the nation of Papua New Guinea. The disputed region is a province called Papua, because the Free Papua Movement, which is a group, trying to gain independence from Indonesia.

Indonesia has branded the Free Papua Movement, a terrorist organisation; because of its use of guerrilla warfare, against Indonesian civilians, police, and military. However the Free Papua Movement has accused the Indonesian government of conducting a campaign of genocide, against the people of Papua.

Overall, an estimated death toll is between 100,000-500,000 victims. And just like many of the entries on this list, there seems no end in sight for the violence.

Antarctica: Aquatic Mammal War (Orcas vs Leopard Seals)

The origins of this conflict has been lost to the mists of time. This is because either nobody knows how or when it started, or all human evidence has been removed or destroyed by special agents.

The Antarctica Aquatic Mammal War, or as I call it, AAMW; has been waged between two of the top predators in Antarctica; orcas and leopard seals. To my understanding, the Cold War between the USA and the USSR, was modelled and named after this conflict.

From what humans can understand, orcas and leopard seals have been known to engage in some minor fighting, but it’s really a war of attrition. Hunting in each other’s territories, tagging logos on ice sheets, and recruiting proxy allies, like dolphins and seals; have made this conflict very dangerous.

Each side is not above insulting each other. The orcas call the leopard seals, “otters,” while the leopard seals, insult the orcas, by calling them “sharks.” All it takes, is one drunk orca, or a cocky young leopard seal, to start insulting the other group at a sit down, and all hell breaks loose.

The orca’s current leader is called Dolores P. Switchblade, and the leopard seals are led by ‘Arry “the Janitor” McClane, because he always takes out the trash. Not even the world’s greatest natural science communicator, Sir David Attenborough, knows how to solve this problem.

Well that’s it. Hopefully there’s something in this rambles of a blog, that you might have discovered. Thanks again for reading, it’s appreciated as much as quarks appreciate the strong nuclear force.²

¹Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia; except that time it had always been at war with Eastasia.

²That means a lot.

Geographical Misconceptions

On December 20, 2021December 25, 2021 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Geography

I want to talk about misconceptions in geography. Why? Well, because sometimes I laugh and smile at them, while other times, I let myself down and I get angrier than Bruce Banner in a traffic jam.

Let’s clear something up first; what do I mean by misconceptions? What I’m talking about is a piece of information that people believe to be true, but in actual fact, it isn’t.

An example of this is the famous misconception from Star Wars. In Empire, when Darth Vader is monologuing to Luke, about how great the Dark Side of the Force actually is, he utters the immortal words, “No, I am your father.” The misconception is that people believe the line is, “Luke, I am your father.”

Because of this, people are walking about quoting and repeating misconceptions, that are simply just not true. Every subject or topic has misconceptions within it, but for some strange reason, geographical misconceptions really get under my skin, like the Ceti eel. Chekov and Khan know all about it.¹

So without anymore fanfare, here are some geographical misconceptions that, to my eternal shame, upset me.

1.) Africa is a country

This is the one that drives me totally crazy. Really, really crazy, because it’s so wrong. Whether its racism or ignorance, this misconception sends my all ready high blood pressure, into the atmosphere.

Against what some Hollywood studios and tv shows try to tell you, Africa is not a country, but one of seven officially recognised continents on Earth. Africa is home to 54 countries and 4 dependencies, with rich and diverse cultures. It’s not a country, but a continent.

2.) The Earth is Flat

I have discussed this before, but the Earth is not flat. No matter how many hours you have researched this topic on YouTube, it is still not flat. Although the Earth appears to be perfectly round, it actually bulges slightly at the equator. Also just to reinforce this, the Earth is not flat.

3.) Lapland is a country

If you have ever heard of Lapland, and wondered why they don’t clean up at the Winter Olympics, there’s a reason: It’s not a country. Lapland is the northern region of Finland, but also incorporates parts of Norway, Sweden and Russia. Even though Lapland sounds like a country, it’s really not.

4.) Capital cities are confused

I feel this one is extremely common, in way or another. Some cities round the world, are sometimes referred to, or confused with the real capital city of a country. Some examples of these are:

Auckland, New Zealand: Reality-Wellington.

Sydney, Australia: Reality-Canberra.

Marrakesh, Morocco: Reality-Rabat.

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Reality-Dodoma.

Lagos, Nigeria: Reality-Abuja.

Istanbul, Turkey: Reality-Ankara.

Geneva, Switzerland: Reality-Bern.

The Hague, The Netherlands: Reality-Amsterdam.

Toronto, Canada: Reality-Ottawa.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Reality-Brasilia.

5.) Countries that people still think actually exist

This is a crazy one. I saw on a game show, only a few years ago, that if they won, a contestant said they wanted to visit Yugoslavia. My jaw hit the floor, faster than Garfield eats lasagna, because Yugoslavia doesn’t exist anymore.

During the 20th century, many countries went through civil wars, political unrest, revolutions, and invasions. Whether it’s a just a name change, or the country has broken up, there are some people they still believe the countries on the below list, still exist in the 21st century. Though to be fair, two names on the list were Empires.

Austro-Hungarian Empire: Dissolved in 1918, into Austria and Hungary again.

Prussia: Dissolved in 1918.

Ottoman Empire: Dissolved in 1922, later became Turkey.

Tibet: Annexed in 1950, by China.

United Arab Republic: Dissolved in 1961, and changed name to Egypt in 1971.

East Pakistan: Changed name to Bangladesh in 1971.

Ceylon: Changed name to Sri Lanka in 1972.

South Vietnam: Unified with Vietnam in 1976.

Rhodesia: Changed name to Zimbabwe in 1979-1980.

Burma: Changed name to Myanmar in 1989.

North Yemen and South Yemen: Unified in 1990.

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics/Soviet Union: Dissolved in 1991, later became Russia; along with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

Yugoslavia: Broke up in 1992, later became Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia; but also including the regions of Kosovo and Vojvodina.

Czechoslovakia: Dissolved in 1993, became the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

6.) Polar bears live in Antarctica/Penguins live in the Arctic

This is just funny, because I see this mentioned a lot. Polar bears only live in the Arctic Circle, whereas penguins only live in the Southern Hemisphere; which includes Antarctica. You will not find polar bears in Antarctica, nor penguins in the Arctic.

7.) Tigers live in Africa

I understand why this misconception exists; lions and cheetahs live in different countries in Africa, so why not tigers?

Although some members of the big cat family, originally started in Africa, tigers do not live there. Tigers can actually be found in countries like India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Russia, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam; but not any African country.

Anyway, I’ll shut up now. Hopefully this rant was enlightening somehow to you, so thanks again for reading, and I’ll see you soon.

¹One of the best sequels ever made, and it’s in my top three best Star Trek films of all time; Wrath of Khan is gorgeous.

How do we help Afghanistan?

On August 23, 2021August 30, 2021 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Geography, Politics

I want to talk about Afghanistan. Why? Because currently, I have great fears for that country.

You’ve properly seen some of the footage or photographs coming out of Afghanistan, but especially the capital city, Kabul. Thousands of people fleeing their country, in fear of the Taliban and the prosecutions and injustices that travel with them.

Following the fall of Kabul, people have been flooding airports and roads, trying to get out as fast as possible. Some people were so desperate, that they were holding onto the landing gear of an US military aircraft, as it took off; which has resulted in fatalities. One of these people was Zaki Anwari, a nineteen year old football player, who played for Afghanistan’s national youth team.

The scenes are heartbreaking and it will probably get worse over the coming days, weeks and months. It’s fast becoming a huge humanitarian crisis, that needs the world’s attention.

Afghanistan is a proud nation with a rich and diverse history. The problem is that the progress and change the country has made over the last 20 years, could be on the verge over being wiped away, from the former rulers of Afghanistan, the fundamentalism and militant group known as the Taliban.

Now, I don’t know about you, but watching these terrible scenes has reminded me of different crises like Syria, South Sudan, Iraq, Myanmar, Kosovo, Crimea, the Yugoslav wars; and the list could go on. Again, I don’t know about you, but I felt powerless and helpless, when witnessing those scenes.

These feelings have come back to me again, while watching the chaotic exodus that has been unfolding in Afghanistan. You may have the same feelings after watching the footage or reading about it. This may have led you to the conclusion that there is nothing you can do to help.

In reality, you can actually help and make a difference. Seriously you can. I can think of three different ways, you can actually help the people of Afghanistan.

The first way is to educate people. Whether it’s your parents, siblings, children, friends, work colleagues, team mates, spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend or that obnoxious person at your bus stop. You know the one.

When someone starts complaining about allowing Afghan refugees into your country, or why your country should help these foreigners in the first place; you need to explain the reality of the situation to them.

It’s up to you whether you do it politely or get angry at them; as long as you say something to defend them. Islamophobia, ignorance and xenophobia are not helpful and never will be.

The second way is to donate, it’s really that simple. Right now, NGOs (Non Government Organisations) and various charities and agencies across the world, are already on the ground in Afghanistan, trying to support and help people.

You can help them by donating. Whatever the amount of money you can spare, it will make a huge difference to the people of Afghanistan. Your donation can provide medical supplies, food, clothing, shelter; but also help with immigration and refugee protection.

Some NGOs and charities that are working with Afghanistan currently are:

Afghanaid

Amnesty International

Doctors Without Borders

International Committee of the Red Cross

International Rescue Committee

Oxfam International

Save the Children

UNICEF

UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)

World Vision

There are also many more worthwhile charities out there, so please research them and select one that fits with you, so you can donate.

The third way is quite possibly the most difficult and humorous at the same time: you can start campaigning. By this I mean, to start advocating for Afghan refugees and aid, by contacting your local member of parliament or representative. You can do this by sending emails or letters; calling them; or arranging an appointment to talk to them. Ask them what are they doing to help with the refugee crisis, but also ask them about what foreign aid is being sent.

If that doesn’t work, start contacting your government; beginning with the Immigration Minister (or closest equivalent), then moving up to your national leader.

I believe Afghanistan is standing on the abyss and it totally depends if the international community can bring it back or not. I’m not smart enough to know what could happen to Afghanistan, but I do know that if you can help in any way, you’re be able to make a positive difference.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next week!

Ukraine and Russia: What’s old is new again

On May 17, 2021June 29, 2021 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Geography, History

I want to talk about Ukraine and Russia. Why? Because both countries have been making the news for the wrong reasons. Tensions still exist between these neighbouring countries, so I thought it would be a nice time to relax and try unravel the inter-connected histories of Ukraine and Russia. It’s time for a geo-political lesson!

Ukraine is located in Eastern Europe and it shares borders with Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova and of course, Russia. Ukraine also borders the Black Sea to the south, though we will come back to that later. It also has the Dniper River running through the country from north to south.

Image by Kratochvil from PublicDomianPictures

Ukraine has a population of 43.5 million people¹; Ukrainian is the official language; the capital city is Kyiv ²; and this is quite important, the major ethnic group is Ukrainians at 77.8% and the minor ethnic group is Russians at 17.3% These last two figures are from the 2001 Ukrainian census, however there was a 2020 census planned, but it was postponed to 2023, because of…you guessed it, COVID-19. It’s also a gateway between Europe and Asia.

Now with Russia, it’s the largest country in the world. It actually spans across Europe and Asia! It’s so large, it has 11 time zones. Seriously, 11. And I thought adjusting to Daylight Savings was difficult! Anyway, Russia shares borders with sixteen other countries, but also with the Black Sea and Caspian Sea among other bodies of water.

Russia has a population of 146.7 million people, including the Crimea in 2020; funnily enough, Russian is the official language; the capital city is Moscow or Moskva if you prefer; and to contrast with Ukraine, the major ethnic group is Russians with 80.9%, with Ukrainians making up 1.4% of the population.

So, we now know the layout of the two countries…but what is the issue between them? That’s a good question, but a difficult one to answer. I’ll do my best, but I’m sorry if I leave anything important out or get anything wrong. Alright, let’s do it.

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

Ukraine has a long, beautiful and proud history, so I don’t want to skip this; but in context of this blog and for time’s sake, I have to. We need to jump into our TARDIS and travel back to the Crimea War of 1853-1856.

This was a pointless war involving Russia against a British/French/Ottoman coalition. Among other things the war was fought over, one was access to the Black Sea and surprise, surprise, the conflict was fought on the Crimean Peninsula. This brought the geo-political importance of Crimea to the world’s attention.

We can now move onto 1917, at the start of the Ukrainian War of Independence from the Russian Empire. This was kicked off from the start of the Russian Civil War, which was preceded by the Russian Revolution.

The Ukrainian People’s Republic struggled from 1917-1921 against the might of Russia, which was going through political and social unrest. The consequence of this, was that Ukraine failed to gain independence and was absorbed into the new formed Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or USSR.

Under control of the Soviet Union and through Joseph Stalin’s agricultural policies, 3.5 million Ukrainians died of starvation during 1932-1933, known as the Great Famine or as the Holodomor. Later on through World War II, involving the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941; and also the Holocaust, over 5 million Ukrainians were killed. I also need to state that the Soviet Union lost over 20 million people in World War II.

Stalin also did two things that are key to the problems of today. First he authorised the deportation of the Ethnic Tatar people out of Crimea and into Central Asia. The other key point is that Stalin replaced these people with ethnic Russians, back into the Crimean Peninsula.

The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic; as Ukraine was known as, recovered over the years to become a leader in grain, industry and production. On 24th April 1986, a reactor exploded at a nuclear power plant, near the city of Chernobyl. The accident was the worst nuclear disaster in human history and the result I’m mentioning this, is because the accident occurred in Northern Ukraine. Yes, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster actually happened in Ukraine.

Fast forward to 1990, where the Ukrainian government voted to break away from the USSR, with over 90% of the vote, from an independence referendum; which the USSR then dissolved in 1991. The USSR was then reorganised back into the Russia Federation, or the country simply known as Russia.

Now, I don’t mean to skip over some events here, but I need to focus and keep going, other wise I will never finish!

In 2004, Ukraine went through the Orange Revolution, which produced large civil unrest and claims of Russian inference. This brings us to late 2013 to early 2014, and a low point in Ukrainian-Russian relations. To set the stage for this, two things need to be understood.

The first thing is the demographic of the Ukrainian population. Western and Central Ukraine is mainly populated by ethnic Ukrainians, so this is where the Ukrainian language is mainly spoken. As you move east and south from the centre, you start to see more Russian culture in these regions, along with the Russian language. This is highlighted within…surprise, surprise, the Crimean Peninsula.

The second point is our old friend, politics. You see, there are was a growing movement in Ukraine to create stronger ties with the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO); basically Pro-EU supporters. However, to keep things balanced, there was a counter movement to strengthen ties to Russia and it’s influence; basically Pro-Russian supporters.

Ok, this is where it goes off the rails. In November 2013, the Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych; who was a Pro-Russian supporter, backed away from an agreement that would bring Ukraine closer to the EU and strengthen their ties, with financial and political support. Now hold on to your seat, but Yanukovych wanted to go with financial and political support from Russia instead. To say this reversal of policy, did not go down well, was like when Eddie Brock was fired from the Daily Bugle; and named Peter Parker as the reason.

There were large protests against Yanukovych, by the Pro-European movement. This of course led to the Pro-Russian movement taking to the streets in support of Yanukovych. Having massive demonstrations to remove Yanukovych and support him at the same time, created civil unrest, which brought about violence and death. This became known as the Euromaiden Revolution and not a death metal band from Austria.

On 21st February 2014, Yanukovych fled the country, with the Ukrainian parliament voting to remove him from office, on the 22nd. So tensions are very high in Ukraine at this point. They were about to get a lot worse.

When Yanukovych had fled, the Russian President Vladimir Putin, began discussing invading South East Ukraine, especially the region of Crimea. This was because of three reasons: to protect the large number of ethnic Russians living there³; to protect the Russian Naval Fleet docked at the Crimean city of Sevastopol’s Naval Base; and to resist the new Ukrainian government, because to the Russians, the Ukrainians had ousted the legal head of state in Yanukovych, so the new government was “illegal”.

The Russian military entered the Crimean Peninsula and took over Ukrainian bases, while also seizing control of the region. Unmarked Russian troops started creating checkpoints across the region, as well as supporting Pro-Russian militia within Crimea. Because of this, the autonomous Crimean government, issued the 2014 Crimean status referendum; which basically asked if the Crimean people would like to join Russia.⁴

The result was that over 95% of the vote, agreed to joining Russia, which led to Russia annexing the Crimean Peninsula.

Annexing. In the 21st century, the annexation of another sovereign nation is still happening. How is that possible?!

Image by Channel 4 News

Anyway, because of this insanity, armed conflict had began between Ukrainian and Russian forces, with militia groups being involved. The fighting has mainly been in Crimea and Donbas (Eastern Ukraine) regions. The conflict soon grabbed international attention went Pro-Russian troops shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on 17th July 2014, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew members.

Ukraine blamed Russia for shooting down the plane, while Russia blamed Ukraine for allowing civilian flights into the area. 143 victims were from the Netherlands and in 2020, the Dutch government took Russia to the European Court of Human Rights, because of this incident.

What has been dubbed the Russo-Ukrainian War, is still active today. Over 13,000 people have been killed and over 29,000 people have been wounded. In late 2014, fighting increased and in 2018, there was the Kerch Strait incident involving the Russian and Ukrainian navies.

In March-April 2021, Russia began a massive build up of troops, weapons and vehicles; along the Ukrainian border. The Russian government said the build up was just a training exercise, with thousands of troops been sent home. However, many thousands of Russian troops are still stationed along the border.

There has been international criticism of Russia’s involvement in Ukraine, with NATO condemning the invasion and various economic sanctions have been placed on Russia; whom have been imposing their own counter sanctions.

After seven years of fighting, there appears to be no end in sight. To me, it just seems a like lose-lose situation for everybody involved; especially for the dispossessed and homeless. I have no idea what it would take to end the conflict, I am not smart enough to see it.

However, I honestly hope there can be a peaceful and quick resolution to this insanity, otherwise other countries could be dragged into the war to stop it; which may or may not make it worse.

What I do know is that we, as a collective society, can not allow the annexation of another sovereign nation to continue in the 21st century. I feel that part of our global history, must remain in the past, if we have any chance of moving forward and working together as a species. Annexation is wrong and does not work, but diplomacy does.

Anyway, that’s it. I’ll get off my soap box now. In a lighter note, we are currently slowly marching towards the cold, dark maw of winter, so working on this blog will keep me entertained during the long nights. Winter is coming, so hopefully House Stark would approve.

Thank you so much for reading and see you in a fortnight!

¹The official population is closer to 41.5 million people, not including the Russian annexed areas of Crimea and Sevastopol.

²There are two ways to write Kyiv. One is the Russian based “Kiev”, while the other is the Ukrainian based “Kyiv”. I have obviously selected to promote Kyiv.

³Thanks, Stalin.

⁴This referendum was illegal under the Ukrainian and Crimean constitutions.

The ABCs of the DMZ

On February 8, 2021July 1, 2021 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Geography

I want to talk about the Korean Demilitarized Zone or as it’s most commonly known as the DMZ. Why? Because it’s one of the most heaviest protected border regions on the planet and I’ve actually been there.

Ok, let’s back up a bit shall we? So what exactly is the DMZ and why is it so unique? Let us once again enter our own TARDIS and travel backwards in time to the year 1953, to the beautiful Korean Peninsula. Just like Semisonic’s “…every new beginning, comes from some other beginning’s end” our lesson begins at the end of the Korean War. ¹

Originally the boundary between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK aka North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (ROK aka South Korea), ran along the 38th parallel, which cuts the Korean Peninsula in half. After 3 years of fighting (1950-1953), the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed on 27th July 1953. It brought a long term ceasefire between the North and South Korea.

With the Armistice Agreement, both countries moved their forces back 2 km (1.2 miles) from the front line, so the DMZ could be made. Through the centre of the DMZ is the Military Demarcation Line or MDL, that separates North Korea from South Korea.

Image by Rishabh Tatiraju via Wikipedia

The DMZ stretches from one side on the peninsula to the other. It is 250 km (160 miles) long and 4 km (2.5 miles) wide. There are no active soldiers in this area, apart from the Joint Security Area (JSA). There are barbed wire fences and military posts dotted along the area, to keep people out.

Because of this, the area inside the DMZ had become a somewhat of a conservation reserve. Because very few people actual interact within the DMZ, it has created by accident, a type of biodiversity bubble. Over 65 years of nearly unmolested attention from humans, has resulted in over 2900 species of vegetation and over 70 species of mammals can be found within this bio-bubble.

The red-crowned crane and the white-naped crane, are two endangered species of crane, that now live in the DMZ. It is also to be believed that the Asiatic Black Bear, Amur Leopard and Siberian Tiger; which are all endangered species, may all be living in the DMZ as well.

So what else is interesting about the DMZ? The border separating North and South Korea is actually closed to everybody. What this means, is that if you wish to North Korea from South Korea, you must travel through Russia or China to do it; and vice versa.

There is however a meeting place at the JSA called the T1-T3 conference rooms, or also known as the blue houses. These buildings are where negotiations can take place, because there are located on the MDL. Inside these buildings, you can step from one country into the other and back again. ²

Image by Driedprawns via Wikipedia

I was fortunate enough to visit the DMZ in late 2005, so this was over 15 years ago. Some of the routines, systems or protocols may have changed over that time, so I can only talk about my experience when I was there and what I can remember.

I was working as an ESOL teacher at the time, in a city called Jeonju, located south west of Seoul. I had traveled to Seoul before, but on this particular trip, the aim was to visit the DMZ. I had a Lonely Planet guide book, which explained where in Seoul I could catch the tour. ³

Anyway, I found where the tours started from and caught a bus to the JSA, which was at the village of Panmunjom, which is north of Seoul. ⁴Once there, we were taken into a building for a lecture. An American officer working for the United Nations Command proceeded to explain what was going to happen and where we were going to be taken.

Before that point, I had been in a constant state of curiosity during the bus ride, which I think lasted something like 1hour 30 minutes to 2 hours. I had been reading about the history of the area and when I finally arrived, I was very excited. That all changed during the lecture.

The officer basically said, because of where we were, we needed to sign a waiver. This was because if anybody did anything stupid that would result of somebody getting shot, injured or killed by the North Koreans, the UNC would not be liable. When I held the wavier in my hand, things became a lot of more real to me. I mean, how would I explain to my Mum about why some North Koreans decided to try and shoot me? I decided from that moment to dial down the curiosity and dial up the self-preservation.

After signing the waiver, the tour group was led from the room by the officer. Now I can’t 100% remember the order of these events, but I can remember that they happened. We were told about the 1976 Hatchet incident or Axe Murder incident and shown it’s location, along with the Bridge to No Return.

While we were walking around inside one of the buildings, a ROK soldier came walking to towards us, so the American officer told us to stop and listen. As the ROK soldier walked past, we could hear a small metallic noise. After the soldier had left, the officer asked us if anybody had heard anything.

A few people raised their hands, so the officer asked another question: What was making that sound? The group had a few guesses, before the officer revealed that the sound was a ball bearing inside the heel of the soldier’s boot.

This of course led to the reason why, not just that particular ROK soldier had one, but all of the ROK soldiers at the DMZ had ball bearings in their heels. The answer left me gobsmacked! The reason the ROK soldiers had ball bearings in the heels of their boots…was quite simply to annoy the DPRK soldiers with the noise! I found that quite funny and fascinating at the same time.

Even though it’s very obvious, I made the observation of what some of the ROK soldiers were doing. I saw some ROK soldiers that were guarding buildings on their side on the MDL, were staring directly at their North Korean opposites; for hours!

However, what was truly amazing was that some ROK soldiers were standing behind a building, with half their body exposed and the other half unseen; from the North Korean side. When I asked the American officer why were we looking at, he replied that there were two reasons the ROK soldiers were only exposing half their body. The first was that the ROK soldiers could still observe and watch the North Korean sentries, while the second was that the each ROK soldier was only giving the North Koreans half a target to aim at!

I was also shown and told the story about the two flag poles, representing the flags of North Korea and South Korea. So the story goes that, during the 1980’s, the South Koreans constructed a flag pole on their side on the DMZ, at a place called Daeseong-dong. The flag pole was built to a height of 97-98 m (323-325 ft). I need to point out that at the top of the flag pole was the South Korean flag and weighed 130 kg (287 lb).

Now the North Korean government was not to be out done for this. Their response was to build an even larger flag pole, standing at a massive 160 m (525 ft) and flying the North Korean flag, which weighs 270 kg (595 lb) at the village of Kijŏng-dong.

This leads me to talk about the two villages. Daeseong-dong and Kijŏng-dong are known as “peace” villages, because they are the only settlements allowed to be in the DMZ area, under the Armistice Agreement. The funny thing is that they are quite odd.

Take Daeseong-dong on the South Korean side, it is protected and administered by the United Nations Command and residents are expected to live at least 240 days per year in the village. The village had a population of 218 people in 2008. At 11pm, there is a curfew and headcount every night in the village and residents are exempt from military service and paying taxes. Nice deal eh?

Kijŏng-dong on the North Korean side, is something else entirely. Also known as the Propaganda Village, Kijŏng-dong appears to be fake. On one hand, the North Korean government has previously stated that the village is home to over 200 families, where they work on a collective farm.

On the another hand, the South Korean government and western media state something crazy! They claim the buildings in the villages are concrete shells, because they lack glass windows or rooms; a small crew of caretakers sweep the empty footpaths; and some lights are turned on and off at set times, to try and give the impression the village is a hive of activity. Sometimes truth can be stranger than fiction.

To reinforce how crazy the pettiness of the two countries have been, they have used loudspeakers to pump out various propaganda to each other, ⁵ as well as using balloons to drop leaflets on the neighbouring country.

Now one thing I haven’t mentioned are the tunnels. From 1974, several tunnels have been discovered running into the DMZ, from North Korea. The great thing is that as part of the tour, you can descend into one of the tunnels. ⁶

As we walking into the tunnel, the tour guide explained the history of the tunnels. It went something along the lines of the tunnels being discovered by the South Koreans; North Korea would claim that South Korea was responsible for their construction; then North Korea would later claim ownership of them, because it was stated they were coal mines.

It’s an interesting story, especially when you are hearing about it and actually standing in the tunnel. It was at that point when we were shown the craziness of the situation. The tour guide pointed out the blast points, which indicated they were made from the North Korea side.

However, the best thing about it was that the walls were black. As in black paint. The North Koreans painted the walls black, to give the illusion that it’s coal!

Over the years, diplomacy between North and South Korea has increased. This has resulted in many changes within the DMZ; the biggest have been the removal of landmines and guard posts, but also the reintroduction of transportation.

If you ever get the chance to visit the DMZ, please take it. You won’t regret it.

Thanks for reading and see you in a fortnight!

¹I need to point out that technically North Korea and South Korea are still at war, they are just in a frozen conflict.

² Granted there are DPRK and ROK soldiers staring at each other and you, inside the building. It’s a surreal setting.

³My South Korean Lonely Planet book went everywhere with me, it was amazing! (Not a sponsor).

⁴Because the JSA and Panmunjom are so close to each other, the two names can and have been indistinguishable. It’s also mentioned in Billie Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”

⁵Again, just another way to piss off your neighbour and their family.

⁶I think it was either the 2nd, 3rd or 4th tunnel.

SOME GEEK TOLD ME

Category: Geography