Month: September 2019

Authored by Mac Slavo via SHTFplan.com,

Preparing for an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) has not been on the radar for many of us lately.  As we focus on our financial prepping for the next inevitable economic downturn, it is often easy to forget that a few other threats still loom.

Because of that, I’ve put together this fairly simple guide to help you prepare for an EMP. This event or weapon creates a short burst of electromagnetic energy that can disrupt or even destroy electronic devices and systems. It can also potentially destroy the electrical power grid. An EMP can occur naturally, such as the pulse from a massive solar flare, but EMPs are also created by technological devices, typically nuclear weapons.

No Electricity? No Problem!

The first step is to make sure you can use your food without electricity. You’ll want a handheld can opener, a manual spice/coffee grinder, a solar oven, and a way to get water when the power is out. Getting water without electricity could take some creativity if you are on city water. If you have your own well, it’s a lot easier, however.

Bartering

If the grid goes down completely and you can’t use your debit or credit card, make sure you’ve got some items to barter with on hand.  Precious metals are the obvious things that come to mind first, but you can also likely trade distilled liquor, ammunition that doesn’t fit your firearms, or personal hygiene items.  You might be surprised what a personal will trade you for toilet paper in a pinch!

Lights

You’ll want to be able to see, you stock up on candles and flashlights and some extra batteries. while candles can be considered “EMP-proof”, they are dim, messy, and vulnerable to the wind. You could invest in a few oil lamps though. One suggestion is the lightweight Dietz Original lamp. This lamp works indoors and outdoors, through wind and rain. And at less than $22, it’ll burn for 11 hours. Don’t forget to grab some lamp oil too if this is the way you’d like to light up your space.

Self-Defense

Others may not be as prepared for an EMP (or any grid failure for that matter) so you should understand that it’s possible that you’ll have to defend yourself and your supplies. The obvious answer is to get a gun you’re comfortable using, but for those who are not certain they’d like to use a firearm, there are other options.  The important thing to remember is that humans can become violent very quickly when they get hungry or feel like their survival is in question.

Those are a few simple ways to prepare for an EMP.  In the event that vehicles no longer work and people cannot get food from the grocery store with their credit cards, civilization could quickly erode.  Prepare by understanding what this country would look like when people are unable to use the electricity they have become dependent on and you’ll get an idea of what else you’ll need to survive and thrive if the unthinkable ever happens.

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz will likely find that all four Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants against 2016 Trump campaign aide Carter Page were obtained illegally, according to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH),  top Republican on the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

“I think he will,” said Jordan during an discussion with Fox News‘s Sean Hannity and Gregg Jarrett Monday night. 

In April, Attorney General William Barr assembled a team of DOJ investigators to review controversial counterintelligence decisions made by DOJ and FBI officials made during the 2016 US election.

“I am reviewing the conduct of the investigation and trying to get my arms around all the aspects of the counterintelligence investigation that was conducted during the summer of 2016,” said Barr. 

“That’s great news he’s looking into how this whole thing started back in 2016,” said Rep. Jordan at the time. “That’s something that has been really important to us. It’s what we’ve been calling for.“

The investigation into alleged FISA abuse against the Trump campaign by DOJ and FBI officials has reportedly been completed. After a declassification period, the report could be released sometime in September. The contents of the report have not been confirmed.

Attorney General William Barr, who is overseeing U.S. Attorney John Durham’s investigation into the origins of the Russia investigation, said he is working closely with Horowitz, and they will take up any criminal referrals Horowitz might make.

Former U.S. Attorney Joe diGenova said he has heard the initial FISA warrant against Page and the three renewals at three-month intervals were illegally obtained. He told the Washington Examiner‘s Examining Politics podcast late last month that he got his insider information because the report is “being circulated inside and outside of the department for comment by interested parties.” –Washington Examiner

Jordan also noted that he wants Horowitz to testify about his reports on former FBI Director James Comey, and asked “When is somebody going to jail for wrongdoing that took place in the Trump-Russia investigation or even the Clinton investigation?”

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,

The Old Farmer’s Almanac is forecasting that portions of the United States will see a “snow-verload” during what has been described as a snowy winter.

For instance, it is predicting a “wet and wild” 2019-20 winter in the northeastern U.S.

But overall, it is calling for “shivers, snowflakes … and strong storms” with the “snow-verload” impacting northern states in the Midwest and West.

“In the U.S., this winter will be remembered for strong storms bringing a steady roofbeat of heavy rain and sleet, not to mention piles of snow. The 2020 Old Farmer’s Almanac is calling for frequent snow events—from flurries to no fewer than seven big snowstorms from coast to coast, including two in April for the Intermountain region west of the Rockies,” it wrote on its website.

Mountains are blanketed with snow as traffic makes its way slowly through Cajon Pass on the I-15 near Hwy 138 in Phelan, Calif., on Feb. 21, 2019. (Watchara Phomicinda/The Orange County Register via AP)

Meanwhile, the middle of the country and New England will have “more wet than white” conditions. “Meanwhile, much of the Deep South will be saturated by soakers. As winter rages, the tip of the nice-berg will be Florida, the Gulf Coast, and Texas, which will bask in pleasant weather,” the Almanac said.

Temperatures will also plunge “from the Heartland westward to the Pacific and in the Desert Southwest, Pacific Southwest, and Hawaii,” it added. Above-normal temperatures are forecast elsewhere.

The cold in those areas will last until Valentine’s Day, or Feb. 14, 2020.

Bikers crossing Park Street at the intersection of University Ave during a late afternoon snowstorm in Madison, Wis., on Jan. 18, 2019. (Steve Apps/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)

“This could feel like the never-ending winter, particularly in the Midwest and east to the Ohio Valley and Appalachians, where wintery weather will last well into March and even through the first days of spring,” Almanac editor Janice Stillman said.

After that, temperatures will be quite hot across the eastern two-thirds of the country in spring and summer, the Old Farmer’s Almanac said.

“In Canada, temperatures will average above normal everywhere except southern British Columbia which will bear the brunt of winter’s chill, with colder-than-average temperatures that include occasional face-freezing frigidity in January and February. Of course, normal-or-better winter temperatures still means cold. It’s winter, after all,” it said.

Farmer’s Almanac Predicting Harsh Winter

“Our extended forecast is calling for yet another freezing, frigid, and frosty winter for two-thirds of the country,” Farmers’ Almanac Editor and Philom Peter Geiger said in a press release on Aug. 26.

Last year’s prediction called for a long, snowy winter, and it turned out to be correct for much of the United States.

The 2019-2020 season, according to forecasters, will be another “wild ride” with heavy snow across much of the country, and they described it as a “polar coaster.”

Abandoned cars at I-75 headed northbound near the Chattahoochee River overpass are piled up in the median of the ice-covered interstate after a winter snowstorm, in Atlanta on Jan. 29, 2014. (AP Photo/David Tulis, File)

“The biggest drop—with the most freefalling, frigid temperatures—is forecasted to take hold from the northern Plains into the Great Lakes. The Northeast, including the densely populated corridor running from Washington to Boston, will experience colder-than-normal temperatures for much of the upcoming winter. Only the western third of the country will see near-normal winter temperatures, which means fewer shivers for them,” said the Almanac on its website.

Similar to last winter, the coldest outbreak of the forthcoming winter season could arrive during the last week of January and beginning of February, the Almanac said.

In late January and early February of 2019, a so-called “polar vortex” hammered much of the United States and brought with it Arctic temperatures. Some areas around the Midwest and Great Lakes had wind chills of minus 40 to 65 degrees below zero.

The NRA has sued both the city and county of San Francisco after its Board of Supervisors branded the gun-rights lobby a “domestic terrorist organization.” 

Filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, the suit accuses city officals of violating the group’s free speech rights for political purposes, and claims the city is attempting to create a blacklist to prevent NRA-associated individuals from doing business there, according to Fox News. 

The lawsuit asks the court “to instruct elected officials that freedom of speech means you cannot silence or punish those with whom you disagree.”

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution last week that said the U.S. is “plagued by an epidemic of gun violence,” and accused the NRA of using “its considerable wealth and organization strength to promote gun ownership and incite gun owners to acts of violence.” The resolution called on other cities, states and the federal government to follow suit and also declare the NRA a “domestic terrorist organization.”

San Francisco Supervisor Catherine Stefani told the Associated Press she drafted the resolution after a July 28 high profile shooting in Gilroy, Calif., where a gunman entered a festival with an AK-style rifle and killed three people and injured at least 17 more before turning the gun on himself. Gilroy is located about 80 miles southeast of San Francisco. –Fox News

The NRA last week called the resolution a “ludicrous stunt” and an “effort to distract from the real problems facing San Francisco, such as rampant homelessness, drug abuse and skyrocketing petty crime, to name a few.” 

The gun-rights organization vowed to “continue working to protect the constitutional rights of all freedom-loving Americans.”

Authored by Jeff Desjardins via VisualCapitalist.com,

Centuries ago, most of our ancestors were living under a different political paradigm.

Although democracy was starting to show signs of growth in some parts of the world, it was more of an idea, rather than an established or accepted system of government.

Even at the start of the 19th century, for example, it’s estimated that the vast majority of the global population — roughly 84% of all people — still lived under in autocratic regimes or colonies that lacked the authority to self-govern their own affairs.

The Evolution of Rule

Today’s set of charts look at global governance, and how it’s evolved over the last two centuries of human history.

Leveraging data from the widely-used Polity IV data set on political regimes, as well as the work done by economist Max Roser through Our World in Data, we’ve plotted an empirical view of how people are governed.

Specifically, our charts break down the global population by how they are governed (in absolute terms), as well as by the relative share of population living under those same systems of government (percentage terms).

Classifying Systems of Government

The Polity IV data series defines a state’s level of democracy by ranking it on several metrics, such as competitive and open elections, political participation, and checks on authority.

Polity scores are on a -10 to +10 scale, where the lower end (-10 to -6) corresponds with autocracies and the upper end (+6 to +10) corresponds to democracies. Below are five types of government that can be derived from the scale, and that are shown in the visualization.

1. Colony
   A territory under the political control of another country, and/or occupied by settlers from that country.
   Examples:  Gibraltar,  Guam,  French Polynesia

2. Autocracy
   A single person (the autocrat) possesses supreme and absolute power.
   Examples:  China,  Saudi Arabia,  North Korea

3. Closed Anocracy
   An anocracy is loosely defined as a regime that mixes democratic and autocratic features. In a closed anocracy, political competitors are drawn only from an elite and well-connected pool.
   Examples:  Thailand,  Morocco,  Singapore

4. Open Anocracy
   Similar to a closed anocracy, an open anocracy draws political competitors from beyond elite groups.
   Examples:  Russia,  Malaysia,  Bangladesh

5. Democracy
   Citizens exercise power by voting for their leaders in elections.
   Examples:  United States,  Germany,  India

A Long-Term Trend in Question

In the early 19th century, less than 1% of the global population could be found in democracies.

In more recent decades, however, the dominoes have fallen ⁠— and today, it’s estimated that 56% of the world population lives in societies that can be considered democratic, at least according to the Polity IV data series highlighted above.

While there are questions regarding a recent decline in freedom around the world, it’s worth considering that democratic governance is still a relatively new tradition within a much broader historical context.

Will the long-term trend of democracy prevail, or are the more recent indications of populism a sign of reversion?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues his long track record of attempting to out-hawk all political opponents, announcing on Tuesday his intention of annexing parts of the West Bank, including the Jordan Valley, if re-elected. 

“I will not do anything without getting a clear mandate from the public, and so the citizens of Israel, I ask you for a clear mandate to do this,” Netanyahu said while campaigning ahead of the September 17 election. “This is a historic opportunity to apply sovereignty to communities in Judea and Samaria.”

During the unveiling of his provocative plan, which he said would be accomplished in coordination with the US, he pointed to a map of the Jordan Valley, claiming also Israel could bring its sovereignty over the land but without annexing “a single Palestinian”. 

“There is a unique and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do something with broad consensus and bring safe permanent borders to the State of Israel. This will ensure that Judea and Samaria do not become Gaza, and that Kfar Saba, Netanya and Tel Aviv will not become like communities along the border of Gaza,” he said.

Annexing the Jordan Valley is reportedly consistent with the Trump administration’s grand plan for Mideast peace. “There is no change in the United States policy at this time,” the White House said in a statement. “We will release our vision for peace after the Israeli election and work to determine the best path forward to bring long-sought security, opportunity and stability to the region.”

However, it’s likely that the result of such a plan as Israeli annexation of West Bank settlements would end in anything but “peace” and “stability”. 

Netanyahu in his speech noted that he would wait to initiate such an ambitious plan until after Trump’s “Deal of the Century” is revealed. But the Israeli prime minister – who is seeking election to a record fifth term this month – spoke as if the White House was on board with his vision. 

“I request a mandate to apply Jewish sovereignty to all communities, and I intend to do so in coordination with the United States,” he said.

Meanwhile, The Jerusalem Post quoted a Palestinian official who said any Israeli attempt at realizing Netanyahu’s plan would without question be a “declaration of war”. 

Authored by James Kirkpatrick via VDare.com,

While protesters in Hong Kong fly American flags and rip down security cameras, an even more insidious Chinese-style “social credit” system is solidifying in the United States [Hong Kong Protesters Wave U.S. Flags, Urge Trump to Take Action, by Owen Franks, Bloomberg, August 31, 2019]. The Trump Administration is considering an alliance with Big Tech to determine who is allowed to own guns [Power Up: White House ponders new proposal to identify links between mental health and violence, by Jacqueline Alemany, Washington Post, August 22, 2019]. The Main Stream Media wields more power than the state itself, blithely doxing private citizens it wants to destroy because of their political views. Finally, the mysterious purge (and equally mysterious re-establishment) of some Dissident Right YouTube accounts shows that political debate is being managed from the top-down. Every American can have his job, constitutional rights, and reputation destroyed by a power structure that is completely unaccountable–and it’s being imposed on us in the name of “freedom.”

Sadly, President Donald Trump seems oblivious to this attack. He’s failed to defend those who defended him. He instead filled his administration with enemies eager to smear him in tell-all books [John Kelly told Trump his memoir would wait unless attacked, by Caitlin Yilek, Washington Examiner, September 4, 2019].

He’s now taking this self-defeating principle outside his administration. Though Google and other Big Tech companies will do everything they can to prevent his re-election, President Trump is mulling partnering with them to gather data on “risk factors” in order to prevent mass shootings. This reportedly includes using data from “Apple Watches, Fitbits, Amazon Echo, and Google Home” [White House considers new project seeking links between mental health and violent behavior, by Jacqueline Alemany, Washington Post, August 22, 2019].

Only the most naïve can believe that private data or recorded conversations won’t be weaponized against patriots. After all, an email, Facebook comment, or old tweet can already get you fired from your job–even a government job. Leif Olson’s rehiring may not have been a true victory against “cancel culture,” but we shouldn’t lose sight of the casual cruelty that motivated the attack in the first place. Hurting people, rather than informing people, seems to be the only motivation of MSM journofa.

We’ll never know the story behind Jeffrey Epstein or what motivated the mass shooter in Las Vegas (remember that?). But journofa won’t rest until they’ve doxed every Gamestop employee and pizza deliveryman who went to Charlottesville!

Another example: “dozens” of Customs and Border Protection officers may lose employment or suffer lesser penalties after their comments in a private Facebook group were leaked [Customs and Border Protection moving to fire and discipline dozens of agents for Facebook posts, by Anna Giaritelli, Washington Examiner, September 5, 2019]. An unnamed “senior CBP official” proclaims that this isn’t enough because they need to “change the culture” of the service.

But meanwhile, a recent video shows dozens of illegals casually walking around an incomplete border fence—just the latest example of the total collapse of border security [Video shows dozens of families walk illegally around border fence and into the United States, by Simon Veazy, Epoch Times, September 2, 2019].

Wednesday morning a group of 66 people, mostly family units, crossed the border where the fence ends east of Sasabe. Video shows the group approaching the fence and walking to the end. 30% of apprehensions in the #TucsonSector are family units surrendering to #BorderPatrol. pic.twitter.com/C5wI3HKLrt

— CBP Arizona (@CBPArizona) August 29, 2019

There has also been yet another attack against an immigration law enforcement facility, this time with a woman allegedly throwing a lit Molotov cocktail [Molotov cocktail toss in Florida is latest attack against DHS facility: report, by Danielle Wallace, Fox News, August 31, 2019].

It’s hard to imagine a more perfect example of anarcho-tyranny than a government incapable of protecting its own border or facilities but eager to punish those expected to accomplish an impossible mission.

Of course, there’s a rationale why speech must now be policed—to stop “radicalization.” The YouTube purge did not come out of nowhere. The MSM has been relentlessly campaigning against YouTube supposedly “radicalizing” people [YouTube recommendation algorithm audit uncovers paths to radicalization, by Khari Johnson, VentureBeat, August 28, 2019].

But what journofa really mean by “radicalized” is “voting in a way we don’t like.” This explains the strange American focus on Brazil and President Jair Bolsonaro [How YouTube Contributed to Radicalization in Brazil, by Nancy LeTourneau, Washington Monthly, August 14, 2019].

The implicit premise, gradually becoming more explicitly voiced by journofa and tech oligarchs, is that only certain people should be permitted to speak. This is also why so many journalists responded like someone had committed lèse-majesté when President Trump’s allies began scrutinizing their social media accounts. They truly believe they should be beyond criticism and should oversee what we say, write, and hear.

What’s particularly terrible about this situation is how arbitrary and random it is. “Radicalization” is in the eye of the beholder. To an Obama voter in 2004, something like “Drag Queen Story Hour” would be a ridiculous fever dream from the Christian Coalition. Today, opposing it will get you labeled a bigot [Crowds rally for Drag Queen Story Hour: ‘It just shows how far we’ve come,’ by Marcella Corona, Reno Gazette-Journal, July 20, 2019]. If you oppose it too energetically, it might spark a hit piece and that’s your job.

Words and symbols can also be labeled “hateful” retroactively. A month ago, “kritarchy” was an objective term that referred to “rule by judges.” Today, it’s an anti-Semitic slur because journalists simply declared it so.

In Utah, an interracial couple who brought a Betsy Ross flag to a soccer game was threatened with ejection. The stadium management said the flag was a symbol of “hatred, divisiveness and/or intolerance, whether intentional or otherwise” [Controversy erupts over Betsy Ross flag at RSL soccer game, by Lauren Steinbrecher, Fox 13, August 29, 2019]. Yet nobody thought this until Colin Kaepernick declared it so because of its “connection to an era of slavery”–which, of course, could be said about anything related to the Founding.

The System’s arbitrary nature makes it even more dangerous. Already, websites have been stripped of payment processors or access to PayPal (VDARE among them) after attacks by journalists and “nonprofits” like the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League. The loss of a YouTube account can mean the end of a creator’s career. Some individuals have been banned from Airbnb or Uber or have lost their personal PayPal accounts, not because of any violation of terms of service, but because of an unknown ideological test. This is the equivalent of the gas company cutting off any California residents who voted for Proposition 187.

Don’t laugh—it’s coming.

You just don’t know what will be decreed offensive–or for that matter, beyond criticism–a year from now. You don’t know if your YouTube account will be banned or not because the terms of service are meaningless. If you lose your PayPal, your bank account, your web domain, or some other necessity, there’s no appeal and there’s no objective standard.

The cuckservative cop-out “Build your own platform” has turned into “build your own web hosting,” “build your own servers,” and “build your own banking system.”

Will this end with “build your own country”?

The obvious implication: if dangerous individuals must be depersoned and “radicalizing” videos banned, ordinary people cannot be trusted with political power either. They shouldn’t be allowed to vote because they’re too easily manipulated. It would be more honest to simply let the corporate heads of Facebook, Google, and Twitter pick the next president (with the heads of the SPLC and the ADL given power to veto).

Yet that would make what’s happening too obvious. The ritual of voting gives the System the veneer of legitimacy–even though, as Ann Coulter points out, what we vote for bears no resemblance to the policies we actually get.

“Authoritarian” political systems have one key virtue compared the American system: They don’t disguise who has control. We know that Vladimir Putin in Russia and Xi Jinping in China are, if not fully sovereign, at least operating at the nexus of political power.

In contrast, President Trump does not seem to run his own administration, let alone the country. Instead, the power to shape opinion, to make and end careers, and to command who is and isn’t accountable to the law lies in the hands of tech oligarchs, far-left journalists, and wealthy “nonprofits.” It is effective precisely because it eschews the symbols of power for the reality. Its tyranny is even more insidious for that reason.

I’m tired of hearing warnings about Silicon Valley’s upcoming Social Credit system. [Uh-oh: Silicon Valley is building a Chinese-style social credit system, by Mike Elgan, FastCompany, August 26, 2019] I’m already living under it.

It’s almost enough to make one wish for a Politburo. At least the people in Hong Kong know what to tear down.

Now that the controversy over Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s attempt to interfere in an investigation of a Quebec-based engineer firm has finally died down, the PM is expected to kick off federal elections on Wednesday, the Globe and Mail reports, citing sources from within Trudeau’s Liberal Party.

Trudeau will visit Governor-General Julie Payette at Ottawa’s Rideau Hall on Wednesday morning to ask that she dissolve Parliament and launch the official campaign season. Per Canada’s fixed-date election law, federal elections will be held on Oct. 21.

According to the CBC, Trudeau will visit the governor general at 10 am ET.

Trudeau and his rivals have rallies planned for Wednesday to mark the kick-off of campaign season. Trudeau is expected to hold a rally shortly after the campaign launch. Afterwards, Trudeau will board the Liberal Party’s plane to start campaigning around the country.

Conservative leader Andrew Scheer will hold a “rally-style” event in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec on Wednesday morning shortly after Parliament is dissolved. Then he will make his way to the Ontario riding of Vaghan-Woodbridge.

Canada’s New Democratic Party soft-launched its campaign on Sunday with a rally in Toronto. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh will travel to London, Ontario on Wednesday before spending the week criss-crossing Greater Toronto and Southwestern Ontario in his new campaign bus.

Green Party leader Elizabeth May will launch her campaign in British Columbia, her home province (both Green MPs represent districts on Vancouver Island).

Scheer and Singh will be fighting their first campaigns as party leaders.

Trudeau is launching campaign season one day before the first debate in Toronto, where every party leader will participate except for Trudeau, who is still uneasy about the scandal that nearly toppled his administration earlier this year.

The Liberals, who control the government, have 177 MPs in the 338-seat Canadian House of Commons. Conservatives have 95 MPs, while the NDP has 39 MPs. Meanwhile, there are 10 Bloc Québécois MPs, 2 Green MPs, and 1 People’s Party of Canada MP, one Co-operative Commonwealth Federation MP, 8 independents and 5 vacant seats.

Trudeau’s Liberals will be seeking a second four-year mandate. During the campaign, they’re expected to tout the party’s accomplishments on reducing child poverty and creating jobs, while hoping to sidestep criticism over the SNC-Lavalin ethics scandal.

The most recent CBC poll shows Liberals and Conservatives neck-and-neck at 34% each.

Authored by Thomas Lifson via The American Thinker,

Warmists never learn!

The conviction that global warming is melting ice in the polar regions has once again led climate warriors into danger and the need for rescue.  The MS Malmo, a Swedish-registered ship, was just rescued after being trapped in ice, and its passengers airlifted to safety.  Get a load of what it was doing, via Maritime Bulletin (emphasis added):

Arctic tours ship MS MALMO with 16 passengers on board got stuck in ice on Sep 3 off Longyearbyen, Svalbard Archipelago, halfway between Norway and North Pole. The ship is on Arctic tour with Climate Change documentary film team, and tourists, concerned with Climate Change and melting Arctic ice.

 All 16 Climate Change warriors were evacuated by helicopter in challenging conditions, all are safe. 7 crew remains on board, waiting for Coast Guard ship assistance.

MS Malmo in warm waters in 2012 (photo credit: ArildV).

Haven’t we heard of something like this before?  

Oh, yeah – I wrote this five and a half years ago:

Warmist dupes and true believers in the media are having a very hard time with the hilarious spectacle of a ship of literal fools who were so deluded by the warmist cult as to believe it was safe to venture into the Antarctic waters in a vessel that was not an icebreaker. The “scientific expedition” was intended to document the comparative paucity of ice in the area first explored by Douglas Mawson a century ago.

As nearly everyone connected to the media on the planet now knows, the Spirit of Mawson voyage, as the organizers dubbed their chartered Russian ship the MV Akademik Shokalskiy, became stuck in ice and needed rescue. Adding to the comedy, the Chinese icebreaker that rescued them is now itself stuck in the ice that was supposed to be melting.