Nighline On Lawrence King Murder

Rocky Road

Reagan--No Loopholes For Millionaires

Dom Mazzetti vs. Bad Hook Ups

Global Bear Market - It's Official!

While the S&P 500 would still need to drop another 4% to 1,090.89 in order to officially enter bear market territory, global equities led by weakness in Europe and Asia now find themselves in an official bear market. The Bloomberg World Index, which is a capitalization weighted index of all equities tracked by Bloomberg, is down nearly 4% today, and it is down 21% from its closing high on May 2nd. The threshold we're using here for a bear market is a 20% decline that was preceded by at least a 20% rally.

Global Bear Market

Back From Arctic

There wasn't internet access on the about, I wasn't able to post while traveling. Once I organize my pics, I'll post some. The two main animal sightings on the trip was a polar bear and musk-ox. Neither pics above weren't taken with my camera, the animals were at a great distance. Opposite the Antarctica, the animals in the Arctic are hunted, scarce and afraid of humans.




Kayaking as always a blast, again not a much animals as the Antarctic, but got us of the boat and closer with nature.

Visit to Ithaca

Ithaca Visit

 

 

Day 10 - Ittoqqortoormiit & Hurry Inlet, Greenland

We anchored off the settlement of Ittoqqortoormiit on yet another sunny day with clear blue skies and the colourful buildings looking really pretty in the sunlight. It is one of the remoter towns in Greenland (especially on the east coast) and it is situated near the entrance of the longest and widest fjord in the World that is known as Kangertittivaq or Scoresby Sund. Ittoqqortoormiit has a population of around 300 with a mixture of Greenlanders and Danes.

Heading ashore the Zodiacs cleared a path through newly formed pancake ice and once ashore there was a special ceremony when Walt West presented a plaque to the museum commemorating his stay in the area at the very end of World War II from 1945 into 1946. During this time he worked on an American weather station and he also presented a booklet describing his experiences during his stay.

For the rest of the morning everyone had the chance to explore and walk around a typical Greenland village and to visit places like the museum, the church, the post office, the tourist centre, the weather centre. There was the chance to taste Muskox meat and to witness the Huskies being fed, with Minke whale! The highlights included the chance to meet local Greenlanders, and to interact with the really cute and playful puppies that provided lots of photo opportunities.

As we headed back to ship there was a distinct chill in the air and hint that winter would soon be on its way, and the day ended with a lovely moonrise over the mountains. This has been our 5th day ashore in Greenland and we have been so incredibly lucky with the weather, with clear blue skies throughout!

Day 9 - Hekla Havn; Vikingebukta

We woke up to a glorious sunrise heralding yet another clear, sunny day. The air was calm and relatively warm (4 degrees Celsius).

The sea kayakers got a chance to go kayaking in waters first navigated by the Thule people – the original kayakers!

We were fortunate enough to witness some incredible events, including the breakup of one truly massive iceberg, which rolled almost all the way over with a cacophony that echoed throughout the primeval landscape.

Later in the afternoon we arrived at Vikingebukta where we embarked on a Zodiac cruise. Here a large glacier could be seen entering the sea. Icebergs of every size formed a thick blanket across the water near the glacier, making a close approach impossible. This was an excellent opportunity to enter areas of brash ice, turn off our engines, and experience all the sounds of this Arctic wilderness.

All around us the brash ice was crackling and popping, while calving events farther away caused sonorous booms to echo across the fjord. For dinner we were treated to a fabulous BBQ dinner served outside in full view of the pristine glacial landscape.