Have you ever wondered what happens to large commercial ships once they’ve become too old to operate? Unlike the Navy (who likes to sink their ships to make artificial reefs), commercial ships are usually sold for scrap. When this happens, the ships make their way to places like Alang, India.
In Alang, ships meet their doom when they are beached. When the ship is emptied of cargo and important equipment, the vessel is placed on a direct course for the beach while at high tide. Once ashore, the workers at Alang dismantle the ship to recycle all the steel and other valuable materials for scrap.
While the operation is very efficient, the Red Cross and environmentalists around the world complain about the ship breaking practices there in Alang. For starter, there is no full-service hospital within 30 miles from the beach (though the Red Cross operates a medical response facility there). Secondly, while these ships are empty of cargo and supplies, pollutants still find their way into the shores as the ships are taken apart.
Despite the current issues surrounding the town and the practice, it is an impressive operation. Below are three items that demonstrate the process and scale of the operations in Alang. The first is an aerial view of the Alang ship-breaking facility. In this photo, you can see at least 70 vessels that are currently beached.
The second is a video of a ship that is being beached. As you can see from the video, the vessel is empty, with the bulbus bow of the vessel riding high out of the water.
Lastly, here is a close-up aerial shot of one of the ships that has already been partially stripped down.
I “finally” have my desktop up and running again. It has been down for over a month after getting a nasty virus. The virus attacked the registry and made it impossible for me to launch any program directly. After a long time of trying to bypass the problem, I decided to call it quits and strip-down the system. Fortunately I was able to download the photos and files I wanted to save, so it wasn’t a total loss.
For those who create these viruses, I seriously hope that they one day find their computers infected with their own malicious code. Karma and all that, you know.
Happy Fourth of July! May you enjoy the day with family and friends. If you are traveling, I hope you make it to your destination(s) safely and with little traffic. Remember, take a moment to reflect on the sacrifices our Founding Fathers and all those that came after them made in order to create this wonderful nation.
Continuing with the “Make Money Online” series, I want to help you get started with your web empire. As many of you know, I operate a few separate websites geared towards different interests. With web hosting fees continuing to drop all over the internet, it is becoming more affordable for individuals to stake out their claim online and share their opinions or promote their interests for others to see.
I have come across a website that is offering 1 Year Free Website Hosting for anyone interested in starting their own website. This offer expires on September 30, 2010, so you still have time to take advantage of it. If you are interested, make sure you use promotion code VHP25589.
If you want to start a website on kittens or candy, on airplanes or Aristotle, or anything else you can image, you have 12 months of free web hosting service to start up your site and cement your presence online. If you have an existing site, you can also migrate your site over for free. Remember to use the promotion code if you take advantage of this offer.
I thought this was a cute story, especially since it is about the oil spill down in the Gulf of Mexico. Olivia Bouler of Islip, NY has found her own way to help raise funds for relief efforts in the Gulf, primarily with saving birds that have been caught in the oil slick. So far, she has helped to raise $80,000 towards the effort, but the most impressive thing is that she just turned 11-years-old. Read the following article for more information.
Olivia Bouler doesn’t have time for anything else these days except to draw and paint. But that’s OK for the artistic fifth-grader, because everything she does is for the birds.
The Islip, N.Y., girl, who turns 11 on Friday, has raised an estimated $80,000 by sending her sketches and paintings of birds to people who donate to organizations helping with relief efforts in the Gulf of Mexico spill disaster.
“I do some in the mornings and some in the afternoons, and weekends are really the time for me get cracking at them,” Olivia told msnbc.com on Thursday in a telephone interview as she and her parents were headed to the Gulf for a visit.
A friend of mine sent me this today, and I think it is really cool. It’s not my usual type of entertainment, but these young men have great rhythm, timing, and attitude. According to the description, this was filmed back in October 2005 and was performed by the Mu Nu Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi at UNC Wilmington. Enjoy!
I stumbled across an interesting website today that you might like. Reviews Local is a website that provides local business reviews from all around the country on a wide range of businesses and services. If you looking for an attorney in Tampa or a dentist in Arlington Heights, you might find useful information on this site.
One aspect of this site that I like is how the author mixes reviews of the businesses with personal experiences. For example, in the latest post on the site, the author describes his decision to become a United States citizen following the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001. That tragic day was, as the author states, “I decided that it was time I aligned myself with my adopted country and become a citizen.” He then goes on to discuss legal services that are available for immigrants who need assistance with the citizenship process, including translation services.
The only problem with the site is that it is still new. My hope is that, over time, more and more authors will register with the site and provide additional content. As a person that operates two sites and works full-time on top of that, providing constant content can be time consuming and could lead to burn-out. Hopefully, Reviews Local will stand the test of time for years to come.
I’m not sure if you have ever heard of the band called Gwar before, but this is a great video. Gwar is an extreme band that specializes in shock rock, and perform in some outrageous costumes. The fact that this Virginia band ended up on Joan Rivers day-time TV show makes one of two statements: the band became so popular that they “had” to be on her show, or her show was lacking so much in ratings that she needed something to spice it up. Kick back and enjoy!
GO SEE THIS MOVIE! I went in to this movie fearing it would be as bad as “The Dukes of Hazzard,” but I was wonderfully surprised, and I think you will be too. This truly was an epic movie, and I didn’t have any issue adjusting to the new actors playing the well-established characters of B.A., Murdock, Face, and the Colonel. They even brought back the VAN!
Since the original story line from the 1980′s TV show wouldn’t work now (being a group of Vietnam Vets would put them a little on the “old” side), the movie re-establishes the history of the team during a 15-minute introduction sequence. From there, it is a series action scenes, wise cracks, and complicated puzzles to be figured out until the climatic conclusion. I will caution that there is a little foul language in the movie, but much of it is implied or muffled (intentionally) by explosions or other noises. Beyond that, I see no reason why young audiences who can tolerate movie violence could not see this film.
Lastly, I do encourage that you stay through the end of the movie, as there is some bonus features at the end. Enjoy!
I said I would take one week off before starting the third challenge, but I took an additional week off because my knee was still acting up. However, it’s time to get back in the saddle again, so tonight started the first exercise routine. As I noted in my last exercise article, I am reusing the workout routine that I obtained from the Concept 2 rowing website, so this will allow me to compare how well I do during this challenge compared to the last.
