Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Hello and welcome to the This is Genius monday show. Described in an internal company email
as "three stories of lightheratedness and weirdness." Which I'm sure you'll agree is
a pretty glowing review! So with that in mind and trying our best to live up to those lofty
expectations. This week, the Monday show features:
The annual my Korea is bigger than your Korea competition.
Russia shuts off gas supply to everywhere else. Sorry, that's next week. It's Earth
day.
And Japanese whalers face a grilling in the Hague.
And of course, your comments.
But first up to a small spit of land off the edge of China, which, much like the appendix
it looks like, could be about to explode at any second.
Yes, the time of year has come for South Korea to invite all it's friends over for a big,
loud party complete with rubbish fireworks, much to the annoyance of grumpy, slightly
unhinged old man North Korea next door. The South's holding it's annual drills with the
US, which involve a lot of shouting and showing off and making a big old mess and they really
need to check those exhausts.
As is the way with annual drills this big old willy swinging competition is held every
year, and sees the South and US running around freeing the hell out of some sand dunes and
the North launching missiles at Japan, threatening all out war, bombing the hell out of some
birds near the border and making all it's men have stupid haircuts.
Of course, no one's trying to wind anyone up: SOT
Which is why all of these drills are held near the border. Just so everyone can see
how not provoking they are. Look at all that not provocation both sides are doing!
And with so many men with guns running around shooting at the sky, someone's inveitably
going to get hurt, with cross border shelling and retaliations common and, in the past,
deadly. This time, North Korea shot all hell out of a bit of South Korea's sea, and the
South, determined to avenge the death of a bit of water and some fish, bravely shelled
the North Korean sea. Over 800 rockets and bombs were launched at the sea, which must
have been pretty peeved with the whole thing since, really, it's done nothing wrong. The
whole stupid waste of time cost millions of dollars and saw thousands of people evacuated
into shelters, though fortunately no one was hurt. This time.
There probably isn't going to be another full on war between the Koreas in the forseeable
future. Because that would be really, really bad and a lot of people would die, and no
one would win, and both sides know that. But that's not much consolation for the poor guys
living near the border. And the sea, won't someone think of the poor sea?
And speaking of explosive little drops in the ocean, it's time for your comments, and
you guys have been sharing your own stories of near death experiences with us in the comments
section of our five people who should be dead but aren't video. Special mentions go to Pika250
who got repeatedly bitten by a diamond back rattlesnake and only just lived to tell the
tale, and cjurna, who shared their story of helicopter crashes, motorbike accidents, burst
appendixes and IED triggering. Probably best you did leave the military! If we managed
to get the two of you together with Frane Selak the rest of the world would probably
be swallowed by a black hole.
And also thanks to the people who pointed out some of the other stories of survival
we didn't include, I think a part two may be in order here.
And now to some of the other stories we liked from the last week and... Oh... Hello? Hmm.
No power for you,
No power for you,
No power for you. Not that you were doing any work anyway decadent westerners.
Whoa, whoa there. This isn't Gazprom getting over excited at all, it's Earth hour. The
one hour a year when we switch off all those power-sapping lights and appliances and bask
in the darkness to reflect on the energy we waste and the damage we're doing to mother
nature. So, er... Yeah. Thinking. Thinking. Twiddling my thumbs. Getting mighty bored
now, ah thank god for that, think I'm going to go and buy an oil fired kettle. Earth hour
is a lovely idea, even if it does mostly remind us how brilliant energy is and how much we
need it.
And finally, Japan's "scientific" whaling has come under the spotlight, with Australia
taking the country to the Hague over it's continuation of the practice. Whaling was
banned in the 1980s, but Japan uses a 1946 law as a loophole, which allows unlimited
whaling for scientific research.
Look, it must be for science, their boat has 'research' written on it. And look at all
that research they're doing into which bits taste the best. Mmm, delicious science. And
it would be a shame if all that research went to waste, so most of these science whales
are recycled once they are done being analysed, into food for Japanese consumers. See, not
only is it improving our knowledge, but nothing's been wasted either!
Japan insists that it's whaling is geniunely for research into stocks, and that it catches
and kills 850 whales each year, providing data that would allow the country to whale
without risking a repeat of past over-whaling and stock depletion. So they're whaling to
prove that whaling wouldn't damage whale stocks, see?
Activists on the other hand claim that the data is meaningless, and that the whalers
are merely whaling to whale, not to research into whaling and what effect whaling would
have on whales. Either way, both sides say they will abide
by the international courts' ruling.
That's it for this week, check back for science through the week and a top five on Friday.