Russia recently planted an underwater flag on the seabed of the North Pole, and claimed that Russia owns the whole thing. Lifelike Pundits has an idea -- if that's how it works, then AMERICA OWNS THE MOON. (When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planted the U.S. flag on the surface of the moon on July 20, 1969, he also made a point of claiming that "We came in peace for all mankind.")
9:16 AM * PERMALINK * 10 comments
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Comments:
Yeah, except for that pesky legal stuff:
Can any State claim a part of outer space as its own?
No. The Outer Space Treaty states that outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means. The Treaty establishes the exploration and use of outer space as the "province of all mankind". The Moon Agreement expands on these provisions by stating that neither the surface nor the subsurface of the Moon (or other celestial bodies in the solar system), nor any part thereof or natural resources in place, shall become property of any State, international intergovernmental or non-governmental organization, national organization or non- governmental entity or of any natural person.
Exactly. The point of this post is not that the U.S. owns the moon, which is absurd, but that Russia does not own the North Pole.
Mike Elgan
Yeah, and monkeys own the earth...
***** Yeah, and monkeys own the earth... *****
Well, primates do...
Mike Elgan
@Mike12:05. I'm not sure why you think the Russians can't claim rights at the North Pole. Did you read the article you linked to? In it, Canada dismisses the Russian claim -- not because it is absurd, but rather because Canada already claims possession of the Pole. It would appear there is a genuine legal dispute as to who can claim which parts of the Arctic; whether it is possible for a valid claim to be made at all doesn't seem to be the issue here.
The situations are very similar.
Treaties get broken (and ignored) all the time. Antarctica is under a similar treaty, yet that doesn't stop countries with the resources from doing what they want down there.
Russia doesn't have a solid claim on the North Pole, but they do have a need for resources.
Frankly I think the whole thing is ridiculous, though if there is any squabbling over the North Pole, it'll be between Canada & Russia. That being said, it isn't too much of a stretch of imagination to think that at some point in the future someone will be dying over the lousy piece of land. I guess it depends on how serious Canada or Russia are about such ownership. Before they ask themselves anything else though, they need to ask whether the North Pole is worth dying for.
I mean it's not like either nation needs the land, your talking about the two largest countries in the world. Which have plenty of potential oil already. Still, again, it's not impossible that factions of the human race would fight over the North Pole. Treaty's be damned. After all, we've certainly fought over less.
Yeah, except for one thing.
Russians put the flag there to signify that they were FIRST to reach the [land] at the North Pole. The flag has no legal standing, and they are not trying to pass it off as a legal entity, contrary to what the US is saying. They're trying to claim the North Pole under UN Law of the Sea treaty, which, if they prove their claim with evidence, fully allows them to do it.
The difference is that Russia really have been to the North Pole - which nobody disputes - but America never went to the moon.
There is no American flag on the moon. Reflectors, yes, but they were sent up in unmanned rockets, just like the Russian reflectors that are there. The difference is that the Russians admit that that is how they got there.
Watch Bart Sibrel's interviews with those phoney astronauts. If they had really been to the moon, they would not have reacted in the way they did.
That the Apollo missions never went to the moon is definitely in the Top 10 Wackiest Conspiracy Theories.
Here are the other nine:
http://www.2spare.com/item_43133.aspx
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