Picto Diary - 20 April 2017 - Tomorrow

Day at sea. Bay of Bengal.

Above: Image from shipboard lecturer's presentation on Zheng He. 20 April 2017

Day at sea. Bay of Bengal sailing South West direction Sri Lanka.

Seven Seas Voyager on board lecturer Andy Jampoler spoke on "The Ocean Cruises of Admiral Zheng He and China's Navy Today."

Between 1414 and 1430 Chinese Admiral Zheng He, sponsored by two Ming emperors, made seven voyages across the Indian Ocean... to the Malabar Coast of India, to the Persian Gulf, and to the east coast of Africa.

Zheng He's flotilla was the largest such fleet that ever sailed... until World War II. Zheng He's fleet numbered 160 ships and carried upwards of 30 thousand men. The Chinese wooden sailing ships were four times the size of European ships at that time.

In 1430, the Ming emperors shut down Zheng He's outward reach and turned inward, never to reach out to the world again, until recently when China has once again, in the image of Zheng He, has begun building a fleet of ships and started to reach outward... much to the consternation of her smaller neighbors.

Above: Selected slides from onboard ship lecturer Clive Leatherdale's presentation,, "Weird North Korea."

Day at sea. Bay of Bengal.

Seven Seas Voyager on board ship lecturer, Clive Leatherdale, spoke today on "Weird North Korea."

Image shows Kim Il Sung, protégé of the Russians, who, post WWII, were charged with governing the northern part of the Korean peninsula. They came across Kim, who fought against the Japanese while exiled in China. Kim turned into a megalomaniac who built a system of governance around his self proclaimed godlike persona. He built a communist state... but, not in the image of Russia or China. Rather, Kim's credo was self reliance for individual and state. Kim's personality cult was carried on by his son, Kim Jong Il, and grandson, Kim Jong Un. Where once China and Russia were allies of North Korea, today North Korea stands alone... just as per Kim's credo... they are self reliant with no allies in the world.

2nd image shows power evolution of Korean peninsula since 1950. In early 1950, Kim Il Sung's North Korean forces conquered almost the entire Korean peninsula. South Korean and US forces retaliated driving the North Koreans to the Yalu River on the Chinese border. The Chinese could not have a "US puppet" country on their border, so they amassed troops and counterattacked the US/South Korean forces, driving them back to the status quo ante line, the 38th parallel. General Douglas McArthur felt strongly that the US/Korean forces should fight the Chinese and hold North Korean land south of the Yalu River..... and the rest is history. MacArthur's view did not prevail and for his public insolence, MacArthur was fired by President Truman.

Leatherdale, an Englishman, recounted anecdotes from his own trip into North Korea during the '90's. He was able to obtain a visa from the Korean embassy in Beijing solely on the strength of being able to show deep knowledge about the North Korean World Cup football (soccer) team, playing in the 1966 World Cup in Britain, having reached the quarterfinals on the strength of a surprising victory over world football power, Italy.

Bob Seger

TOMORROW

They say the sun
Is gonna grow someday
It's gonna get a real close
And burn us all up
No more traffic in the street
No more road rage
No more pretending
Things are real tough

I can't promise you tomorrow
No one has the right to lie
You can beg and steal and borrow
It won't save you from the sky

Let me see a show of hands
Tell me the truth now
What happens if
Nuetrinos have mass
I can't tell you about tomorrow
I'm as lost as yesterday
In between your joy and sorrow
I suggest you have your say
Here's to the little things
The sports section
The weather channel
A good battery