I am off to Svalbard this morning, taking a 3-hour flight from Helsinki to the archipelago’s capital of Longyearbyen, though Svalbard (previously known as “Spitsbergen)” is part of Norway.
Svalbard (/ˈsvɑːlbɑːr(d)/ SVAHL-bar(d),[4] Urban East Norwegian: [ˈsvɑ̂ːɫbɑr]), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it lies about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range from 74° to 81° north latitude, and from 10° to 35° east longitude. The largest island is Spitsbergen (37,673 km2), followed in size by Nordaustlandet (14,443 km2), Edgeøya (5,073 km2), and Barentsøya (1,288 km2). Bjørnøya or Bear Island (178 km2) is the most southerly island in the territory, situated some 147 km south of Spitsbergen. Other small islands in the group include Hopen to the southeast of Edgeøya, Kongsøya and Svenskøya in the east, and Kvitøya to the northeast. The largest settlement is Longyearbyen, situated in Isfjorden on the west coast of Spitsbergen.
And Longyearbyen is described as “the world’s northernmost settlement with a population greater than 1,000″ (the 2023 population is given as 2,395.
Here are the islands (dark green) and their location (all from Wikipedia). Norway is in light green, and our final destination is Iceland
And the location of Longyearbyen:
Two views of Longyearbyen from Wikipedia, though we have 3.5 hours on our own after our plane lands before we board the ship Ultramarine (max. 200 passengers), so I’ll take plenty of photos (Note: I’m not sure how easy it will be to post photos from the ship, as its internet may not be able to handle them.)
This one is captioned “These are all the buildings of this kind (“spisshusene”) left standing after the avalanche disaster in 2015.” That avalanche killed one person, injured 9, and buried about ten of the brightly-colored houses.
I think I’ll be able to see the whole town in 3 hours.
The town, as you see, is huddled by the sea in a valley: Wikipedia notes that “It stretches along the foot of the left bank of the Longyear Valley and on the shore of Adventfjorden, the short estuary leading into Isfjorden on the west coast of Spitsbergen, the island’s broadest inlet.”
And a section on Svalbard’s nature:
In addition to humans, three primarily terrestrial mammalian species inhabit the archipelago: the Arctic fox, the Svalbard reindeer, and accidentally introduced southern voles, which are found only in Grumant. Attempts to introduce the Arctic hare and the muskox have both failed. There are 15 to 20 types of marine mammals, including: whales, dolphins, seals, walruses, and polar bears.
Polar bears are the iconic symbol of Svalbard, and one of the main tourist attractions. The animals are protected and people moving outside the settlements are required to have appropriate scare devices to ward off attacks. They are also advised to carry a firearm for use as a last resort.
Yep, our bear-watching sojourns will always have a guide carrying a gun, and at this time of year we have to stay at least 300 meters from a sighted bear. Wikipedia reports that there are onl 300 polar bears resident on Svalbard.
Da Nooz:
*Mostly duck nooz today: yesterday morning’s verbatim report from the duck tender. Esther came back!
Update on the brood! Yesterday in the morning two of the ducklings were around, but Esther was gone, they seemed a bit out of sorts, skittish and not very interested in food. In the afternoon Esther had come back and it was a fairly normal feeding.This morning [Monday] it was just Esther in the pond. There were some workers doing landscaping, not cleaning the algae but a handful around doing various things so she wouldn’t come too close.
This is just the morning report, and I will of course add updates as I get them.
*Over at Murtadd to Human (a “recovering from Islam” site), author Anjuli Pandavar, whose articles and book Malgorzata translated into Polish, has a nice remembrance of her (our) friend. Click below to read it. In the photo, I believe Malgorzata is wearing the University of Chicago tee-shirt I brought her.
An excerpt:
Many will remember Małgorzata Koraszewska, the strong-willed Polish translator who worked non-stop. I did not know her as her lifelong friends did, but I did know her as a complex, lovable, strong-willed woman who never really dropped her emotional guard, except when she talked about her cat, Hili, when she told me about her childhood flight into deepest, frozen Siberia and how she eventually made her way out of there, and when, mid-sentence, she would vanish into the depths of their house to retrieve yet another book, find the page and complete the sentence. Despite all her accomplishments, she was not someone given to blowing her own trumpet. Only now and then, I got a hint of those accomplishments, such as when she showed me the little books in which she kept a record of all the many, many translations she had done for so many big-name Western writers, Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker and Daniel Dennett being but a few. She translated my book, Islam: Faith and Humanity, for publication in Polish, when I could find no English publisher, and made my essays on Murtadd to Human available to Polish readers. But whenever I wanted to share some hearty schadenfreude about someone, Małgorzata was always a good person to call. I’d like to remember her for that.
She adds the first part of Andrzej’s memories of Malgorzata, the bit dealing with how they met and called “Diary Found in an Old Head.” It’s a piece that I’ve already posted.
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is angry at what she sees as the widespread antisemitism of Ireland. Andrzej tells me that “Brendan” is Brendan O’Neill.
Hili: The three-leaf clover is a symbol of Ireland – why are those Irish people such scoundrels?
Andrzej: Not all of them. I know some great ones, think of Brendan.
In Polish:
Hili: Trzylistna koniczyna jest symbolem Irlandii – dlaczego ci Irlandczycy są takimi łajdakami.
Ja: Nie wszyscy. Znam wspaniałych, pomyśl o Brendanie.
From Annie. Got a relative you don’t like?
From Now That’s Wild:
From Things With Faces: a crazy ostrich:
Maarten Boudry sent me this tweet. Sadly, the original article is in Dutch, but he summarizes it in English. Maarten and I and one other person were “canceled” at the University of Amsterdam (where we were to talk about the ideological infection of science) because we had previously showed too much sympathy for Israel!
Muslims at @UvA_Amsterdam are being intimidated, shunned & threatened. The university tells them to stay home—for their own safety. This is outrageous & unacceptable!
Wait, did I say ‘Muslims’? I meant Jews. Oh well, it’s fine then, those filthy Zionists deserve it, right? pic.twitter.com/zsmpQGRSzw— Maarten Boudry (@mboudry) July 7, 2025
Th-th-th-that’s all, folks! See you in Svalbard!
Watch out for bears, Jerry!
My wife is off on one of her bucket list trips this fall, with a cruise through the northwest passage – so she too will be on the look out for large white predators.
Jerry: “Bye, polar bear.”
Polar bear: “Well, like everybody, I do have my ups and downs.”
It is extremely difficult to write a piece such as that written for Malgorzata – bravo to Anjuli Pandavar – a beautiful piece, simple, yet the depth of the person that was lost can be glimpsed – indeed, shines through.
One of my daily walking companions enjoyed a week on Svalbard a couple of summers ago with his adult son. My take away was: 24 hours of dayish time, hiking, snow, ice, rocks…though I must say I would welcome that today with our coastal Virginia heat index forecast at 110F. Enjoy!
I suppose the time of year is a bit off for seeing the aurora.
I knew that by means village and en is the definite article, but went looking for how Longyearbyen got its name, and learned that and a few other things like that it was once a coal-mining town.
Important and scary story on Axios, “Democrats told to ‘get shot’ for the anti-Trump resistance”.
What seems related is the recent shooting at an ICE detention facility in Texas.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/10-charged-ambush-texas-ice-detention-center-rcna217449
Let us agree that there is symmetry on the far left and right, and that includes violent kooks on both sides.
Right. Trump’s lawlessness grows and grows.
Huh?
Some wild-eyed Democrats want some of theirs to pick a violent fight with ICE, thwarting the agency’s lawful efforts to enforce the country’s immigration law, and it’s Trump’s lawlessness you’re on about?
That’s a dangerous road you’re asking young men — it’s always young men who get tapped for these follies — to head down there, Fr. Katze.
Sorry if you’re a Trump fan. I’m not.
I should have said “alleged” lawlessness. I’m still waiting for someone to tell me what laws he’s broken since inauguration, what Court injunctions or adverse rulings he has defied, what over-reaching abuses of Executive power he has thumbed his nose at the Constitution over, what printing presses his goons have smashed, what meetings they have broken up, what political opponents he has imprisoned without trial. I’ve made that challenge several times here. No one has enumerated any.
It’s fine not to be a fan of President Trump, his character or his policies. Just under half of the country who had a say in the matter would agree with you, as would most foreigners, (not that they count.) But what’s not fine, especially as an elderly woman who will never be put in the line of fire, is to encourage hot-headed young men among that minority to resort to violence to “take back democracy”, by what? by overthrowing the elected Government? Throwing away their lives to thwart the majority who did vote for him to do pretty much what he is doing, legally.
So you don’t think the border laws should be enforced? No passports, no visas, no entry requirements, no deportations? If so, why??
I am not a Trump fan either but at least he is enforcing the laws!
Svalbard sounds so interesting! I’ve seen that iconic and colorful picture before, as I have visited the Wikipedia page several times.
Hey, I’ve been thinking. Wouldn’t Svalbard be an excellent place to release those newly constituted Dire Wolves?*
And back on the home front, it’s interesting that Esther has returned!
*NOT a Dire Wolf.
PCC(E). While in Svalbard DO… and I’ll never forgive you if you don’t… go to the “Russian” side. It is an incredibly cool leftover USSR outpost due to those islands weird geo-political situation: a glitch in the matrix. Anyway (and I haven’t read all of WEIT today yet so pardon me if somebody else said it above)… the damn Russkis are keeping their colony there “on ice” as it were, but functional, encouraging tourism.
If you are at all interested in geo-political oddities you’ve got one right there.
Forego the polar bear tour if you have to. Why, I’m surprised you can’t enjoy them in Chicago given your weather…. but a cold war museum in real time: do NOT miss it my friend.
D.A.
NYC
Because of sanctions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, no tours of the Barentsburg or Pyramiden coal town settlements are currently running. You may see them from a distance while sailing past them, though. Besides, the towns are even barely running these days. Most of the inhabitants there used to be Ukrainians, and they have pretty much all left by now, leaving little happening there.
“many, many translations she had done for so many big-name Western writers, Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker and Daniel Dennett being but a few.”
Add me to that! Would that I be included in the above list!
She translated an article of mine in March.
I was thrilled!
I read Russian not Polish but I spent an afternoon reading and comparing the sounded out Polish to the Russian as a language exercise/lesson.
Her work is here, I think Andrez did some of it she said. She/they did another one I wrote later also.
http://www.listyznaszegosadu.pl/notatki/gaza-plan-trumpa-i-troche-kontekstu
original in English
https://themoderatevoice.com/so-what-of-gaza-trumps-plan-and-some-context/
We chatted a bit via email. First class person, top notch.
D.A.
NYC
Lovely tribute to her memory, David.
I share Hili’s sentiments. I have been disgusted since learning about the extent of antisemitism in Ireland, to the extent that I wish I had a trip planned, just so I could have the pleasure of cancelling it! But, in any event, I doubt now that I’ll be choosing to visit the country in my lifetime.
As I remember it, ducks can raise two broods over the season. So perhaps Esther decided to come back for another round. Let us hope so!
Hope your trip is as good as it sounds!
Don’t tell Trump about these islands!!!
I hope you see polar bears, but from a safe distance.
Oh I see you’re not there long enough to see the “Soviet museum” there. Never mind, I’ll put up a link to the place here later so we can see this weird little cold war hole in time. The Russkies are trying to mine coal again there now so it is currently sorta topical.
Looking forward to the rest of “our” trip!
D.A.
NYC
There are multiple horror movies based on what the Russians are doing. From Google AI:
1. The Thaw (2009): In this film, a research expedition in the Arctic discovers a prehistoric parasite released from melting ice. The parasite infects people, causing them to act violently.
2. Black Mountain Side (2014): An archaeological team in northern Canada uncovers an unusual, ancient structure. As they dig deeper, they become increasingly isolated and their sanity begins to unravel.
3. The Last Winter (2006): This film features oil drillers and environmentalists in the Arctic who encounter strange events after the Earth releases long-frozen forces as the ice melts.
4. The Thing from Another World (1951): The original adaptation of the novella “Who Goes There?”, it features scientists discovering a crashed alien craft near the North Pole and having to survive the monster inside.
Although in the 19th-20th centuries Norwegian trappers came to dominate among temporary human inhabitants of Svalbard, one other national group also visited. In the 18th and early 19th century, Pomors, natives of the White Sea coast of Russia,
regularly sailed to Svalbard to hunt seals and walruses, and sometimes overwintered there. See: https://www.spitsbergen-svalbard.com/spitsbergen-information/history/pomors.html .
Aunt-killer insecticide? Better than using mushrooms?