Seasteading

Seasteading is the concept of creating permanent dwellings at sea, called seasteads, outside the territory claimed by any government. Most proposed seasteads have been modified cruising vessels. Other proposed structures have included a refitted oil platform, a decommissioned anti-aircraft platform, and custom-built floating islands.

No one has created a state on the high seas that has been recognized as a sovereign state. The Principality of Sealand is a disputed micronation formed on a discarded sea fort near Suffolk, England. The closest things to a seastead that have been built so far are large ocean-going ships sometimes called "floating cities", and smaller floating islands.

The term combines the words sea and homesteading. At least two people independently began using it: Ken Neumeyer in his book Sailing the Farm (1981) and Wayne Gramlich in his article "Seasteading – Homesteading on the High Seas" (1998).

Legal issues

Outside the Exclusive Economic Zone of 200 nautical miles (370 km), which countries can claim according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the high seas are not subject to the laws of any sovereign state other than the flag under which a ship sails. Examples of organizations using this possibility are Women on Waves, enabling abortions for women in countries where abortions are subject to strict laws, and offshore radio stations which were anchored in international waters. Like these organizations, a seastead would take advantage of the absence of laws and regulations outside the sovereignty of nations, and choose from among a variety of alternate legal systems such as those underwritten by "Las Portadas".

Floating City

Floating City (Chinese: 浮城; Jyutping: fau4 seng4) is a 2012 Chinese-Hong Kong drama film directed by Yim Ho.

Plot

The story of a self-made man in a rapidly changing Hong Kong at the end of British Colonial rule.

Reception

Exclaim! writer Robert Bell said "...the subject matter of Floating City doesn't come as a surprise, mirroring the life of a self-made man with the rapid change of Hong Kong from small fishing village to booming metropolis over latter half of the 20th Century. But what does surprise is just how amateurish and sloppy it all is, which is of substantial concern with such an epic and ambitious project."

DVD Talk reviewer Thomas Spurlin said "As a whole, the impression I took away from Floating City is that of an overwrought and disjointed meditation on the value of life and the injustice of misfortune, a melodrama that confuses its soapbox-worthy communication of social issues and generational shifts in China for an enriching tale of cohabiting with them."

PopMatters journalist J.C. Maçek III wrote "First and foremost, Floating City is an incredibly beautiful movie. Director Yim Ho uses his camera lens to drink in the scenery of Hong Kong over a decades-long story that is as beautiful as the scenery itself."

Joe Quirk

Joe Quirk is an American author originally from Westfield, New Jersey. His novel The Ultimate Rush, published in 1998, concerns a rollerblading messenger caught in an illegal insider trading ring.

Quirk's nonfiction book It's Not You, It's Biology: the Science of Love, Sex & Relationships (originally titled Sperm Are from Men, Eggs Are from Women: The Real Reason Men and Women Are Different, as a retort to John Gray's Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus) is a relationships book grounded in science, presenting relationship advice heavily grounded in evolutionary psychology.

Quirk's 2009 novel Exult tells a story of love, death, and hope among a community of hang-gliders.

Quirk has also published a science/history book, Call to the Rescue: The Story of the Marine Mammal Center.

Controversy

In 2011, a lawsuit claiming copyright infringement was filed by author Joe Quirk, claiming the movie Premium Rush was based on Quirk's screenplay from The Ultimate Rush. The suit claimed many plot, character name, and scene similarities to Quirk's original screenplay. In July 2012, federal judge Richard Seeborg declined to dismiss Quirk's claim that Sony Pictures, parent company of Columbia Pictures, had breached an implied contract. The production company Pariah, director David Koepp and co-screenwriter John Kamps are also named in the suit.

World

World is a common name for the whole of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth or pertaining to anywhere on Earth.

In a philosophical context it may refer to:

In a theological context, world usually refers to the material or the profane sphere, as opposed to the celestial, spiritual, transcendent or sacred. The "end of the world" refers to scenarios of the final end of human history, often in religious contexts.

World history is commonly understood as spanning the major geopolitical developments of about five millennia, from the first civilizations to the present.

World population is the sum of all human populations at any time; similarly, world economy is the sum of the economies of all societies (all countries), especially in the context of globalization. Terms like world championship, gross world product, world flags etc. also imply the sum or combination of all current-day sovereign states.

French Polynesia

French Polynesia (ⁱ/ˈfrɛntʃ pɒlᵻˈniːʒə/; French: Polynésie française [pɔlinezi fʁɑ̃sɛz]; Tahitian: Pōrīnetia Farāni) is an overseas collectivity of the French Republic; collectivité d'outre-mer de la République française (COM), sometimes unofficially referred to as an overseas country; pays d'outre-mer (POM). It is composed of 118 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over an expanse of more than 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) in the South Pacific Ocean. Its total land area is 4,167 square kilometres (1,609 sq mi).

French Polynesia is divided into 5 groups of islands: The Society Islands archipelago composed of the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands, the Tuamotu Archipelago, the Gambier Islands, the Marquesas Islands and the Austral Islands. Among its 118 islands and atolls, 67 are inhabited. Tahiti, which is located within the Society Islands, is the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the collectivity, Pape'ete. It has more than 68% of the population of the islands in 2012. Although not an integral part of its territory, Clipperton Island was administered from French Polynesia until 2007.