“Pirates”
2009-01-08
Johann Hari: You are being lied to about pirates – The Independent
Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy to Somalia, tells me: “Somebody is dumping nuclear material here. There is also lead, and heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury – you name it.” Much of it can be traced back to European hospitals and factories, who seem to be passing it on to the Italian mafia to “dispose” of cheaply. When I asked Mr Ould-Abdallah what European governments were doing about it, he said with a sigh: “Nothing. There has been no clean-up, no compensation, and no prevention.”
At the same time, other European ships have been looting Somalia’s seas of their greatest resource: seafood. We have destroyed our own fish stocks by overexploitation – and now we have moved on to theirs. More than $300m-worth of tuna, shrimp, and lobster are being stolen every year by illegal trawlers. The local fishermen are now starving. Mohammed Hussein, a fisherman in the town of Marka 100km south of Mogadishu, told Reuters: “If nothing is done, there soon won’t be much fish left in our coastal waters.”
This is the context in which the “pirates” have emerged. Somalian fishermen took speedboats to try to dissuade the dumpers and trawlers, or at least levy a “tax” on them. They call themselves the Volunteer Coastguard of Somalia – and ordinary Somalis agree. The independent Somalian news site WardheerNews found 70 per cent “strongly supported the piracy as a form of national defence”.
Canadian Tragedy
2008-12-19
CTV’s cancellation of Canadian Idol this season means that nearly 650 people across Canada won’t be able to find short-term work with the reality show as they did last year.
Oh noes! Whatever did they do before Canadian Idol came on the scene? Who will think of the children?
Post-professionalism
2008-12-17
Design Altruism Project: POSTprofessional
A number of years ago, long after I’d left the Scouts, I penned a self-righteous screed criticizing the inherent myths of expertism. I must confess, at the time I was not armed with the most credible objections, and at least one of my grad-school mentors had trouble accepting the apparent irrationality of my discontentment. More recently, while reading John Thackara’s wonderful In the Bubble, I came across his reference to Ivan Illich’s 1973 book Tools for Conviviality. Here, in 110 jam-packed pages, Illich advanced all the arguments I was lacking in my own earlier critique of professionalism. According to Illich, industrial growth and efficiency demands that man “submit to the logic of his tools.” Since it is in the nature of man’s “vital equilibrium” to resist such a dynamic, men must be manipulated by education, engineering, and bureaucracy. “People feel joy, as opposed to mere pleasure, to the extent that their activities are creative; while the growth of tools beyond a certain point increases regimentation, dependence, exploitation, and impotence.”
via Metafilter
Very good summary of Illich and the implications of his ideas; he was pretty much right about a lot of things, i think.
The political ratchet effect
2008-12-10
From Stop Me Before I Vote Again:
The electoral ratchet permits movement only in the rightward direction. The Republican role is fairly clear; the Republicans apply the torque that rotates the thing rightward.
The Democrats’ role is a little less obvious. The Democrats are the pawl. They don’t resist the rightward movement — they let it happen — but whenever the rightward force slackens momentarily, for whatever reason, the Democrats click into place and keep the machine from rotating back to the left.
More auto stuff
2008-12-10
Counting
2008-11-21
That’s 50 ‘i’s before bloggers think it’s enough.
A Bridge Loan? U.S. Should Guide G.M. in a Chapter 11
First, let’s recognize that G.M. doesn’t need life support. What it needs is Chapter 11. The bankruptcy process is not a bad thing — indeed, it should be embraced. Bankruptcy allows companies to do tough things they could never do in the normal course of business.
What i like, 2008
2008-10-14
Let’s see.
- Big Bang Theory, pure rubbish sitcom television but i can’t stop watching it. Kaley Cuoco’s performance is very subtle – lots of little looks and silences to make us suspect what she’s thinking of her new nerd friends, to contrast with the ebullience of said nerds – not just an ingenue but an avatar of the Feminine Mystique. Also, the siblings Darlene and David from Roseanne, veteran comedians, are getting it on intermittently, and Jim Parsons is the comedy find of the decade.
- Weeds is just over the top crazy. Great satire of the drug war and Yankee society in general.
- Man On Wire, a breathtaking documentary about the man and the team who tightroped between the World Trade Towers. Courtesy of MUN Cinema, to which i give my highest recommendation for anyone who is as picky about movies as i am.
- My new coat, a cheap Misty Mountain thing, light and warm. Courtesy of Wm. Chafe’s Ltd. i’d had a similar Columbia but it was stolen from a skeet downtown bar that shall remain unnamed (and unpatronized by me).
- Best book i’ve read in recent months is still Ash, a Secret History by Mary Gentle. It’s truly unique. Not merely a science fiction book set in the past, but a speculative fiction work about history rather than science.
- A People’s History of the United States is also a great great book, eye-opening – if half what it says is true, America has been a scam from the beginning.
- Warhammer Online, it’s just better and the developers have yet to show the sheer arrogance of WoW’s Kalgan.
- Working in R&D again and doing master’s courses at last. (Assignments are tough though.)
- Barack Obama, who will save us all. Gotta hope for something…
Barry Goldwater, the Last Smart Republican
2008-10-14
Daily Kos: State of the Nation
” […] Then something happened. Nixon played to it of course but it really came into play in the 1990’s and even more this past decade. Republicans turned their backs on smart people. Just like that, being smart was less important than being ‘real’. Being qualified was about being ordinary.
[…]
He stopped for a moment and took another sip from his mug. “The Republican party is the party of the bowling alley. It’s the party of the poker game. It’s the party of pseudo patriotism and talking points masquerading as a platform. It’s the party of shrillness and fear and I couldn’t in good conscience be a part of that smoke and mirrors any longer.”
New political AI technology
2008-09-29
Can’t get an interview with Sarah Palin? We’ve got you covered.
Q: What is the role of the US in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Iraq that John McCain has done, that has to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we’re on, reform of government and these regulatory agencies back on the anniversary, in this nation, at this time. It is for no more politics as usual, the cronyism that has to exercise all options out there on the side of the U.S. domestic supply of energy, that I can help the ticket, if you ask that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the lobbyists play in an issue that we see the United States of America, where where do they go? It’s Alaska.
