Random News Stories

[Junkenstein]

I'd never even considered that aspect.

Thinking for a moment now, it's surprising how far the idea/alleged practice goes back and throughout various cultures.

A really high class monkey idea. Gods it amazes me that the insects aren't in charge by now.

[Cain]

I dunno.  Humans have not yet done anything quite as horrifying, on the individual level, as the Tarantula hawk does as part of it's life-cycle.

Also, here's a nice link about why Los Zetas have expanded so rapidly.  Note for all aspiring criminals out there - control the territory, and everything will follow.

So how do we explain the Zetas' expansion? To begin with, the Zetas have never looked at themselves as a drug trafficking operation. They have always been a military group whose primary goal is to control territory. In essence, the Zetas understood something the other groups did not: they did not need to run criminal activities in order to be profitable; they simply needed to control the territory in which these criminal activities were taking place.

This outlook changed what they saw as propitious territory. The Zetas, for example, sought new markets, areas that had traditionally a role in drug trafficking or major criminal activity. Out of the total of municipalities in which Zetas have operated since their onset, the Harvard study showed that 381 were previously a territory of another criminal organization. The closest cartel to Zetas is Gulf, a cartel that operated in 325 municipalities held by others, followed by La Familia with 260.

They did this with the aforementioned combination of brute strength and training but most importantly, a singularly focused model. Their soldiers had one job: take over the territory and extract rent from the other criminal actors. They did not have to establish the infrastructure. They simply had to stick to their goal, then extort petty drug dealers, human traffickers, human smugglers, thieves and contraband traders.

To be sure, they are making money from international drug trafficking, which also plays into their strategy. But this too is modified to the Zetas' overall strategy of controlling territory. Guatemala, for example, is the perfect choke point for cocaine shipments moving north, an area the group can control militarily and thus gain control of these shipments moving north.

[Junkenstein]

The same essentially applies on a larger level when considering state actors I'd guess. Borders are set on the state's ability to man and control them. Viewing any government as essentially a criminal enterprise would probably be a fairly accurate comparison in more cases than not.

[Junkenstein]

Also, question: How accurate are gang control maps like the ones in the Zeta article? I'd guess them to be fairly hazy by their nature but when comparing to stories like this:

At least 13 people are dead after a battle broke out between prisoners at a jail in the central Mexican state of San Luis Potosi.

A group of inmates used homemade knives and picks to attack rivals at the La Pila prison, the state attorney general's office was quoted as saying.

Authorities took several hours to bring the fighting under control.

Deadly outbreaks of violence are common in Mexico's overcrowded jails, which house inmates from rival drug gangs.

Dozens of people were injured - some seriously - in the fighting that broke out at La Pila, situated in the state capital, early on Saturday morning, officials said.

The authorities in the northern state of San Luis Potosi have begun to name the dead and warned concerned families waiting for news that the number of fatalities may rise.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-22327439

Is there any kind of realisitic guess you can make on groups of perpetrators in an area? (Above is probably a bad example being a jail). Also, depending on the accuracy of those maps, can you assess likely perpetrators on larger data?

[Pergamos]

People... People who eat people....

Newly discovered human bones prove the first permanent British settlers in North America turned to cannibalism over the cruel winter of 1609-10, US researchers have said.

Scientists found unusual cuts consistent with butchering for meat on human bones dumped in a rubbish pit.

The four-century-old skull and tibia of a teenage girl in James Fort, Virginia, were excavated from the dump last year.

James Fort, founded in 1607, was the earliest part of the Jamestown colony.

The evidence is absolutely consistent with dismemberment and de-fleshing of this body," said Doug Owsley, a forensic anthropologist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC.

Written documents had previously suggested the desperate colonists resorted to cannibalism - but the discovery of the 14-year-old girl's bones offers the first scientific proof.

"It's somebody doing what they had to do," said Dr Owsley of the cannibalism.

Are the hungrieeeeest people in the world.....

edit- linkage http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22362831

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS86rHpdRXI

Rasputina apparently knew about this first...

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

This is just something weird that showed up when I was googling gang territory maps - google maps is keeping up with Zeta territory. Like if I was searching google maps for "Starbucks Austin TX" or some shit.
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&t=h&msa=0&msid=112334459833207861207.000495169c97e4afb8a7f
On second thought, I shouldn't be surprised. They have pictures of peoples' underwear on clotheslines. 

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

Unrelated...Oh, Kentucky. 
And to be fair, I went to school with kids who bagged deer in first grade and nobody died.
Supervised, though. Always supervised.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/authorities-2-year-old-kentucky-girl-accidentally-shot-killed-by-5-year-old-brother/2013/04/30/c1832fee-b206-11e2-9fb1-62de9581c946_story.html

In this case, the rifle was made by a company that sells guns specifically for children — "My first rifle" is the slogan — in colors ranging from plain brown to hot pink to orange to royal blue to multi-color swirls.

http://www.crickett.com/index.htm?osCsid=up4la67a5jpio1o641ge42va57

[Cain]

The same essentially applies on a larger level when considering state actors I'd guess. Borders are set on the state's ability to man and control them. Viewing any government as essentially a criminal enterprise would probably be a fairly accurate comparison in more cases than not.

Again, I must reference Charles Tilly - War Making and State Making as Organized Crime.

Probably up until about the 16th century in Europe, you'd be very hard pressed to see the difference between most "kingdoms" and the Mafia.  There are levels of state formation which reduce the most notable criminal aspects of the enterprise with some forms of participatory legitimacy....to a degree.

Also, question: How accurate are gang control maps like the ones in the Zeta article? I'd guess them to be fairly hazy by their nature

Somewhat hazy, around the edges, but more or less accurate.  When a group like the Zetas is so single-mindedly determined on the territorial issue, it engages in a fair amount of signalling in regards to zones of control.  It would also be apparent from how they are extorting other organized crime whether or not they control a region, which police intelligence should be able to recognize fairly easily.

The US and Mexican governments are also aware how important the territorial issue is, hence MX1's emails regarding "controlling the plazas" and the Sinaloa Cartel.

[Junkenstein]

UKIP leader Nigel Farage has hailed gains in council elections across England as a "game changer".

UKIP won over 140 seats and averaged 25% of the vote in the wards where it was standing.

The Conservatives lost control of 10 councils, but retained 18, while Labour gained two councils and boosted its councillors by nearly 300.

David Cameron said he would "work really hard to win back" supporters who had decided to vote for UKIP.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22382098

I suspect a curious combination of ex BNP/Lib Dem and a good chunk of protest vote here. An unfortunate potential coalition partner. Farage tends to remind me of slime. Not attached to or from anything, just general ooze.

It's amusing to watch the numerous interviews stating this is not a racial issue with "supporters" then stating "We're not racailist" (Direct quote even the spelling, appears to be party slogan)

I'll laugh a lot if the next government is a coalition of Labour and UKIP. At this point it really wouldn't surprise me. The swing has caused them to be taken much more seriously so expect posturing and "PR slips" before the next bout of elections to regain the precious "Not racialist" vote.

In the meantime, lets piss and moan more about the welfare bill and immigrants.

[Junkenstein]

In other petty election news....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-22394258

A Lincolnshire family-of-five are celebrating after three of them won seats for UKIP in the county council elections.

Sue Ransome, 61, with her daughters Felicity, 27, and Elizabeth, 26, won seats in Boston.

Her husband Don and daughter, Jodie Sutton, 36, also stood in Boston but came second.

UKIP made gains across Lincolnshire, ensuring the Conservatives lost overall control.

The Tories won just 36 seats - down from 61 at the previous election.

Mrs Ransome added her 19-year-old son was also interested in standing in future elections.

"Perhaps at a parish level, just to start him off. We shall see."

HO HO HO

It's a good thing rotten boroughs are a thing of the past and we have proper democracy now. No conflict of interest issues here at all.

[Junkenstein]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22393696

he US has extended targeted sanctions against Burma for another year but lifted a visa ban on officials.

The State Department said the move both rewarded progress and aimed to prevent backsliding on reform.

It cited human rights concerns and the continued detention of political prisoners as factors in extending the annual sanctions order.

Last month the European Union lifted the last of its non-military sanctions on Burma.

The US has already lifted most trade and investment sanctions against Burma amid a series of reforms in the South East Asian nation.

The State Department said the latest moves both acknowledged the important changes that had been made in Burma and the challenges that remained.

Well considering those travel restrictions don't stop Burmese officials travelling to London for the annual DSEI arms fair. Is monitoring and ensuring reform as important as selling arms? No.

There's apparently a nice new line in drones being exhibited this year by the by.

[Cain]

The US is playing funny games in Burma.  It recently all but demanded that Aung San Suu Kyi play nice with the military there.

[Junkenstein]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22392544

A depressing but hardly unexpected development

Gunmen have shot dead the prosecutor investigating the murder of Pakistan's ex-leader Benazir Bhutto who was assassinated in 2007.

Police said Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali was ambushed as he was driving from his Islamabad home to a court hearing in the Bhutto case in Rawalpindi.

Police have not speculated on a reason for the shooting.

Chaudhry Zulfiqar was also the top prosecutor in a case related to the attacks in Mumbai, India, in 2008.

Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has been accused of failing to provide adequate security for Bhutto at the time of her death.

Mr Musharraf, who recently returned to Pakistan after living abroad, is being held under house arrest while the claims against him are investigated. He denies the allegations.

No-one has ever been convicted over the murder of Ms Bhutto.

Police said Chaudhry Zulfiqar was on his way to the anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi for a hearing on Friday morning when his car was ambushed.

The attackers on a motorcycle sprayed the car with bullets, badly injuring the prosecutor who later died in hospital.

A hospital spokesman said Chaudhry Zulfiqar had been hit by more than seven bullets from the front and side, including one to the head.

This is an unfortunate way of finding moral lawyers.

[Junkenstein]

The US is playing funny games in Burma.  It recently all but demanded that Aung San Suu Kyi play nice with the military there.

I'm guessing that was the upshot of the recent state visit there. All gone quiet on the massacres front. Or they're being kept more low key.

A general lack of outrage about the "unfortunate mistakes" too. Unsurprisingly. Any idea what the deal is? Part of the overall "return to the pacific" thing?

[Cain]

The US is playing funny games in Burma.  It recently all but demanded that Aung San Suu Kyi play nice with the military there.

I'm guessing that was the upshot of the recent state visit there. All gone quiet on the massacres front. Or they're being kept more low key.

A general lack of outrage about the "unfortunate mistakes" too. Unsurprisingly. Any idea what the deal is? Part of the overall "return to the pacific" thing?

Yeah, Chinese presence, mineral deposits and drugs also play a role.