Random News Stories

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

Update on man/bike sex arrest:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7098116.stm

"This is not the first legal case involving someone simulating sex with an inanimate object.

    * In 1997 Robert Watt, 38, was fined £100 for trying to have sex with a shoe in an Edinburgh street
    * In 2002 the same man was arrested for simulating sex with a traffic cone in front of a crowd of people"

A shoe? A SHOE??!

[Cain]

Not a story, just some notes from my dissertation:

Despite their differences in ideology, there seem to be several points of agreement among the groups that are worth bearing in mind when looking at them.  Firstly, these groups are not like traditional terrorist groups or criminal gangs of the past.  Their international dimension and inclusion within the larger international system mean their behaviour and responses to that system are rather different.  In the past, terrorist and insurgent groups aimed at the overthrow of their local political system, or secession from the country in question.  These can be seen as ideological and nationalist groups, ranging from the Viet Cong to the Red Army Faction.  Their aims had been state-centric, within the bounds of the current international system (insofar as Marxist groups who came to power accepted the state-based Westphalian system).

However, two of these three groups did not seek to overthrow the government and run the state as new leaders, installing a new political system which stayed within these bounds.  And the defeat of the UIC's conventional military at the hands of Ethiopia and the Transitional Federal Government has also ended hopes of such a system in Somalia.  Instead, these groups are a part of what Stephen Sloan and Michael Scheuer have described as a 'global insurgency' "where the object is not the use of terrorism as one aspect of guerilla warfare to seize power, but which emphasizes terrorism as a means of fundamentally transforming entire regions."

This transformation seems to involve breaking down the ability of the state to not only project military force effectively, but all essential functions of the state, such as basic security, ability gain employment, running water, electricity, functioning infrastructure and other basic elements of a modern society.  If one considers Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (where the most basic needs, such as physiological ones, are at the bottom, and the pyramid moves up to lesser needs, such as respect and a sense of belonging) then we can more fully appreciate the psychological dimension of this strategy.  Each layer on the pyramid is dependent on the lower layers being in place, otherwise the model becomes unstable and unable to sustain these higher needs.  Therefore, if insurgents are to blow up power stations and destroy roads, or carry out attacks on oil pipelines and engage in industrial sabotage, it forces people to be concerned about their security more than their other needs.  And if the government is seen as unable to protect the population, then people will look elsewhere for that.

This we can see as most readily working in Iraq, where it has been the lynch pin of Al-Qaeda's strategy there.  Each faction is more willing to trust its own militias than the Iraqi national government's security services.  It also explains why seeking a political panacea for the problems of the country (the establishment of democracy) has failed to provide stability, as was expected.  However, it is also true in Mexico, where the cartels and street gangs engage in coercion for protection money and buy off the local (or national) law enforcement.  It has also, unwittingly, been the case in Somalia, where the defeat of the UIC has lead to the re-establishment of clan hostilities.

[Cain]

Kenya election blackout news

http://www.kenyanpundit.com/?cat=51

Highlights include:


- Confirmed reports that women are being targeted for rape in the slums based on their ethnicity.

- Ethnic cleansing going on in Rift Valley. Kikuyus been targeted all over the province. Guys are being hidden by friends - I have first hand reports of this. My friend's mother's house was burnt in Molo last night. Where are these people supposed to go? Meanwhile, ODM supporters in ODM strongholds being beaten, raped, and killed arbitrarily by GSU officers. How does the "government" expect to heal these divisions once they have achieved their objective? Why are the two sides willing to pay such a high cost? We are just now recovering from Molo clashes of 1992! I'm frustated about the lack of options.

- Press being denied access to mortuaries.

- Media Council has strongly denounced the ban on live broadcasts. I suspect that media houses were caught off-guard and are just now trying to find their footing. I've been told that KISS fm has been doing a good job with updates. Also hopefully print media will be back in full force tomorrow (if we can get to somewhere where we can buy papers that is).
NTV and KTN now broadcasting news updates every hour.

- Govt says Chief General Kianga still in office. There were rumors circulating that he had resigned and that the military is split as far as which way to go.

- Even in places in Nairobi that are safe, the situation is charged. I predict socialization will strictly be on ethnic lines since no side is willing to listen to the other and I'm talking about my peers folks. I hang out with people on both sides yesterday evening at different times and you cannot have a civil conversation if you're not on the same side. It is really very scary. Bad bad slurs being tossed around casually. I felt like I was on the set of some bad movie about ethnic cleansing. People like me who come from many places in Kenya and who are upset about the process but don't want violence have no voice. Kibaki you've "won" but is it worth it?

[Igor]

http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22989956-15306,00.html
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/31/2129471.htm

AUSTRALIANS will be forced to contact their internet service provider to avoid having their access to the web restricted.
[...]
Under the plan, all internet service providers will be required to provide a "clean" feed to households and schools, free of pornography and other inappropriate material.

But it'll never get passed, right?

Right?

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Oh nooooo this should not be funny. But it is.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/03/2130790.htm

[tyrannosaurus vex]

Ron Paul is a Reptilian!

[Triple Zero]

"The logic goes that we ought not to complain about ubiquitous ads from drug companies because they spend so much on research. If those Big Pharma researchers weren't relentlessly pursuing cures for today's maladies, we'd be screwed. That's why we should all just smile and live with the onslaught of ads on the latest breakthroughs in erectile dysfunction, anxiety, hair loss, or restless sleep disorder medication. But, a recent study reveals the shabby truth about the ratio of research to advertising done by Big Pharma and it's not like they're spending a little bit more on the ads. In fact, they are spending almost twice as much shilling their products as they are in developing them."

[Cain]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/11/britney-naked-pillpoppi_n_81145.html

Britney just went up in my estimation.  Naked, off her face on drugs, swearing like a sailor and possibly a screw or two loose?

H.A.W.T.

[LMNO]

Before police took her outside, they wanted to cover her with a sweater, and she screamed, "Don't cover me up. I'm f***ing hot."

NOT.

[Cainad (dec.)]

Huckabee Splits Young Evangelicals and Old Guard

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/us/politics/13huckabee.html

"Mr. Huckabee, who was a Southern Baptist minister before serving as governor of Arkansas, is the only candidate in the presidential race who identifies himself as an evangelical. But instead of uniting conservative Christians, his candidacy is threatening to drive a wedge into the movement, potentially dividing its best-known national leaders from part of their base and upending assumptions that have held the right wing together for the last 30 years.

"His singular style — Christian traditionalism and the common-man populism of William Jennings Bryan, leavened by an affinity for bass guitar and late-night comedy shows — has energized many young and working-class evangelicals. Their support helped his shoestring campaign come from nowhere to win the Iowa Republican caucus and join the front-runners in Michigan, South Carolina and national polls."

----

William Jennings Bryan?

And the Vote-Splitter Award goes to...

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Have you seen Jesus Camp?

Evangelicals terrify me.

[Cain]

Pfft, this has been in the works for a while.  The religious right are stupid in many ways, but they're politically adept.  Why do you think they let the NeoCons have a good long run at ruining the country with their backing?  Could it be to discredit them and allow the Religious Right to removed the most ideologically coherent philosophy in the GOP right now?  Someone has to fill that vacuum.  It also makes the policies on Iran and Israel make sense, since NeoConservativism has no particular desire to destroy Israel or radicalize Iran - but current policies do.  And which group of people believe the destruction of Israel must be bought about in order to cause the apocalypse?  Exactly.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

A lot of Evangelicals are Zionists, though. No shit.

[Cain]

Yes, but they also believe Israel has to be destroyed, for Jebus to come back.  They're exactly the same people.  Because the Israelis have gone on a right-wing bender since Rabin was killed, they keep thinking "more force" is the solution to everything, which is ultimately going to make them impossible to diplomatically deal with their neighbours.  And the evangelicals don't feel like pointing this out to them, instead giving them more money and letting them cut their own throats.  Its a variation on "you and him fight" and hoping one day Israel picks a fight with the wrong country.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Fucking insane retards, the lot of them.