In yet another example of government arrogance, councils have knowingly overstepped their bounds and won’t give wrongly collected fines back unless people come groveling. Although advised to stop collecting fines, [authorities] continued to patrol the lanes, pretending to still have enforcement authority. Cabinet ministers said they … didn’t think many people would ask for their [...]

Uncategorized | No Comments »

Beasts of No Nation, by Uzodinma Iweala (John Murray: London, 2005). Beasts of No Nation is the kind of war story that will capture your heart and mind. Relentlessly graphic and viscerally brutal, it contrasts horrific violence against the innocence of childhood, achieving an unequalled emotional impact. The author, Uzodinma Iweala, is a 23-year old [...]

World | 2 Comments »

See Part 1 for the introduction. The case studies are Part 2: Bougainville, Part 3: Sierra Leone, Part 4: The Niger Delta, and Part 5: Colombia. Original conclusion None of the four conflicts examined are as simple as Collier’s “greed and grievance” paradigm would suggest – as Karen Ballentine in Beyond Greed and Grievance concluded [...]

4GW, Failed states, Non-state actors | No Comments »

When I heard the news about the retrospective legislation being rammed through Parliament, I think went through the classic ‘stages’. First I was in denial (“They can’t do it. They can’t!”), then I was angry (“We need to storm Parliament!”), then I got depressed (“Crap, it’s time to leave the country.”) and eventually I accepted [...]

Uncategorized | 8 Comments »

Currently there is a fantastic amount of information coming back from Mars. There are two rovers and several high-resolution satellite cameras scanning the planet, and the first thing to be properly uncovered was the infamous Face on Mars: The formation is actually very pretty, in the latest high-resolution pictures. Its region, ‘Cydonia’ (a bad science [...]

Aliens, Mars, Science, Technology | 2 Comments »

Some wag has put a ‘mint condition original 2005 Labour party pledge card’ up for sale on Trademe. While that’s clever in and of itself, the real comedy gold is in the Q&A following the auction. What forms of payment do you take? Koha, lafo, unmarked hundred dollar bills. Unfortunately I can’t accept cheques from [...]

Labour, Libertarianz, Politics | 1 Comment »

The final case study in the resource war series, involving oil, drugs, mercenaries, corporations, transnational crime, insurgency and terrorism. See Part 1 for the introduction, and the other case studies are Part 2: Bougainville, Part 3: Sierra Leone, and Part 4: The Niger Delta. I will post the conclusion soon. Background, and the effects of [...]

Energy, Failed states | No Comments »

Part 4 of the Resource War series. See Part 1 for the Introduction and Parts 2 and 3 for previous case studies. Background Another very complex globalized conflict continues in the Niger Delta, between local militants and oil corporations – Shell, for example – backed by the central Nigerian government. In the 1990s, there were [...]

Energy, Failed states, Infrastructure, Mercenaries | 1 Comment »

“Minor Scale,” a simulated US nuclear explosion. PC asks whether the North Korean test was faked: The DPRK have every reason to lie, to bluff and to bluster, and none whatsoever to tell the truth. The test does indeed seem very small, with most estimates less than one kiloton. From what I can tell, these [...]

East Asia, World | 1 Comment »

A few posts back, I looked at the possibility of domestic unrest and terrorism in New Zealand, citing the National Front as a potential threat. Now, according to Samizdata, members of the British equivalent of our National Front – the British National Party – have been storing explosives and rockets in their homes. Police found [...]

Terrorism | No Comments »