Two reminders for Wellington-based readers: March on Parliament to protest the anti-smacking bill – one of the worst examples of Nanny Statism, and likely to have some terrible unintended consequences. Meet at Civic Square at noon on Wednesday. More on why we at Pacific Empire oppose the repeal of Section 59 here. Centre for Independent [...]

Uncategorized, Wellington | 5 Comments »

BBC: Two people were killed and 17 injured as LTTE light aircraft – probably assembled using parts smuggled into the country – dropped two bombs on the main air force base in Colombo. Bandaranaike International Airport, adjacent to the base, was shut down as a precaution. The war in Sri Lanka has been going on [...]

4GW, South Asia, Terrorism | 19 Comments »

Here’s a brief rundown on some major current threats to world stability. Pakistan: Nuclear instability The headlines at the moment are all about Iran. But Pakistan is another potential flashpoint, only with dozens of nukes, questionable military loyalty, multiple insurgencies, and tense borders. Musharraf’s leadership has been increasingly called into question, as he fired a [...]

4GW, Black globalization, Catastrophes, Energy, Failed states, Middle East, South Asia, Terrorism, UN | 4 Comments »

50 years ago today, the Treaty of Rome was signed. It brought into being the European Economic Community, including France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The idea of European integration had existed since before the Second World War, but it took that devastating war – and the external threat of the Soviet [...]

Empire, Europe | 2 Comments »

This ship carried deadly influenza into Apia in 1918, while the New Zealand administrators did nothing to stop the spread of the virus. 22% of the population died as a result, while in American Samoa, which took preventive measures, there were no fatalities. Guest Post by Eric Flis Part 1 – Introduction and Overview Part [...]

Catastrophes, Development, Guest Posts, Pacific | 2 Comments »

The new Government Building in Apia, Samoa, built by the Chinese. Source: Flickr. Guest Post by Eric Flis Part 1 – Introduction and Overview Part 2 – Economic Vulnerability Part 3 – Pandemic Vulnerability and Future Paradise Eric is a member of AIPIO (Australian Institute of Professional Intelligence Officers) and is currently studying for his [...]

Development, East Asia, Guest Posts, Pacific | No Comments »

Guest Post by Eric Flis Part 1 – Introduction and Overview Part 2 – Economic Vulnerability Part 3 – Pandemic Vulnerability and Future Paradise Eric is a member of AIPIO (Australian Institute of Professional Intelligence Officers) and is currently studying for his Post Graduate Diploma in Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism. Eric can be contacted [...]

Black globalization, Development, Guest Posts, Pacific | 2 Comments »

William Lind, writing in January just after Ethiopia invaded Somalia: For more than a decade, Somalia has been Exhibit A in the Hall of Statelessness, a place where the state had not merely weakened into irrelevance but disappeared… Then, over the past several weeks, a Blitzkrieg-like campaign by the Ethiopian army seemed to change everything… [...]

4GW, Failed states, Islam, Non-state actors, Terrorism | 1 Comment »

In this climate change post, I’ll briefly outline why blaming solar variation for recent warming is incorrect, interpret the Vostok Ice Cores, and then tell you the political part of my position. That big nuclear furnace in the sky is the ultimate source of all energy on Earth, so it would make sense if recent [...]

Climate, Science, Skepticism | 6 Comments »

Helen Clark and Sue Bradford are trying to convince New Zealand that the repeal of Section 59 of the Crimes Act (aka the anti-smacking bill) is about preventing child abuse and perhaps secondarily about ‘sending a message’ to stop smacking because it is poor parenting. That’s the political spin, and it makes it pretty difficult [...]

Domestic Violence, New Zealand, Politics | 11 Comments »