Dive into the archives.
- Destroying Democracy… To Save It!
King Gyanendra, now the absolute monarch of Nepal, just disolved parliament a few weeks ago and declared at today’s Democracy Day rally that his power grab was for the sake of the stability of the nation. Just wonderful.
When it comes down to the wire, I understand that democratic means are insufficient to cope with [...]
- Aceh, Ground Zero
A journalist buddy of ours just returned from a trip to Aceh, a province in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. Aceh was hit hard by the tsunami and the place is going through a five-year civil war in which many of the inhabitants are fighting for their freedom. Our friend has been to some mighty [...]
- Debunking 9/11 Myths
Hopefully this will start some heated discussion (ZAR). Popular Mechanics consulted more than 300 experts and organizations in science related fields to debunk 16 of the most prevalent conspiracy theories surrounding the 9/11 attacks.
From the Introduction:
... Wild conspiracy tales are peddled daily on the Internet, talk radio and in other media. Blurry photos, quotes taken [...]
- Alexander the Gay
About me: I have many historical heroes. In fact, I could probably name at least one admirable personality for each century over the past 4 millenia. One of my all time favourites is the ever-controversial Alexander the Great. In fact, my (as yet unborn) son’s name (Aleksandr) is partially inspired by the legendary Macedonian.
Last week [...]
- Operation Iranian Freedom, Stage One
This will probably turn out to be just faulty Iranian military technology, but you’ll forgive me if I thought this was the sign of something else when I first read the stories:
Explosion Near Russian-Built Nuclear Power Plant in Iran
Powerful blast in Iran, witnesses report seeing missile fired
Unknown Aircraft Fires Missile in Iran – State TVBut [...]
- Linguistics Lessons
Although Younghusband is the real expert when it comes to languages (true: the man has a BA in Linguistics!), I couldn’t resist this post. Check out this animation of the evolution of alphabets.
The first few progressions are pretty basic, showing the development of the Phoenician and Greek alphabets. But after seeing all the [...]
- O Canada!
On February 15, 1965, the stylized 11-point maple leaf that has come to stand as a symbol of Canada was hoisted for the first time on Parliament Hill. Until then we flew the Union Jack. Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson sparked the Great Flag Debate in 1964 with calls for a new design. He preferred [...]
- More CCCP Nostalgia
When Mutant Frog, Saru, and myself went to Kazakhstan, we saw more than a little Soviet Nostalgia, as previously noted. And, in a follow-up to that post, MF has posted a picture of “CCCP KONA” (pronounced “CCCP COLA”) along with some amusing commentary. Highly recommended.
- Rare HIV Strain Worries Thailand
From the Bangkok Post: Spread of rare HIV strain from US feared…
A rare strain of Aids found in New York City could possibly spread to Thailand via Thais visiting the city and engaging in high-risk sexual behaviour and drug abuse, an Aids expert said yesterday.
That’s rather polite, don’t you think? Of the several ways [...]
- An Empire’s Fraying Edge
The Economist has a great article on Russia’s quagmire in Chechnya and the spreading violence that is overtaking the entire region. I’d recommend reading the article, but a few choice segments are included below.
Devilishly complex ethnic divisions, within and between republics; ancient but persistent grudges; a Babel of languages; clan-based sub-rivalries; war with [...]
