February 2008

Despite all the promises, the Government is still achieving nothing with regard to its Iraqi employees. Leave aside, for the moment, the considerable numbers who are being rejected. Even the accepted – in so far as this category means anything yet – are still in Iraq, still on the streets, and still in danger. “I…

Read More I am still in Iraq…I hear nothing from your Government!

It looks like an attempt to censor rightwing arsewit Geert Wilders’s anti-Islam home movie has broken YouTube. Pakistani authorities issued a circular to ISPs in Pakistan demanding that they block access to YouTube; but this doesn’t explain why it’s unreachable from the UK. A traceroute to www.youtube.com goes into PCCW’s network and dies; the explanation…

Read More YouTube is Borked: Pakistani Censors Suspected

It looks like an attempt to censor rightwing arsewit Geert Wilders’s anti-Islam home movie has broken YouTube. Pakistani authorities issued a circular to ISPs in Pakistan demanding that they block access to YouTube; but this doesn’t explain why it’s unreachable from the UK. A traceroute to www.youtube.com goes into PCCW’s network and dies; the explanation…

Read More YouTube is Borked: Pakistani Censors Suspected

Whilst you snooze, this blog has been moving; I set up an alternate version of it some months ago using WordPress, but until now it’s been private. The upgrade should provide a generally less Spirit of 2003 look-and-feel, improved comments support (a frequent request), a recent comments service, better categorisation, and a linklog. I’d really…

Read More TYR 2.0 Beta

I was wondering what might be going on in Somalia; we’re getting a surprising number of lifts a day from the UAE to Puntland/Somaliland (Hargeisa and Berbera) with Tenir AL and British Gulf International Company (not BGIA) call signs. And then this hits the wires via Reuters DeathWatch: BAIDOA, Somalia, Feb 24 (Reuters) – Heavily…

Read More Surveillance: More Il-76s in Somalia

I’m very glad to see that Abu Muqawama, Phil Carter, and Lt-Col. Bob Bateman have been quick to leap on the inevitable attempt to swiftboatise this story. Especially as Abu, I thought, was showing worrying signs of going into the “good news the MSM is suppressing” mental death spiral and turning progressively into Blackfive With…

Read More Support

John Band has some thoughts about Northern Rock. So do I; more precisely, I have some thoughts about the Tories’ performance in the crisis. It’s been appallingly silly, irresponsible, and sometimes plain ignorant. For example, last autumn the Tories seem to have thought that the Bank of England’s loan to the Rock was taxpayers’ money.…

Read More Tories: Unserious