February 2005

or is it everyone else? When you encounter things like this, you wonder. Especially when you see some other bloggers’ responses, especially Brad DeLong who ought to know better. Apparently it’s ridiculous to, uh, switch off the computer when you aren’t using it. Why would anyone do anything else? Do these people really think it’s…

A comment brings us news about the RAF Hercules that was destroyed on election day in Iraq. (Thanks – you know who you are.) Apparently it is now thought that it met its end at the hands of a Soviet-made SA-4 Ganef SAM, in some modified form. That would explain some things – the engagement…

At 0950:55 today, 195.229.241.183 (some server at the UAE’s state-run ISP) searched Yahoo! for “Ali Abdullah Saleh sex porno photo” and hit the Ranter. We are the 5th out of 9 results for this bizarre inquiry. Ali Abdullah Saleh is apparently the president of the Yemen. Needless to say, we have no such photos of…

Worth reading, about that “bulge” in the president’s suit and the New York Times story that got spiked in case it affected the election. Whatever you may say about British journalism, you couldn’t imagine a British newspaper killing a story in case it affected politics – more like the other way round.

An interesting report on troubles in Baluchistan, where a growing insurgency is threatening to destabilise the country still further. Something called the BLA is blowing up trains, gas pipelines, power lines and microwave relay towers. We shall watch this one carefully.

Some more “partial results” from the Iraqi elections are out, covering the 10 southernmost provinces including Baghdad (with the proviso that only 45% of Baghdad polling stations have reported). The main line of reporting on this has been the very strong indeed showing of the UIA list – they could get as much as 66%…

Found via Gregorian Ranting, this outstanding source for weird music. As a service, here are some examples I placed in the Ranter library to spare their server: Ukrainian cover of AC/DC’s Highway to Hell Chinese-speaking version of rock’n’roll standard, Love Potion No. 9 German cover of Rappers’ Delight – beware this is really, really wrong!…

Excellent guest editorial at Juan Cole’s concerning the danger of paralysis in post-election Iraq. Personally, I suspect that a scenario like the one he describes, in which the new constitutional assembly locks up in a permanent veto of the constitutional draft and/or the government, is both likely and dangerous. In a sense, it may be…

A little while ago we made the acquaintance of dodgy Afghan airline KAM-AIR and its fleet of ex-Viktor Bout aircraft, back here. We touched on the surprising appearance of YA-GAA, the Boeing 727 formerly operated for Afghan warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum by Chris Barrett-Jolley after his departure from Britain and before his coke-smuggling conviction, and…

Phil Hunt of Cabalamat Journal reports on a happy development: the European directive on software patents, famously prevented from passing quickly by the Polish delegation’s refusal to let it through (hence the “Thank you, Poland” campaign), has now been kicked solidly into touch by the European Parliament. The parliamentary legal affairs committee decided by an…