So they arrested Viktor Bout, in the same week the ID cards scheme saw its latest rightward slither and the government’s ragingly impossible road-pricing scheme bit the dust. And I cleared my to-do list on our report on new forms of voice and messaging. What next, it rains ponies? as PZ Myers said. Something like…
Read More What next, ponies?Whilst I’ve got your attention, there are still aircraft on the Operation Firedump list we’re looking for. Ruud Leeuw deserves your thanks for keeping after this. UN-75003 seen at Jeddah 03Jan08, still in basic Air Cess livery, no titles, operating a flight for Jubba Airways [Aviation Letter – Jan.2008]# UN-75005 seen at Jeddah 01Jan08, in…
Read More Firedump Re-Re-WindSo why was Viktor in Thailand? Well, there are some possible explanations beyond the CTB theory that it was something to do with the Burmese junta, or the Chinese, or someone. Specifically, there are reasons to think that South-East Asia might have been the next stop in the VB caravan, after Ostend, South Africa, and…
Read More So Why Was Viktor Bout in Thailand?Much more is filtering out about the Bangkok Bout Bust; it seems fairly certain that his arrest was the result of a sting operation in which the DEA posed as buyers from the FARC. Bout booked a meeting room in the Bangkok Sofitel; he, and several others, were waiting for their guests to arrive when…
Read More Smulian In the Bag With Viktor BoutViktor Bout arrested in Thai hotel room on charges of arming FARC. And I didn’t even know he *was* doing. More, as they say, as we get it. Update: Here’s the pic – it’s obviously him.
Read More We Must Ask You, Please, To Come Quietly, For this Is the Cadogan Hotel…Spyblog is, of course, making sense when they say that the BT/Virgin Media/Carphone Warehouse spying scheme may be illegal because of the sweeping-up of e-mail traffic with the rest. As you know, Bob, e-mail has the legal status of a letter, thanks to the good folks of the EFF years ago. I thought of this,…
Read More More Phorm HorrorsWe’ve been seeing a steady flow of Click Airways (ICAO: CGK) and Click Airways International (ICAO: CKW) movements between the UAE, Baghdad, Basra, Mosul, Bagram, and some other war-on-terror locales like Djibouti and northern Somalia. Here’s something interesting; Click(CGK), one of the airlines banned by the EU in April last year, is registering a lot…
Read More push the button, click the switchThe RepRap just gets cooler; they’re now working on plastics derived from plants that are cured solid with UV light, so as to bring more of the toolchain into the project. Also see here. If that don’t work, there’s always Lego. (If anyone gets this title, I’ll be delighted.)
Read More tha mun laike w’it gangling-ironMy ISP just did something naughty. BT, Virgin Media, and Carphone Warehouse have been caught in a scheme to sell details of all your Web activity to marketers (…and anyone else) without your knowledge or consent. And the full details are genuinely worrying. The Register has a major scoop, in that it’s got hold of…
Read More Who needs remote control?Martin Kettle can fuck off with this: The bright Tory shadow Cabinet Office minister Greg Clark asked recently why politicians are so ready to discuss antisocial behaviour but so poor at discussing its pro-social equivalent. Bright? Christ, we’re in a bad way. The first thing that needs discussing here is that “pro-social behaviour” is a…
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