The Yorkshire Ranter

There’s been a small upburst of unrelated mystery-jet stories in the last couple of days. For a start, there’s the strange case of an Antonov 28, a little light twin with 10 or 12 seats, that turned up in the DR Congo apparently with something called “Butembo Airlines” and fell out with the UN. It…

I’ve been informed that electronic tags may be a more robust system than I implied in my post on Mahmoud Abu Rideh, the terrorist who’s only dangerous at night. Apparently, there are indeed tags that use GSM methods to give constant coverage. I’m sorry if anyone got arrested following my advice. But, whatever tags are…

This post is going to hark back to one of the very first posts on the Ranter, back in Hutton-rocking June, 2003, so stand by. Back then I briefly noted a report by another blogger that a group calling itself the Minuteman Project was using a drone of sorts to look for suspected illegal immigrants…

I’m sure everyone in Britain has by now seen at least one of the Conservative Party’s exciting “Are you thinking what we’re thinking?” hoardings. For my part, I only ever seem to see the immigration one, but obviously this is mere chance and not a sign that there are more of them than the others.…

….from the US Army’s Strategic Studies Institute. Street Gangs: The New Urban Insurgency. Off you go and read.

An Ilyushin-76TD belonging to suspected Boutco Jet Line International has crashed into Lake Victoria immediately after take-off from Mwanza. All 8 crew were killed. The aircraft was ER-IBR, serial number 43454623, belonging to Jet Line of Chisinau, but apparently operating as Airline Transport, another suspect outfit from Moldova. Unlike Aerocom and Jet Line, Airline Transport…

Well, this is the end of the second week of my career. So far, we’ve had good moments, like interviewing chief executives at Claridges – and less good ones, like proof correcting articles on telephone billing systems. You will no doubt have noticed light blogging, which is hardly surprising given that my previous existence as…

The Washington Post picks up on gathering doubt about the claims of 80+ guerrillas killed in a fight near Samarra earlier this week. I previously blogged (briefly) on the droll fact that AFP was reporting that some 40 guerrillas were still hanging around the scene of the supposed firefight, and their leader denied any knowledge…

So said Homer Simpson. The Home Office sometimes seems to me like some crippled retainer or mangy hound, that the king whistles for and sees it keel over embarrassingly before reaching the throne. “Homeoffice!” “Here, sire..” “Urgh..not again!” This impression is in no way dispelled by reports of a succession of ridiculous acts displaying egregious…

The mighty Martin van Creveld has a sizeable essay in the Boston Review on Iraq by way of Moshe Dayan’s stint as a war correspondent in South Vietnam. (I personally didn’t know he’d been one, so there you go.) Dayan prepared meticulously for his assignment – being a world-famous hero tends to get you good…