Category: Oceania

Got Pirates? Zap'em, Says IMB

02 Nov 2007 @ 20:55 GMT | Permalink | Comments

Piracy on the high seas is getting worse, especially off the coast of Nigeria and lawless Somalia. Panamanian-flagged chemical tanker MV Golden Nori and North Korean cargo vessel Dai Hong Dan were just two victims this week. And the trend is discouraging.

The number of attacks worldwide has risen 14 percent in the first nine months of 2007, the International Maritime Bureau reports. A total of 198 attempted and successful attacks, up from 174 in 2006, have been reported to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre in Thailand.

The IMB is asking shipping lines to outfit their vessels with a low-tech, 9,000-volt electric fence to ward off intruders and with an inexpensive satellite tracking and alert system.

Let's look at some high-tech options.

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Posted by Dayhawk Kim at 20:55 | Permalink | Comments (0)
TAGGED: Maritime | Piracy | Somalia

CIA Used Diego Garcia as 'Black Site,' for Rendition

  The Guardian (U.K.) 19 Oct 2007 @ 06:45 GMT | Permalink | Comments

Nothing unites fractious British MPs like a good scandal involing U.S. intelligence mishaps. A parliamentary committee in Britain has launched a formal inquiry into the use of Diego Garcia, a sovereign British territory, for extrajudicial interrogation and detention, The Guardian reports this morning. The 37-mile atoll in the Indian Ocean is widely believed to have been one of the destinations in Europe, Middle East and elsewhere for holding terror suspects, according to retired U.S. Gen. Barry McCaffrey. British officials so far have escaped complicity by saying they went by assurances from their U.S. counterparts.

Extraordinary renditions have been used by the CIA and others shuttle so-called "high value" suspects from one location to another--often without any judicial process. European officials are believed to have known (Le Monde) about these flights, the use of European airspace, Spanish territories, and some destinations, like Poland, even before newspapers and human rights organizations jumped into the fray.

Posted by Dayhawk Kim at 06:45 | Permalink | Comments (0)
TAGGED: CIA | Rendition | Secrets | Terrorism

Malaysia Unleashes Language Police

06 Oct 2006 @ 15:22 GMT | Permalink | Comments

Malaysia is cracking down on Manglish (Malaysian + English), which the culture minister says is polluting the official language. Like with Denglisch and Franglais, Manglish is deeply entrenched in the country. Undoing it will probably be impossible.

Still, billboards, advertisement and other writing that appears in public must be in the official Bahasa Malaysia (Bahasa Melayu) or the perpetrator will be fined RM 1,000 (Malaysian ringgit; US$271).

In a country where bastardized forms of English and Malay and a mix of the two are popular among youths, advertisers may have a tough time reaching the hip crowd. Even the Malaysian government uses Bahasa rojak (mixed Bahasa) which would be illegal under the new law.

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Posted by Dayhawk Kim at 15:22 | Permalink | Comments (0)
TAGGED: Language | Malaysia | Orwellian

Water: Australia Running Dry

28 Jul 2006 @ 09:16 GMT | Permalink | Comments (2)

An Australian city will be completely out of water in four months. Another is looking into recycled sewage water. Politicians have largely ignored the issue and admit in private that they are scared to lose their jobs for supporting recycled sewage water.

Only 0.01 percent of 1.4 billion cubic kilometers of water on the planet is easily accessible. And even that is dwindling.

When resources are scarce, ignorant people fight over it. Opportunists profit from the shortage. And both are happening right now.

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Posted by Dayhawk Kim at 09:16 | Permalink | Comments (2)
TAGGED: Australia | Development | Shortage | Sustainability | Water