Archive for March, 2008

Monday, March 31, 2008

Zimbabwe Update

It’s becoming more and more obvious that Mugabe has lost by a large margin. A BBC report states that “in Harare, Zanu-PF security officials have met to decide who should tell Mr Mugabe he has lost”. The results are being held back, presumably as Mugabe and his security advisors decide whether to accept the result. [...]

Filed under: General

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Zimbabwe: The Margin is Key

I never expected to find myself typing these words, but the situation in Zimbabwe is looking up. Initial election results show that Robert Mugabe has probably lost by a significant margin.
The margin is really the key here. As I’ve argued before, while Robert Mugabe clearly has no qualms about manipulating election results, he’s also benefited [...]

Filed under: General

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Why Tibet Will Lose

The rapidly-pacified riots in Tibet over the course of last week set me to wondering just why on earth the world keeps crying about the poor Tibetan struggle for ‘freedom’, autonomy, or generally just to be treated like human beings. I’m never going to be one championing the course for Communist China’s own dastardly deeds [...]

Filed under: General

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

4,000 and Who’s Still Counting?

So it’s been 5 years and 4,000 US soldiers are now KIA. There was a time not long ago when the world’s media would have had a field day with this, using the number to rail once more against American imperialism and the evils of this world in general. But these days, it seems opposition [...]

John | 04:49:25 | Permalink | Comments (4)
Filed under: General

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

He’s Still Kicking!

Just a quick Happy Birthday to Laurence, general grand poobah of our little libertarian cul… group. Congrats!

John | 16:39:03 | Permalink | Comments (5)
Filed under: General

Monday, March 17, 2008

Not My Turn to Die

I have just finished reading a rather compelling book by one Savo Heleta, entitled Not My Turn to Die, in which the author details his extraordinarily harrowing childhood living in war-torn Bosnia. As a Serb in the predominantly Muslim town of Goražde, Savo and his family endured extreme hardship and daily terror for two years. [...]

John | 12:47:41 | Permalink | Comments (3)
Filed under: General

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Tales from an Alternate Universe

Author’s note: Earlier today an interdimensional wormhole opened above my desk and a copy of USA Today flew out. It seems to originate from a parallel universe in which American politics is very different from what we are used to, but also strangely familiar. For the benefit of readers, I reprint the front page story:

Embattled [...]

Laurence | 17:16:33 | Permalink | Comments (4)
Filed under: General

Monday, March 10, 2008

How the ‘Deadliest Catch’ Reminds Me of Marxism

I recently started watching a series called ‘Deadliest Catch’, aired on the Discovery channel and onto its fourth season already. In a nutshell, the program is oriented around several Alaskan crab fishing ships and their crews, who ply the Bering Sea for two types of highly profitable crabs. The work is dangerous and season three [...]

John | 10:30:48 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under: General

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

The Cost of Healthcare

Why is healthcare in the US so expensive? Setting aside the standard explanations given by the left and the right (“the greedy drug companies”/”the greedy trial lawyers”), I’d always assumed the problem was one of diminishing marginal return on investment. In Africa, where lifespans are shorter, huge gains in life expectancy can be bought for [...]

Laurence | 10:44:22 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under: General

Shut Up and Buy Me a Beer

I have found in the few years of my political tutelage and subsequent exile into Japan, that there exists a certain penchant for many friends and colleagues to engage in political, religious or other banter, but do so in a rather frustrating manner. So frustrating, in fact, that I had at first thought it isolated [...]

John | 10:39:36 | Permalink | Comment?
Filed under: General

Monday, March 3, 2008

The Threats Against Prince Harry

I see that certain terrorist groups are now threatening to kill Prince Harry in retaliation for his “aggression against Muslims”, ie. taking part in the NATO mission to stabilise Afghanistan and prevent the Taliban from reasserting its totalitarian rule over that country.
For the record, I don’t want anything bad to happen to Prince Harry. Yet [...]

Laurence | 18:00:43 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under: General