And the media fellates the White House with implied admiration. It’s this lack of priorities by the media which truly gets my goat. Let’s glaze over the many things he’s doing politically and watch the man swat a fly, or his adoption of a Spanish labradoodle or whatever the hell breed it is. The most [...]

Conor Friedersdorf has professed confusion at the outrage of sending ex-Guantanamo detainees to Bermuda. Personally, I find the whole thing quite laughable. Given that these folks were suspected of, or were never adequately prosecuted for, terrorist attacks, supporting terrorist organisations or suchlike, the notion that in re-compensation they’re effectively given a life of sun and [...]

Fighting piracy in the Gulf of Aden is difficult, this much is obvious. The pirates look and operate for the most part exactly the same as the many fishermen in the area, deploying naval vessels into the area itself is costly and often unproductive, and the pirates are almost never disincentivised from their activities. After [...]

Whinge that the opposition team’s defense was too good. Seriously… since when did adapting your team’s strategy to an aggressive opposition offense become a bad thing? Maybe it’s because I don’t understand the nitty gritty nuances of football that I don’t quite understand how Santana can be bleating about having to actually think about how [...]

You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the [...]

Having just started my courses, I have decided to, over the length of my MA, strive to identify, understand, and consequently mock with all my ability. Starting the shebang this week: the Communist Fanboy.
Anyone who has ever done an undergrad humanities course would have encountered such a person. Every time discussion begins, or the [...]

64 years ago today the Allied forces began their invasion of Axis-controlled Europe; by running through the mine-laden beaches of Normandy in the face of heavy German fire. The events of that day are well-known to anyone with even a passing interest in history, but needless to say, the courage of those brave troops involved [...]

UPDATE: For the record, I was wrong about the second half of this post. Contrary to my assumption at the time and the info I had heard, this illustrious squadron has not been closed by the SAAF. Instead it has been temporarily stood down until the A400Ms arrive, when it will be re-activated with those [...]

Six years ago today, nineteen men hijacked four planes, two of which crashed into the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon. Two thousand, nine hundred and seventy-four people died as a result of the actions of the hijackers. Twenty-four people are still listed as missing. The victims of the attacks included eight children, [...]

This entry is about conflict, though only in a very oblique way. (If you want something more obvious, petition Darren to get his lazy ass writing again.)
Last week I was lucky enough to attend the book launch of Dr David Gerbi’s autobiography, Making Peace with Qaddafi: An initiative and potential model for establishing peace in [...]

Yesterday evening I had the privilege of attending a lecture via satellite video link at the US Embassy in Pretoria, presented by Dr David Holian, associate Professor of Politics from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. The presentation’s topic, The US Media and Political Coverage, sparked a number of fascinating questions and avenues of discussion, [...]