9/30/2009
Ehiztari
From tomorrow, the .yu Internet domain will cease to be available anymore. The extension, assigned to the former Republic of Yugoslavia, has been substituted by .rs (Serbia) and .me (Montenegro). But this ends means for me something more. It means too the lock to another lock in a cycle started in 1992.There is a point in every person’s life when you start to realize about the world around you. In an adult way. For me, that’s talking about 1992. The International Exposition and the Olympic Games (both in Spain) are the first pre-teenager memories -those that start forming your character- that I have clear in my mind. But talking about 1992 is...
9/28/2009
Ehiztari
- Taliban to Germany: Leave Afghanistan or lose Oktoberfest. Now, that's a real threat!- How easy is policying when you get along well with your partners. Angela Merkel is already doing so.- China, 60 years of communism with a trademark.- Fiji troops excluded from UN peacekeeping role.- How to: Immunize against radiation: drinking vodka.Did you like it? Share it...
9/28/2009
Ehiztari
The situation in Honduras is hanging in a cliff. In a matter of days -ten- it could evolve into an international issue. A serious one. Since last June, when President Manuel Zelaya was ousted, the country has lived in turmoil. Now, coinciding with the petitions from the UN to restate the constitutional order and Mr. Zelaya in his job, things are heating up.The EU and the USA have both condemned the coup, but few less has been done. America -responsible for the 75% of Honduras’ exports- has been static doing nothing more than the initial statement. Latin American countries on the other hand have been the biggest supporters for Mr. Zelaya. They...
9/28/2009
Ehiztari
The discovery of a secret Iranian centrifuge facility near Qom has been a major blast in International politics during the past week. It surely surprised Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who didn't expect that question coming out in an interview with Time Magazine -the expression on his face when listening to it (Ahmadinejad had no need of translators to understand that) says it all. But also shocked the world. For months, international community focused in the possibility that Iran could low-enrich enough amount of uranium and then kick out the IAEA inspectors and upgrade it to a bomb level. This however, changes that scenario.Not for all, has to be said....
9/28/2009
Ehiztari
Protests in G20 summits are getting as common as police brutality to repress them. Pittsburg hasn’t been an exception, doesn’t matter Obama is the host.The LRAD Sound Weapon was supposed to be created to control terrorists and angry foreigners in the Middle East. However, after passing the test in the streets of Iraq and the Gulf of Aden, now the Government is turning it against their own people. Here is the video that proves it (there are more, but were removed); the LRAD in action in Pittsburg. It’s recommended not to have a high volume when the video is played.And that one is a soft version of it. It can get way nastier. Some noises are the...
9/28/2009
Ehiztari
Who said economy has to be boring? That guy hadn't seen, for sure, this app from Puma. A good way to cheer up when everything goes down. There is a different version for each of the main indexes. Via YesButNoButYes.Did you like it? Share it...
9/27/2009
Ehiztari
Last week's meeting of President Obama with the world leaders in the Met in New York has gifted with some photos. Quite a lot, as everyone wanted to be on the photo with the coolest kid in the block and his wife. Sometimes it is just a reminder on how international politics are made.Like this photo with Teodoro Obiang Nguema, the President of Ecuatorial Guinea. If you have oil, it doesn't matter how many human rights you don't respect.Of course some of them are just hilarious. Like this one from the President of the Republic of The Gambia. Anyone can tell me what that guy has on his hands?Others were such good photoshop material that had to be...
9/27/2009
Ehiztari
Two sandstorms left behind an unusual bunch of postcards of Sydney. Here are some examples:More photos in flickr and The Big Picture.Did you like it? Share it...
9/27/2009
Ehiztari
Two European states go to the polls this weekend. In Portugal, the Socialist Party is headed to a narrow win according to the polls. But all that can change dramatically depending on the 20% of Portuguese that don’t know yet who to vote. However, the big fish is up north.Germany is voting now too for a new Government that might not be that new after all. The current Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is set to repeat on her job. What are to be decided are the travel companions. And depending on the options, there is a coloured output available.For the past four years, a coalition of the Christian Democrats (CDU, centre-right) and the Social Democrats...
9/21/2009
Ehiztari
Israeli Defense Forces’ Chief of Staff, Gabi Ashkenazi, said today that the IDF was one of the most moral armies in the world, and more specifically, among the armies in the region. This response comes after the release of Goldstone’s UN report on alleged crimes of war in operation Cast Lead last winter. Quoted from Haaretz (emphasis mine):"But I want to say more than this," he added. "Before all the reports, immediately after the end of the operation, we investigated ourselves. Since then and up until now, we have held a process of investigation, including appeals from Palestinians." He went on to say that from an ethical point of view, the...
9/18/2009
Ehiztari
- Top destination for spies.- Top destination for arms dealers.- Top destination for IAEA inspectors.- Future top destination for IAEA inspectors.- Winter top destination for Israeli jets. Unexpected guests not welcomed.Did you like it? Share it...
9/18/2009
Ehiztari
A couple of updates that I missed yesterday.First, Putin welcomes the decision of Obama to withdraw Bush’s plans for a ground based missile shield by freezing Russian plans to install a similar system in the Baltic. Second, Nathan Hodge from Danger Room finds an interesting coincidence I didn’t: Obama announces the withdraw of the shield the same day that Poland remembers the Soviet invasion of the country in 1939. Unlike me, Polish’s newspapers didn’t miss that point. Did you like it? Share it...
9/18/2009
Ehiztari
At least nine peacekeepers of the African Union (AU) were killed yesterday in a double explosion in their Mogadishu’s headquarters. Among the victims is the Burundian deputy commander. Another top commander, Ugandan General Nathan Mugisha, was also lightly wounded.The attack has been claimed by the Islamist group al-Sahbab. The rebels suffered a big hit this week after a US raid killed one of their top commanders. Immediately, the group vowed for revenge and it has come in the way of two suicide attacks. Apparently, the rebels infiltrated the compound in two stolen UN cars and detonated them once inside.This only comes to show once again the...
9/17/2009
Ehiztari
Rumors, rumors, rumors... For the whole week there have been rumors around the American missile shield and Obama’s decision to withdraw it. Well, finally they got confirmation: the US backs off and won’t install the ground missile system in Poland and the Czech Republic. Of course, Russia is cheering with this shift and right now a bunch of crazy Ivans are for sure getting drunk in a bunker under the Kremlin to celebrate it. Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Duma (Russian Parliament), has said that “now we can talk about restoration of the strategic partnership between Russia and the United States”. Clearly, a...
9/17/2009
Ehiztari
Finally the UN has released his report on the alleged war crimes that Israel may have incurred during Operation Cast Lead. The report states that Israel, among other charges, “terrorized” the population of Gaza and reckons the role played by the Israeli blockade of the strip before the war to trigger Hamas into rocketing Israel. It also recognizes that Hamas rockets over civilian populated areas might be considered as well as war crimes.However, the Jewish country criticized the report even before it came into the light and the fact of it blaming both sides -Hamas too- of war crimes in Gaza is not changing that. Quite the contrary, Israel is...
9/16/2009
Ehiztari
Afghan elections votes have been casted, have been counted and have given the victory to Mr. Hamid Karzai, the current president. But nobody still gives him the victory officially. Even with the allegations of fraud behind, Karzai has achieved only a 54.6 percent of the votes according to the first full results to be released. His opponent, Abdullah Abdullah won a 27.7 percent of the votes. However, still nothing is already sold.The EU independent observers monitoring the elections have made allegations on 1.5m votes. That’s as much as a quarter of all votes casted. Three in four of those -maybe- fraudulent votes, are for Mr. Karzai. If finally...
9/09/2009
Ehiztari
- Israel signs 455 new homes expanding settlements (and controversy) in the West Bank before the freezing...-...while calling the Arabs “occupiers”.- Iran offers a new nuke-deal over growing concern for their nuclear plans (meanwhile, NK enters the “final stage” of his program)- Kidnapped British journo freed in Afghanistan. Local translator and British commando, dead. Debateover releasing information of kidnapped people, heating up.- Report: Most Gazans killed in Cast Lead war were civilians. Nothing to worry: Israel gains support in Europe, even in the anti-semite Spain.Did you like it? Share it...
9/09/2009
Ehiztari
Piracy is often news in Somalia. Or in the Philippines. But rarely happens in the North Atlantic. Not to mention in Europe. That’s why the disappearing of the Arctic Sea, a Maltese freighter with Russian crew, went to the frontpage of newspapers all around the globe.The official story tells us that the Arctic Sea was transporting a timber cargo worth a couple of million dollars. As the ship was full of crazy Ivans (aka Russians), Putin sent two submarines and several vessels after her. But, why seize a freighter in Europe loaded with wood when it was supposed to go through the Suez channel? And why send two nuclear subs after her to find it?There...
9/09/2009
Ehiztari
Sometimes you have a bad day; you wish you hadn’t woken up at all that morning. Imagine that for a week. A month. Well, welcome to Gordon Brown’s hell. Everything started when Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, the Libyan intelligence officer convicted for the Lockerbie bombing, was released two weeks ago. It was not actually Brown’s decision. It was in fact a decision cooked and made in Scotland, Brown’s native country. But as Premier of the UK, he took the blame for it.Megrahi was early released from his imprisonment sentence under compassionate grounds, after being diagnosed in the terminal phase of a cancer. Visible weak, the Libyan agent took...
9/09/2009
Ehiztari
After killing more than 100 people (many of them civilians) in an air strike last week, Germany’s Armed Forces are going under a huge turmoil, both internally and externally.The attack ended up being the bloodiest action for the Bundeswerh since World War II and it’s drawing attention from all fronts inside an already sensibilized country. Prosecutors in Postdam are already investigating whether charges should be brought against the commander who ordered the attack in.But probably the biggest damage (internally) has been done to the public opinion. Germany’s people shares the views on Afghanistan with many European countries like Spain. Their...
9/09/2009
Ehiztari
Brazil announced on Monday the decision to purchase 36 Rafale for the F-X2 program. The operation also includes 12 Brazilian Embraer KC-390 tanker-transport planes to be exported to Paris, a lot of tech exchange between the two companies and joint ventures for the future. The plan can be worth $7 billion.French President Nicolas Sarkozy acted as a chief negotiator for Dessault, a political pressure difficult to match by the other bidders of the contract (the Swedish Grippen and the American Super Hornet). As Robert Wall writes in Aviation Week’s Ares blog, “French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been aggressive -some may say shameless- in acting...
9/07/2009
Ehiztari
It seems like if the shit is about to hit the fan in Afghanistan. If it haven’t, yet. Problems, problems and more problems is the only thing on sight for the Western coalition and their Afghan allies.Day after day allegations for fraud on the last presidential elections grow exponentially. Hamid Karzai needs right now only a 1.2% plus one vote more to be elected president without a second round. That’s however a false impression. According to the numbers of the Independent Electoral Commission, around 150,000 votes may be part of the fraud, so far. It’s an important amount, as much as a 4.3% of the total votes.It doesn’t matter. As Monica Bernabe...
9/02/2009
Ehiztari
- Anyone knows which is the 5th busiest British airport? Here is the answer: Kandahar.- Pakistan official survives assassination attempt. Afghanistan’s, not so lucky.- Iraq finds his Air Force... in Serbia.- How to win a forged election. And a great way to follow forged results in Google maps. Notice this: Karzai’s dominated regions are in the Taliban dominated regions. Coincidence?- Ireland plans to create an Iraq likewise situation in the north... in 1969.Did you like it? Share it...
9/02/2009
Ehiztari
Iranians might have learned the lesson from North Korea. No, we don't talk about the NK cargo ship loaded of weapons seized while heading into Iran. We talk about Kim's negotiation skills: mess with the West and then offer them a sweet.For the past year, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s cabinet has been messing around with the USA and other Western nations about their nuclear program. The official line stated that it was merely for a civilian use. However, the secretism of the program itself, the banning for the IAEA inspectors and the constant improving of Natanz, Shiraz and Isfahan plants suggested something different.This week, the UN published a report...
9/01/2009
Ehiztari
Hamas has grown up. After last winter’s war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, the latter is now the stronger ruler the strip has had in recent years. But with the ruling comes too responsibility and problems. Hamas is tasting now the flavor of power, for good and bad.A bright example: Shalit. What before was an issue merely between two armed forces, the IDF and Hamas, has evolved into a national issue between Israel and Hamas government (although Israel doesn’t recognizes them as a legal government). Stakes are much higher now than what they were a year ago. A false step, backwards or forward, from any part will be considered as an official position...
Are you afraid? Well, this works in that way. First you do what scares you and it's later when you get the courage
9/30/2009
Ehiztari
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