Storm's ramblings of the mind

More then just a fluff of wool?

2005-10-26T17:44:00.000+01:00

Came across this rather humorous article in the Guardian, where it turns out that the British sheep are employing commando-like tactics, to get past human made devices, in order to reach the greener pastures beyond their confinement in Yourkshire county.

Commando sheep.

Ahoy, and a bottle of rum for me!

2005-09-05T20:12:00.000+01:00

I recently discovered this deliciously addictive and entertaining online puzzle game.
It's called Puzzle Pirates, within it you roam the high seas with your fellow sailors and prey on merchants and other vessels in exciting online sea conflicts!
When you feel you've let your enemies taste enough of your cold steel and you can't seem to shake that smell of gunpowder from your nostrils, it's time to head off to the tavern for some ales in drinking games and socializing to rest yer tired pirate bones.

If any of you scurvy dogs want to join me in a life of piracy, feel welcome, my name is Stormo on the Viridian ocean server *<:)

ps. It's entirely free to play, if you wish.

The link is as follows:
The adventure awaits.

Don't think we've been introduced...

2005-08-19T19:05:00.000+01:00

So this week gone has been an eventful one, amongst other things, last Friday there was an attempted burglary into my accommodation, while I was in it!
So there I was sitting by my computer with headphones on, chatting with a couple of friends online. Lights were on in the room and the TV was running with the volume on in the background.
I'd left the window open with a little crack on it to let in some of the fresh night air.
There I am minding my own business when suddenly I notice something out of the corner of my eye, when I looked over I notice a hand coming though the curtains moving them around. Evidently someone was reaching through the window from the outside checking out the room before going in.
As soon as I noticed this I shouted out, threw of the headphones and ran towards the window.
The immediate response was the scurrying of feet down the steel staircase outside my window into the dark. When I reached the window and pried it open, whoever had been there were or was gone.

Then the following Sunday I heard 5 gunshots from what must not have been more then two streets away.

It's events like this that make you reflect on if you're really living in the best of places, then again this is what one can expect when living in a city rather then more rural areas.
So it’s something everyone needs to weight with themselves, the hustle and bustle with higher crime rates vs. quiet and calm in what is generally a safer environment.

Revenge of the Sith, Chine-Angelised...

2005-08-01T20:10:00.000+01:00

Now I haven't seen the most recent Star Wars flick, however a friend of mine pointed out this page to me, where its writer had picked up Star Wars Episode III from his local DVD dealer in Shanghai.

Now nothing special about that, if not for the fact, that this Shanghai version of the DVD included English captions of the Chinese version for the script. And those captions turned out to be somewhat humorous, if not misshapen attempts at these translations.

The link includes screenshots, description of what is actually being said in English during the film, under the pictures, and then the "fabulous" translations from the Chinese script seen in the captions of the screenshots.

Chine-Angelised Star Wars captions.

Islamic suicide bombers responsible

2005-07-13T12:27:00.000+01:00

The shocking truth about the London bombings came to light yesterday when Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of the Anti-Terrorist Branch, announced on a press conference that Britain had been the victim of suicide bombers for the first time.

The suicide bomb plot.
The execution of the plot.
The bombers profiles.

It's worrying to think that people from a good and stable background would be able to justify to themselves and perform such an act in good faith. In addition, these extremists were not immigrants struggling to fit in, but British citizens who had grown up and lived many years within the fold of our society yet quite willing to take the lives of innocent people trying to live their lives the best they could in this country.

Muslims in the aftermath

2005-07-12T10:41:00.000+01:00

The repercussions of the bombings in London have begun to have an effect on the Muslim community with racism and religious persecution cases cropping up accross Britain.

Kishwer Falkner considers how to deal with extremism within their midst, how it came to be and how this affects Muslims as a whole in the UK.

London bombings

2005-07-10T16:55:00.000+01:00

The atrocities committed in London during rush hour at 8.50 in the morning on Thursday the 7th July 2005 will not soon be forgotten.

I myself was at work when the first pictures started appearing on the TV screens during the morning and followed the developments of these cowardly acts throughout the day.
It made me very angry to think that I and my sister had been travelling with the Circle lines in London where the bombs exploded, only that Sunday before.
Where as I also travelled alone to King’s Cross, but one of the bombs went off in that tube on the Piccadilly line.

Click on the map below for details about the bomb locations:

Quote from ABC News (10 July,2005):
The confirmed death toll from Thursday's attacks was 49, but police said it would rise after teams of police, forensic scientists and investigators remove bodies still in London's vast Underground transport system.
It was not known how many bodies remained inside the Russell Square subway tunnel, but difficult conditions including temperatures that spike to 140 degrees, asbestos and rats had been hampering the recovery effort.
//Quote Ends

In addition to the death toll there are currently around 1000 reported injured people.

It is hard to imagine what would go through the minds of people as those that are responsible for this heartless act.
The timing is particularly gruesome as well, Live 8 concerts were held internationally just the weekend before, the G8 summit was starting that morning and London had just been approved as the holder of the 2012 Olympics.

As of yet it is not clear who are responsible but the acts themselves point towards terrorist organizations.
The gain from this, other then as a publicity stunt by some terrorist organization, like al-Qaeda for example is unclear.

The Live 8 concerts were held all over the world to fight poverty and aid the suffering of the people in Africa and put pressure on the leaders of the G8 summit now being held in Edinburgh to increase aid to those in need, thanks to Bob Geldofs pure determination.

The G8 summit is a gathering of some of the worlds most powerful and influential leaders. They are currently meeting do discuss, among other items, world poverty and environmental problems such as global warming. Both of these are positive things and not related to terrorism.

These actions are not likely to improve the situation for the millions of Muslims already living in the UK who were the face of persecution in some cases after 9/11 due to their background, even though actions like these are not a representation of the majority but of small extremist groups.

I hope these bombing will not turn into a witch hunt were the government feels the need to point the finger at some innocent people to sedate public anger, but rather that the actual people and groups responsible are properly identified before the hammer of justice comes down.

The public statements from official leaders, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and the leaders gathered at the G8 summit in face of these acts of cruelty inspire confidence that these things will be dealt with properly and will not be allowed to influence the G8 summits results or the society we live in.

Tony Blair’s statement from Downing Street.

Joint official statement from the G8 summit leaders.

Live Aid concert and a birthday

2005-07-10T15:33:00.000+01:00

I had the privilege of winning a couple of tickets to the Live8 concert here in London on the Saturday of the 2nd July after texting a message in to Live8.

I attended the concert with my sister, who flew in from Iceland, to celebrate her birthday with me on the concert.

The whole experience was amazing that left me exhausted yet exuberated.
Appearing was a long a list of international artists playing live over a period of what turned out to be some 14 hours in Hyde Park. Luckily there were tents in the premises that sold refreshments and food.
During that period me and my sister happily wondered around the whole area and joined in with the mash-pit closer to the stage at times when our favoured bands appeared on stage.

During the concert a series of short films/videos were shown, on a series of massive screens, which made the gravity of poverty in Africa very clear to its viewers.
A particularly moving instance was when an image of a child suffering from mail-nourishment was shown on the screens, watched by the silent eyes of an crowd of 150.000 people gathered in the area. Shortly followed by the appearance of an attractive young and healthy African woman on stage. She had in fact once been that suffering child on the screens, that since had received help through Live 8.
She carried a message of gratitude to the people who have helped in the past and continue to do so as she would not have been standing there if it had not been for her benefactors. This was followed by a roaring applause.

If you want to make your voice heard in support for these needy people, here is a link where you can add your name to the now list of millions of people urging more support from the leaders now seated at the G8 summit in Edinburgh.

Live 8 List

For more on the concert and what live8 is all about simply click here.

Is drug trade supporting the US economy?

2004-10-21T17:37:00.000+01:00

I recently watched "The Truth and Lies of 9/11", with Mike Rupert. He makes an argument that the US economy would buckle under its own deficit if it were not for the government’s hand in the drug trade.
Now whether this is fact or fiction I am unable to confirm, however there is an important underlying question regarding economic vs. social values here.

If the US government is indeed conducting in drug imports to help maintain a stable overall economy in the US, is this something that can be excused or justified, at the expense of the minority, to maintain a stable economy?

The answer to this question is going to be as different as there are people, as even if the pros and cons are weighted up, of whether the government should stop importing drugs and let the economy slip or continue and causing further harm to its citizens, the decision would be influenced by the personal values and interests.

Given the scenario that the government is indeed importing mass quantities of illegal drugs. What would happen if they were to stop?

If the deficit would cause the balance of the national economy to drop this could mean the loss of jobs, causing increasing expenses to the government in payouts. And with fewer purchases being made by the nation’s public due to lost revenue, this would decrease the flow of money to firms, forcing them to cut back to remain competitive within the market. This could then again cause more loss of jobs and decrease in export, hurting the national budget.
Less money coming in from taxes plus more expenses would eventually have to lead to cutbacks within the government itself and this would hurt the community in general.

On the other had if the government were to continue investing in the drug trade, this would continue causing a negative effect on the overall social-fibre of the nation.
A few would be, increase in drug related crime rates, slowing down social and economic development within certain parts and areas of the community.
On the government side this is also costly, increased costs for healthcare and security, lesser land and real-estate value brining less into the budget, more money spent on drug-education and prevention just to name a few.

Possibly this trend could be reversed and a slow reduction in the import of drugs in a step-by-step process, where money could be diverted from the incurred drug related costs to build up a healthier economy without the need of narcotics for stability could be obtained, giving a overall healthier community. Though in the process the overall standard of life might fall while the people currently suffering most from drug related problems might be able to rise up to a more acceptable standard of living. But all of this is hypothetical.

The question that remains in the end is, would you be willing to sacrifice part of your own standard of life and risk your future financial and/or job prospects, for the hope of decreasing drug trade and their related problems within society and helping those worst affected by it to get a better chance at life?

Right to know

2004-09-12T20:55:00.000+01:00

While reading a book on globalization I came across this paragraph:

The new constitution in Thailand promises a stronger democracy (including a provision embracing the citizens' "right to know", not even included in the U.S. constitution)... *

This awakens thoughts about an interesting subject, how much does the public really know and how much of that knowledge is in fact filtered or modified by the government or media to make the public perceive a particular issue their way in western nations?
Not to mention the amount of events that slip under the radar of the publics’ eye.

Examples of this would be the news broadcast by major stations.
Even thought some may strive to be independent there is often an element of biases, either on behalf of the reporter or the station, whether guided by personal beliefs and views or if it's a matter of interest to that individual or media, political or otherwise, the information we in the public finally receive may be somewhat skewed.
Another to consider is that though facts portrayed may be true they can in some cases be somewhat one sided. And as such may not inform the public of all the issues involved or emit other parties’ sides to the reporting.

The government is also a place where knowledge may not be freely available or only selected pieces of a larger picture may be available. This may be for good in some cases as some of the information may be better classified, to avoid it getting into the wrong hands, however it may also work counteractive.
Sometimes outdated rules and regulations and overabundant bureaucracy enables/causes the government to withhold knowledge that should in some minds be rightfully accessible by the public.

Now I am not one for conspiracy theories but it would be naive to presume that an absolutely clear flow of information or complete access to knowledge is available in most western nations to the public. And in many cases individuals may not have the resources, time or will to find the facts out for themselves and as such resolve to lead their lives with half-open eyes and simply take what is given to them without questioning motives or facts lying behind the veil drawn across our eyes.

News and information, shared or withheld, has always been an important and powerful political tool that may be used to influence the public one way or another, for better or worse, it is a part of the world many of us live in. The only thing we need to do is to decide for ourselves what we will do with the information given to us and how far we are willing to look beyond it.

* "Globalization and its Discontent" by Joseph Stiglitz p. 131-132 on the East Asia Crisis.

An adventure in the grasps of Islam.

2004-08-19T12:24:00.000+01:00

I am now about to embark on a journey to the northern coast of Africa, Hammamet in Tunisia to be exact, this coming September.
Where I shall take some time out of my hectic work/study lifestyle to enjoy the niceties of staying at an all inclusive hotel next to the open beaches of the Mediterranean Sea.

I am not alone in this endeavour but will be joined by a lovely individual by the name of Jade. Hopefully we will get the chance to travel to Hammamet to do some haggling in the open markets and get some much needed culture shock.

You can see all about our residence in Tunisia by following the below link:

Kinza Hotel in Hammamet

Is Kerry up to the job?

2004-08-10T18:50:00.000+01:00

Quote from the Economist:

SIR – You should be frightened at the thought of the world's dominant economy being taken over by a liberal Democrat with no real experience in administering anything of any note. Governing a state or at least running a big governmental entity is usually a vital prerequisite to overseeing the sprawling federal bureaucracy. Being so distant politically from the mainstream of the body politic ensures that a Kerry-Edwards administration would be mired in legislative gridlock from the start. The thought of them, in over their heads, turning to the likes of Edward Kennedy and Bill Clinton for political sustenance could only excite the naive or those without America's best interests at heart.

Ron Goodden
Atlanta

//Quote ends

Interestingly enough I am not sure Bush's administration is currently doing a much better job when it comes to fiscal policies themselves. If we look at the results of the current national monetary policies.

As I recently read in the Chicago Tribune that my friend happened to bring over while visiting me here in the UK.
The GDP for the U.S. economy has fallen by just over 4% over the last year.

Though Josh Bolten, the director of Office of Management and Budget was quoted saying that the "economy is strong and growing stronger" and that this was the main cause, a lower deficit would be announced at this fiscal year (ending September 30th).

The democrats have pointed out the lower GDP and the deficit to criticize Bush's tax cuts and job losses during his administration period. This causing a weaker national economy.

One of Kerry's campain goals is to broaden the middle class by bringing more people above the "poverty line" and to enforce higher taxes on higher income individuals and firms.
By doing this he is hoping to have a broader base for income tax and in addition, by cutting "favours" to large corporations, to decrease the monetary deficit.

It is easily a highly debated subject when it comes to the wast difference in the financial goals and plans of President Bush and the hopeful candidate but it would be jumping the gun to write Kerry off for having less large scale government leading then Bush had before taking up his current role.

Both of these fine gentlemen attended the same ivy league school and have a similar network of advisors that no doubt play a large role in establishing national fiscal policies.

Though looking at national economic results in relation to international ones may not necessary give us an entirely accurate view. It is often said that one should first look at oneself before passing judgement on others and as such perhaps a introspective diagnosis of the American economy is not so far from being correct when reflecting on the wider international one.

My first post.

2004-08-10T17:56:00.000+01:00

I accordance to the rules of blogging, I am now letting my presence be known online with a little yet standardized test message to all of whom it may concern.

Here goes nothing:

Hello World!