Yet more good news about the way that blogging is reaching into Middle Eastern society - in this case, Syria:

He has glasses and the kind of baby face that relatives probably like to pinch. But beneath the mild exterior of this Syrian mobile phone operator there is some righteous, youthful anger.

He expresses that anger in a blog.

“I write about everything I’m pissed off about, the things that make me angry: extremism, poverty, religion,” he says with an incongruous smile.

However, it looks as though the Syrian blogging community beginning to reach the critical mass that attracts the unwelcome attention of the authorities:

And even though he and the other two bloggers, Ghalia and Sara, have made great efforts to emphasize to me they are not political, Majd’s blog has already garnered the blogger’s badge of honor: enough notoriety to prompt authorities to block access to it. For Majd, this happened at work.

“My blog got banned at the office,” he says, after he posted “Calm Tsunami,” a fable of sorts.

One to watch.

Categories: Global politics, Tech
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A doctor from New Zealand has decided that there just isn’t enough money in doctoring these days, and has closed his medical practice so he can open a brothel instead:

Dr Benson said his brothel would employ “beautiful, experienced professional girls” from outside the district and cater for tourists and locals.

“Running a brothel is about providing a private service and maintaining confidentiality,” he said. “That is what my medical practice was about, so it’s not a big leap really.

“The standards of my medical practice were high and that will cross over to the brothel environment.

Catering for all your medical kinks.

Categories: Culture
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Russia Today (russiatoday.com) is a news portal about Russia, run from within the United States.

Russia Today (rttv.ru) is the RIA Novosti’s (in other words, the Kremlin’s) spangly new 24 hour Russian language tv channel, launched a few months ago.

And now, they’re fighting over the right to use the name ‘Russia’.  I know this because the fight is so serious that people are sending out press releases about it.
Russia Today…. um, that’s russiatoday.com… kicked the whole thing off a couple of weeks ago.  They sent a letter to Russia Today… um, to rttv.ru… demanding that Russia Today… that’s rttv.ru, in case you weren’t sure… immediately change their name, or face legal action.  Apparently, visitors to Russia Today… yes, russiatoday.com, the ones that sent the letter… were getting all confused, and thought that Russia Today… the Russian one… was something to do with Russia Today… the American one.

With me so far?  Good.

So, anyway, Russia Today… the one sponsored by the Kremlin… thought that this was a rather frivolous claim, and sent a letter to Russia Today… oh, come on, keep up - the American one… with the not entirely unreasonable request:

Please provide us with the following documents for consideration of your letter of January 17 2006:

1. Legal papers, which prove the registration of the word combination “Russia Today” as a trade mark;
2. Authorisation of the Government of the Russian Federation to use the name in the title

I await the Russia Today’s… come on, you know which one… response with baited breath.

In the meantime, I’m going to start a spread on when the United States, the United Kindom, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Nations launch a four way court case over who gets to be United.

Categories: Russia
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It seems like far too many US congressmen (or, at least, their staff) are re-writing their Wikipedia entries for comfort.  And now, some Wikipedia regulars are fighting back… they’re attempting to ban anyone with a house.gov internet address from editing articles.

Nice idea but… take just one look at the “Request for Comment” that they’ve posted.

I’d include an excerpt here, but it’s so overly technical and filled with pseudo legalese that it’d never make sense unless you saw the whole page in all its glory.

I predict bad times ahead for these Wiki activists.  They’ve made the schoolboy error of choosing to fight on someone else’s home-field.  They’ve chosen to take on Congress staffers in legalese, and bad legalise at that.  The staffers do this all day, every day.  They’ll eat the Wiki activists for breakfast.

Far better to have stuck to a medium they know - the dissemination of information, preferably to the press.

By the way - some are already beginning to say Wikipedia is beginning to look stupid:

Defenders of Wikipedia has said if you don’t like an entry edit it. Well, someone did. It didn’t expand readers’ knowledge. For political and other controversial subjects Wikipedia is turning into a propaganda stage. Its reputation is slowly dropping to the level of a James Frey memoir.

Categories: Tech, US politics
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Via Aljazeera comes the clearest indication yet of the Iranian government’s sincere desire to build a lasting partnership with Britain - an invitation to speak at their debate on the conference on the holocaust (or, rather, the imaginary holocaust):

Hamid Reza Asefi, a foreign ministry spokesman, said: “It would be good for Mr Blair to participate in the Holocaust seminar in Tehran.

“He can also contribute with an article. If he wants to defend the Holocaust in that article, he can do so. We will give him the time to read out his article so others can hear his point of view.”

Unfortunately, I think Tony probably has to wash his hair that day.

Categories: Global politics
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Wikipedia has temporarily closed down in Germany, because of a legal dispute. The family of a dead German hacker, Tron, whose real name had been posted on the site, have claimed that Wikipedia is violating their right to privacy.

James Enck notes though, that the family’s efforts to protect their privacy have largely failed:

It’s all a bit silly when you can read all about it here (English). This is, of course, the US site of Wikipedia, where the same information is available, including in German. National litigation rendered nonsensical by a supranational web.

It’s good news in one sense, as it demonstrates yet again the difficulties of inhibiting the spread of information via the internet.   But, sadly, not such good news for the family in question, as by launching this ill-advised lawsuit they’ve spread their son’s identity so far and wide that even I’m writing about it.

I know it’s easy to say this in hindsight, but one really has to question the competence of the lawyers who led them into this case.

Categories: Culture, Europe, Tech
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Ever wondered how big the Ukrainian blogosphere is?

Large enough for this Global Voices Online roundup to name 27 of them writing in English alone.

Categories: Former Soviet Union
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The BBC reports that the family of Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb General who masterminded massacres of thousands and who is currently wanted by the Hague for war crimes, have been in ’secret negotiations’ with the Serbian government:

Zoran Stankovich, the Serbian minister involved, has denied that the talks are about Mladic’s surrender.

“I spoke with (his son) Darko and his mother just before New Year’s Eve, in this office. I can’t talk about it for obvious reasons,” he said.

“As you know, while something is still in progress any comment will be inappropriate. It would only interfere with the ongoing investigation.”

Serbia wants to join the EU at some stage, and won’t want to suffer the same embarrasment as Croatia, whose membership talks were delayed because they weren’t co-operating sufficiently with the Hague.

Even more pressing though, are the upcoming negotiations over the future status of Kosovo.  Demonstrating that they are acting in good faith, they will reason, can only help their cause, and decrease the chances of Kosovo gaining full independence.
So, I can see two potential reasons for releasing this story:

• One, they are making it up, or making an inconsequential discussion seem like more than it is, in order to persuade the world that they really are looking hard for Mladic.
• Two, they are actually negotiating his surrender.

The loudmouthed cynic who stands on my right shoulder would have me put my money on option one.

But the tiny voice of the optimist that stands wittering away on my left shoulder, seems to think that this is an opportunity for the EU and US to make it clear to the Serbian government that everything rides on the handover over Mladic and, more, on the handover of Radovan Karadzic.

I’m off to the bookies.

Categories: Europe
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An alarming, but not very surprising development from the United States:

Members of U.S. Rep. Martin Meehan’s staff have acknowledged they deleted unflattering information about a broken campaign promise from an online encyclopedia, according to a published report.

Content on Wikipedia, an encyclopedia that relies on volunteers to post information, was replaced to remove references to Meehan’s broken term limit pledge, the Sun of Lowell reported.

Meehan’s chief of staff Matt Vogel told the newspaper that he oversaw the removal last July of information, which was replaced with a staff-written biography.

Meehan, a Lowell Democrat, pledged to serve just four terms — eight years — but he later broke that campaign promise. He’s currently serving his seventh term.

I wonder how long it will be before we see the first UK politician trying the same stunt.

Although, actually, this brings to mind the question - how many British politicians actually have biographies on Wikipedia?

Hat tip: The New Editor

Categories: Tech, UK, US politics
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David Blunkett says that Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have reached an “understanding” that Blair will step down sometime over the next couple of years in favour of Brown:

Asked about the relationship between the two men, Mr Blunkett told BBC1’s Sunday AM programme: “My sense is that there is a new understanding, yes … When Tony Blair and Gordon Brown work together we are a winner, and when they are divided our opponents can divide us, it is as simple as that.” He added that it was “self-evident” that the chancellor would succeed Mr Blair. “And whether it is a year or two years, it actually will be a sensible process of combining the talents that we have.” A source close to Mr Brown said: “The prime minister has made it clear he is stepping down during this parliament and that he wants a stable transition. Any suggestion that there is a new deal on that transition is totally wrong.”

OK, David Blunkett is still thought to be quite close to Tony Blair, despite the scandals that have driven Blunkett out of office, so there is a fair chance that he is passing the word down from on high.

But, to be honest, it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to know that Blair is going to have to stand down in a couple of years anyway, at the absolute maximum.

Where’s the news here?

Categories: UK
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Everyone seems to be getting upset about the whole Simon Hughes being ‘gay’ thing. But not about him being gay as such - that would be politically incorrect. Instead, everyone’s getting upset because, last week, when a journalist asked him if he was gay, he said “no”. But this week, he told the world that he’d slept with both men and women. Which makes him automatically ‘gay’ in the eyes of most in the media, it would seem.

Now actually, this technically makes him bisexual (assuming he is telling the truth, of course, which I think he probably is).

I guess that there is some kind of case for saying he deliberately confused the issue when he said he wasn’t gay. While he didn’t necessarily lie, he wasn’t exactly forthcoming with the truth - which is what, as a politician, he does for a living.

But this is what I really can’t understand… every British journalist with even a passing interest in politics knew that Hughes was, if not gay, then… not exactly straight. So, when said to a journalist “No, I’m not gay”, was it entirely beyond the wit of the United Kingdom’s assembled journalists to ask the probing follow ups -”are you bisexual?”, “are you straight?” or, even, “tell us about your sexuality, Simon”?

Categories: UK
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Tim Worstall has been digging, and wonders whether, despite denials, the goverment is actually planning to incorporate RFID tags into ID cards.

He quotes from a Telegraph report:

…a leaked letter from Mr Burnham indicates that the chips will use radio frequencies to allow “contactless” reading of the card by special scanners.

The Home Office said the signals emitted would be picked up only at a distance of a few inches. But Phil Booth, co-ordinator of the No2ID campaign, said receivers could easily be boosted to receive signals from much further away.

In the comments, he asks for anyone with technical knowledge to tell him if it’s possible. And the scary answer comes back - yes, and it’s not just the government who could benefit:

RFID snooping is only a matter of a non-standard antenna or of illegal power amplification. The world record was demonstrated last July - 69 feet through the roof of a hotel, for RFID tags which have a normal working range of about a metre or less.

[…] The worrying scenario is that the terrorists who are currently building bombs and booby traps in Iraq using infra-red detonators, would be able to use such “unique” EFID tags to target either individuals or to wait until a certain number of, say US or British passport or ID Card holders were within range before exploding.

OK, I’m getting a little worried now. Time to join the anti-ID card campaign, methinks. And maybe, as Tim suggests, begin checking out investment opportunities in companies that can make mini-Faraday cages.

Categories: UK
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Saddam Hussein has just walked out of his trial in protest at the approach of a new ‘hard-line’ judge.

Judge Rahman moved to immediately stamp his authority on the proceedings and ordered the removal of Mr al-Tikiriti, who hurled insults as he was dragged away.

The judge then rounded on the defence lawyers saying that they had contributed to the atmosphere that allowed defendants to think they could make lengthy speeches and disrespect the authority of the court.

Next, a defence lawyer was ejected from the court, and as a result the rest of Saddam’s defence team stormed out.

I’m all in favour of allowing domestic courts to judge cases, rather than international tribunals, or the international court.  But, only if the domestic courts are capable of doing so in a fair and balanced manner.

But, sadly, this trial is descending into farce. Defence lawyers have been killed, and not offered any real protection, and the first judge has been publicly accused by members of the government of being too lenient on the defendants.  And now we have a hard-line judge who seems more intent on matching Saddam every step of the way in the game of playing to the audience than he is on ensuring justice.

Any pretence that justice Saddam would get a fair trial - which was vital to assuaging the fears of Iraq’s Sunni majority - is now gone.

Categories: Global politics
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Ever wondered how our tastes in naked women have changed over the decades? Artist Jason Salavon certainly has. For each decade since the 1960, he’s compiled a digital average of each playboy centrefold picture, and merged them together to create one slightly blurry but, happily, worksafe picture…

Sadly, it doesn’t cast any new light on the debate about whether 21st century man prefers women with larger breasts than did 1960s man. But it does clearly show that brunettes have been edged out in favour of blondes, and that tans are certainly no longer fashionable - in fact, judging by the final picture in the sequence, I think it’s only a matter of time before we see the first artfully undressed ghost in the pages of Playboy.

Categories: Culture
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Ken Blackwell is the Secretary of State for Ohio.  And he’s got some pretty scary views on abortion (yeah, I know, I’m a wussy liberal, but still).  Check out this excerpt from a recent campaign interview, posted by Majikthise:

Q: If Roe v. Wade were to be overturned, would you sign a law that would outlaw abortions in the case of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother?
A: Yes.
Q: Including the life of the mother?
A: Yes.

An interesting judgement on the relative values of the life of a fully grown woman, and the life of an unborn child.

I’m in full on nitpicking mode today though, so what I really found oddest about Majikthise’s post was her concern about the location of the interview:

Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell is getting awfully cocky. Last week, he gave a campaign-related interview in the Secretary of State’s Office. That’s an illegal use of office resources for campaign purposes.

It can get pretty cold in Ohio this time of the year.  Where else do you expect the man to conduct interviews?  Standing out in the parking lot?

Categories: US politics
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Chelsea chief exec says that the club’s record losses - a staggering £180 million, the highest ever recorded in British, and probably European football history - are because of  “a series of exceptional one off rises.”

 ”These figures reflect the continuing restructuring of the business which we began in 2003-4,” Chelsea chief Peter Kenyon told the club website.

“The rise is down to some exceptional items that were necessary to help us in our aim to break-even by 2009-10.”

The termination of a deal with Umbro, which cost £25.5m, plus a total loss of £22.8m over the transfers of Adrian Mutu and Juan Sebastien Veron and the £5m for Academy recruitment were picked out as the “exceptional items”.

Hang on.  £25.5m plus £22.8m plus £5m only adds up to a little over £50 million.  Even taking these figures into account, Chelsea lost almost £130 million last year, which would still be a record loss. 

Thank god for the largesse of the Russian people, eh?

Categories: Sport
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So, here it is - Taking Aim. My very own weblog, where I can write about anything I want. And will.

And I have to say, it’s a very pretty blog.This is mainly because I didn’t have a hand in the design - it’s all the work of Rui Pereira, who has created the wonderful vslider theme. Over the next few days, I’ll be customising it some - changing the header image for a start - and probably making it look far less attractive than it does now.

OK, it’s getting late in the evening. Sleep now. Blog later.

Categories: Announcements
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