I’m a Pundit

North Korea has yet again begun to push the boundaries of nuclear testing as they launched an underground nuclear test with less than an hours warning to the rest of the world.  Their consistant tests of these weapons against all UN laws has sparked contraversy over the fact that maybe the American war against WMD’s would be better spent in these locations rather than say, those with no evidence of Weapons of Mass Distruction.

This is worrying though, as North Korea does not seem to have any qualms about their irresponsible use of nuclear power, especially in its military capacity.  Many people have now begun to question whether or not North Korea is infact a threat.  This is in my eyes particularly relevant considering how few people were concerned about the threat posed by other, low risk, countries.

For the meantime however there is little we can do other than watch and wait, although the real risk is an all out war developing between Japan and China versus North Korea.  This could cause real tension in the region where the two countries have often been held with a steady wary gaze from their neighbours. Both these world powers have expressed concern over the testing so close to their borders though, they have also warned the North Korean government with possible military action.

written by Oli \\ tags: Government, North Korea, Nuclear Weapons, WMD

Near a decade has passed since the Embargo was passed on Cuba, and just recently Obama has removed this restriction.  Can I say here, Brilliant,The best way to remove communism is to flaunt the prowess of democracy, let the trading commence, let the people learn that Deomacracy is better. Maybe there will be a mini revolution, maybe cuba will slide in to democracy.  Either way I believe that all countries should be as interconnected as possible, let the world join together, and while not be in a happy marriage, let it be a place where anyone can go and explore where they want! 

written by Oli \\ tags: Cuba

With a trip to America planned there has not been much time for me to read the paper recently.  One thing that has garnered my attention however is the latest string of Pirate attacks that are suddenly being publicized.  Now Modern day pirate attacks are no new thing, and the publicity can only help towards ending this.  What worries me however is how soft we are being to the pirates.Currently these people are sailing the seas, killing innocent people and stealing their boats, ships and cargo.  Currently if they get talk all that happens is their weapons and ammunition are conficated and tehy are given provision, yes thats right we give the pirates goods, and send them home.  Is there just me that sees something wrong with this?I very much doubt that I was not the only one who cheered when I heard that three of the somalian pirates had been shot dead while holding an American prisoner hostage, these guys go out as bandits and pillage the ships, they get what they deserve.What interests me is why they get given aid, not punishment, would a bank robber be let go if he was caught stealing millions, because these pirates steal millions.   Further more would a bank robber be taken to the nearest fast food joint and given a burger? Hell No!If these pirates are intent on continuing their piracy I think our navies should go out their and show with true force what happens to people who mess with our ships, blow em out of the water!And for all the people who say it i because they were fishermen who had all their fish stolen, this has been going on for decades, I think even in that region after nearly 30 years people can get their heads around a different profession.  

written by Oli \\ tags: Pirates

Its not often that I wonder about the depths that humanity can reach, but recent evidence uncovered around Melbourne in Australia that the bush fires which have claimed the lives of over 180 people may have been started by arsonists.These fires have displaced over 3000 people from their homes and injured over 1000.  The fact that this devestation could be a calculated man made travesty sickens me.  How could someone calculatingly start fires in the blistering heats currently affecting Australia and still look these people in the face.My deepest condolences and well wishes go out to the families and those affected by these devastating bush fires which are sweeping the areas around Melbourne.I sincerely hope the police in Australia find the arsonist/s behind these fires as soon as possible, before things become even worse. 

written by Oli \\ tags: Arson, Australia, Worldwide

Internet freedom is something that went unchecked for many years, up untill the last decade in the UK.  Other countries such as China severely restrict waht people can see.  Today however a huge debate sparked up after a wikipedia page was banned on several ISPs which displayed an album cover from the band Scorpions.

The reason this page was banned was because it  shows the album cover (Also banned in the UK) Which depicts a nude child.

Now first off, let me state, in my personal opinion using a nude image of a child is wrong.  Recently an artist complained on restriction of his art because he was photographing nude children.  Can I point out to my readers here that Art is an expression of emotion, if naked children flip these artists buttons then they need locking up before they act out their emotion.

What worries a lot of people in the wikipedia album cover debate however is not the naked child, but more the fact that teh page was blocked by ISPs without any governement interventian, it was infact a seperate body which added this site to their banned list and distributed it to the ISPs.

The body in question is  the IWF (Internet Watch Foundation), Britains online child protection watchdog.

In some ways I have to admit I applaud the efforts of these guys and the ISPs in blocking the content.   On the other however I worry that this is only the beginning of dictatorship like controls on what we can view online.

There is no doubt that child abuse is wrong, but such a control over our viewing could easily be extended, what would you say if your ISP did not let you shop online anywhere but their own store?

What if the government only let you buy items from the UK to avoid people skipping import tax?

How far would you let this go before you complained?

written by Oli \\ tags: Child Abuse, Internet Censorship, Internet Watch Foundation, IWF, Wikipedia

I read through quiet a few blogs on an evening and it was a couple of nights ago when I went through another of my regularhaunts, Jaggy’s Blog.  It was on this website where I saw the following.

Text messages are just data, there’s nothing special about them, in fact they’re a tiny amount of data. Each character (a,b,c etc) is represented by a single Byte of data. You can have 160 user characters per text message, plus the header data which is added automatically including the phone number the message is from, where it’s going, and the date, time etc. Let’s say a round number of 200 Bytes of data.200 Bytes of data, at roughly 10p per text message.5 X 200 Bytes gives you 1 kilobyte at 50p.

1000 X 1 kilobyte (KB) gives you 1 Megabyte (MB) of data at 50,000p or £500.

1000 X 1 Megabyte gives you 1 Gigabyte (GB) of data at £5000.

You can expect to use about 1GB of data a month on a typical home broadband connection, provided you aren’t downloading movies, are a porn addict or illegally sharing music. So would you pay £5000 a month to your Broadband provider?

Personally, I find these statistics shocking,  would you pay £5000 ($10,000) for a mere gigabyte of data, most providers are giving out 1 Terabyte of data  with computers nowdays!

On your broadband connection they usually have a fair usage policy, this apparently settles at around 30 gigabytes per day, so if you had to pay per gigabyte at this rate for your home broadband connection you would be shelling out £150,000 a month!

I had never even thought about the cost of text messages untill I read this post, now however I am utterly disguisted that the phone companies must be making such a huge killingon 10p texts it is insane.

True there must be connection and distribution costs to the suppliers, but do they really amount to £5000 per gigabyte of transfer?

written by Oli \\ tags: , Cellphones, Mobile Phones, Rip Off, Text Messages, Texts

I was browsing some of my blogging hangouts this morning and found what can only be described as one of the funniest summaries of the economic climate I have seen so far.

The quote comes direct from I am Livid, a fantastic British blog by the disturbingly anomynous, and scarily hairy, Mr Angry.

I have fond memories of the recent men’s 100 metres final in Beijing. Usain Bolt put in a performance that quite literally, made track and field history.

Then I look at the state of the country today, with rising inflation, falling house prices, banks on the verge of collapse, recession looming large on the horizon, and a feeling among many that things are about to take a significant turn for the worse.

Then I look back to just over three years ago to the Live 8 concerts, and I wonder if the Government completely misunderstood the stated aim of Making Poverty History. Because right now, it looks like they could be about to do just that.

written by Oli \\ tags: Depression, Economy, Funny, Government, Humor, Humour, Live 8, Poverty, Recession

Despite multiple cash injections around the globe the stock markets finally slumped as the major banking institution Lehmen filed for bankruptcy. While the global economy crisis itself is not unexpected it seems amazing to me that those in charge remain so blind as to the effect it has on the world.

Hell American Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said today that;

“Americans could remain confident in the “soundness and resilience” of the US financial system.”

Now excuse me for just a second her, saying the American Economy is resiliant is like saying the George Bush is going to be President again, completely unrealistic.  Seriously the US economy has been floating on thin air for a long time, and it has been long overdue for a crash.

The first step to fixing problems is admitting tehm, and this seems to be something that neither the American or English Governments are willing to do yet.

written by Oli \\ tags: Crisis, Depression, Exconomy, Gobal, Recession

I have often commented on the insanity of the British legal system, murderers get put in jail for 2 years while people who are too poor to afford taxes get 10, people who beat people in drunken brawls in city centre, trash peoples cars or break into peoples houses get off scott free, while someone defending themselves gets a sentence.

Therefore it was refreshing to read a story regarding a man, who after splitting up with his wife five years ago became an alcoholic, spending around £500 a week.  He was recently convicted of his seventh driving offence, but spared jail on the offence that he did not touch or drinking alcohol for 12 months.

This isn’t however what made me laugh, as part of the judges verdict, he said,

‘(That is) poor judgement on two counts there — drinking that much and drinking Melbourne Bitter,”

This coming from a country where personal choice in beer is sometimes fought for as aggressively as their support for football teams I could not help but laugh at the judge bringing this rivalry into the courtroom, something that would see a judge suspended in the UK.

God bless Australia.

written by Oli \\ tags: Australia, Crime, Drinking, Driving, Funny, News

Suicide Bombing was a far and distant terror for most people until the 9/11 attacks. Recently though it seems to have dropped from the news, but in reality there are still a huge amount of suicide bombings occurring in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The difference is they are now targeting civilians in their own countries. I really despair as to what they hope to achieve by bombing, for instance, a market filled with women and children, barely any men and no security forces.

How can someones mind be twisted to a point where they not only believe this is a good idea, but that the senseless slaughter of the children of their own country will somehow guarantee them a place in heaven.

It seems however that this will not stop occurring in the near future, and there is not really any possible way we can prevent it ourselves, after all how do you reason with a person so undeniably insane that they will blow themselves up around children and women with the sole goal of hatred and revenge and the belief that they will go to heaven afterwards.

It saddened me to think that in today’s day and age there are people out there who can seriously bomb the weak and think they are doing the correct thing

written by Oli \\ tags: Afghanistan, Iraq, Suicide Bombing, War