I may not be autistic, but I think a few colleagues would like to get a hold of this little gadget when I’m at work… it will tell you if you’re being boring or irritating. God knows I seldom realise it until much later!
I bought into the hype and controversy and watched Diana: The Witnesses In the Tunnel. What crap. I can’t believe photographs showing such little detail and of such poor quality caused so much controversy. While I have no doubt that this was upsetting for Britain’s princes, as a viewer I have to say I was completely underwhelmed.
It seems that no matter how hard I try, I can not do anything right. When I try to help someone, I’m seen as condescending and fussy. When I try to share information, people think I’m trying to be a know-it-all (and I ain’t). You get the idea.
But then I see something like this and I find myself laughing.
Genius. With credit to icanhascheezburger.com.
Turkish troops have entered Iraq in a move that can not be good for anyone.
No Turkish official is willing to put their name to the story confirming the operation, while the Foreign Minister has openly denied anything happened. But as Selcan Hacaoglu of the Associated Press notes, the nation’s authorities rarely acknowledge such activity.
Estimates of the number of troops ranges from thousands to several hundred — initial speculation put the figure at 50,000, which was the case in 1997 — but what runs consistent is that the military is pursuing Kurdish fighters.
It may only have been a couple of miles across the frontier, but it is troubling.
The military has for some time been pushing for a large-scale incursion to tackle the Kurdish separatists, the PKK, which Turkey considers terrorists. The Turkish army has been massing along the border in preparation; last week the country’s top general, Yasar Buyukanit, said his forces were awaiting government permission to cross into Iraq.
Turkey’s alliance with the US will grant it some degree of protection should it decide to step up its campaign against the PKK, which launches attacks from bases in Iraq. However, a full-scale incursion can only add to Iraq’s instability.
The introduction of this hostile actor in such a volatile stage will have unpredictable and uncontrollable results. The Kurds — who dwell in a stretch of territory that includes south-eastern Turkey and northern Iraq — will be squeezed into a corner. The Iraqi government will be in an intolerable position: if it allows a Turkish incursion its claim to govern its national territory will be null and void, while if it resists it faces provoking a conflict with its neighbour.
I am struck by the absence of international condemnation.
Imagine the outcry if the US was pushing for a military operation inside Canada, or China in Japan, or Britain in Ireland.
Newseum has a short, interesting article up on how many newspapers made fairly hefty mistakes covering the Titanic‘s sinking. The Los Angeles Express rang with the heading “All passengers are safe”, while The New York Herald had “The Titanic Sinks With 1,800 on Board; Only 675, Mostly Women and Children, Saved”.
There were 2,200 people on the Titanic, of whom 1,500 died.
You almost have to see it to believe it.
If you have the cash, time and expertise, TK560.com has a tutorial on how to build an M41-A pulse rifle from the film Aliens. It’s such genius you have no choice but to check it out.
