До свидания! Can we call it January again?

Today, we get news of Turkmenistan, and bid Saparmurat Niyazov a final До свидания! What the future holds for Turkmenistan - and all it's natural resources - is surely likely to be a hot topic of conversation in all our holiday dinner conversations.

"Between Vote and Reality"

But what of the Karabakh Azeris, who were unable to participate on 10 December in deciding the future of Nagorno-Karabakh's internal arrangements? According to international norms, these former inhabitants of Nagorno-Karabakh should not be deprived of their right to participate in the entity's political life.

If Stepanakert wants to be gain legitimacy, it needs to show the international community not only that it can organise orderly and fair referendums, but also that it allows all those who should be eligible to vote to actually cast their ballots. In other words, they must begin to accept the return of the 40,000 Karabakh Azeris who were forced to flee in 1991-92.

That is what I meant to say yesterday; Ms. Freizer said it better.

Voting madness

I don't care whether you live in Nagorny Karabakh, Trans-Dniester or South Ossetia, democracy isn't just about majority winning, especially when one side has been "invited" to leave their homes. These elections for independence are a bad side effect of our pre-occupation with voting these days. I am not saying this just 'cause I an Azeri lover who likes khachipuri and Russian pop music.

January 21 is an important day, not only for Kosovo, but also for a lot of other places in the world. Can anyone tell me the arguments for Kosovo to be independent?

Blogging to peak!

I love predictions. I wish I made more of them. Does anyone write letters to oneself in the future? I did it once a camp, but it was only a letter to myself at the end of camp. I think I lost the letter. But if I blogged it...it would be on the internet!

I predict 1) blogger will be around in 2010 and b) even if I move or re-name my blog, I will still be able to link to this very post in 2010!

Predictions about blogging and other stuff:
* The blogging phenomenon is set to peak in 2007 at about 100 million.
* Vista will be the last major release of Windows.
* PCs will halve in cost by 2010.
* By 2010, 60 percent of the worldwide cellular population will be "trackable" via an emerging "follow-me internet."
* By the end of 2007, 75 percent of enterprises will be infected with undetected, financially motivated, targeted malware that evaded their traditional perimeter and host defences.

I want to know how anyone knows how much "undected" malware will be on our computers. Can't we hire the people who know how much malware there is going to be to protect us from malware in the first place?

Holy shit moments...

Every now and then, something in the media makes me say "holy shit" and today I had one reading a story on Somalia's current and potentially widening conflict.

"I am ready to die," said Osama Abdi Rahim, dressed head to toe in camouflage and marching around with a loaded rifle. He is 7 years old.

Holy shit.



Photo by Joao Silva

Economist: Love it and hate it

I love it because it pushes me to think. I hate it, sometimes, because it is overly simplistic and condescending. Why can't it push one to think without its tone?

Good Food? the leader this week encourages us to get off our socially responsible high horses and consider the unexpected externalities of additional land used in growing organic crops, trade imbalances from fixed fair trade prices and the overall impact of "food miles," not just how close a product was produced. Thank you, we should investigate Rainforest Alliance's efforts to look beyond the guarantee of price.

But...(I am in a bad mood) read the full special report and you realize that the claim of New Zealand lamb, apples and onions being produced with less energy than the same British goods even after the flight to the UK was conducted by...Lincoln University in New Zealand. Wonder how many UK universities cooperated on that research?

And this article on organic cotton might make one think that digging into the issue of organic cotton is only for trend-conscious Prius-owners. OK, economists out there, organic cotton may be hard to certify and difficult to produce, but take a trip to Uzbekistan before you encourage us all to forget about regulating and improving the way global cotton demand is met.

"Ethics, after all, are all the rage."

Stop pissing on everything, you condescending economist jerks.