Sim-O

There will not be peace in the world if the international community falters in the face of the proliferation of nuclear arms

The whole source piece is about Irans’ nuclear ambitions, but once again, how can “The West” go on about the proliferation, or non-proliferation, while there are countries re-arming themselves or denying ownership (to mention just two, 1, 2).

The NPT is effectively dead.
What serious efforts have the nuclear nations taken to get rid of nuclear weapons, and I do not mean by stopping non-nuclear countries acquiring them.

Right.

Finally been able to write to my MP:

Dear Dr Evan Harris,
You will be aware that there are some Iraqi interpreters that have helped the British forces in Iraq and now their lives are in very real danger.

They are in danger because they are seen to be helping the enemy, a foreign power that is occupying their country (that’s us, by the way) and now the UK is refusing to grant them and their families asylum.

These people will be killed.

The UK cannot turn it’s back on these people.

I urge you to do all you can to help them gain asylum within this country before anymore are killed.

Yours

Sim-O

You need to do the same.

1. Watch the video.
2. Write to your MP.
3. Let us know if you get a response.
4. Sign the petition
5. Join the list of supporters.

If it help the government make up it’s mind, there aren’t so many of them now.

Watch this video…

…and think what Ronnie Barrett could do if he put his mind to something other than weapons…

Donald Rumsfeld could still face war crimes charges. But probably won’t.
As the USA are not signed up to the International Criminal Court. Although Rumsfeld could be arrested on a visit to a country that has signed to it, I imagine that it is ever going to happen, what with who he knows and the grief for the arresting parties.

Anway, only two more years…

Saddam’s gonna swing then.
Time for a poll:
Which other vicious gits should also be seen at the end of a rope for commiting the ultimate Crime of Aggression of invading a sovereign country?

I have got to get me one of these toys!
It’s called a Silent Guardian and it:

• Provides a zone of protection
  that saves lives and protects
  assets
• Minimizes collateral damage
• Provides real-time ability to
  establish intent and
  de-escalate aggression
• Does not cause physical harm;
  prevents injury and death
• Provides precise effects at a
  longer range than current
  less-than-lethal systems

Sounds good don’t it?

I’ll let Raytheon tell you how it works from their flyer:

The system’s antenna emits a focused beam of millimeter wave energy. The beam travels
at the speed of light and penetrates the skin to a depth of 1/64 of an inch, producing an intolerable heating sensation that causes the targeted individuals to instinctively flee or take cover. The sensation ceases immediately when an individual moves out of the beam or the operator steers the beam away. Silent Guardian does not cause injury because of the shallow penetration depth of the millimeter wave.

I heard about it here, and the way this guy describes it, just makes it more appealing:

Imagine you’re at a protest – at a nuclear plant, perhaps, or a military installation. You approach the perimeter fence, carrying your placard. The loudhailers warn you to keep away. But you ignore them; this is a protest, after all. And then it happens. Your skin feels as if it’s on fire – a burning, relentless, intense pain as if you were touching a frying pan. You scream and jump back, trying to escape the sudden agony. You scrabble a few metres away and it stops. Then you look closer at the buildings that are the object of your protest. Did it come from there? You approach the fence again and the pain starts again – until you jump back.

“This technology is capable of rapidly heating a person’s skin to achieve a pain threshold that has been demonstrated by AFRL human subject testing to be very effective at repelling people, without burning the skin or causing other secondary effects.” The device, it adds, “is an alternative to lethal force.”

The human testing showed that the beams will penetrate even tiny openings and cracks in any physical barrier, including clothes, walls and shields. It is as though it wraps around corners to affect any piece of exposed body – the fingers or face, say, of those trying to hide.

Tests carried out with the Active Denial System at Kirkland Air Force Base in New Mexico between 2003 and 2004 raised questions about the safety of this technology in practice, since volunteers were asked to remove glasses and contact lenses to avoid the possibility of eye damage. Volunteers were also asked to remove metallic objects next to the skin to prevent hot spots forming. Demonstrators might not be so cooperative.

This is a sweet line: Raytheon: Aspiring to be the most admired defense and aerospace systems supplier

The Provisional IRA has undergone a “transformation”, disbanding military structures, standing down volunteers and following through on its political strategy of renouncing terrorism and crime, the Independent Monitoring Commission said yesterday.

Excellent news. Effectively, the Provisional IRA is disbanded.
Just got to bang up all the criminals who think they are paramiliteries.

STATEMENT BY THE TAOISEACH ON THE TWELFTH REPORT OF THE IMC

STATEMENT BY THE PM ON THE TWELFTH REPORT OF THE IMC

TWELFTH REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT MONITORING COMMISSION