One Canuck's Radio Weblog

  Tuesday, 9 December 2003

.< 11:59:07 PM >
Special investigation: The privatisation of war

· $30bn goes to private military · Fears over 'hired guns' policy · British firms get big slice of contracts · Deals in Baghdad, Kabul and Balkans [Guardian Unlimited] 'There are other formidable problems surfacing in what is uncharted territory - issues of loyalty, accountability, ideology, and national interest. By definition, a private military company is in Iraq or Bosnia not to pursue US, UN, or EU policy, but to make money.

The growing clout of the military services corporations raises questions about an insidious, longer-term impact on governments' planning, strategy and decision-taking.

Mr Singer argues that for the first time in the history of the modern nation state, governments are surrendering one of the essential and defining attributes of statehood, the state's monopoly on the legitimate use of force.'

< 11:52:38 PM >

The Pentagon has barred French, German and Russian companies from competing for $18.6 billion in contracts. [New York Times: NYT HomePage] 'Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued a statement criticizing the Pentagon move as a "totally gratuitous slap" that "does nothing to protect our security interests and everything to alienate countries we need with us in Iraq."'

No specific mention of Canada. No surprise.

< 11:48:08 PM >

Chirac pays tribute to 'mon cher Jean'
French President Jacques Chirac praised retiring Prime Minister Jean Chrétien as a "prestigious statesman" at a full state dinner in his honour Tuesday. F U L L S T O R Y
[CBC News] 'Chrétien said in an era of globalization, a nation's influence is no longer determined by the number of cannons or missiles in its possession.

"They are measured by the civility and tolerance the nation demonstrates toward its international partners and its openness to dialogue with them."'

< 11:45:13 PM >

Peru holds its first national day of reconciliation, as a mark of respect to thousands of people who died during the civil war. [BBC News | World | UK Edition]

< 11:39:54 PM >

Doctors face unprecedented demand for flu shots

Canada's top health officials are trying to predict and meet demand for

influenza vaccine.

F U L L S T O R Y
[CBC News]

< 11:15:01 PM >

Market research firm Jupiter Research announced that it expects MP3 player shipments to continue to grow almost 50 percent per year for the next 3 years, with this year's shipments to top out around 3.5 million. The company said that demand for hard drive-based MP3 players like the iPod will outstrip demand for lower capacity flash memory-based models beginning next year. 2006 is the year that Jupiter Research said MP3 players will establish "a critical mass of users that will help spur digital music sales." The comments come as part of a new report entitled "Portable Music Device Forecast, 2002 - 2008." [MacCentral]

< 11:14:09 PM >

In “Shooting the D1X for National Geographic,” photographer Joe McNally tells how he convinced the magazine to let him shoot a story on fighter pilots with digital cameras, using a PowerBook as part of his workflow. “McNally clinched his argument with the high quality of some 16 x 20 and 20 x 30-inch inkjet prints,” writes Eamon Hickey for Rob Galbraith’s Digital Photography Insights website. [Dec 9] [Apple Hot News]

< 11:10:55 PM >

Klaus Schwab: "Mr President, to conclude our session, you have in front of you the 1,000 most influential business leaders. What would be your single, most important wish towards them, at this moment?" [Scripting News]

Can you imagine Dubbya trying to answer this one?

< 11:01:58 PM >

A New York Times story (no registration required) has some details about the tactics US forces have begun using in Iraq. Examples include taking relatives of wanted Iraqis hostage, demolishing buildings thought to have been used by insurgents, fencing Iraqi villages in barbed wire and setting up checkpoints. [Kuro5hin.org]

< 11:34:14 AM >

If you've used CDs or DVDs for any length of time, chances are you've lost some of them to scratches or other damage. SubRosaSoft.com has released CDRestore 1.0, an application designed to create image files from scratched or surface damaged data CDs and DVDs. Replicas can then be produced using any CD/DVD burning utility, such as Roxio's Toast or Apple's Disc Burner. [MacCentral]

< 11:32:18 AM >

O'Reilly & Associates released Mac OS X Unwired by Tom Negrino and Dori Smith, which covers all wireless technologies supported by Mac OS X. [MacInTouch]

< 11:29:53 AM >

Apple Mail will allow you to select text from both the header and the body of an email, allowing you to copy both and paste (or drag) them in a single step. You must make your selection in the body of the email first, and the... [macosxhints]

< 11:29:13 AM >

I know there have been a lot of Expose hints posted here, but I could resist pointing out a really mindbogglingly neat touch Apple has put it to this feature.

There are a number of keyboard shortcuts built into Expose, for... [macosxhints]

< 11:28:24 AM >

klieb2000's tip about importing CSV data into AppleWorks mentioned a workaround for typing a tab into a textarea (rather than tabbing to the next control). Instead of copy pasting a tab into the find and replace fields, just ... [macosxhints]

< 1:49:28 AM >

“Its quick success attracted a slew of imitators, but Apple Computer’s iTunes Music Store remains the class act for downloading music,” writes Business Week magazine, recognizing the iTunes Music Store for its “easy-to-use design, a powerful search function, and reasonable restrictions on usage.” [Dec 5] [Apple Hot News]

< 1:48:22 AM >

Paul Boutin's 10 technologies that have changed the way we live. [Scripting News]