pirate correction

So aside from the fact that my decision on how to handle pirates was against my humanitarian nature I have learned some interesting things I did not know before. One silly I know and I bet everyone else knows this but they are only pirates once out of Somali waters- so some closer to shore operations actually dont count. Two a certain ICJ justice put it very clear to us- basically these pirates steal to get the hell out of Somalia. And what does that have to do with things you ask? Well say we capture the pirates -this means a country has to try them (no one seems to be jumping at the chance minus kenya) and say the US does try a pirate- do we then send them to jail in Somalia (clearly no) - so all this capturing them and trying them means is they get their plane ticket to a better country paid for!

So new plan- find a magic way to bring peace and stability to Somalia so people dont have to be pirates!

Rrrrrr?

This blog is about pirates- not the Orlando Bloom hot friendly pirates- or the ones worshiped by the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster but the ones in Somalia currently causing problems for basically anyone in the ocean at this rate.

Somalia is a failed state by all definitions offered- there is a "government" but it doesn't really do anything. Initially it kind of made sense to be a pirate, take a few people off a boat get a crap tone of ransom money (an old NY Times article talks about how they live in the nicest houses and drive cars and such). But then they got greedy and really picked up the action- I believe there are currently over 100 people being held hostage by pirates at this point in time. We really should have done something once the traffic picked up- weirdly while terrorists are not covered by International Law (it is slow to adapt) pirates are- from my understanding they are considered stateless people which means anyone who wants to can deal with them. The cruelest but most effective thing to do might have been to send in the Chinese or some other state that isn't that concerned with its human rights record and let them do the patrolling. (Currently France seems to be the one making the large patrolling effort).

The pirates then got really greedy and stupidly decided to attack a ship under an American flag. It did not go well and all they got was the hostage that volunteered himself- the Americans also stupidly lost their hostage without getting their captain back. In the end because Obama kicks ass the Seals went in and the Captain is safe. For some reason this really pissed off pirates who were not even involved with it. On declared that America was the aggressor (why he thinks killing people who were about to kill our guy, who was I dunno... kidnaped, makes us the aggressor is a bit confusing to me).

Now the pirates claim no Americans are safe, if any are on crew they will be shot on the spot. This creates a huge problem for the pirates, they make their money from ransom... if you shoot the person you cant get ransom money. This also shows that the situation is getting really desperate. Come on countries of the world they are pirates in tiny little row boats! One you have to be able to see them coming for a little while, two I am pretty sure Navy weapons guns trump whatever massive guns they have. This is a problem we could easily take care of, we could also label it as self defense, aka we dont shoot at them if they dont shoot at us. That should make some of the human rights people happy.

All in favor of replacing the cranky pirates with orlando bloom types? Rrrrr

My opinion on Bank Holidays...

So being an idiot on Friday I walked into the city (45 min walk) with the hopes of depositing a check, mailing some letters, and getting a few books out of the school library. Of course Friday was Good Friday so really I just got a lot more exercise then I was expecting. It got me thinking back to the Easter a friend and I sat in the car for two hours before our movie because everything else was closed (even KMart- kind of like Asda for you British readers).

I began to think about how bored I get on these holidays (not being a practicing Christian and all) and think of how much worse it is for Jews, Muslims, anyone who doesnt at least have the obligatory dinner with family that even us non-Christians get. Personally I find it a little unfair that Christians get paid days off that do not come out of their holiday leave and other religions in the West do not. I am pretty sure a Muslim would not mind going to work on Good Friday (just saying). So since we no longer live in the Medieval age where the Pope ruled everything and no christians were harassed I have come up with a lovely proposition.

Christians should still be allowed to have their days off on Christmas and Easter I fully support that, however how about letting the non-Christians come into work and instead get their own kind of bank holiday on a day that is suitable for them (like Yom Kippur). Obviously it would be difficult to accommodate some holidays (Ramadan lasts more than two days). But what I want to know is why Jews and Muslims must take personal holiday time in order to observe their holidays and Christians get theirs as a bonus. Not only would this be fair to non Christians but it would mean more things would be open for those of us who dont spend the whole day with family and at church! Really it would just be giving everyone 3 religious days to use when they see fit that do not come out of their other holiday time, for Christians it could be Christmas Day, Good Friday, and Easter Monday (for some reason Christmas Eve does not cut it as a bank holiday). For Jews it could be the first night of Hanukkah, Purim and Yom Kippur, Muslims could have a portion of Ramadan or their New Years off, Chinese people have their own New Years to celebrate. (Ps I am sorry to those of the other religion if holidays I have listed are spelled wrong or you really require a whole week off or something like that- my religion class failed to drill in the exact details of all the holidays into my head but hey one paid day off is better than no day off!)

Anyway I say we all get behind this it is silly for Christians to be the only ones to get additional Holidays off in the Western world- we are supposed to be progressive in the West! (not to mention it would be really awesome if I could have gone to the library)

England v America

Once you have spent enough time in another country the whole "o my goodness this is WAY better than American haze wears off" I still cannot decide which one wins as there are pros and cons to living in each country so I will continue to make some more.

Things I really like about America: 1. the geography, I saw some pictures of someone sailing on a lake and it was so sunny and blue and green, I have seen many beautiful things in England (the lake district is really nice) but it is still very different to America. I don't think tubing down a river in England would have exactly the same feel to it. 2. the "doc in the box" I currently have had a narsty cold for about a week, if I were in america I would not bother to call my doctor, I would simply drive to the patient first or whatever medical chain down the road at a time convenient for me and be in and out in about an hour. I have been told there is something kind of similar in England but I have yet to find it- here you call your GP and wait about a week to be seen (probably at a time that doesn't really work for you). I suppose it deters people from going to the doctor for useless reasons but I probably have a sinus infection and will just stay sick longer to avoid the hassle. 3. America's view on junk food, all nations have unhealthy habits, end of story, in England they have a store called iceland which serves up nothing but frozen food (and bread and milk). At least in America we don't judge. I am sorry, sometimes I want a cookie or processed cheese, doesn't mean I am going to die at 30- in fact at my last physical I passed all my tests with flying colors. For some reason over here people still judge me and my habits like they are superior. Life is already stressful enough without being judged for wanting a cookie every now and then. O ps England you created fish and chips so really... back off.

Things I really like about England: 1. there seems to be a creepy amount of patience and willingness to lie down and take it in England that is kind of nice. Today everyone was sitting on the tube waiting for it to go and it never did, in America there would be a lot of yelling and swearing and people demanding things, but everyone just carried on with the conversations (well minus one crazy guy who was not happy) and went to plan B. I felt a lot less stressed not having everyone else around me stressed as well. 2. Pubs - if you have a proper local to go to it is pretty nice, in America it is difficult to just go to the bar for a drink or two but in England you can have a mellow night of drinking and socializing, it is like the American version of the coffee house. 3. Trains, I really like them and really like riding them, it is an easy way to get around (well when they are running) and you can sit and read or look at the country side. Totally love them.

Why Rihanna needs to dump Chris Brown to make the world a better place

By now unless you live under a rock you are semi aware of what has happened between two popular singers who were dating. Allegedly Chris Brown beat Rihanna (over her being upset another woman was texting for a booty call?) and basically beat the crap out of her. There is serious speculation this is not the first time. Violence is never ok under any circumstance and nothing a woman (or man) can do justly provokes it. Every day there are women out there who think they deserve it, are afraid to leave, or don't know how to leave. If Rihanna does not dump this sorry suckers arse then what motivation do some of these women have? Domestic abuse is not spoken about much in the media (I couldn't think of any other cases as widely publicized among super stars)- so all these women who don't think it can happen to anybody, if they see Rihanna stay with Chris Brown after this, well then there is a much greater chance that they will stay as well. If they see her leave, and they can identify someone who stood up and said this is not right, well then maybe that will give them the push they need to say something too. It doesn't matter if it only happened once, if Brown gets help, if he never does it again, if they were a private couple then maybe it would be slightly (and very slightly) acceptable to take him back, maybe it happening one time and never happening again would be enough for her...but because she is in the spotlight and has the opportunity to help so many other women, she needs to dump him!

And I thought WM was liberal

Let me preface this post by saying that I am not supportive of Israel's actions, yes they had every right to defend themselves but law states "by proportional means" I think the story of the pro-Israel doctor in Gaza (clearly no hamas in his house) who lost two daughters demonstrates that Israel made serious mistakes. (Hamas also was not justified in civilian killing). So this post is not meant to demean any efforts for peace.

And with that disclaimer out of the way!

For the past week Palestinian students and supporters of them "occupied" one of the buildings on campus. As far as I can tell it was all very peaceful and some demands made sense (waiving application fees, diversifying the school) but really it was almost like LSE was a country ...like our director could actually do something. It was kind of funny getting email updates about "negotiations" I felt like it was CNN updates.

Good for them for pushing for change...kind of odd to occupy a building

The thing I miss most about America

-Walking into a building and feeling warmer (God bless central heating)!
-Having a whole week go by without rain.
-Soft toilet paper (even the posh stores can't compare to charman!)
-One dollar bills