Someone has created a comparison tool for Yahoo! and Google maps. I’m surprised how many significant differences there are when you can constantly compare the two systems. Diff tools are awesome.
Category Archives: Security
Happy marine day
(Um-no-hi) The Japanese celebrate the third Monday of each July to commemorate the return of Emperor Meiji from a trip to Hokkaido in 1876. Meiji (“enlightened rule”) ascended the throne in 1867 when he was 14 and saw the fall of the Shogun the following year.
I’m not sure what was so significant about 1876 other than this was the year that the Samurai were forced to convert their stipends to government bonds (money payments rather than rice), they could no longer wear their swords and they cut off their “top-knot” hairdo. These were not exactly “marine” related events. Perhaps the Emperor’s visit (by boat) also reinforced an end to the Utari (and Ezo) independence movements — submission of the local identity and autonomy of the different regions to a Japanese national character under the Emperor.
This period is definitely an interesting study of regulation and building a common-purpose among competing (if not warring) private barrons and their industries.
Identity and civil war in the Ivory Coast
The Ivory Coast is still in the throws of a civil war started in 2002 by northern Muslims who felt that they were being discriminated against by Christians in the south and west. The split in the country is also complicated by the French role as peacekeepers while trying to maintain access to natural resources and private investments. From the BBC website:
The issue of identity was one of the main triggers for the civil war that started nearly four years ago.
The rebels who hold the north say they are regarded as foreigners, but Mr Gbagbo’s supporters in the south fear immigrants will claim citizenship.
[…]
Applicants over 13 years of age will have to prove that one of their parents is Ivorian to gain citizenship by appearing before them with two witnesses.
A doctor will also examine each applicant to determine their age.
Doctor, policeman…who do you trust? And we think we have ID card issues in Europe and the US? Here is an example of how an identity card can literally mean life or death in a country rife with nationalism fueled by xenophobia. Ironically, the crisis of who deserves to profit from the country’s bounty has been a boon to neighboring countries who now handle all the diverted trade. The cost of transporting a single truck through the Ivory Coast, due to bribes and other payments for “identity papers”, is now close to half of what a single person will earn in an enitre year.
Bikes for guns
The BBC reports that a bike, worth about $50, is seen as more desireable to militia members than their gun:
A scheme under which gunmen in the Democratic Republic of Congo are given bicycles in exchange for their weapons is being extended due to its success.
Ngoy Mulunda, a pastor in the south-eastern Katanga region, says he has been given some 6,500 weapons in the past year, which he has destroyed.
That’s a lot of bicycles. Apparently metal roofing and goats are also offered for trade in other regions.