Re: Open Source

1

Does Blackwater's contract with DoD count as a Letter of Marque?


Posted by: Tassled Loafered Leech | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 10:36 AM
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2

pretty similar, i think.


Posted by: soubzriquet | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 10:37 AM
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3

Scanning around the attached world map a bit, I was a little embarassed to be surprised at how much its changed since my canonical "world map" was formed in high school.

Where did Mayanmar come from and why wasn't I told?

Oh yeah, and Insty is a raving nutbar.


Posted by: orangatan | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 10:38 AM
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4

"I've enough money to hand to train, equip, and deploy six people for six months in the area between Baghdad and Kabul."

Whitey has never seen Midnight Express, right?


Posted by: Populuxe | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 10:40 AM
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5

The rulers of the country decided 'Burma' was a relic of imperialism (which it probably is, but I don't know anything about firsthand).


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 10:41 AM
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Where did Mayanmar come from and why wasn't I told?

Military junta that no one else cares about. It's a pretty safe answer for most name changes in central Asia and Africa, too. Pity the neighbors of these countries.


Posted by: JAC | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 10:45 AM
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7

3: They also moved the capital, and just let foreign journalists in last week or so.


Posted by: Rousseau | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 10:45 AM
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8

just let foreign journalists in last week or so.

Seriously? Wow. That's a big deal, the government there is a bit crazy.


Posted by: Matt F | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 10:46 AM
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9

...though after reading the linked article, this doesn't actually seem to be a sign of greater openness.


Posted by: Matt F | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 10:48 AM
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10

I think every single piece of information from the link in 7 was completely and utterly new to me.

Humbling.


Posted by: orangatan | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 10:49 AM
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11

Finally, my subscription to The Week pays off!


Posted by: Rousseau | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 10:55 AM
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12

the former dictator Ne Win, who had banknotes printed in absurd denominations because he insisted that they all be divisible by his lucky number, nine


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 10:57 AM
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13

In Chinese Burma has been called Miandian for a long time. Same rot as Myanmar.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 11:00 AM
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14

It used to be said that Myanmar was in a Ne Win situation.

Military junta that no one else cares about.

The Swedish Academy cares.


Posted by: OneFatEnglishman | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 11:01 AM
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12: I wonder if just making your denominations goofy is enough to deflate the currency down to the point where "9" is equivalent to "1," pre-reprinting.


Posted by: Rousseau | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 11:07 AM
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16

Burmese is such a cool-looking language on the page.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 11:07 AM
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17

"Naypyidaw... is the ultimate insurance against regime change, a masterpiece of urban planning designed to defeat any putative 'colour revolution' - not by tanks and water cannons, but by geometry and cartography."


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 11:08 AM
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18

I read that and pictured a city with ever-shifting streets and buildings, like some huge labyrinth. Which would actually be kind of cool, sans-junta.


Posted by: Matt F | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 11:10 AM
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19

Geez OFE, the Swedes don't count.

I love 12.

It's also depressing how often countries decide to build a new capital where there's been no development in the past. At least Myanmar did it to tighten their grip on the government apparatus, since that pesky port could actually be visited. Brazil had no such excuse. And what's up with Canberra?


Posted by: JAC | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 11:12 AM
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20

Or DC, for that matter.


Posted by: DaveL | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 11:21 AM
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21

Myanmar, says the junta
Burma, says Suu Kyi
If it's good enough for her
It's good enough for me
Burma Shave


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 11:26 AM
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22

21 is delightful.

My thoughts about Aung San Suu Kyi remain unchanged.


Posted by: My Alter Ego | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 11:38 AM
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23

Don't we have these things, and aren't they called 'private security contractors', and aren't they part of the reason the war costs a gajillion imperial crescents?


Posted by: Cala | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 11:42 AM
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Brazil put Brasília out there in part because they were afraid the Americans were going to annex the Amazon (it's like reason number five, but it was a reason). Also, the spot was chosen based on a dream some guy had had 40 years earlier.

Canberra was built for the same reason as DC - neutral territory between Sydney and Melbourne, I believe.


Posted by: mike d | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 11:45 AM
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22: My thoughts exactly. I refrained from raising the issue only because I didn't want to be responsible for a 500-comment thread about prisoners of conscience and the male gaze.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 11:46 AM
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26

Wasn't 18 one of Calvino's Invisible Cities?


Posted by: snarkout | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 11:48 AM
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27

While I'm sure that Naypyidaw is a [*cough*] masterpiece of urban planning, if Teh People wanted to topple the government, wouldn't it be pretty easy to just stop sending the malarial capitol food and supplies?


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 11:49 AM
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It's also depressing how often countries decide to build a new capital where there's been no development in the past.

Like Washington, DC?


Posted by: zadfrack | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 11:54 AM
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29

17 makes me think of Flatland.


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 12:14 PM
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30

16: Coolest looking script ever: Rongorongo from Easter Island.


Posted by: zadfrack | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 12:18 PM
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31

In a Hobsbawmian resurrection of pre-modern southeast Asian traditions way, it's not completely insane -- look at the history of Mandalay. It's just brutal and pointless.

DC... Madison decided the debt transfer between the states and the Federal government needed a sweetener for the South. You can trace so many, many bad things in American history to that decision.


Posted by: Halfway Done | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 12:26 PM
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3: Oh, and according to an expert I spoke to once, although "Burma" and "Myanmar" both have the same ethnic etymon, "Burma" has more inclusive connotations, because it's what the British used to refer to the whole country.

(It's not a correction of a foreign mangling either - "Burma" corresponds to the native word "Bama.")


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 12:28 PM
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33

30: Rongorongo texts must look like Keith Haring paintings.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 12:32 PM
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26: Yes, Zobeide. My favorite of all the invisible cities. It's the one full of people who have had the same dream about this woman who escapes, and so they change the city so that whatever spot she escaped at it is no longer possible to escape from.


Posted by: Unfoggetarian: "Pause endlessly, then go in." (9) | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 12:38 PM
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35

Something I wrote about Rongorongo forever ago.


Posted by: snarkout | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 12:56 PM
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36

31's got it right. DC never needed to exist, perfectly fine capitals could have been created in NYC or Philadelphia. Baltimore or Trenton would've been damn awful though.


Posted by: JAC | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 2:04 PM
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Hey, don't harsh on Baltimore. It's not all like The Wire. Just large parts of it. There are plenty of areas that are actually really nice. Bahlmer's much better than Philly.


Posted by: mike d | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 2:27 PM
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38

But Trenton has got the best pizza!


Posted by: Willy Voet | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 4:31 PM
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39

Hey, today's NY Sun crossword included the following: [Rhyming roadside advertiser, modern-style?] = MYANMAR SHAVE. Synchronicity!


Posted by: redfoxtailshrub | Link to this comment | 04- 4-07 6:13 PM
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