Apr 25 2008
The webcams at the Panama Canal occasionally catch some interesting critters, and with the addition of a hi-res cam at the Miraflores lock you can get an even better view of things. This morning there’s a submarine transiting the canal. Any idea whose?
If you can’t get a picture, click the Get Java link at the bottom of the webcam page, install it and then reload the page.
Jun 11 2007
From the Brussels Journal:
When Do Military Exercises Involve No Troops?
When they are European Military exercises.
The European Council has announced its second military exercise “MILEX07″ which will run from June 7-15. The key point to note, “No troops will be deployed“.
It appears that there is big trouble in [the fictional country of] Alisia. Friction between the Transitional Government of Alisia and a rebel group (National Freedom Movement) has caused aid to be blocked from refugee camps in the North West of Alisia. The UN, though on the ground is incapable of saving the day.
So what would any sensible person do? Ask for the EU’s Integrated Police Unit - “a synthesis of military attitude and police capability,” based on the Italian Caribinieri, but with Hungary, Austria, Slovenia, Romania, Dutch and Turkish troops. (Hold on did I read that right Turkish military?)
Only they don’t, because they don’t (yet) have the capacity. According to the press release, “The exercise will be conducted in Brussels (EU OpsCentre) and in Enköping (EU FHQ). Some 200 “players” and supporting personnel are expected to take part”. So despite the trouble in Alisia, rather than deploy the “force up to 2000 personnel including an Integrated Police Unit (IPU), temporarily placed under military responsibility”.
A crowd of people in Brussels and Sweden will talk about the situation under the control of Lt Gen David Leakey.
Interestingly Alisia seems to bear a striking resemblance to Darfur, which as EU Referendum pointed out, according to a Reuters report, “France is asking its European Union partners to consider sending a force of up to 12,000 troops to Chad to provide aid for people fleeing the Darfur conflict in Sudan”.
And so it goes on.
