Archive for the ‘ir’ Category

The Antarctic Time Zones

This ninja writes about the end of time zones, which may be a bit drastic- I believe a better way is for the Antarctic time zones! Time needs to be changed! For more information contact info@myninjaplease.com

Mauritius: MNP’s Sister Island

We first connected with Mauritius a couple of years ago because of their educational facilities and MNP is proud to be their sister island - for further reading from the Mises Institute:

Without a doubt, the nation of Mauritius is the freest country that you’ve never heard of a indeed, it is the freest country in all of Africa.

Located far off the east coast of Africa, just east of Madagascar, Mauritius is an island that rests on the west side of the Indian Ocean.

With a population of about 1.3 million people living on a little more than 2,000 square kilometers, Mauritius’s citizens enjoy a temperate climate, beautiful scenery, and a life in one of Africa’s least corrupt countries, according to Transparency International. Most of Mauritius’s citizens work primarily in sugar, tourism, textiles, and the growing financial sector. Nobel laureate and writer J.M.G. Le Clezio even calls Mauritius home.

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American Soft Power is Vanishing

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American soft power is vanishing. Foreigners are much less interested in American television, movies, pop music… America once had a tremendous hammerlock on those expensive channels of distribution, but those old analog megaphones don't matter half as much in today's network society.

The USA has become a big banana republic; in other words, it's come to behave like other countries quite normally behave. The upside is that we don't get blamed for what happens; the downside is, nothing much happens. Decay and denial. Gothic High Tech.

.:weblogsky.com->

Welcome to the New Middle Ages

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Imagine a world with a strongAChina reshaping Asia;AIndia confidently extending its reach from Africa to Indonesia; Islam spreading its influence; a Europe replete with crises of legitimacy; sovereign city-states holding wealth and driving innovation; and private mercenary armies, religious radicals and humanitarian bodies playing by their own rules as they compete for hearts, minds and wallets.

It sounds familiar today. But it was just as true slightly less than a millennium ago at the height of the Middle Ages.

In recent years it has become conventional wisdom that the post-cold-war world will see rising powers such as China and Brazil create what international relations experts call a "multi-polar" order. Yet for the next 10 or 20 years, it is not at all clear that the future many imagine will come to pass - namely that the relative US decline will continue, Europe will muddle along, China and India will grow ever stronger, and other straight-line projections.

In fact, the world we are moving into in 2011 is one not just with many more prominent nations, but one with numerous centres of power in other ways. It is, in short, a neo-medieval world. The 21st century will resemble nothing more than the 12th century.

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Conch Republic Passports

Key West, Fla.A- Dark red and blue "Conch Republic" passports could pass for real travel documents - and that’s part of the appeal.

"Alright Matt, we’re gonna get your passport picture," said Sir Peter Anderson, the so-called Secretary General of the Conch Republic by way of "prime ministerial appointment," as he picked up his digital camera.

I’m about to become a citizen of another country. Except I haven’t left the United States. I’m in Key West, also known as the Conch Republic - since their mock secession in 1982.

The Conch Republic is notAa real country, of course, but trying telling that to Anderson who makes his living off this mythical Margaritaville.

"Absolutely without question" this is a real country, said Anderson from his home office. "When the U.S. didn’t object to our sovereignty after 12 years by the most stringent international standards they lost any right to do so."

Sir Peter calls the Conch Republic the world’s "first fifth world nation." And for him, this nation is big business. He’s trademarked all sorts of slogans and bumper stickers. But most of Anderson’s money comes from selling real looking passports.

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iPhoneCF

The new iPhoneCF guarantees to all its customers the same high quality phone as the original iPhone 4 with the added bonus of taking you one step closer to a world without conflict. As you probably know the minerals that are used in the production of various software products have largely been extracted from mines in Africa, especially the Congo. For the most part this mining has gone unchecked and therefore companies have been unable to tell whether or not the mines they source their materials from have been mines under the control of rebel groups further fueling a conflict that has has killed more than 5,000, 000 civilians. Apple wants to say no to the impunity, lack of accountability and lack of justice in the Congo and wants to be a leader in customer satisfaction and source accountability. We have taken the time to find a new approach to our mineral sourcing in order to ensure that our products only work to help the people of the Congo rather than exacerbate the already occuring problems there. In order to do so this Apple aims not only to purpose conflict free products but also to raise awareness and force other companies on this challenging path of change.

.:apple-cf.com->

Security Theater in Japan

Apparently the conditions for shipping packages via air to the United States have now become so restrictive that the Japanese Post Office has announced that, effective Nov. 17, it will no longer accept any packages weighing over a pound for shipment to the US by any method that involves air transport (including EMS, airmail, and SAL). Except for large corporate mailers, everything over a pound must apparently now come by sea. Asahi Shimbun is reporting that the Japanese equivalents of FedEx and UPS have followed suit. I assume that airmail service remains in effect for the remaining 200 countries across the globe that have not lost their collective minds.

.:theatlantic.com->

History of Libertarian Countries at Sea

Panama is the Only Country in the World Run by Entrepreneurs