Metro readers oppose Britain's military role in Libya

Majority of Metro readers oppose Britain's military role in Libya
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/858630-majority-of-metro-readers-oppose-britains-military-role-in-libya

The majority of Metro readers believe Britain does not have a duty to intervene in Libya, according to our latest Urban Life poll.

Fifty-eight per cent say Britain is wrong to intervene in the civil war while only 30 per cent say it does have the right.

 I picked a Metro up off the floor of the bus on the way home yesterday evening and was impressed and a little surprised to see this - just as MPs voted 500-13 to support the air strikes.

At the mercy of thieves...

If was a Libyan rebel I'd be cheering the cruise missiles heading for Tripoli perhaps as much as the poor Palestinians cheered on Saddam's scuds.

 But here's what I am saying: if I watch a thief breaking into your house, beating you up and stealing your stuff - and he then turns up at mine offering to help me stop another thief doing the same to me, I can know for sure that he is a thief - and he's also operating a protection racket, for which I am sure I will pay, probably quite soon, with the contents of my house. I may not be able to say it, because I am at the mercy of thieves. I would hope that my real friends down the road apiece would be circumspect in their praise for this thief or that, and that they would be working to overthrow all thieves, in every town. I really do hope the Libyans get freedom and democracy out of the western thieves. I hae ma douts. I'm against thieves.

We're at war again!

Bahrainis cannot be subdued for ever | Brian Whitaker | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk:  Bahrainis cannot be subdued for ever | Brian Whitaker | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Saudi Arabian troops arrive in Bahrain to prop up the monarchy against widening demonstrations
"While much of the world has been preoccupied with questions about a no-fly zone over Libya, Arab Gulf states have been busy establishing what might be called a 'no-protest zone' in the Arabian peninsula."

I wonder who supplied the weapons. Yay for freedom and democracy.

The internet is over - or it's now Web 3.0...

SXSW 2011: The internet is over | Technology | The Guardian:

"The big idea O'Reilly is touting is 'sensor-driven collective intelligence', but since he coined the term 'Web 2.0', he seems resigned to people labelling this new phase 'Web 3.0'. If Web 2.0 was the moment when the collaborative promise of the internet seemed finally to be realised – with ordinary users creating instead of just consuming, on sites from Flickr to Facebook to Wikipedia – Web 3.0 is the moment they forget they're doing it."

SAS? Libya? Diplomatic mission? You could not make it up.

(Steve bell cartoon here)

SAS-backed Libyan diplomatic mission ends in humiliation | World news | guardian.co.uk:
"'I can confirm that a small British diplomatic team has been in Benghazi,' said William Hague, the foreign secretary. 'The team went to Libya to initiate contacts with the opposition. They experienced difficulties, which have now been satisfactorily resolved. They have now left Libya.'"

Honestly.