The Night Report: Zune Zap Flop, Israel calls for NATO & Operation Lancaster

Trying to get back on my feet from a bout of Bloggers Block. Well here goes:
Zune zap flop
If I have any Engadget readers out there or anyone who hasn't been ignoring the tech world for the past 2-3 weeks then you probably know that Microsoft is intent on taking on arch rival Apple in the Portable mp3 player market with a new product. Codenamed Zune, people both inside and outside the tech industry are calling it the "Ipod Killer". They're have been numerous "Ipod Killers" in the past few years, all of which have failed to live up to they're namesake. Another example of this is Creative and it's Zen. Although by no means a push over, the Zen does fail to impress on a few fronts. First, the interface of said players come nowhere near the simplicity of the Ipod interface. And the fact is people have been trying to copy the interface and the concept of a click wheel for the 5 years that the Ipod's been out and guess what? It hasn't worked. Creative's tried the "Scroll Strip" and they're have been a few other innovations, but the fact is Ipod remains king. So why should the Zune be any different? Plus it's by Microsoft who's Apple like super secret project Oragami project proved to be a major flop. Even when it tried the Apple like silent treatment it failed to steal the thunder from Apple. Plus it's Microsoft and at this point the majority of the geek community of the geek community for not accepting open standards, delaying Windows Vista amoung other things. So if your just looking for a (not so) cool player, by all means buy the Zune, however beware, it will be nowhere as user friendly as the Ipod.
Israel will go for a NATO led Force
Israel has confirmed today that it is in favor of an internatioanlly led force patrolling the border between Israel and Lebanon. Israel is in favor of NATO leading the force, for reasons that remain unclear at this time. However I believe I know why Israel is in favor of a NATO led force as opposed to a UN led force. In the past, the UN has been ineffective as a catalist in zones like Israel and other flashpoints, due to stricts rules of engadement, the UN is not able to break up a fight. NATO is much more flexible, not being bound by the red tape and mindless infighting of the UN. For another reason, NATO has many more resources in comparrison to the UN which has to basically beg for troops and eqipment to stage it's operations. NATO members have an obligation under the North Atlantic Charter to commit troops both for deployments and simulations. The UN is completly voluntary, meaning that it takes longer for it the command structure to take form and resources to become operational that by the time the entire operation is set up, the conflict has either no longer become an issue or the fighting has become so much of an issue that the UN has to pull out for lack of resources or for "security reasons". Give me a break. If the UN didn't have such a wussy set of ROE's then "security reasons" wouldn't be an issue. With NATO, the Americans most likely have airpower somewhere near the area of operations and if things get really hot they can call in an airstrike. Not so with the UN. If you get ambushed with no radio, no backup your pretty much done for. The lack of logistics and a support network within the UN is very disturbing, this is why I believe that if they're is any sort of "peacekeeping" to be done that NATO should do it. Israel is a case and point. You have Islamic militants who are firing rockets and RPG's at the IDF, one of the most advanced and well eqqiped forces in the world. If the UN was there as a "detterant" they wouldn't last five minutes. NATO has a much better command structure and things can get done more so within a ressonable time frame. If a NATO or UN led force is established I imagine, at least for a while, Canada will have some troops over they're to help get things running. After all we did invent Peacekeeping.
Operation Lancaster
If anyone reading this is farmilliar with Canadian Geography you know we have something called the Northwest Passage which is link between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It's like the Panama Canal, only it's more convient for people like us Canadians some Americans find it easier to take the northwest passage instead of having to travel all the way to the Panama Canal in Central America. For this reason it is strategically vital to both Canadian and American security. Canada has a claim on all the lands from 50 parallel to the North Pole. However the United States does not recognize Canada's claim to the northwest passage. Here is a case and point. In 2005 the nuclear submarine USS Carolina surfaced in the Northwest Passage without persmission of the Canadian goverment. The Americans, along with the European Union* and Japan do not recognize Canada's claim to the northwest passage. Hello? This is like saying just because Panama has the Panama Canal, that United States shouldn't recognize it's claim to it. It's within our borders for pete's sake, if it's within our legally recognized borders then it's ours. Period, end of discussion.
That's why the Canadian goverment is launching Operation Lancaster. It will be a large arctic soverignty patrol. The frigate HMCS Montreal as well as two smaller coastal patrol vessels, as well an assortment of Helicopters. A platoon of 70 soldiers soldiers from the 22e Regiment (Vandoo's) will perform patrols with Canadian Rangers from an assortment of northern communities. More than anything this is to be a statement to the Americans and the rest of world that considers the Northwest passage and the Canadian claim to Arctic.
I'm very sorry about the quality of posts these days. The scarcity of good news, along with the fact that I'm busier now have contributed to the lack of quality within the posts.
Nathaniel