Adnan Khashoggi was one of the high society news makers in the 80's, considered by some to be on Donald Trump's level. While things have gone alright for the Donald, Khashoggi hasn't done as well... [more inside]
posted by reenum on Dec 14, 2009 - 19 comments

Arms Control Wonk - a collaborative blog detailing the ins and outs of strategic weapons programs around the world. [more inside]
posted by Burhanistan on Nov 25, 2009 - 11 comments

A former soldier who handed a discarded shotgun in to police faces at least five years imprisonment for "doing his duty". Paul Clarke, 27, was found guilty of possessing a firearm at Guildford Crown Court on Tuesday – after finding the gun and handing it personally to police officers on March 20 this year. [more inside]
posted by Jakey on Nov 15, 2009 - 133 comments

The Adventures Of A Would Be Arms Dealer (PDF) is an eight-page comic illustrating how an illegal arms deal works in practice. Via.
posted by Fiasco da Gama on Jul 28, 2009 - 16 comments

A little late for Flash Fun Friday but it's the thought that counts right? . Like Zelda... but with large squid monsters.
posted by Mastercheddaar on Apr 24, 2009 - 10 comments

The Curious Case of Alex Latifi. "We don’t care if Latifi is innocent. Our goal is to put him out of business." Feds knock; a business is lost: all charges dropped years after the company was charged with violating U.S. export law by sending to China classified drawings of an Army Black Hawk helicopter part and falsifying related tests. "It appears that the principal offense committed by the defendant, Alex Latifi, was breathing while being of Middle Eastern extraction.” [more inside]
posted by Non Prosequitur on Apr 1, 2009 - 17 comments

April 18, 1980: Rhodesia is renamed Zimbabwe after it is granted black majority rule. [more inside]
posted by allkindsoftime on Apr 18, 2008 - 60 comments

NYT Article The man who served as inspiration for the 2005 Nicolas Cage's 2005 flick "Lord of War," arms trafficer Victor Bout, has been arrested in Thailand. [more inside]
posted by krautland on Mar 6, 2008 - 28 comments

Busting the Merchant of War. "The Bush administration finally nails a notorious supplier to terrorists—after he spent 30 years hiding in plain sight." [Via Disinformation.]
posted by homunculus on Jul 25, 2007 - 15 comments

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, military spending for 2005 increased by 3.4% from 2004, and now tops US$1.12 trillion. Spending has however declined as a proportion of gross world product, from 2.6% to 2.5%. Naturally, the USA is No. 1 all the way, with 48% of total expenditure. China is in the top five with a bullet , although their guns are different, apparently, because they 'promote peace and stability'.
posted by wilful on Jun 14, 2006 - 21 comments

UAE, Jolted by Port Deal, Is Key Western Arms Buyer The United Arab Emirates (UAE), the centre of a growing controversy over its proposed management of U.S. port terminals, is one of the world's most prolific arms buyers and a multi-billion-dollar military market both for the United States and Western Europe.
posted by Postroad on Feb 24, 2006 - 57 comments

Promoting Freedom or Fueling Conflict? U.S. Military Aid and Arms Transfers Since September 11--from the World Policy Institute, a report on whether we put our money where our mouth is. Statements like "Freedom will be the future of every nation and every people on Earth" might sound nice and even inspiring, but why is our own government funding overwhelmingly anti-democratic and abusive governments? ... When countries designated by the State Department’s Human Rights Report to have poor human rights records or serious patterns of abuse are factored in, 20 of the top 25 U.S. arms clients in the developing world in 2003 -- a full 80% -- were either undemocratic regimes or governments with records of major human rights abuses. ...
posted by amberglow on May 24, 2005 - 51 comments

My Armoury - A resource for historic arms & armour collectors (Unfortunately, mostly replicas)
posted by growabrain on Feb 12, 2005 - 8 comments

Buy a Gun For America! Buy a gun because you live in a country where you can.
posted by mwhybark on Nov 3, 2004 - 18 comments

"I showed them everything from a simple hook to a nonfunctioning artificial hand to a $50,000 bionic arm," Agris says. "They all picked the bionic arm." 7 Iraqi men recieve tattoo removal and a bionic arm.
posted by tomplus2 on May 21, 2004 - 13 comments

Libya disarms. Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, said the Iraq war had nothing to do with the timing of Libya's negotiations. "We started the cooperation before even the invasion of Iraq," he told CNN. But he added: "It's a critical deal for Libya, because first of all we will get access to defensive weapons and no sanctions on Libyan arms imports any more. We will get access to the know-how and technology in sectors which were banned."
posted by skallas on Dec 20, 2003 - 61 comments

Gamma-ray weapons could trigger next arms race "The hafnium explosive could be extremely powerful. One gram of fully charged hafnium isomer could store more energy than 50 kilograms of TNT. Miniature missiles could be made with warheads that are far more powerful than existing conventional weapons, giving massively enhanced firepower to the armed forces using them." Half of me thinks: "WOW! Cool!" The other 1% thinks: "We've really had it now"
posted by hmgovt on Aug 14, 2003 - 25 comments

The Armarium. Online Historical Fencing Manuals & Texts at the Association for the Renaissance Martial Arts (ARMA).
posted by misteraitch on Jun 14, 2003 - 2 comments

Where did those chemical and biological weapons come from?
”According to the December declaration, treated with much derision from the Bush administration, U.S. and Western companies played a key role in building Hussein's war machine. The 1,200-page document contains a list of Western corporations and countries -- as well as individuals -- that exported chemical and biological materials to Iraq in the past two decades.”

I’ve always been surprised that this type of report doesn’t get more attention. During the UN hearings I half expected the Administration to level with the world and simply say: ”We know they have the stuff because we sold it to them.”
posted by peebo on Mar 26, 2003 - 32 comments

The right of the people to keep and bear grenade launchers. San Francisco's 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that the Second Amendment protects only the right of states to organize and maintain militias, not the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. The 3-0 decision upheld California's sweeping 1999 assault weapons ban.
posted by gottabefunky on Dec 6, 2002 - 60 comments

Gregg Valentino's Claim to fame is having the biggest arms in the world, and who are we to argue with him? (Link via zFilter.)
posted by h0ney on Jul 30, 2002 - 30 comments

Sarah Brady, champion of gun control, buys a gun for her son. The Secret Service, who you can bet are armed, violate federal and state law to keep legally carried arms away from Dick Cheney in Utah. Kofi Annan gets in trouble for machine-pistol carrying guards shortly after the UN's international Small Arms Destruction Day. Diane Feinstein admits the need to feel armed. Rosie O'Donnell wants people to tote guns to protect her son. One of Ted Kennedy's guards brought a machine pistol into the Capitol. I'm not meaning to make a Memepool type linkfest, but these things are extremely under reported, and I'm interested in what people think of the apparent hypocrisy to be found in the people who want to make you defenseless but feel above their rules themselves. Is this defensible? How?
posted by jammer on Mar 30, 2002 - 60 comments

"Civil War, Revolutionary War and Pirate cannons could not harm tanks, half tracks, armored cars or self-propelled guns." Army Men, my friends, Army Men.
posted by rodii on Feb 6, 2002 - 21 comments

"I’d keep guns off the streets if I could -- keep them off people, off cops, off everybody. They’re just built to kill people, and that’s no good. Sometimes I feel like turning people in -- like when there’s a shooting in front of my house. But something always stops me. I grew up in this place. I knew these people before they even started dealing with guns. Those are the people who watch my back when I need them. They’re like family -- I can’t turn them in." Jesus Gonzalez reports on the illegal handgun trade in Brooklyn, NY, as part of a Marketplace series on the underground economy.
posted by sudama on Nov 15, 2001 - 6 comments

Notifications to Congress of Pending U.S. Arms Transfers 1992-2001
Check out Egypt and Israel.
Database at this site.
posted by adnanbwp on Sep 17, 2001 - 14 comments

I love 80's retro. Between the smoking travesty of "Joe Dirt" and "The Artist" changing his name back to Prince and going on a greatest hits tour, I thought we couldn't revisit the past much more...

Then, for some odd reason, I start to wonder why arms for hostages sounds vaguely familiar.
posted by foist on Apr 19, 2001 - 6 comments