Some interesting documentaries I've watched recently

The staggering scale of metal theft in the UK
I came across this while looking through various BBC documentaries on youtube. It appears metal thieves, especially those stealing large quantities of copper wire, may be causing even more damage across the pond than they are in the US. This documentary largely focuses on  the British Transport Police trying to deal with this epidemic, but we also get an interesting quick detour to the London Metal Exchange to discuss the cause of skyrocketing metal prices.

Sectarian violence in Lebanon: The Warlords of Tripoli
This is a very intense documentary about the recent explosion of violence in the Lebanese port city of Tripoli, directly related to the Syrian Civil War. The city is divided between Sunni Muslims and Alawites, who are now unfortunately mostly known by those of us in the West as the sect that Bashar Assad belongs to. A street smaller than most residential streets in the U.S. separates the communities, and gunfights (along with conflict featuring even heavier ordinance) have become increasingly common between them. In true Vice style, this is one of the documentaries where you can easily see the host and crew had to be half-crazy to even consider participating.

Wild Indonesia: Magical Forests

Part of the BBC's Natural World series, filmed back in 2000. It's an exceptionally intriguing look at the diverse wildlife of this island country's forest regions, with great footage of rare and unusual species like flying foxes, the Sumatran tiger and echidnas.It also provides a window into the culture of some of of New Guinea's natives.

Return of the Cossacks

Russia's somewhat notorious Cossacks have enjoyed a resurgence in recent years, helped along by Putin's government and its affinity for anything classically Russian. I've always had an interest in the Cossacks, in large part because my Great Grandfather on my Father's Mother's side was likely conceived as the result of a Cossack raid on his village. As you'll see in this video, the Cossacks still possess the same psychotic patriotism and proclivity to persecute ethnic minorities they were always renowned for.

Khat Power: The latest war on drugs

Another great Vice documentary, focusing on the current crackdown on the use of Khat, a leaf that when chewed has basically the same effect as a cup of espresso. That hasn't stopped authorities in the West from getting up in arms over the drug, and claiming that profits from its sale support the Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Shabab even though evidence to the contrary is readily available. Just another case of morons in countries where legally available prescription opiates and alcohol end more lives and force more people into rehab than anything else getting worked up over something they don't understand and haven't researched, in my humble opinion.

The Other Side of Suez

Another great BBC documentary, this one focuses on the Suez Crisis of 1956 and its parallels with the 2003 invasion of Iraq. I think one of the great unlearned lessons of the Cold War, in particular by those who act like US leaders in one case or another exhibited cowardice by avoiding direct confrontation with the USSR, is that both the UK and France were more aggressive than us with regard to what they claimed was Communist expansionism in the '50s and '60s and it backfired horribly for them. Thankfully for the entire world, the U.S, largely stuck to Theodore Roosevelt's idea of walking softly and carrying a big stick, as evidenced by President Eisenhower's fury over British actions shown in this documentary.

The Story of Ireland

This is part 1 of 5 of a BBC series on the history of Ireland from from pre-Roman times to modern day. It does a lot to dispel the notion that Ireland is a purely Celtic nation, showing that it's been subject to waves of immigration and conquest since even pre-Roman times, but if you examine the youtube comments (almost always a bad idea) you'll see that there's still a lot of inane opposition to this proven fact.

I'll be back with a longer update on increased military spending and nationalist animosity in East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa soon, God willing.