Daily Archives: 18. Oktober 2014


18.10.2014 - 22:42 [ Survival International ]

Survival calls for release of journalists and political prisoners in West Papua

French journalists Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat face trial by the Indonesian authorities in West Papua on October 20, 2014, on charges of “abusive use of entry visas”, after being arrested while making a documentary film in August.

Dandois and Bourrat were arrested after meeting with Areki Wanimbo, the head of the Lani Besar Tribal Council in the Papuan highlands, who has also been detained.

18.10.2014 - 20:10 [ Einar Schlereth ]

Haiti: US schreibt Haitis Verfassung neu im Interesse der EINPROZENTER

Ezili Dantò ist preisgekrönte Stückeschreiberin, Poetin und Menschenrechtsanwältin. Von ihr erfahrt ihr die Wahrheit über das ‚ARME‘ Haiti, das mit Gold und wertvollen Metallen und vielem mehr gesegnet ist, was aber den US-MULTIS die Milliarden einbringt, die Haiti dringend nötig hätte. Und obendrein tun die Amis, was sie außer Bomben werfen am liebsten tun: dem unterdrückten Land eine neue Verfassung schreiben. Wie für Deutschland und Japan, wie für Afghanistan und den Irak und für Haiti und viele der ‚Bananenrepubliken‘. Lest selbst um ihren Kampf gegen die Regierung der USA und gegen die UNO.

18.10.2014 - 19:55 [ RT ]

‘NATO has to get out of Balkans’

NM: Foreign intervention has to get out of the Balkans. What has made the situation worse is definitely the NATO intervention and the breaking up of Yugoslavia. And that made things catastrophic. And if you take a look at the elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina last Sunday … it is not democracy, because half of people didn’t go to vote and the others all voted for nationalistic parties. People are not getting along and the military presence and the bombings, and the war which was created by NATO and the NATO forces have made things worse.

18.10.2014 - 18:25 [ Mondo Weiss ]

How Israel relies on Islamophobia

What could a national resistance party in Gaza, an international jihadist organization in the northern Levant, and the state of Iran have in common? The Prime Minister would have you believe they all adhere to the same doctrine of militant Islam that is forever at war with the rational, liberal, ever-philanthropic West. Yet, with an accusation as inaccurate as George W. arguing that Iran and Iraq had anything in common other than a border, Netanyahu could only hope that the West heard “Muslim, Muslim, Muslim,” and jumped on its Crusading bandwagon.

18.10.2014 - 18:23 [ Daily Mail ]

White House to seek more funds for war on Ebola

(14. Oktober) Donovan told Reuters that the request, which would come on top of more than $1 billion in federal funds currently available, would be made in the coming weeks as Congress reconvenes in November to consider a massive spending bill for the 2015 fiscal year.

„Our expectation is that we will be talking to Congress about additional needs,“ Donovan said at the Reuters Global Climate Change Summit in Washington.

18.10.2014 - 18:21 [ rtcc.org ]

Climate change is like Ebola – World Bank chief

(13. Oktober) Speaking at the World Bank’s annual meeting with the International Monetary Fund, Kim said that the Bank’s work on climate change was informing its response to the deadly disease, which has killed over 4,000 people mainly in West Africa.

“Ebola and climate change have a few things in common. Most importantly, we are running out of time to find solutions to both,” he said.

18.10.2014 - 18:17 [ Phys.org ]

Germ-zapping robot could support war against Ebola (w/ Video)

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, „There is no epidemiologic evidence of Ebola virus transmission via either the environment or fomites that could become contaminated during patient care (e.g., bed rails, door knobs, laundry). However, given the apparent low infectious dose, potential of high virus titers in the blood of ill patients, and disease severity, higher levels of precaution are warranted to reduce the potential risk posed by contaminated surfaces in the patient care environment.“

18.10.2014 - 18:12 [ Science Skeptical Blog ]

Klimaforscher, die neuen Weltuntergangspropheten und ihre willige Gefolgschaft

In Zeiten der Kirchenskandale und steigender Kirchenaustritte bedarf es einer neuen Religion. Denn nur allzu gerne möchten Menschen die Halt und Leitlinien in ihren Leben suchen glauben, dass die Menschheit Sünde auf sich geladen hat, der Weltuntergang vor der Tür steht und dieser nur abgewendet werden kann, wenn man seine Sünden bereut, die Menschheit zu einem Besseren bekehrt und aktiv dabei mitwirkt. Man erkauft sich Ablass von seiner Schuld und rette die Welt vor dem drohenden Untergang. Was kommt da passender als der drohende Weltuntergang durch den menschengemachten Klimawandel?

18.10.2014 - 17:56 [ Spiegel ]

Satellitenbild der Woche: Eisrekord in der Antarktis

(21. Oktober 2013) Wie die US-Weltraumbehörde Nasa mitteilt, hat sich das Meereis in der Antarktis Ende September über eine Fläche von 19,47 Millionen Quadratmeter erstreckt. Das sei der höchste Wert seit Beginn der Messungen.

Das Ergebnis basiert auf Daten des Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) an Bord des japanischen Satelliten „GCOM-W1“.

18.10.2014 - 17:54 [ Science Skeptical Blog ]

Schon wieder ein neuer Meereis-Rekord – Diesmal in der Antarktis

(30. September 2012) Sollte Ihnen diese Meldung irgendwie seltsam vorkommen,so hat das einen guten Grund. Über die Eisausdehnung in der Antarktis wird in unseren Medien nämlich so gut wie gar nicht berichtet. Dort gibt es nämlich aus der momentanen Sicht der Propheten eines nahenden Hitzetods nicht nützliches zu vermelden.

18.10.2014 - 17:48 [ Wall Street Journal ]

The Pentagon Goes to Climate War

“We’ve seen Russian aggression in Eastern Europe, we’ve seen ISIS, we’ve seen some increased instability in other places,” the general told a military conference. “So I now have a concern whether even going below 490,000 [troops] is the right thing to do.” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced in February that the Army would shrink to about…

18.10.2014 - 17:39 [ Science Magazine ]

Decades-Long Changes of the Interstellar Wind Through Our Solar System

(6 September 2013) The flow of interstellar gas and dust through the solar system was thought to be unvarying, but Frisch et al. (p. 1080) show that there has been a significant variation of the direction of the flow of interstellar helium through the solar system over the past 40 years. The data, collected by 10 different spacecraft over much of the space age, hint of changes rather than constancy in the solar system‘s galactic environment.

18.10.2014 - 17:08 [ Bandcamp ]

Letters Home by Defeater

These 10 new tracks are heavy and haunting, while lyrically poignant and continuing the story of a working class family living in post-WWII America. ‚Letters Home‘ revolves around the father of two brothers that listeners were introduced to in two of Defeater‘s prior releases (2008‘s ‚Travels‘ and, most recently, 2011‘s ‚Empty Days & Sleepless Nights‘), giving a background to the character and seeing some of the events from those past albums through his eyes.

18.10.2014 - 17:02 [ Youtube ]

Solar Cycle 24 in 2013: A Flip of the Sun‘s Magnetic Field (Science at NASA)

The entire sun‘s magnetic polarity, flips approximately every 11 years — though sometimes it takes quite a bit longer — and defines what‘s known as the solar cycle. The visualization shows how in 1997, the sun shows the positive polarity on the top, and the negative polarity on the bottom. Over the next 12 years, each set of lines is seen to creep toward the opposite pole eventually showing a complete flip. By the end of the movie, each set of lines are working their way back to show a positive polarity on the top to complete the full 22 year magnetic solar cycle.

18.10.2014 - 17:00 [ 3Sat ]

Polumkehr möglich: Das Magnetfeld der Erde wird immer schwächer

(2. Okt. 2013) Seit 1979 hat die Stärke des Erdmagnetfelds nach Satellitenmessungen weltweit um 1,7 Prozent abgenommen – zehn Mal stärker als erwartet. Diese Beobachtungen stützen sich unter anderem auf Daten des deutschen Forschungssatelliten „Champ“. Die Veränderung finde zudem nicht gleichmäßig statt: Über dem Südatlantik sei die Feldstärke sogar um zehn Prozent gesunken. Auch über der Karibik ist das Feld deutlich schwächer geworden. Wer nach Südamerika über den Atlantik fliegt, belastet seine Gesundheit durch die stärkere kosmische Strahlung etwa so stark wie auf 1000 Flügen in den Fernen Osten.

18.10.2014 - 16:57 [ Guardian ]

Senior NSA official moonlighting for private cybersecurity firm

Patrick Dowd continues to work as a senior NSA official while also working part time for Alexander’s IronNet Cybersecurity, a firm reported to charge up to $1m a month for advising banks on protecting their data from hackers. It is exceedingly rare for a US official to be allowed to work for a private, for-profit company in a field intimately related to his or her public function.

18.10.2014 - 16:39 [ Watts Up With That? ]

We weren’t lying, we were oversimplifying – the Conversation’s latest ‘dog ate homework’ excuse for climate insanity

As the great unwinding of the more extreme climate alarmist positions gathers momentum, “The Conversation” provides us with a hilarious new excuse for some of the wild claims made by climate scientists over the years. Apparently they weren’t lying or exaggerating, they were “oversimplifying”.

18.10.2014 - 16:19 [ Climate Dialogue ]

What will happen during a new Maunder Minimum?

According to the latest IPCC report, AR5, the influence of the sun on our climate since pre-industrial times, in terms of radiative forcing, is very small compared to the effect of greenhouse gases.

According to some more skeptical scientists such a small solar influence is counterintuitive. The Little Ice Age, the period roughly from 1350 to 1850, in which winters on the Northern Hemisphere could be severe and glaciers advanced, coincided with the so-called Maunder Minimum, a period of supposedly low solar activity. In their eyes, the sun therefore still is a serious candidate to also explain a substantial part of the warming since pre-industrial times.

18.10.2014 - 16:16 [ contrAtom ]

Atommüllzwischenlager Würgassen: Das ist also “AKW-Rückbau”

Der Atomkonzern E.ON verkündet stolz: Nach 17 Jahren ist der Rückbau des Atomkraftwerks Würgassen beendet. Was bleibt ist allerdings ein Zwischenlager mit 10.000 Fässer Atommüll, von dem heute noch niemand weiss, wohin damit. Auch in der Vergangenheit ist das AKW an allen Kehrseiten der Atomkraft beteiligt: von der Asse über Morsleben bis nach Gorleben. “Zusammengefasst ein Desaster” attestieren Atomkraftgegner.

18.10.2014 - 16:13 [ contrAtom ]

Subventionen für Reaktorbau: Große Koalition nickt britische Atommilliarden ab

Die Billigung der Subventionen hat Tragweite: Auch in anderen europäischen Länder wie Tschechien, Bulgarien, der Slowakei oder Polen spekulieren Atomkonzerne auf die bis dahin nach EU-Recht als illegal deklarierte Subventionierungsmöglichkeit für eigen AKW-Neubauprojekte. Denn bei fast allen Projekten mangelt es an einer Finanzierung.

Im Gegenteil zu Deutschland hat das österreichische Bundeskanzleramt beschlossen, den Entscheid der Europäischen Kommission nicht zu akzeptieren und eine Klage beim Europäischen Gerichtshof einzubringen. Alternative Energieformen seien förderungswürdig – nicht aber die Atomenergie. Garantierte Einspeisetarife wie in England dem AKW-Betreiber EDF versprochen wurden sind bisher allein den erneuerbaren Energieformen vorbehalten.

18.10.2014 - 16:08 [ Gulf News ]

Lebanon defense minister in Iran

Saudi Arabia last year announced it would give Lebanon $3 billion (2.4 billion euros) to purchase weapons and equipment from France, but that deal has yet to be fully implemented.

18.10.2014 - 14:33 [ Griechenland-Blog ]

Verfassungswidrige Hausdurchsuchungen in Griechenland

Gesetz 4174 bewegt sich außerhalb der grundgesetzlichen Ordnung

Nach all diesem ersuchte das (offensichtlich begründet verunsicherte …) Finanzministerium die Staatsanwaltschaft des Areopags um ihre Ansichten zu dem strittigen Thema. Daraufhin erstellte Herr Pantelis ein Gutachten, in dem er anführt, Artikel 9 der Verfassung bestimme Folgendes: “Die Wohnung eines Jeden ist ein Asyl. Das private und familiäre Leben der Person ist unverletzbar. In einer Wohnung erfolgt eine Durchsuchung nur, wann und wie es das Gesetz bestimmt und immer in Gegenwart von Vertretern der Judikativen.“

18.10.2014 - 14:15 [ counterpunch ]

(14.10) The Ukraine, As We Know It, Is Gone Forever

The central one is the mistaken belief (put forward by Zbigniew Brzezinski) that without the Ukraine Russia cannot be a superpower, and the equally mistaken belief (put forward by Hillary Clinton) that Putin wants to re-create the Soviet Union. For the AngloZionists, the Ukraine is a zero-sum game in which the US must either control the Ukraine or destroy it, but not allow Russia to have it. The problem with this theory is that Russia doesn’t really want or need the Ukraine.(…)
Russia already got what it wanted, Crimea. As for the rest, Moscow’s attitude is, “You broke it, you own it.”(…)
There must be regime change in Kiev followed by de-Nazification.(…)
Neither Russia nor Novorussia will ever be safe as long as the Nazis are in power in Kiev. That means that these russophobic, nationalist freaks will have to be removed before final status issues can be resolved.

18.10.2014 - 13:58 [ Pepe Escobar / Asia Times ]

The geopolitics of the World Cup

It‘s amusing to check how the City of London – which loves Russian cash, craves Chinese investment and has a soft spot for Brazilian soft power – takes it all in. With an added strand of British humor, they could easily have interpreted the Rumble in the Jungle as NATO battling it out in the middle of the much-coveted rainforest (think the water wars of the near future)

18.10.2014 - 13:49 [ Electronic Frontier Foundation ]

Cyber-Espionage and Trade Agreements: An Ill-Fitting and Dangerous Combination

Yesterday‘s leak of a May 2014 draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement revealed the addition of new text criminalizing the misuse of trade secrets through „computer systems“, as mentioned in our previous post about the leak. This is a significant revelation, because we also know that trade secrets are planned for inclusion in the EU-US free trade agreement, TTIP (the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership). The revelation of the proposed text in the TPP provides a good indication that the same kind of language will likely also appear in TTIP. Frighteningly, this text contains no protections to safeguard the public interest.