Daily Archives: 12. November 2018
Moscow shows it’s back in the ‘Great Game’ by hosting Taliban-Afghan peace talks
Sitting between Afghan representatives and their Taliban rivals, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov played the roles of mediator and experienced hand in Afghanistan’s conflicts.
Russia hosted the landmark talks almost 30 years after it pulled out of Afghanistan in disgrace, ending a decade-long Soviet occupation that was seen as another chapter in what historians called the “great game” by world powers to hold away over Afghanistan and nearby areas.
Afghan peace programs in 17 years a failure: Survey
The survey’s findings were released at a conference titled “The peace process in Afghanistan” in Kabul.
The survey by the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies was completed in 10 months during which 2000 people were interviewed in all the country’s 34 provinces as well as Taliban militants.
Lawsuit: US Military Contractor DynCorp Accused of “Enslaving” American Employees in Kuwaiti Tent Cities
(24.10.2018) DynCorp’s old habits of treating human beings as commodities remain as ingrained as ever, largely thanks to the fact that the company has never been held accountable for its crimes against its workers as well as countless children.
Pentagon rejects request for additional military resources in Persian Gulf
It also comes as Defense Secretary James Mattis and Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, are engaged in high-level classified discussions with senior commanders around the world about how to allocate military resources for the next two years, officials say.
Military contractor received $1.6 billion to advise Afghans but results unknown
(31.10.2018) The U.S. government’s Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) found that since 2010, the U.S. Department of Defense has awarded four contracts, worth $1.62 billion U.S., to DynCorp International to provide contract advisors at Afghan MOD and MOI. Two of these contracts, worth $421 million, are ongoing and expected to end in November 2018.
And the results?
Mehr als 100 Tote bei Gewaltwelle in Afghanistan
Die meisten Opfer seien Sicherheitskräfte. Der Attentäter habe die Bombe an einem Polizeikontrollpunkt in der Nähe einer Schule gezündet, teilte das Innenministerium mit. Dort demonstrierten Hunderte Angehörige der schiitischen Volksgruppe der Hasara für mehr Schutz der Regierung vor Angriffen der Taliban. Zu dem Anschlag bekannte sich zunächst niemand.
Profitable Spenden
Allein 2017 gelang es den 50 größten deutschen Unternehmen in den USA, ihren Absatz um rund sieben Prozent zu steigern. Industrievertreter sprachen in diesem Zusammenhang von einem „Hammerjahr“.
Rot-Rot wappnet sich gegen Terror
(31.10.2018) Mit dem neuen Polizeigesetz werden die Befugnisse der Behörden stark ausgeweitet
Body-Cam Video Of Daniel Shaver Shooting | Los Angeles Times
GRAPHIC FOOTAGE: Daniel Shaver was fatally shot by Arizona police on Jan. 18, 2016, in the hallway of the hotel where he was staying. Philip Mitchell Brailsford, the officer who killed Shaver, was acquitted of murder charges on Dec. 7, 2017.
A Celebration of Killing and Dying
I realized what being a Marine actually entails, that as a young man I underwent, perhaps endured is better, a profound life-altering experience, Marine Boot Camp, during which everything I was, embraced, stood for, and held sacred, was brutally and methodically destroyed, with the resultant void filled with the values, “virtues,” and abilities appropriate to the role I was about to assume.
How the US military is using ‘violent, chaotic, beautiful’ video games to train soldiers
(7.3.2017) As part of a study, we interviewed 15 current and former members of the U.S. military who were between 24 and 35 years old to understand the role violent first-person shooter games played in their recruitment and training.
The majority of interviewees told us it was important to stay in the mindset of a soldier even when not on duty. To them, first-person shooters were the perfect vehicle for doing this.
Eine Feier des Tötens und Sterbens
Der 10. November ist der 242. Geburtstag des United State Marine Corps. Es ist eine Zeit der Feierlichkeiten, in der aktuelle und ehemalige Marines die geschichtsträchtige Geschichte und die glorreichen Traditionen des Zweiges des Militärs anerkennen, in dem sie so stolz gedient haben…
Ich weiß wenig über das Leben von Ian David Long, dem jüngsten aus der Fülle der Amokschützen dieser Nation. Was ich weiß, ist, dass er ein Produkt der Marine-Ausbildung war, durchdrungen von den Verhaltensweisen und Werten eines Kriegers, verstärkt durch die Schrecken des Schlachtfeldes, um schließlich zwölf Fremden das Leben zu nehmen und dann sein eigenes zu beenden.
Pentagon and CIA enlist video games
(10.3.2003) With “Full Spectrum Warrior,” currently in testing at Fort Benning, Ga., squad leaders learn how to command nine soldiers in complex, confusing urban warfare scenarios. The game isn’t not about sprinting, “Rambo”-like, through alleys with guns blazing.
“It’s not really about shooting at things,” Macedonia said. “Learning how to shoot your weapon is easy. The challenging thing is leading.”
The game the Institute for Creative Technologies has been working on with the CIA for about a year — at a cost of several million dollars — will let agency analysts assume the role of terror cell leaders, cell members and operatives.
“Our analysts would be accustomed to looking at the world from the perspective of the terrorists we are chasing, and learn to expect the unexpected,” CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield said.
Gut sein in Red Dead Redemption 2 heißt trotzdem, böse zu sein
Es ist ein Theaterstück über den Tod des Westernhelden, gespielt von Figuren, die um ihr eigenes Schicksal nicht wissen. Rockstar schafft es damit, eine sehr reale Geschichte zu erzählen: Ein Leben zu leben, das nicht den eigenen Vorstellungen entspricht. Bis einem kurz vor dem Tod klar wird – ich war nie das, was ich sein wollte.
Dreht Seehofer noch eine Pirouette?
NDR Info: Horst Seehofer hat seinen Rückzug angekündigt. Wie genau lief das ab?
Nikolaus Neumaier: Er ist gestern etwas beleidigt nach Hause gefahren und wird sich diese Woche noch einmal erklären. Durchgesickert ist aber schon, dass es einen Sonderparteitag im Januar oder Februar geben soll.
Seltsam. Herr #Haldenwang hat #Maaßen mehr als einmal vertreten und wohl auch seinen Führungstil nie hinterfragt. Nun soll er mit gleicher „Ideologie“ das Amt übernehmen, anstatt eine interne Unsersuchung des @BfV_Bund anzustreben? Wie kann das vertrauensvoll sein? @BMI_Bund
Neubesetzung der Leitung des Bundesamtes für Verfassungsschutz (BfV): Thomas Haldenwang soll neuer Präsident werden
Bundesinnenminister Seehofer wird dem Bundeskabinett vorschlagen, Herrn Thomas Haldenwang, den bisherigen Vizepräsidenten, zum Präsidenten des Bundesamtes für Verfassungsschutz zu ernennen. Herr Haldenwang folgt damit Herrn Hans-Georg Maaßen, der vergangene Woche in den einstweiligen Ruhestand versetzt wurde.
NASA unveils new goals for Moon, Mars, including space privatization
(1.10.2018) These certainly mean more dollars headed toward research and development; while the original Apollo and other missions were government-funded and ultimately fell under the purview of the military (indeed, one of the primary stated goals of the Gemini and Apollo programs was to lessen the „Missile gap“ between the United States and the Soviet Union), this new concept relies heavily on private investment, corporate involvement and funding, and the eventual mining and financial rewards of „exploration and use“ of the lunar and Mars surfaces.
Space Station May Be Stranded; Here‘s When U.S. Rockets Can Get There
(11.10.2018) Russia grounded all space flights after a Soyuz rocket failure Thursday, putting the International Space Station at risk and adding pressure on Boeing (BA) and SpaceX to get their rockets ready for NASA service.
Soyuz Rocket‘s Launch-Abort Close Call Highlights Poor Space-Policy Decisions (Op-Ed)
(16.10.2018) One of the cornerstones of the current space policy is to somehow „privatize“ or „commercialize“ the ISS by 2024-2025 and to use the „savings“ from that privatization to help fund the program. The idea of operating the ISS profitably is so preposterous that I don‘t feel a need to comment further here. Besides, from where is the funding to come before 2024-2025?
What this look back shows is consistently poor policy decisions going back at least 14 years. What will happen to NASA and U.S. spaceflight in the coming years?
China Fails First Attempt at Privatized Satellite Launch
(30.10.2018) A Beijing-based company called Landspace built the ill-fated three-stage rocket known as the Zhuque-1. The company took to a short blog post to admit the first and second stages of the craft did not reach orbit due to the third stage‘s failure.
“Before Zhuque carrier rocket was launched, its mission was already completed,” the company said in the post on Saturday. However, the company didn‘t give out more details about the mishap.
This circulated at @Boeing @NASA and #USA back when I was on @Space_Station Program. I left #ISS in 2002 and it was well before that – late ‘90’s? – but do not know the source. My recollection is it emerged as “commentary” during discussions re: Shuttle privatization.
(4.9.2018)
How The International Space Station Could Operate Commercially
(14.3.2018) Printing organs for people on the transplant list could be a viable ISS business too. Sometime this year, Techshot will send up its 3D space biofabrication lab to the ISS to test organ printing in microgravity.
Currently, stomachs and other pliable organs can be printed on earth with the help of a supporting structure. However, a more complex organ like a heart can‘t be printed because it would be damaged by gravity when the support scaffolding is removed.
Copeland also said that stem cells have been developed faster in microgravity vs. on earth.
NASA’s leader wants to privatize the International Space Station. It’s a remarkably terrible idea.
(9.6.2018) Since taking office as NASA’s administrator in April, Jim Bridenstine (previously a member of Congress from Oklahoma with no scientific background) has pushed this scheme, most recently in an interview this week with the Washington Post.
NASA’s new administrator says he’s talking to companies about taking over operations of the International Space Station
(5.6.2018) “We’re in a position now where there are people out there that can do commercial management of the International Space Station,” Bridenstine said in his first extensive interview since being sworn in as NASA administrator in April. “I’ve talked to many large corporations that are interested in getting involved in that through a consortium, if you will.”
ESA’s space vision presented at Paris Peace Forum
ESA astronaut Claudie Haigneré attended the Paris Peace Forum this weekend, presenting the Agency’s vision for engaging humankind in multilateral cooperation for space exploration with peaceful objectives.
Unser System: Das Ende der zivilen Europäischen Weltraumfahrt
(21. Juli 2008) Frankreichs Präsident Sarkozy plant die Kontrolle der Europäischen Weltraumagentur ESA durch die EU. Die Hintergründe sind kommerziell-militärischer Natur, sowie eine strategische Anbindung an die USA.
ESA director general argues for more collaboration as EU ramps up investment in own space agency
(6.6.2018) The EU has clashed with the head of the independent European Space Agency (ESA) over the bloc’s plans to take greater control over the continent’s space programmes, in a move that could cut the UK out of key decisions.
EU Agency for the Space Programme
The EU Agency for the Space Programme is a proposed future agency of the European Union, based on the existing European GNSS Agency.
Spannungen zwischen ESA und EU
Darum geht es unter anderem bei den Verhandlungen zum neuen Rahmenprogramm der EU, mit dem die EU-Forschungsstrategie der nächsten Jahre festgelegt wird, sagt der Generaldirektor der Europäischen Weltraumorganisation ESA, Jan-Dietrich Wörner. „Die Frage ist, wer hat das Sagen bei neuen Programmen und wer macht was, da muss man schon genauer hinsehen. Das sind einfach zwei unterschiedliche Welten, die miteinander kooperieren.“
Österreich feiert 100 Jahre Republik
„Jeder weiß, wie die Geschichte der Ersten Republik verlaufen ist, und dass über all die Jahre der Zweifel virulent blieb, ob dieses Ding denn lebensfähig ist“, sagte Van der Bellen. „Nicht von ungefähr war Karl Renner, der Ausrufer der Ersten Republik, der Ausrufer der Zweiten Republik – im Jahr 1938 war auch er für den Anschluss. Daran erkennt man schon, wie schwach das Selbstbewusstsein dieser Ersten Republik war.“
Jeremy Corbyn holds meeting with head of MI6 for the first time amid fears a collapse in Brexit negotiations could cause another snap election
(10.11.2018) According to the Daily Telegraph, Mr Younger invited Mr Corbyn to MI6‘s headquarters in Vauxhall, south London for an ‚acquaintance session‘.
A Whitehall source told the paper: ‚The feeling was that the time had come for Mr Corbyn to become acquainted with the workings of the intelligence establishment.‘