Umweltschutz gegen Erhalt der Heimat: Indiens Justiz untergräbt Schutz der Waldbewohner und legitimiert Vertreibungen
Daily Archives: 3. März 2019
Crew der ISS betrat erstmals Elon Musks Raumkapsel
Die „Crew Dragon“ der Raumfahrtfirma von Tech-Milliardär Elon Musk brachte zudem 180 Kilogramm Nachschub zur ISS.
SpaceX‘s Crew Dragon Docks at Space Station for First Time
SpaceX Crew Dragon Hatch Opened, Astronauts Enter
Berta Caceres‘ Daughter Demands Justice for Mother‘s Murder on Death Anniversary
The daughter of slain land and water rights activist, Berta Caceres says her mother’s murder must be brought to justice, including indicting the European banks that financed the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam that Caceres fought against until her death three years ago.
Brasilien: Polizisten von Rio de Janeiro schützen Mörder von Marielle Franco
Über den Auftragsmörder da Nóbrega und die Favela Rio das Pedras wird seit Kurzem die Präsidentenfamilie Bolsonaro mit der Ermordung Francos und Gomes‘ in Verbindung gebracht. Der Sohn von Präsident Jair Bolsonaro, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, hatte als Abgeordneter von Rio de Janeiro bis Mitte November 2018 die Ehefrau und die Mutter da Nóbregas beschäftigt. Die Mutter sei für Bolsonaros illegale Finanztransaktionen zuständig gewesen. In dieser Sache laufen seit Mitte Januar Ermittlungen gegen den Präsidentensohn.
Kolumbien: Ultrarechter als Leiter des Geschichtszentrums sorgt für Empörung
Tatsächlich sagte der Historiker im Februar, dass die Existenz eines Konflikts in Kolumbien, „nicht zur offiziellen Wahrheit werden darf“. Acevedos Position entspricht der offiziellen der damaligen Regierung von Álvaro Uribe, laut der es in Kolumbien einen Terrorkrieg der Guerillas gegen den Staat, aber keinen bewaffneten Konflikt gab und dementsprechend nur Opfer der Guerillas, jedoch nicht der Sicherheitskräfte beziehungsweise des Staats existieren.
Social Scoring: Zwei von fünf Deutschen würden gerne das Verhalten ihrer Mitmenschen bewerten
(4.2.2019)
„Dieses Konzept findet mit 46 Prozent im Milieu der Performer den größten Anklang. Diese wirtschaftsnahe und effizienzgetriebene Leistungselite ist äußerst fortschrittsoptimistisch und schätzt es sehr, wenn das Leben durch technischen Fortschritt vereinfacht wird. Den geringsten Zuspruch erfährt dieses Instrument hingegen mit 28 Prozent im Milieu der Sozialökologischen. Diese engagierten Gesellschaftskritiker erkennen zwar die Chance, andere zu besseren Menschen zu ‚erziehen‘, die Angst vor totaler Überwachung ist jedoch größer.“
Aldous Huxley: Schöne neue Welt
Und auf einmal begann aus dem Synthetofon eine Stimme zu sprechen. Die Stimme der Vernunft und der Eintracht. Auf dem Tonband lief die synthetische Aufruhrbeschwichtigung Nummer 2 (mittlere Stärke) ab. Unmittelbar aus der Tiefe eines nicht vorhandenen Herzens sagte die Stimme pathetisch: »Meine Freunde, meine Freunde«, sagte das mit so unendlich zartem Vorwurf, daß selbst den Polizisten hinter ihren Gasmasken für eine Sekunde die Tränen in die Augen traten. »Was soll das alles? Warum seid ihr nicht allesamt glücklich und gut miteinander?
Glücklich und gut«, wiederholte die Stimme. »In Frieden, in Frieden.« Sie bebte, sank zu einem Flüstern herab und erstarb für einen Augenblick. »Oh, wie möchte ich euch so gerne glücklich sehen«, begann sie von neuem mit sehnsüchtig eindringlichem Ernst. »Wie gerne sähe ich euch gut! Ich bitte euch, ich bitte euch, seid gut und -«
Nach zwei Minuten hatten die Stimme und die Somadämpfe ihre Wirkung getan. Unter Tränen küßten und umarmten die Deltas einander, immer ein halbes Dutzend Simultangeschwister auf einmal in einer großen Umarmung.
Sogar Helmholtz und der Wilde waren den Tränen nahe.
Ein neuer Vorrat Pillenschachteln wurde aus der Somakammer gebracht, in aller Eile verteilt, und unter den überströmenden Segenswünschen der Stimme zerstreuten sich die herzzerbrechend schluchzenden Dutzendlinge. …
BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)
Suddenly ,from out of the Synthetic Music Box a Voice began to speak. The Voice of Reason, the Voice of Good Feeling. The sound-track roll was un winding itself in Synthetic Anti-Riot Speech Number Two (Medium Strength). Straight from the depths of a non-existent heart, „My friends, my friends!“ said the Voice so pathetically, with a note of such infinitely tender reproach that, behind their gas masks, even the policemen‘s eyes were momentarily dimmed with tears, „what is the meaning of this? Why aren‘t you all being happy and good together? Happy and good,“ the Voice repeated. „At peace, at peace.“ It trembled, sank into a whisper and momentarily expired. „Oh, I do want you to be happy,“ it began, with a yearning earnestness. „I do so want you to be good! Please, please be good and …“
Two minutes later the V oice and the soma vapour had produced their effect. In tears, the Deltas were kissing and hugging one another –half a dozen twins at a time in a comprehensive embrace. Even Helmholtz and the Savage were almost crying. A fresh supply of pill-boxes was brought in from the Bursary; a new distribution was hastily made and, to the sound of the Voice‘s richly affectionate, baritone valedictions, the twins dispersed, blubbering as though their hearts would break.
China Goes ‚1984‘ While America Goes ‚Brave New World‘–But What‘s Next?
(11.7.2018)
Postman‘s key point was that Big Brother didn‘t need to bother watching John Doe or controlling him, because John Doe probably was already willing to be controlled by forces that rendered him harmless to Big Brother. Postman argued that Aldous Huxley‘s Brave New World was more prescient than Orwell‘s 1984, because in his book Huxley portrayed a citizenry perfectly willing to give up its most sacred possessions for trivial things.
‚Social Credit‘ Tech Is Coming: 5 Ways for U.S. Entrepreneurs to Capitalize
(12.10.2018)
This may all sound frightening, but a system devised by human beings to control others can also be controlled, if you know what you’re doing. If you’re a true entrepreneur, then you see the opportunity in every social evolution. And big changes mean even bigger opportunities. Are you ready?
Democratic 2020 Candidate Wants Government-Sponsored ‘Social Credit’ System Comparable To China’s
(17.11.2018)
New York entrepreneur and Democratic 2020 candidate Andrew Yang wants to implement a system in which a government-run mobile app rewards Americans with “digital social credits” (DSCs) for good behavior.
Americans would receive DSCs under Yang’s system for things such as “participating in a town fair,” “fixing a neighbor’s appliance” or “tutoring a student,” his presidential campaign website explains.
Is China‘s social credit system really the dystopian sci-fi scenario that many fear?
(6.12.2018)
To use Jamie Horsley‘s argument in Foreign Policy, „China‘s Orwellian social credit score isn‘t real…There is no such thing as a national ‚social credit score‘.“
Apart from the (negative) political implications of the work-in-progress social credit system, we should also consider the economic implication of such a system.
We’re closer to China’s disturbing ‘Social Credit System’ than you realize
In addition to more mundane areas like whether you pay your community charge on time, the system’s reputational algorithm will also factor in your choice of online friends. That person who complains about how the government is doing its job could suddenly cost you some serious social cred. Befriend too many wrongthinkers and you could quickly find yourself classed as a wrongthinker too.
Social Credit System being tested in China; could the U.S. be next?
(11.2.2019) „We’re beginning to see it already where insurance companies affect your premium based on whether you’re eating healthy, getting a good night’s sleep or getting enough exercise,“ he said, adding that the need for Congress to act is urgent.
But Chertoff said the emphasis needs to change from how do we keep things confidential, and instead pass laws that focus on who controls the data once it’s been generated.
China’s plan to organize its society relies on ‘big data’ to rate everyone
(22. Oktober 2016)
The ambition is to collect every scrap of information available online about China’s companies and citizens in a single place — and then assign each of them a score based on their political, commercial, social and legal “credit.”
The government hasn’t announced exactly how the plan will work — for example, how scores will be compiled and different qualities weighted against one another. But the idea is that good behavior will be rewarded and bad behavior punished, with the Communist Party acting as the ultimate judge.
FBI Gains Access to Popular Home DNA Kit Database
(1.2.2019) As BuzzFeed reports, this week FamilyTreeDNA confirmed that it is working with the FBI and allowing local law enforcement access to its genealogy database. The number of DNA profiles stored in that database is thought to total over a million.
Blacklists and redlists: How China’s Social Credit System actually works
(23.10.2018) The idea is simple: By keeping and aggregating records throughout the government’s various ministries and departments, Chinese officials can gain insight into how people behave and develop ways to control them.
The goal writes Rogier Creemers, a postdoctoral scholar specializing in the law and governance of China at Leiden University in The Netherlands, is “cybernetic” behavioral control, allowing individuals to be monitored and immediately confronted with the consequences of their actions. In so doing, authorities can enhance the county’s expanding surveillance apparatus.
Coming Soon to a Police Station Near You: The DNA ‘Magic Box’
(21.1.2019) The science-fiction future, in which police can swiftly identify robbers and murderers from discarded soda cans and cigarette butts, has arrived. In 2017, President Trump signed into law the Rapid DNA Act, which, starting this year, will enable approved police booking stations in several states to connect their Rapid DNA machines to Codis, the national DNA database. Genetic fingerprinting is set to become as routine as the old-fashioned kind.
CODIS – The World’s Largest DNA Database
(13. April 2016) 23andMe has about 1.2 million customers. Ancestry DNA was aiming for 1.3 million by the end of 2015 and we can only assume they’ve reached that number by now. The Family Tree DNA database has just over 783,000 records. Assuming there is no overlap between these 3 databases, this means that if all 3 of these companies combined their databases we would have around 3.28 million DNA profiles, or just 1% of the U.S. population. This means that with all the hype around DNA testing companies, they have only managed to achieve a 1% market share combined in the USA alone.
So are these the biggest DNA databases? The answer is no. The U.S. government actually owns the biggest DNA database by far.
F.B.I. and States Vastly Expand DNA Databases
(18. April 2009)
The F.B.I., with a DNA database of 6.7 million profiles, expects to accelerate its growth rate from 80,000 new entries a year to 1.2 million by 2012 — a 15-fold increase. F.B.I. officials say they expect DNA processing backlogs — which now stand at more than 500,000 cases — to increase.
Law enforcement officials say that expanding the DNA databanks to include legally innocent people will help solve more violent crimes.
Genetic data on half a million Brits reveal ongoing evolution and Neanderthal legacy
(3.1.2019) At the same time, computational biologist Tony Capra at Vanderbilt University in Nashville had the same bright idea to search for Neanderthal DNA in a large database. He used proprietary electronic records of 28,000 Americans. His team was the first to publish, reporting Neanderthal DNA variants that raise the risk of depression, skin lesions, blood clots, and other disorders in people today.
China: Police DNA Database Threatens Privacy
(15.5.2017) The issue of DNA collection has received some press attention. In one case in Shandong province, police collected DNA from more than 5,000 male students in one college in October 2013. The students were given no explanation about why their information was taken, and many “did not understand nor felt comfortable about it.” When reached by journalists, the school said it was to cooperate with the police’s request to establish a database about migrant populations, but the police said it was to solve a number of theft cases on the campus.
Die Stadt und ihre Gebäude sollen zum Panopticon werden
(25. Oktober 2008) Mittlerweile ist der öffentliche Raum in Städten mit unterschiedlichen Kameras und anderen Sensoren am Boden oder in der Luft, beispielsweise in Drohnen, Flugzeugen, Satelliten oder Luftschiffen, weitgehend transparent für eine permanente und flächendeckende Überwachung geworden. Probleme macht der umbaute Raum, denn hier können bislang nur in einzelnen Objekten durch die Anbringung von Kameras, einen heimlich ausgeführten Lauschangriff, Millimeterwellen-, Terahertz- bzw. Ultra-Breitband-Radarsystemen (UWB) oder Backscatter-Röntgentechnik die Innenräume durch die Mauern hindurch erfasst und Menschen und Dinge in ihnen ausgemacht und lokalisiert werden.
China has turned Xinjiang into a zone of repression — and a frightening window into the future
(23.2.2019) When George Orwell’s “1984” was published seven decades ago, it seemed a dire warning of a future dystopia ruled by thought police and authoritarian control. Today, such a world is becoming a reality in Xinjiang. We agree with human rights groups who have urged the United Nations Human Rights Council, when it meets starting Monday, to launch an international fact-finding mission to Xinjiang to expose this unsettling experiment in state control of human behavior.
The Thing (listening device)
The Thing, also known as the Great Seal bug, was one of the first covert listening devices (or „bugs“) to use passive techniques to transmit an audio signal. It was concealed inside a gift given by the Soviet Union to W. Averell Harriman, the United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union, on August 4, 1945. Because it was passive, needing electromagnetic energy from an outside source to become energized and activate, it is considered a predecessor of Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) technology.
Das Ding (Abhörgerät)
Das Ding (englisch The Thing) ist die Bezeichnung für ein sowjetisches Abhörgerät, das in einer Schnitzerei des amerikanischen Wappens verborgen war. Die Schnitzerei wurde im Jahr 1945 an den damaligen US-Botschafter in der Sowjetunion übergeben und hing bis zu ihrer Entdeckung im Jahr 1952 in dessen Residenz.
Das Ding bestand hauptsächlich aus einer Schwingungsmembran und einer Antenne. Das Ding benötigte keine eigene Energiequelle, sondern modulierte ein von außerhalb eingestrahltes Signal, wenn dieses die richtige Frequenz hatte. Das Arbeitsprinzip ist somit vergleichbar dem eines Hochfrequenz-Kondensatormikrofons.