Utrecht, December 2013
IKV Pax Christi has strived to achieve the highest level of accuracy in our
reporting. However, at this point, there is still a marked lack of official
information available in the public domain about the use, production,
transfer, and stockpiling of cluster munitions, as well as about investments
in companies that produce cluster munitions…
Yearly Archives: 2013
2013 in Review: CDA 230 and Recurring Threats to Strong Online Speech Protections
As the year draws to a close, EFF is looking back at the major trends influencing digital rights in 2013 and discussing where we are in the fight for free expression, innovation, fair use, and privacy. Click here to read other blog posts in this series.
Big Space Missions to Watch in 2014
The International Space Station will play host to five crews through the course of 2014. The Expedition 38 crew currently staffs the $100 billion orbiting outpost, with Expedition 39 launching in March. Expeditions 40 through 42 are also scheduled to live aboard the station before the year is finished.
Counting Down to the End of the Death Penalty
The start of a new year always presents an opportunity to think back on the successes and failures of the past year and to look forward to the future with a sense of hope and optimism. Before the countdown begins to 2014, let’s take a moment to reflect on the progress we’ve made towards abolition of the death penalty in 2013. We’ve got a lot to celebrate.
Jason Ditz / antiwar news – Afghanische Regierung entlässt 650 Gefangene aus Bagram
Die jahrelangen Bedenken der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika, Bagram der afghanischen Regierung zu übergeben, drehten sich darum, was es bedeuten würde, wenn die Gefangenen in der Folge Zugang zu ordentlichen Gerichten bekommen. Im Nachhinein lässt sich viel leichter erkennen, warum das so war.
Putin Says He‘s Ready for Dialogue in New Year‘s Letter to Obama
“The events of the past year clearly demonstrated how, acting in the spirit of partnership and on the basis of respecting one another, Russia and the United States are capable of making a real input into supporting global stability, resolving some of the most difficult international problems,” the Kremlin quoted Putin as saying in a statement.
The Year of the Leaker
But there was another side of the story that was hidden behind a veil of U.S. government secrecy. For years, the CIA and the White House had been funneling money through the Catholic Church into Nicaragua to destabilize the government. In effect, the Reagan administration had an inside-outside game going, Cardinal Obando and a group of right-wing Catholic priests were spreading around money to subvert Nicaragua from the inside while the Contra rebels were inflicting bloody havoc from the outside.
Sea Shepherd opposes the culling of a protected species off Western Australian coasts
Putting things into perspective
The top 20 things that on average kill people more than sharks each year:
Obesity – kills 30,000 people annually
Lightning – kills 10,000 people annually
Texting while driving kills 6,000 people annually
Hippopotamus – kill 2,900 people annually
Airplanes – kill 1,200 people annually
Volcanoes – kill 845 people annually
Falling out of bed – kills 450 people annually
Bathtubs – kill 340 people annually
Deer – kill 130 people annually
Falling icicles – kill 100 people annually just in Russia
Hot dogs – kill 70 children annually
Jelly fish – kill 40 people annually
Dogs – kill 30 people annually – just in the USA
Ants – kill 30 people annually
USA High school football – kills 20 people annually
Vending machine falling on people when they shake them – kills 13 people annually
Roller coasters – kill 6 people annually
SHARKS – kill 5 people annually
Take Four Minutes To Reflect On Your Place In The Cosmos
So it‘s New Year‘s Eve again and that means resolutions — resolutions to stop this and resolutions to start that. We resolve to be thinner, to get stronger, to focus more, to be spontaneous. But regardless of our resolutions and regardless of our ability to achieve those resolutions, our lives on this lonely cosmic outpost, this „,“ continue on.
Chinese Muslims Freed From Guantanamo Ten Years After Being Found Innocent
The last of 22 Uighurs, a largely Muslim ethnic group concentrated in Western China, were freed from Guantanamo Bay, according to an announcement from the Pentagon on Tuesday. Their freedom comes ten years after the U.S. military determined that the men posed no threat to American national security.
Hartz IV-Regelleistungen: Tausende ohne Geld
Eine offizielle Bestätigung seitens der Bundesagentur für Arbeit für die verspäteten Überweisungen gibt es nicht. Ursächlich für die verspätete Überweisung können verschiedene Begebenheiten sein. Zum einen kommt es regelmäßig zu Verzögerungen, wenn die Regelleistungen umgestellt werden. Zum Jahresbeginn erhöhen sich die Regelsätze 2,27 Prozent.
Pittsburgh woman loses arm after alleged police brutality and jail neglect
Needham was arrested on a warrant in April because she failed to appear at a preliminary hearing on charges of simple assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
Chaos Communication Congress: „Ausgerechnet 1968 wurde das Grundgesetz schäbig geändert“
…
Betreff: Strafanzeige gegen Rechtsanwalt Thomas Urmann
Hiermit erstatten wir Strafanzeige wegen sämtlicher in Betracht kommender Straftatbestände gegen Herrn Rechtsanwalt Thomas Urmann.
Der Strafanzeige liegt folgender Sachverhalt zu Grunde: Der Beschuldigte ist Geschäftsführer der U + C Rechtsanwälte URMANN + COLLEGEN Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH. Die vorgenannte Kanzlei hat Anfang des Monats Dezember im Auftrag der in der Schweiz ansässigen Firma The Archive AG im großen Stil Abmahnungen an Nutzer der Internet-Plattform Redtube verschickt. Sämtliche Abmahnungen sind – soweit hier bekannt –
von Rechtsanwalt Urmann unterzeichnet.
Berlin Law Firm Files Criminal Complaint Against Copyright Troll U+C Alleging Its Demand Letters Are Fraudulent
Red flags were raised by a handful of German lawyers who noted that almost everything about U+C‘s actions bordered on illegal. At the very least, U+C couldn‘t demand payment for activity not considered to be infringement by the German courts. The backlash began there.
Polynyas are very important for marine life and cooling the oceans
Many people think that once a sea freezes, it is one complete sheet. In reality, there are several open areas that never freeze. One such area is a polynya (common US spelling) or polynia (common UK spelling). It is a loanword from Russian: полынья (polynya), which refers to a natural ice hole, and was adopted in the 19th century by polar explorers to describe navigable portions of the sea.
Polynyas are large, persistent regions of open water and thin ice that occur within much thicker pack ice, at locations where climatologically, thick pack ice would be expected.
Die meisten von euch haben hoffentlich schon wahrgenommen, dass Politik im Wesentlichen nicht von den Ministern gemacht wird, sondern von den Staatssekretären.
Was vielleicht nicht jeder wusste: Auf EU-Ebene ist das genau so, und die ganzen Staatssekretäre sind CDU-Maulwürfe.
B’Tselem reviews 2013: 5-year high in number of Palestinian fatalities in West Bank
In contrast to the situation from 2003 to 2012 when most Palestinian fatalities occurred in the Gaza Strip, in 2013 the majority of Palestinian fatalities occurred in the West Bank. According to the data for the past year, Israeli security forces killed 27 Palestinians in the West Bank in 21 separate incidents and nine Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in seven incidents. (..)
In contrast, in 2012, Israeli security forces killed 8 Palestinians in the West Bank and 246 in the Gaza Strip (including 167 during Operation Pillar of Defense), of whom 104 who were not taking part in the hostilities.
Israeli ministers back Jordan Valley annexation ahead of John Kerry visit
Kerry is due to arrive on Thursday for meetings with the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, in his 10th visit to the region since March.
War, weather, bureaucracy cause Syria to miss chemical weapons deadline
The Special Coordinator of the OPCW-UN Joint Mission, Sigrid Kaag, told Reuters in Damascus on Monday that the OPCW is „comfortable in the knowledge that all the work is about to be completed“ but she did not say how long the delay will last.
Kaag said on Sunday the deadline will not be met, citing technical delays, and she said on Monday there had been delays at customs without elaborating further.
Iranian official reports progress in nuclear talks with powers
Six world powers and Iran have made good progress in expert talks in Geneva on how to roll out last month‘s landmark nuclear deal which obliges Tehran to suspend its most sensitive atom work, a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday.
Dell‘s Twitter Account Apologizes For The ‚Inconvenience‘ Of Helping NSA Install Spyware
In case you can‘t read that, Wismeijer complained on Twitter about finding out that his Dell server is bugged by the NSA (which might be an exaggeration…) and included the @DellCares account in his tweet. That account wrote:
„Thank you for reaching out and regret the inconvenience. Our colleagues at @dellcarespro will be able to help you out.“
Greek PM Samaras New Year’s message: Things will only get better
Of course, the questions are: Why the coalition government shrinks in recent public opinion polls and main opposition is constantly ahead, why 56% of Greeks declare “they would leave the country if they had the chance to”, and why 69% say that “the worst is ahead”?
The answer is simple: because all the public opinion polls took place before Samaras’ New Years’ message
Desmond Tutu On Animal Welfare: We Must Fight Injustice To Animals
Archbishop Desmond Tutu seeks social justice for everyone– including animals.
A delegation from Australia‘s WikiLeaks party has met with high-ranking Syrian officials, including President Bashar al-Assad.
A delegation from Australia‘s WikiLeaks party has met with high-ranking Syrian officials, including President Bashar al-Assad.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has warned Australians from travelling to Syria because of the ongoing conflict.
The delegates, among them Julian Assange‘s father John Shipton, say the trip last week was aimed at promote peace and reconciliation.
WikiLeaks spokesperson and human rights academic Gerry Georgatos told Biwa Kwan the delegation has made some headway in promoting peace and reconciliation.
Booming Solar Energy Halted by Hawaii Utility Because Sun Produces Too Much Power!
Hawaiian residents are investing their own money to save longterm costs and the environment. The result is that they are producing a surplus of solar energy beyond what they can use in their homes. This extra energy is supposed to be diverted back into the power grid to save money on HECO‘s reliance on oil and to reduce global warming.
Now the US does have an aged electrical grid and HECO makes the claim that the surge in solar energy production by homeowners is creating safety problems:
Kuba steigert Produktion von Solar-Paneelen
Insgesamt wurden über 40.000 Photovoltaikmodule in zwei Hauptformaten – 185 und 240 Watt – hergestellt, die zusammen insgesamt neun Megawatt Strom erzeugen können.
Monopolistic Utilities Know Renewable Energy Will Cut Their Profits, So They Stall It
There‘s one overhwelming dirigible-size reason for-profit (and often monopolistic) utility companies — that transmit and sell most of America‘s energy — generally discourage, if not crush, residential solar (and other renewable) energy: fear of large scale loss of profit.
British ex-spy launches foundation to support whistleblowers
“So many journalists write so many stories, but what happens to the whistleblowers? They’re left swinging in the wind,” Machon said in a speech at the Chaos Communication Congress (CCC) in Hamburg at the weekend. “If they can’t survive the process of coming forward, then we will not have these people.”
NSA warnt vor gigantischem Sprengstoffanschlag in Deutschland
Ist die flächendeckende Überwachung durch die NSA doch für etwas gut? Der US-Geheimdienst hat heute die deutschen Behörden vor einem gewaltigen Sprengstoffanschlag gewarnt, der bereits in naher Zukunft auf deutschem Boden stattfinden soll. Besonders erschreckend: Offensichtlich sind weite Teile der Bevölkerung in die Vorbereitungen involviert.