Normans are ready for reunification and Paris will grow under ambitious plansThe political map of France may be radically redrawn under ambitious, intriguing - and explosive - proposals which will be presented to President Nicolas Sarkozy next week. Paris would become part of a "Greater Paris" of six million people, copying the model of Greater London. Normandy might be unified for the first time in 805 years (since King John carelessly lost William's dukedom to the French in 1204). Brittany could, finally, reclaim its "lost" territory around Nantes and might expand eastwards for another 100 miles. Fury is erupting in Picardy, which would be one of two regions broken into pieces and wiped off from the administrative map. Several other regions may be merged but only one other is threatened with dismemberment and oblivion. This is - perhaps coincidentally - Poitou-Charente, the fiefdom of the unsuccessful Socialist presidential candidate, Ségolène Royal. The ideas will be formally presented to President Sarkozy next week by a committee chaired by the former prime minister Édouard Balladur. The President commissioned the report last year after promising to rationalise the multiple layers of governance in what is the most minutely administered nation in the world (100 départements, 22 regions, 36,000 communes).
The political map of France may be radically redrawn under ambitious, intriguing - and explosive - proposals which will be presented to President Nicolas Sarkozy next week.
Paris would become part of a "Greater Paris" of six million people, copying the model of Greater London. Normandy might be unified for the first time in 805 years (since King John carelessly lost William's dukedom to the French in 1204).
Brittany could, finally, reclaim its "lost" territory around Nantes and might expand eastwards for another 100 miles. Fury is erupting in Picardy, which would be one of two regions broken into pieces and wiped off from the administrative map.
Several other regions may be merged but only one other is threatened with dismemberment and oblivion. This is - perhaps coincidentally - Poitou-Charente, the fiefdom of the unsuccessful Socialist presidential candidate, Ségolène Royal.
The ideas will be formally presented to President Sarkozy next week by a committee chaired by the former prime minister Édouard Balladur. The President commissioned the report last year after promising to rationalise the multiple layers of governance in what is the most minutely administered nation in the world (100 départements, 22 regions, 36,000 communes).
As a descendent of the invading Normans, I think this is only right.
Animal rights activists have succeeded in obtaining a ban on horse-drawn carriages in Rome's historic centre following several traffic accidents. The 44 horse-drawn carriages will be confined to parks during the week, under plans drawn up by the city, and allowed in the centre only at weekends. They will be replaced on weekdays by electrically-powered vintage cars. Last year, a horse had to be put down after being hit by a truck and breaking its leg on a street near the Colosseum. Italy's deputy tourism minister said the plight of horses drawing the carriages in polluted and crowded streets had become a scandal, leading to the deaths of several animals among the 90 employed.
Animal rights activists have succeeded in obtaining a ban on horse-drawn carriages in Rome's historic centre following several traffic accidents.
The 44 horse-drawn carriages will be confined to parks during the week, under plans drawn up by the city, and allowed in the centre only at weekends.
They will be replaced on weekdays by electrically-powered vintage cars.
Last year, a horse had to be put down after being hit by a truck and breaking its leg on a street near the Colosseum.
Italy's deputy tourism minister said the plight of horses drawing the carriages in polluted and crowded streets had become a scandal, leading to the deaths of several animals among the 90 employed.
Animal rights idiots are really beyond, well, everything. Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
MALBORK, Poland: The damp mud falls away easily from the long thighbone jutting out of the dirt wall of the trench at the gentle prod of the shovel's tip. Beyond the mass grave filled with the skeletal remains of some 2,000 people, presumed to be Germans who died in the closing months of World War II, stands the red-brick fortress of the Teutonic Knights that was once one of Germany's greatest landmarks until it was forced to cede the territory to Poland after the war. Until then, Malbork was the German town of Marienburg, and the authorities believe the dead men, women and children buried together here were inhabitants of the city, along with refugees from places farther east, such as Königsberg, now Kaliningrad, fleeing the devastating Soviet counterattack that would eventually capture Berlin. Several dozen of the skulls have bullet holes, which prompted speculation of a massacre when the first bodies were found last October, whereas now the talk centers on cold, hunger and most of all typhus, which was rampant at the time. Europe has more than its share of mass graves, a reflection of the extraordinary scale of violence of the previous century. But throughout the Continent the public is far more used to Germans as perpetrators rather than victims, and perhaps nowhere is that more true than in Germany itself.
MALBORK, Poland: The damp mud falls away easily from the long thighbone jutting out of the dirt wall of the trench at the gentle prod of the shovel's tip. Beyond the mass grave filled with the skeletal remains of some 2,000 people, presumed to be Germans who died in the closing months of World War II, stands the red-brick fortress of the Teutonic Knights that was once one of Germany's greatest landmarks until it was forced to cede the territory to Poland after the war.
Until then, Malbork was the German town of Marienburg, and the authorities believe the dead men, women and children buried together here were inhabitants of the city, along with refugees from places farther east, such as Königsberg, now Kaliningrad, fleeing the devastating Soviet counterattack that would eventually capture Berlin. Several dozen of the skulls have bullet holes, which prompted speculation of a massacre when the first bodies were found last October, whereas now the talk centers on cold, hunger and most of all typhus, which was rampant at the time.
Europe has more than its share of mass graves, a reflection of the extraordinary scale of violence of the previous century. But throughout the Continent the public is far more used to Germans as perpetrators rather than victims, and perhaps nowhere is that more true than in Germany itself.
PRAGUE: Bosnian Serb leaders have threatened to pull out of state institutions and are pressing anew for independence from Bosnia and Herzegovina, threatening to throw the fragile, multiethnic country into political crisis once again. Analysts and observers of the region said the situation could unravel the United States-brokered Dayton accords of 1995, which ended a savage war that killed more than 100,000 people, most of them Muslims, between 1992 and 1995. The pact divided Bosnia and Herzegovina into a Muslim-Croat Federation and a Serb Republic, presided over by a decentralized political system that reinforced rather than healed ethnic divisions. The crisis comes at a critical time, just a few weeks after the United Nations and European Union envoy to Bosnia, Miroslav Lajcak, was appointed foreign minister of his native Slovakia, creating what analysts called a potentially dangerous power vacuum. United Nations officials stressed Tuesday that Lajcak would continue to exercise his powers until a replacement was found.
PRAGUE: Bosnian Serb leaders have threatened to pull out of state institutions and are pressing anew for independence from Bosnia and Herzegovina, threatening to throw the fragile, multiethnic country into political crisis once again.
Analysts and observers of the region said the situation could unravel the United States-brokered Dayton accords of 1995, which ended a savage war that killed more than 100,000 people, most of them Muslims, between 1992 and 1995. The pact divided Bosnia and Herzegovina into a Muslim-Croat Federation and a Serb Republic, presided over by a decentralized political system that reinforced rather than healed ethnic divisions.
The crisis comes at a critical time, just a few weeks after the United Nations and European Union envoy to Bosnia, Miroslav Lajcak, was appointed foreign minister of his native Slovakia, creating what analysts called a potentially dangerous power vacuum. United Nations officials stressed Tuesday that Lajcak would continue to exercise his powers until a replacement was found.
The European Union has put the issue of whether to accept former Guantanamo inmates at the top of its agenda. Human rights groups say Europe also needs to shoulder some of the blame for what has happened. When US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton travels to meet with top European officials in Brussels next week, Guantanamo is likely to be a major topic of discussion. It will come up again in mid-March, when the European Union sends a high-level delegation to Washington to find out more details about US plans to close the controversial US military detention facility in Cuba. Yet there are new indications that European countries continue to struggle on whether or not to to provide refuge to former Guantanamo inmates. The European Union has welcomed the decision by US President Barack Obama to close down the facility, which holds about 240 prisoners who were sent there as part of the US-led effort to combat terror. But at a meeting on Thursday, Feb. 26, the bloc stressed it simply doesn't have enough information to decide which, if any, inmates its members should take in.
When US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton travels to meet with top European officials in Brussels next week, Guantanamo is likely to be a major topic of discussion. It will come up again in mid-March, when the European Union sends a high-level delegation to Washington to find out more details about US plans to close the controversial US military detention facility in Cuba.
Yet there are new indications that European countries continue to struggle on whether or not to to provide refuge to former Guantanamo inmates.
The European Union has welcomed the decision by US President Barack Obama to close down the facility, which holds about 240 prisoners who were sent there as part of the US-led effort to combat terror. But at a meeting on Thursday, Feb. 26, the bloc stressed it simply doesn't have enough information to decide which, if any, inmates its members should take in.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Ethnic discrimination on the Belgian labour market, neo-Nazi extremism in Austria and abuses against Roma in nine EU countries are some of the findings of the 2008 US government report on human rights. The report, issued on Wednesday (25 February) by the State Department for each country of the world, says that the Belgian government "generally respected the human rights of its citizens," but found several problems, such as overcrowded prisons, lengthy pre-trial detention, poor detention conditions prior to expulsion and "ethnic discrimination in the job market." Roma are discriminated against and excluded in a number of EU societies Labour discrimination was directed particularly against young men from the Muslim community, estimated at 450,000 people, principally of Moroccan and Turkish origin. Discrimination regarding housing, restaurant access and an increase of racism on the internet were also noted.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Ethnic discrimination on the Belgian labour market, neo-Nazi extremism in Austria and abuses against Roma in nine EU countries are some of the findings of the 2008 US government report on human rights.
The report, issued on Wednesday (25 February) by the State Department for each country of the world, says that the Belgian government "generally respected the human rights of its citizens," but found several problems, such as overcrowded prisons, lengthy pre-trial detention, poor detention conditions prior to expulsion and "ethnic discrimination in the job market."
Roma are discriminated against and excluded in a number of EU societies
Labour discrimination was directed particularly against young men from the Muslim community, estimated at 450,000 people, principally of Moroccan and Turkish origin.
Discrimination regarding housing, restaurant access and an increase of racism on the internet were also noted.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Germany's centre-right CSU party is hoping to tap into anti-European sentiment in the influential state of Bavaria to attract votes for the June European elections. Horst Seehofer, head of Bavaria's Christian Social Union, on Wednesday (25 February) made a campaign speech that was notable for its break with the more pro-European stance of its sister party, the CDU, currently the major party in Germany's governing coalition. German people need more direct democracy on European issues, says the CSU In the speech, Mr Seehofer said Europe must become much closer to its citizens and that citizens should have the right to decide on important questions, specifically naming Turkish EU membership as a referendum-worthy issue. "I want German citizens to be asked whether the European family should be extended to Turkey. Citizens should decide on that," he said.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Germany's centre-right CSU party is hoping to tap into anti-European sentiment in the influential state of Bavaria to attract votes for the June European elections.
Horst Seehofer, head of Bavaria's Christian Social Union, on Wednesday (25 February) made a campaign speech that was notable for its break with the more pro-European stance of its sister party, the CDU, currently the major party in Germany's governing coalition.
German people need more direct democracy on European issues, says the CSU
In the speech, Mr Seehofer said Europe must become much closer to its citizens and that citizens should have the right to decide on important questions, specifically naming Turkish EU membership as a referendum-worthy issue.
"I want German citizens to be asked whether the European family should be extended to Turkey. Citizens should decide on that," he said.
Are such things done on Albion's shore? The image of this nation that haunts me most powerfully is that of the sleeping giant Albion in William Blake's prophetic books. Sleep, profound and inveterate slumber: that is the condition of Britain today. We do not know what is happening to us. In the world outside, great events take place, great figures move and act, great matters unfold, and this nation of Albion murmurs and stirs while malevolent voices whisper in the darkness - the voices of the new laws that are silently strangling the old freedoms the nation still dreams it enjoys. We are so fast asleep that we don't know who we are any more. Are we English? Scottish? Welsh? British? More than one of them? One but not another? Are we a Christian nation - after all we have an Established Church - or are we something post-Christian? Are we a secular state? Are we a multifaith state? Are we anything we can all agree on and feel proud of?
The image of this nation that haunts me most powerfully is that of the sleeping giant Albion in William Blake's prophetic books. Sleep, profound and inveterate slumber: that is the condition of Britain today.
We do not know what is happening to us. In the world outside, great events take place, great figures move and act, great matters unfold, and this nation of Albion murmurs and stirs while malevolent voices whisper in the darkness - the voices of the new laws that are silently strangling the old freedoms the nation still dreams it enjoys.
We are so fast asleep that we don't know who we are any more. Are we English? Scottish? Welsh? British? More than one of them? One but not another? Are we a Christian nation - after all we have an Established Church - or are we something post-Christian? Are we a secular state? Are we a multifaith state? Are we anything we can all agree on and feel proud of?
The piece seems to have vanished with a 404 from the website of The Times [Murdoch Alert] , so I am very tempted to repost Pullman's essay in its entirety here. However until I get an ET moderator okay, here's Pullman's conclusion:
It will be no use bleating that you know of no offence you have committed under British law It is for us to know what your offence is Angering our friends is an offence It is inconceivable to me that a waking nation in the full consciousness of its freedom would have allowed its government to pass such laws as the Protection from Harassment Act (1997), the Crime and Disorder Act (1998), the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000), the Terrorism Act (2000), the Criminal Justice and Police Act (2001), the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act (2001), the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Extension Act (2002), the Criminal Justice Act (2003), the Extradition Act (2003), the Anti-Social Behaviour Act (2003), the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act (2004), the Civil Contingencies Act (2004), the Prevention of Terrorism Act (2005), the Inquiries Act (2005), the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (2005), not to mention a host of pending legislation such as the Identity Cards Bill, the Coroners and Justice Bill, and the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill. Inconceivable. And those laws say: Sleep, you stinking cowards Sweating as you dream of rights and freedoms Freedom is too hard for you We shall decide what freedom is Sleep, you vermin Sleep, you scum.
It is for us to know what your offence is
Angering our friends is an offence
It is inconceivable to me that a waking nation in the full consciousness of its freedom would have allowed its government to pass such laws as the Protection from Harassment Act (1997), the Crime and Disorder Act (1998), the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000), the Terrorism Act (2000), the Criminal Justice and Police Act (2001), the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act (2001), the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Extension Act (2002), the Criminal Justice Act (2003), the Extradition Act (2003), the Anti-Social Behaviour Act (2003), the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act (2004), the Civil Contingencies Act (2004), the Prevention of Terrorism Act (2005), the Inquiries Act (2005), the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (2005), not to mention a host of pending legislation such as the Identity Cards Bill, the Coroners and Justice Bill, and the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill.
Inconceivable.
And those laws say:
Sleep, you stinking cowards Sweating as you dream of rights and freedoms Freedom is too hard for you We shall decide what freedom is Sleep, you vermin Sleep, you scum.
Sweating as you dream of rights and freedoms
Freedom is too hard for you
We shall decide what freedom is
Sleep, you vermin
Sleep, you scum.
The whole piece ought to be read. The central part of the essay is like a poem. Another part of the piece is at boingboing.
I wonder why it was disappeared from Murdoch's newspaper?
Controversial surveillance powers employed to fight terrorism and combat crime have been misused by civil servants in undercover "spying" operations that breach official guidelines, the Guardian has learned.Documents obtained under Freedom of Information show some government departments and agencies have used these powers incorrectly or without proper controls. They also show the official government watchdog set up to monitor the use of such clandestine techniques criticised the departments for their behaviour. The watchdog twice threatened to inform Gordon Brown about the serious abuses of powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA).
Controversial surveillance powers employed to fight terrorism and combat crime have been misused by civil servants in undercover "spying" operations that breach official guidelines, the Guardian has learned.
Documents obtained under Freedom of Information show some government departments and agencies have used these powers incorrectly or without proper controls. They also show the official government watchdog set up to monitor the use of such clandestine techniques criticised the departments for their behaviour.
The watchdog twice threatened to inform Gordon Brown about the serious abuses of powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA).
AMSTERDAM (AP) -- Investigators are examining turbulence as one of the possible causes of the Turkish Airlines crash that killed nine people and injured more than 100 near Amsterdam's main airport, a spokesman said Saturday.
Wake turbulence is the vortices of disturbed air that planes leave behind them. Another plane had landed on the same runway 120 seconds earlier.
Wind shear, is a change in wind speed and/or direction over short distance - and as such a hazard to planes taking off or landing. A Finnair pilot friend said that wind shear was a problem at certain airports and can be very nasty to deal with.
Many airports have installed the Vaisala Wind Shear doppler radar detection systems: Vaisala LAP®-3000 Lower Atmosphere Profiler
Vaisala is a €250 m Finnish company acknowledged as leader in environmental and industrial metrics. Many years ago I made a corporate movie for them that got me around 2 continents filming their weather installations and the weather itself. It was on my trip to the US that I filmed the first wind farm (in California). I was mightily impressed with the beauty of it. And now full circle I meet the man responsible for it here at ET! Take a bow, Crazy Horse... You can't be me, I'm taken
For at forhindre den svenske efterretningstjeneste i at lytte med i Danmark, opfordrer justitsminister Brian Mikkelsen nu alle borgere og myndigheder til at overveje at kryptere deres brug af e-mails, internet og telefoni. [...] Justitsminister Brian Mikkelsen vil ikke foretage sig noget overfor den svenske regering - for at forhindre, at svenske efterretningstjenster nu er begyndt at overvåge danskernes helt interne trafik af e-mails, internet og telefoni, når den løber gennem svenske kabler.
[...]
Justitsminister Brian Mikkelsen vil ikke foretage sig noget overfor den svenske regering - for at forhindre, at svenske efterretningstjenster nu er begyndt at overvåge danskernes helt interne trafik af e-mails, internet og telefoni, når den løber gennem svenske kabler.
Five-minute translation: The Danish minister of (miscarriage of) justice will not lodge a protest against the new Swedish law saying that the Swedish secret police is allowed to spy on all data traffic that they can lay their hands on. That includes foreign traffic that's just passing through Swedish infrastructure. However, the minister of (miscarriage of) justice recommends that all users who are concerned about their privacy should encrypt their communications.
- Jake If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.
The last minister of (miscarriage of) justice, Lene Espersen (K, same as the new one, Brian Mikkelsen), had this to say about encryption:
Jeg er helt uenig i kritikken. Efter regeringens og et folketingsflertals opfattelse er det vigtigt, at vi har et effektivt værn mod terrorisme. Jeg må understrege, at der ikke er tale om, at politiet vil kunne få kendskab til selve indholdet af for eksempel e-mails og telefonsamtaler. Teleudbyderne skal efter logningsbekendtgørelsen alene opbevare de data, som fortæller eksempelvis hvilke telefonnumre eller e-mailadresser, der har haft forbindelse til hinanden. Politiet vil kun have adgang til oplysningerne, når der foreligger en konkret mistanke, og indgrebet skal i alle tilfælde godkendes af en dommer. Der er altså ikke tale om, at politiet vil kunne gå på fisketur i oplysninger om almindelige borgeres telefonsamtaler og brug af internettet. Lad mig slå helt fast, at formålet med reglerne om logning er at forebygge og opklare meget alvorlig kriminalitet. Almindelige borgere har intet at frygte. Derfor er det jo også stærkt betænkeligt, at Prosa-bladet tidligere har udsendt en cd med krypterings- og sløringssoftware. For mig at se er der kun en meget begrænset gruppe, som kan have gavn heraf. Nemlig de personer, som har begået eller planlægger at begå meget alvorlig kriminalitet, og som vil forsøge at skjule deres spor. [My italics]
Efter regeringens og et folketingsflertals opfattelse er det vigtigt, at vi har et effektivt værn mod terrorisme.
Jeg må understrege, at der ikke er tale om, at politiet vil kunne få kendskab til selve indholdet af for eksempel e-mails og telefonsamtaler. Teleudbyderne skal efter logningsbekendtgørelsen alene opbevare de data, som fortæller eksempelvis hvilke telefonnumre eller e-mailadresser, der har haft forbindelse til hinanden.
Politiet vil kun have adgang til oplysningerne, når der foreligger en konkret mistanke, og indgrebet skal i alle tilfælde godkendes af en dommer.
Der er altså ikke tale om, at politiet vil kunne gå på fisketur i oplysninger om almindelige borgeres telefonsamtaler og brug af internettet.
Lad mig slå helt fast, at formålet med reglerne om logning er at forebygge og opklare meget alvorlig kriminalitet.
Almindelige borgere har intet at frygte.
Derfor er det jo også stærkt betænkeligt, at Prosa-bladet tidligere har udsendt en cd med krypterings- og sløringssoftware. For mig at se er der kun en meget begrænset gruppe, som kan have gavn heraf. Nemlig de personer, som har begået eller planlægger at begå meget alvorlig kriminalitet, og som vil forsøge at skjule deres spor. [My italics]
Translation of the highlighted bit:
So obviously it is of grave concern that Prosa-bladet [a magazine published by the IT-workers' union] has published a cd with encryption- and concealment software. As far as I can see it is only a very narrow group that can benefit from this. Namely the people who have committed or plan to commit very serious crimes, and who want to hide their tracks.
Yes, that is a direct quote from a press release signed by the last minister of justice and currently the chairwoman of the current minister of justice's party.
No liability is accepted for broken irony meters.
