Major changes in streamflow of the #Rhine are expected and low flow situations will occur more frequently. Periods with impaired navigation will get longer.
More information: [_link] @foenCH @UHydroFreiburg @Rijkswaterstaat @ICPRhine
@BMLRT_at @BfG_Presse pic.twitter.com/FAdwl62qO0

— CHR (@CHRKHR) June 9, 2022

Disappearing glaciers - New study on meltwater in the Rhine | CHR Utrecht - 2018 |

'Sapere aude'

10.1.23 15:28 Uhr neuer #tripod in @LuetziBleibt #luezerath #LuetzerathUnraeumbar #Luetzerathbleibt ich berichte seid Anfang Januar aus #Lützerath und lade hier Videos hoch [_link] pic.twitter.com/1fc4gNHjfB

— #Hambi bleibt (@DanniPilger) January 10, 2023

Germany: Police prepare for coal mine protest clearance | DW News |

Police on Tuesday began breaking down barricades and forcibly removing climate activists staging a sit-in protest against the expansion of a coal mine, highlighting tensions over Germany's environmental policy amid an energy crisis.

Several hundred climate activists tried to prevent heavy machinery from reaching the abandoned village of Lützerath in North Rhine-Westphalia by constructing barricades and digging trenches to halt police in their tracks.

Activists have occupied the remaining buildings in the village to the west of Cologne and near the Dutch border on the face of the opencast lignite mine -- long scheduled for demolition and cleared of residents -- for almost two years.

Heute ist #TagX. Die Polizei hat die ersten Strukturen abgerissen und RWE hat angefangen Wälle, Straßen und Stützpunkte zu bauen.
Komm so schnell es geht her! Noch kannst du legal anreisen. Gemeinsamen kämpfen wir für #Klimagerechtigkeit! ✊ pic.twitter.com/RIfNcEvHey

— Lützerath bleibt! - Tag X seit 3.1. (@LuetziBleibt) January 3, 2023

Libertarian Rutte with his Conservative party VVD wasted a full decade to be serious on sustainability and renewables. The Hague with Royal Shell, Exxon and the GasUnie went full throttle for Nord Stream and Gazprom making sweet deals to be the facilitator as Groningen gas fields went dry. The damages to homes and businesses due to earth tremors made decisions urgent. Compensation to victims of major damages of homes took many years and hasn't been resolves as of today.

Limits on emissions slows down permits to build new infrastructure, highways, homes and renovation of pre-war and ear,y houses build in the 1950s. Poorly insulated and the vast majority connected to Groninger natural gas after the coal mines closed in the sixties under Economy Minister Joop den Uyl (Labour).

(The Hague - Nov. 6, 2011) Prime Minister Mark Rutte is one of the government leaders who are officially commissioning the Nord-Stream pipeline in Lubmin, northern Germany.

The Nord-Stream connects the huge gas reserves in Russia to Europe via the Baltic Sea. The pipelines can supply Europe with 55 billion cubic meters per year for a period of at least 50 years.

The reason Rutte attempted to keep Royal Shell from moving to London were tax benefits ... emissions ruling made the decision for Shell stakeholders quite easy.

Royal Dutch Shell: Netherlands court orders oil giant to cut emissions | BBC News - May 2021 |

'Sapere aude'

We're pleased announce our partnership with @NortH2Europe - a consortium consisting of @Equinor, @RWE_AG, @Shell, @Gasunie, and new investment partner #Eneco. This partnership allows us to develop the first large-scale green ammonia and methanol value chains in the Netherlands pic.twitter.com/Rqx1XW80T8

— OCI (@oci_nv) March 31, 2022

By design, the Ukraine was to become a major partner in the European H2 hub for transport. Another crucial setback for some years.

'Sapere aude'

He has already committed us to building new nukes, but that is a decade away (in wildly optimistic mode) from having any impact. Offshore wind can come on line in a big way in a few years, and solar can ramp up even quicker.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II}

What is the difference between the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
One is crack, the other is cocaine.

What's the difference between the US Constitution and the TFEU?
One is crack, the other is cocaine.

What is the difference between the International Court of Justice, International Criminal Court, Court of Justice of the European Union, and European Court of Human Rights?
location, location, location.

The Spiegel title against the "windmill craze" got the wind power lobby on the barricades and caused an internal dispute, in the course of which Harald Schumann ("The Globalization Trap") from the Berlin office resigned.

Book Review : Hans-Peter Martin and Harald Schumann (1997): The global trap: Globalization and the assault on democracy and prosperity

Summary:
This work explores and critiques the consequences of globalization for both democratic institutions and jobs. Pointing to the weakening of the nation state, it contends that the "one world" created by globalization is collapsing. The authors argue that in future only a fifth of the world's labour force will be needed, creating the 20:80 society; a global economy out of control will lead to social upheaval and, in the end, war. The book aims to provide an alarm call for the restoration of democracy, politics and the state.

Interesting read, although the Digital Revolution and its impact were not foreseen. The risk of upheaval in society was well illustrated..

'Sapere aude'

An EU Love Affair with Fossil Fuel | July 27, 2020 |

In this tenth episode, German investigative reporter Harald Schumann describes how and why many EU member states seem to still have a crush on fossil fuels. Despite the overwhelming knowledge and practical evidence of the effects of climate change, governments keep subsidizing the use of fossil fuels. Schumann and his colleagues from the pan-European journalistic platform Investigate Europe just published a series of articles that expose this ridiculous and counter-productive policy of European governments. 

The European Green Deal (EGD) could be one of the most important and inspiring EU policy initiatives. It is testimony to civil society and citizens movement's impact. Excluding public investment funds to fossil fuel industries is key to foster a sustainable and just transition. But Investigate Europe's findings show that Europe subsidises its fossil fuel sectors by more than €137 billion per year. In comparison, the total annual budget of the EU is around €155bn.

The moment the Russian invasion became reality on Feb. 24, it compared to that one shot heard round the world a little over 100 years ago. Or were the shots fired at the protesters on Feb. 24, 2014 - the Maidan massacre - the true spark of events leading to military escalation between East and West culminating in the Ukraine War of 2022.

In addition to the American Revolution, the "shot heard round the world" became associated with other historical events, such as the 1914 assassination of Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which helped trigger World War I.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand with his wife on the day they were assassinated in 1914, an event that helped spark WW1. pic.twitter.com/Kzh9pcFowb

— History In Pictures (@HistoryInPics) October 15, 2013

Bosnia marks end of Europe's violent century | TOI - June 29, 2014 |

On June 28, 1914, the Austro-Hungarian crown prince Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo, where he had come to inspect his occupying troops in the empire's eastern province.

The shots fired by Serb teenager Gavrilo Princip sparked the Great War, which was followed decades later by a second world conflict. Together the two wars cost some 80 million European their lives, ended four empires -- including the Austro-Hungarian -- and changed the world forever.

Europe living on a knife's edge ... in reality there is no cultural unity or stability in internal security. The flag of nationalism is flying high.

Eastern European Nationalism in the Twentieth Century (1995)

'Sapere aude'

It is now #90SecondsToMidnight.

Read the 2023 #DoomsdayClock Statement: [_link] pic.twitter.com/4jCuj5izda

— Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (@BulletinAtomic) January 24, 2023

Why Stoltenberg's speech was so blatant in Tokyo | Global Times editorial |

Before visiting Japan, Stoltenberg went to South Korea. Although he also played up the "China threat" in South Korea and tied China, Russia and North Korea together with malicious intent, his words were far less straightforward and blatant than in Tokyo. Facing the Japanese audience, Stoltenberg spent a lot of time attacking China. He said in a sensational tone, "What is happening in Europe today could happen in East Asia tomorrow." He also said unctuously, "China is not our adversary," but what he said later was basically to smear and slander China. He accused China of "substantially building up its military forces, including nuclear weapons, without any transparency" and said that China (the Chinese mainland) is attempting to assert control over the South China Sea, and threatening Taiwan.

A joint statement was issued after talks between Stoltenberg and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on January 31, in which the common stance against China and Russia was very prominent, and the intention to interfere in the situation across the Taiwan Straits was very strong. These will undoubtedly create risks of camp confrontation and division in the Asia-Pacific region. The role NATO is playing is exactly the same as it has played on the European soil. In other words, it is actually NATO itself that is promoting the idea that "what is happening in Europe today could happen in East Asia tomorrow."

A wolf whose base camp and activities have been in the far west for a long time has found a foothold in East Asia with great ambitions. Japan is the one who lured the wolf into the house, and also seeks a high-sounding reason. As the secretary general of NATO, Stoltenberg is not qualified to dictate East Asian affairs, not to mention even giving outrageous statements. To some extent, Japan created such an opportunity for him and NATO. Stoltenberg did not hesitate to speak sweetly about Japan, saying that among NATO's partners, none is closer or more capable than Japan. He also praised Japan's substantial increase in defense budget and revision of its security strategy, behaviors that have been widely questioned in the Asia-Pacific region. NATO and Japan formed a vicious mutual reinforcement.

💬#Zakharova: The West's attempts to move NATO's power potential into Asia are challenging regional security

The confrontational doctrine of Euro-Atlanticism & the NATO agenda are incompatible with peaceful, inclusive co-development & respect for interests, fundamental to Asia pic.twitter.com/6aKNGccIhv

— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) February 1, 2023

The Liberal Contempt for Martin Luther King's Final Year

King had been a solid supporter of President Lyndon B. Johnson and his Great Society, but he became increasingly concerned about U.S. involvement in Vietnam and, as his concerns became more public, his relationship with the Johnson administration deteriorated. King came to view U.S. intervention in Southeast Asia as little more than imperialism. Additionally, he believed that the Vietnam War

 Vietnam War diverted money and attention from domestic programs created to aid the Black poor. Furthermore, he said, "The war was doing far more than devastating the hopes of the poor at home...We were taking the Black young men who had been crippled by our society and sending them eight thousand miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in southwest Georgia and East Harlem."

Where have the peacemakers gone? A$$hole warmongers have taken over the think ranks and "independent" media ... bloggers have become followers ... they call it "Patriotism".

How the Vietnam War Rachelde Up Under 5 U.S. Presidents

Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon all deepened U.S. involvement in the decades-long conflict.

The Ukraine War Ratcheted Up Under 5 U.S. Presidents

Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden, all deepened U.S. involvement in the decades-long provocation against Russia.

'Sapere aude'

Activists call for peace in Ukraine, diplomacy with Russia on MLK Day [_link] #Ukraine #UkraineWar

— Norman Solomon (@normansolomon) January 19, 2023