Claus Montonen at Klimaforum09 from Benno Hansen on Vimeo. Claus Montonen, professor of theoretical physics at the University of Helsinki, Finland, speaks at “Climate change and conflict – The Danger of future wars”, Klimaforum09 Sunday the 13th of December 2009 about the environmental impact of war. Climate change will create both floods and draught and…
Ecowar – the music video
OK. Not quite. But running a blog called ‘Ecowar I have received various updates on a song of the exact same name by a French hard core band. Today I actually clicked a link from my Splitweet brand surveilance thingy: HouganVoyeur J’aime vraiment le son de cette chanson malgré que c’est un autre style…#nowplaying Tagada…
UN envoy calls for tough Security Council action on recruitment of child soldiers
One of this week’s UN campaign videos “[…] today the nature of conflicts has changed dramatically. It can be prolonged by the race for natural resources […]” The news this week The New York Times quotes United Nations officials and Somali human rights groups as saying the government is fielding hundreds of children, some as…
Greenpeace Activist Harpooned by French Fisherman
“In a non-violent action, Greenpeace activists in zodiac boats attempted to lower the side of a purse seine net with sand bags to free the fish. At that moment, fishermen violently attacked the activists, harpooning one of them through the leg.”– Isabelle Philippe, Greenpeace France “The French fishermen were attacked by helmeted Greenpeace activists, equipped…
US National Security Strategy 2010
The White House recently released its National Security Strategy report and the UN DISPACH were happy to report the Millennium Development Goals are in it. From page 39, chapter “Promote Dignity by Meeting Basic Needs”: The freedom that America stands for includes freedom from want. Basic human rights cannot thrive in places where human beings…
Presidents: “War is money”
The – now former – German President Horst Köhler has just resigned after a slip of tongue in an interview about his visit to the German troops in Afghanistan. So, what did he say? [military operations serves to] protect our interests, for example, free trade routes, or to prevent regional instability, which might certainly have…
Pipeline bombed twice this week in Yemen
The pipeline isn’t the issue, it’s just a target of a tribes revenge on the government. “The pair attacks came in retaliation of an air raid that mistakenly killed a tribal dignitary, who also served as deputy governor of Marib province, Jabir Ali al-Shabwany, along with his four bodyguards […] The targeted pipeline is located…
Google Maps shows North Korea logging endangered tigers’ protected forest
This scandal has been reported on several websites: The sharp images from Google Earth clearly shows the North Korean communist dictatorship is logging forest areas in a UN national park. Not only does the megalomaniac Kim Jong-il seek to build a nuclear armament, impoverish his subdued people and occasionally sink South Korean ships – he’s…
Roosevelt’s WWII Bill of Rights
From President Roosevelt’s [Wikipedia] January 11, 1944 message to the Congress of the United States on the State of the Union in which he advocated a “Second Bill of Rights” [Wikipedia]. It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for the winning of a lasting peace and the…
Israel uses Golan to build wind energy industry
After decades of focusing on solar power, a natural enterprise for a country two-thirds desert, Israel is starting to pour resources into developing its wind energy industry. Much of that potential, it says, is in the Golan Heights, a strategic and windswept plateau captured from Syria in the 1967 war. Once the focal point of…
Does poor health cause crime?
Just found The New York Times / For Crime, Is Anatomy Destiny? via Hunter-Gatherer / Does poor health cause crime?The blog looks like something for the watchlist (John Durant, did you read some Kim Stanley Robinson?) and the article is very interesting. Some highlights: shorter men are 20 to 30 percent more likely to end…
Group of retired US military leaders campaign for climate bill
33 retired US generals and admirals have written a strong appeal for a climate change bill. Climate change is threatening America’s security. The Pentagon and security leaders of both parties consider climate disruption to be a “threat multiplier” – it exacerbates existing problems by decreasing stability, increasing conflict, and incubating the socioeconomic conditions that foster…