Topic: Drone - on April 9, 2012 at 12:42:00 PM CEST
Look to the skies: Is it time to stop worrying and love the drone?
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (and elsewhere) have driven the rapid development over the past decade of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)—robotic planes flown by some combination of remote “pilot” operators, software, and GPS navigation. Ranging in size from that of a flying model kit to full-sized aircraft, UAVs, also referred to as unmanned aircraft systems (UASs), have done everything from spotting roadside bombs to bombing alleged Al-Qaeda hideouts—and now they’re ready for civilian jobs. As war efforts wind down, the military is preparing to bring home the over 7,500 UAVs deployed overseas—and the companies that build them are looking to create a domestic market for the technology.
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Topic: Drone - on April 9, 2012 at 12:40:00 PM CEST
So spionieren die Amerikaner Iran aus
Dutzende Drohnenflüge über verdächtige Anlagen, eine Spezialabteilung mit Hunderten Analysten, verdeckte CIA-Operationen: So sieht laut "Washington Post" das Spionage-Programm der USA gegen Iran aus. Der Bericht offenbart vor allem neue Details über Operationen mit Tarnkappen-Drohnen.
Seit Jahren rätselt der Westen über das Atomprogramm Irans. Dabei wissen die Amerikaner offenbar bestens Bescheid über die nuklearen Pläne Teherans. Wie die "Washington Post" am Sonntag berichtet, haben die Amerikaner seit 2006 ihr Spionageprogramm gegen Iran ausgeweitet. Die Zeitung sprach mit aktuellen und früheren Sicherheitsberatern der US-Regierung. Sie kommt zu dem Schluss, dass man im Weißen Haus davon ausgehe, über eine Entscheidung Irans zum tatsächlichen Atombombenbau rechtzeitig Geheimdienstinformationen erhalten zu können.
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Topic: STRANGE - on April 9, 2012 at 12:36:00 PM CEST
Fanpost aus der Schweiz
So schreibt etwa ein Kurt Grolimund (k.grolimund@bluewin.ch):
Guten Tag
Hat Sie schon jemals eine/einer als Arschloch bezeichnet?
Dieser Ausdruck wäre in Anbetracht der Wichtigkeit dieses Körperteils in der Tat eine Beleidigung für jeden funktionierenden Schliessmuskel?
Mit freundlichen Grüssen
„einer von vielen Lesern der Weltwoche"
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Topic: STRANGE - on April 9, 2012 at 12:34:00 PM CEST
"Weltwoche" versteht Aufregung um "Roma-Cover" nicht
Verantwortliche des Magazins wehren sich: "Kinder für kriminelle Zwecke missbraucht"
Die Diskussionen um das aktuelle Cover-Foto der Schweizer "Weltwoche" sind am Ostersonntag fortgesetzt worden. Die Verantwortlichen des Magazins verstehen die Aufregung nicht. Ein Mitglied der Chefredaktion erklärte laut Schweizer Medienberichten, das im In- und Ausland mitunter heftig kritisierte Titelbild symbolisiere den Umstand, "dass Roma-Banden ihre Kinder für kriminelle Zwecke missbrauchen."
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Topic: EU - on April 8, 2012 at 5:15:00 PM CEST
Die Sicherheitsarchitektur der EU im Wandel – Die geplante parlamentarische Kontrolle der Sicherheits- und Nachrichtendienste in der Europäischen Union durch das Europa-Parlament
Das Generaldirektorat für Innenpolitik der EU-Kommission hat in einer Studie die parlamentarische Kontrolle der Sicherheits- und Nachrichtendienste in den Staaten der Europäischen Union durch das Genfer Institut zur demokratischen Kontrolle der Streitkräfte (Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces - DCAF) und das European Union Institute - EUI untersuchen lassen. Dieses offizielle, 446 Seiten umfassende Papier enthält eine Vielzahl von Vorschlägen zur Angleichung der parlamentarischen Kontrolle von Sicherheits- und Nachrichtendiensten in der EU. Diese Vorschläge berühren massiv die Souveränitätsrechte der Nationalstaaten in der Union und zielen damit langfristig auf die Einführung einer Sicherheits- und Nachrichtendienststruktur unter Kontrolle der Europäischen Union ab.
Magdeburger Journal zur Sicherheitsforschung, Bd. 1 (2012) wissens-werk.de
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Topic: CARS - on April 8, 2012 at 3:02:00 PM CEST
Abu Dhabi sells stake in Tesla electric car firm
State owned power supplier Abu Dhabi National Energy (TAQA) has sold its 7% stake in US electric carmaker Tesla.
TAQA, three-quarter owned by the government, said it made a profit of $113m (£71m) on the sale.
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Topic: POLITIK - on April 8, 2012 at 12:41:00 PM CEST
Chinese government tells military to ignore internet in wake of coup talk
Regime's jitters evident in thinly veiled reference by army newspaper to rumours that prompted crackdown on chat sites
China's top military newspaper has told troops to ignore rumours on the internet and steel themselves for "ideological struggle" – an apparent reference to talk of a coup as the ruling Communist party faces a leadership transition.
The Liberation Army Daily did not mention rumours of a foiled junta that spread on the internet in recent weeks after the ousting of Bo Xilai, an ambitious contender for a spot in the new central leadership structure to be settled later this year.
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Topic: POLITIK - on April 8, 2012 at 12:39:00 PM CEST
Report: U.S. trained terror group
From the air, the terrain of the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site, with its arid high plains and remote mountain peaks, has the look of northwest Iran. The site, some sixty-five miles northwest of Las Vegas, was once used for nuclear testing, and now includes a counterintelligence training facility and a private airport capable of handling Boeing 737 aircraft. It’s a restricted area, and inhospitable—in certain sections, the curious are warned that the site’s security personnel are authorized to use deadly force, if necessary, against intruders.
It was here that the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) conducted training, beginning in 2005, for members of the Mujahideen-e-Khalq, a dissident Iranian opposition group known in the West as the M.E.K. The M.E.K. had its beginnings as a Marxist-Islamist student-led group and, in the nineteen-seventies, it was linked to the assassination of six American citizens. It was initially part of the broad-based revolution that led to the 1979 overthrow of the Shah of Iran. But, within a few years, the group was waging a bloody internal war with the ruling clerics, and, in 1997, it was listed as a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department. In 2002, the M.E.K. earned some international credibility by publicly revealing—accurately—that Iran had begun enriching uranium at a secret underground location. Mohamed ElBaradei, who at the time was the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear monitoring agency, told me later that he had been informed that the information was supplied by the Mossad. The M.E.K.’s ties with Western intelligence deepened after the fall of the Iraqi regime in 2003, and JSOC began operating inside Iran in an effort to substantiate the Bush Administration’s fears that Iran was building the bomb at one or more secret underground locations. Funds were covertly passed to a number of dissident organizations, for intelligence collection and, ultimately, for anti-regime terrorist activities. Directly, or indirectly, the M.E.K. ended up with resources like arms and intelligence. Some American-supported covert operations continue in Iran today, according to past and present intelligence officials and military consultants.
newyorker.com salon.com Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh details U.S. training of Iranian terrorist group
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Topic: MUSIK - on April 8, 2012 at 8:50:00 AM CEST
Groove Armada – Oh Tweak To Me
March sees the formidable Hypercolour deliver its most surprising output yet, an EP from none other than Groove Armada.
Tom Findlay and Andy Cato need little introduction as Groove Armada. Chart smashes, huge live tours and being part of the worldwide electronic music history aside, the duo have never lost touch with their acid house roots and have continued to be devoted to record buying, DJing and the much maligned promo trawl.
Tom and Andy have been avid followers of the label it seemed, since it's inception. It was through label head Jamie, meeting the guys back in 2010 at Space in Ibiza, and then continued communication via Hypercolour promos, that led to an out-of-the-blue email requesting an informal hook up in East London and, within just a few days, a release was scheduled.
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Topic: Drone - on April 7, 2012 at 7:37:00 PM CEST
Navy's Robot Helicopters Will Automatically Spot Pirates
Helicopter drones that have already helped catch cocaine smugglers at sea could soon get much smarter about hunting modern-day pirates. The U.S. Navy plans to upgrade its robotic Fire Scouts with electronic "brains" that are able to automatically recognize small pirate boats spotted through 3D laser imaging.
The Fire Scout drones would bounce millions of laser pulses off distant objects to create a 3D "radar" image of any boats on the high seas — a technology known as LIDAR or LADAR — so that their new software could automatically compare the 3D images to pirate boat profiles on record. A first test is scheduled to take place with seven small boats off the California coast this summer.
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Topic: STRANGE - on April 7, 2012 at 7:31:00 PM CEST
"Die Roma kommen": Schweizer "Weltwoche" empört mit Roma-Artikel
Die Angehörigen der Volksgruppe werden darin fast durchwegs "Zigeuner" genannt - politische Korrektheit vortäuschend, unter Anführungszeichen
Zürich/Wien - Am Titelblatt steht ein kleiner Bub, der mit der Waffe auf den Betrachter zielt. Darunter die Schlagzeile: "Die Roma kommen: Raubzüge in die Schweiz". Im Blattinneren ändert sich die Tonart nicht: "Sie kommen, klauen und gehen", lautet die Titelgeschichte der neuen Ausgabe des Nachrichtenmagazins "Die Weltwoche" über steigende Kriminalität von Roma.
"Ein Spiel mit dem Feuer"
Die Angehörigen der Volksgruppe werden darin fast durchwegs "Zigeuner" genannt - politische Korrektheit vortäuschend, unter Anführungszeichen. Im Fahrwasser der Unterschriftenaktion gegen Zuwanderung provoziert das Magazin im Sinne der rechten SVP. "Das ist einfach widerwärtig", urteilt der Schweizer Journalist Dante Andrea Franzetti: "Ein Spiel mit dem Feuer. Damit werden Themen salonfähig gemacht, die man nicht debattieren sollte."
derstandard.at Wiener Journalist zeigt Schweizer "Weltwoche" wegen Verhetzung an Roger Köppel - ein "krimineller Ausländer" balkanblog.org
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Topic: Space - on April 7, 2012 at 7:29:00 PM CEST
Astronauts Snap 1 Million Photos from Space Station
Astronauts on the International Space Station have the ultimate 24/7 view of planet Earth, and the photo album to prove it: The shutterbug astronauts recently snapped the millionth photo from the orbiting lab.
The millionth photo from the space station is, not surprisingly, a view of Earth from one of the outpost's windows as the orbiting lab sailed 240 miles (386 kilometers) above the southeastern Tasman Sea. Two Russian spacecraft are also visible, along with a green band of aurora light and the Earth in the background.
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