Sniffing out TNT

Wow. Science can be really cool. A Tanzania-based project is using local big bush rats to sniff out land mines. The rats are classically conditioned to sniff out TNT and they are really good at it. Currently, mines are being cleared using this low cost technique in Mozambique. A really great idea that deserves a lot of support. It seems like the rats are so good they might be able to detect diseased humans as much as victims of earthquakes in collapsed houses. Anything has a scent signature so it seems a very promising idea to make use of the big fellas.

 

Cultural heritage of German origin

It is really interesting sometimes how cultural heritage persists in corners of the world - today the mixing of German with English seems to be getting more prominent in Germany, however, the emigrants to the United States in two centuries ago obviously faced the same problem and the result of this was an own dialect: Texas-German. I listened to the sample provided here and was stunned, it really is rather fluent and if it is as stable a language grid as the project claims (and not just plain incorrectly anglicized German) it is extremly interesting. Enjoy listening …

 

Air wars

The Bush administration has demanded that the EU approve a list of air security increases, including the placement of armed guards on all trans-Atlantic flights and a multiday waiting period for Europeans looking to travel to the US. The memorandum declared that the US would seek to place armed US Marshals on all transatlantic flights and that, within months, a new permit system could require EU citizens to apply online for a permit to enter the US — a process that could take several days and would need to be completed before purchasing an airline ticket. That new system would be in addition to an extensive personal information-sharing arrangement that already exists between the EU and the US to facilitate “profiling” of potential terrorists. Also included in the potential security clampdown is a stipulation that EU passengers flying over — but not landing in — the US would need to provide comprehensive personal data to US authorities. If Europe does not agree to the heightened security measures, the memorandum threatened, most Europeans’ visa-free travel to the US could be phased out.

Let’s break this down so we can understand it better. The bottomline is: I give up all my personal data, including addresses, phone numbers, credit card details, banking information, dietary preferences and religious details, ten fingerprints and digital photographs to the Department of Homeland Security which then gives this data to the FBI to create a file (!) to check against their records. No kiddin, this is already happening to foreign as well as to US citizens, and this much of a government grip of their data would VERY SCARY to most US citizens if they knew since they are essentially stripped of their right to their own information. If I don’t give up my info, entry to the US is denied. Now the new plans demand I do this even before I can book a flight to get ‘pre-travel approval’, even if I do not land in the US. All this only to get onto a plane where armed trigger-happy guards make me feel really safe. We put thousands of gunmen onto flights at passengers’ or taxpayers’ expense and if there were terrorists, they would not even have to worry about bringing guns - they would already be there!! All they’d have to do is get one from a bored guard, as it happens in prisons all the time. I am going to feel really safe then, sitting next to a cowboy with a big bullet thrower!

I think the time has come when we should simply stop visa-free travel. According to the Bush administration’s logic, this would improve our safety incredibly. So I think we should introduce the same procedures for flights of US origin and for US citizens. To get onto a visa scheme would help all of us to really know how is coming and going - the full program: Paperwork, interviews at embassies, fees. Honestly: How many people have been killed on EU-US flights over the past few years, or in plane crashes? The answer is: None. Safest mode of travel in the world. September 11 flights originated in the US even, which should make Europe feel rather unsafe.

Are we friends? It seems like the US increasingly perceive the EU and its citizens as a security risk. What they really risk is loss of the last friends and allies they have. And this would be truly sad, but too much simply is too much. Government control in the US has reached very scary levels, and, after all, not only people from around the world are being put under surveillance - also own citizens travelling. Makes you wonder how free the land of the free really is by now.

 

We need more Germans in Afghanistan

John McCain. Our hope or our disappointment once again? In an interview today he clarified a few issues.

SPIEGEL: America has lost a lot of friends because President George W. Bush angered, indeed outraged, them. He allowed human rights to be violated at Guantanamo Bay and he dismissed the joint effort to combat global warming. Under a President McCain could we expect a change of course?

McCain: Yes. I would announce that we are not ever going to torture anyone held in American custody. I would announce that we were closing Guantanamo Bay and moving those prisoners to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and I would announce a commitment to addressing climate change and my dedication to a global agreement — but it has to include India and China.

SPIEGEL: Will America attempt to go it alone less frequently in the future?

McCAIN: Well, we all hope that America will be multilateral again in the future. There were times when the United States acted unilaterally, but I think we would all prefer to work in concert with our friends and allies.

SPIEGEL: What role will the United Nations play? Bush always ignored the UN.

McCain: The United Nations always plays an important role. But right now we are having to deal with a Russia that is clearly intent on blocking action. That’s why the UN must act in a league of democracies that share our values and our common principles.

SPIEGEL: Everyone is concerned about Afghanistan right now. Do you think that the Germans should be getting more deeply involved in Afghanistan?

McCain: We need more Germans in Afghanistan. There is a great deal at stake — for all of Europe and the US — including the export of the poppy crop products into Europe as well as the threat to stability in entire the region.

SPIEGEL: The United States is fighting against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. Do you expect greater support from the German military there?

McCain: I would like to see more German participation obviously, but those decisions are made by the German government and people.

So let’s say while he is lost on other issues it SEEMS he may be better on those than the current gentleman in office. Which, honestly speaking, is not very difficult. If, and only then, he is willing to keep his word. Before the elections is, as we all know, a very different reality than after the elections …

 

Who on earth are those rebels …

East Timor. It is a tiny dot on the map, and nobody except a few Australians and Indonesians really knows much about it or cares. Indonesia did not even see enough of a reason to keep it. The way out, as usual, and as favored by the East Timorese: Independence. It has been a long struggle, and finally six years ago, it was accomplished. Summary of events since: Two UN peacekeeping missions. A few soldiers were fired, and the country ended up in chaos. Elections, and the country ended up in chaos. Australian troops are going in and out all the time, depending on how stable or unstable the situation is. It seems once they are gone they can start re-packing already to go back. Today, President José Ramos-Horta, who was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 for his tireless efforts to free his nation from a repressive occupation by Indonesia, and ever since has commanded respect both internationally and from a majority of his people, was shot twice by rebel soldiers in his house in Dili in an assassination attempt. He was flown to Darwin and is in a serious but stable condition. It seems like East Timor will depend on international help for a long time to come, however the alternatives are few. Framed as an international success story, East Timor has to succeed. And unlike in Iraq and Afghanistan, very little effort is needed to keep it at least stable. It would be so nice a place if it wasn’t for the rebels. The mysterious rebels: It seems like what is called rebel forces forms rather spontaneously, without much of a political goal. Shooting, rioting, all on an ad hoc basis. The people of East Timor are free - so where do the rebels come from? Reflections on this are very welcome …

 

Welcome

to my new blog - a few lines about myself, some research, recipes and current issues in politics and society. I planned to get this started for a while but only now, thanks to Pete, it actually happened.