Tænk hvis vi i Danmark havde en presse med lidt bid i – så kunne det faktum at Sundhedsstyrelsens langsommelighed med uddeling af vacciner nu har medført to dødsfald – og ifølge styrelsen selv vil medføre flere hundrede døde, måske have medført en lidt mere kritisk artikel end denne:
Month: November 2009
En stemme på de radikale er en stemme på Dansk Folkeparti
Klaus Bondam (R) bekræfter, at han i nattens forhandlinger foreslog sig selv som viceborgmester i København.
Problemet er bare, at posten slet ikke findes.
For hvis man så ikke kan blive viceborgmester, så kan man heldigvis få hjælp fra sine venner i Dansk Folkeparti:
Efterfølgende valgte Klaus Bondam at alliere sig med Dansk Folkeparti og kunne med deres hjælp beholde sin borgmesterpost. For det har han måtte giver DF flere vigtige udvalgsposter.
Klaus Bondams ægteskab med DF har onsdag udløst en række vrede reaktionen – ikke mindst fra den radikale nummer to på listen i København, Manu Sareen, der ikke vidste noget om den kontroversielle aftale.
Sareen uddyber kritikken på sin hjemmeside:
Tillykke med borgmesterposten. Du skal vide, at det ikke har været med min gode vilje at det skete på denne måde. Jeg har lovet vælgerne at holde Dansk Folkeparti uden for indflydelse. Derfor er jeg temmelig ærgerlig over, at mit parti netop konstituerer sig med det netop parti.
Du har skam helt ret i, at en borgmesterpost er nødvendig for at have politisk indflydelse i København. Men ikke for enhver pris!
Min holdning til Dansk Folkeparti er ikke ændret. Når du indgik aftalen med Dansk Folkeparti uden mit vidende, var det selvfølgelig, fordi du var klar over, at aftalen ikke ville få min opbakning.
Vi har kun vores troværdighed som politikere, og den kan vist lige nu ligge på et meget lille sted.
En stemme på Klaus Bondam var altså en stemme på Dansk Folkeparti. Det var alligevel satans, og dog så alligevel ikke. De radikale er fundamentalt borgerlige, og så snart der kommer økonomiske eller andre “realiteter” på bordet, har principperne og de gode intentioner en tendens til at fordufte. Trist, men sandt.
Valgdag, ud at stemme
På Enhedslisten, selvfølgelig – er der overhovedet andre partier? Efter SFs højredrejning er det faktisk det eneste parti, der holder stand mod den brune farve, der har præget dansk politik de sidste mange år.
Og her i Århus, hvor jeg bor, har Enhedslisten heldigvis mange gode kandidater.
Foredrag om ACTA, det nye ophavsmareridt
Dette er et tyve minutters foredrag om ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, den nye traktat om ophavsret, der forhandles på plads i dybeste hemmelighed i disse dage. Vi snakker nye drakoniske muligheder og straffe. Hvis lobbyisterne ender med at få magt som de har agt i denne sag, kan threee strikes-love og fængselsstraffe for download af musik til eget forbrug hurtigt blive dagens orden.
Link: The ACTA Threat: My Talk on Everything You Need To Know About ACTA, But Didn’t Know To Ask (via Boing Boing).
Læs også: ACTA: Worldwide Net restrictions without public debate
Vi er tættere på at løbe tør for olie, end de tør indrømme
Men det er i hvert fald noget sludder alt sammen. Der er masser af olie, og der vil altid blive ved med at være masser af olie, og hvis det en dag ser ud som om, vi begynder at løbe tør, kommer oliefeen og lægger noget mere under vores hovedpude. Tivertifald!
Sådan taler altså en ansvarlig økonom.
Virkeligheden er dog en ganske anden, skriver The Guardian:
The world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit, according to a whistleblower at the International Energy Agency who claims it has been deliberately underplaying a looming shortage for fear of triggering panic buying.
The senior official claims the US has played an influential role in encouraging the watchdog to underplay the rate of decline from existing oil fields while overplaying the chances of finding new reserves.
The allegations raise serious questions about the accuracy of the organisation’s latest World Energy Outlook on oil demand and supply to be published tomorrow – which is used by the British and many other governments to help guide their wider energy and climate change policies. […]
“Many inside the organisation believe that maintaining oil supplies at even 90m to 95m barrels a day would be impossible but there are fears that panic could spread on the financial markets if the figures were brought down further. And the Americans fear the end of oil supremacy because it would threaten their power over access to oil resources,” he added.
A second senior IEA source, who has now left but was also unwilling to give his name, said a key rule at the organisation was that it was “imperative not to anger the Americans” but the fact was that there was not as much oil in the world as had been admitted. “We have [already] entered the ‘peak oil’ zone. I think that the situation is really bad,” he added.
Men hvordan dealer vi mon bedst med den situation? Selvfølgelig ved at stikke hovedet ekstra langt ned i busken. Isbjerg, hvilket isbjerg? Hvis nu bare det skide orkester ville spille lidt højere.
Link: Key oil figures were distorted by US pressure, says whistleblower
Pia Kjærsgaard med hagekors[billede]
“Tørklæde og hagekors er det samme”. Søren Krarup (link)
Når halen logrer med hunden
Dansk Folkeparti udstiller Løkke og konsorter med deres ultimative krav til finansloven, som de igen og igen får medhold i – lige fra nedsættelsen af den kriminelle lavalder til de 100.000 i rejsepenge til “utilpassede” (hvor skal jeg henvende mig for at få mine? Nåh nej …).
Men de bliver ved – nu vil de have det planlagte storsygehus i Gødstrup vest for Herning flyttet 16 kilometer mod nord, så det ikke er for langt fra Nordvestjylland, selv om det kan være svært at se, at det skulle gøre den helt store forskel i den sammenhæng (hvad med et lille sygehus i Struer eller Thisted, hvis det endelig skal være?).
Men nej, mor Pia smælder med pisken, og de 16 kilometer skal pludselig gøres til alfa og omega i endnu en magtdemonstration.
Det er helt uhørt, siger Hernings borgmester Lars Krarup (V):
»Det burde være hunden, der logrer med halen, og ikke halen, der logrer med hunden. Det her handler udelukkende om profilering, og at DF er på stemmejagt en uge før kommunalvalget«, siger borgmesteren med henvisning til, at Dansk Folkeparti insisterer på, at et nyt supersygehus skal placeres i Aulum mellem Holstebro og Herning i stedet for i Gødstrup ved Herning, som Regionsrådet – og Lars Krarup – har anbefalet. […]
Ifølge Politikens oplysninger, så har Dansk Folkeparti været stærkt irriteret over, at Lars Løkke Rasmussen slog beliggenheden fast i sin åbningstale, uden at have afstemt det med støttepartiet først.
Løkke skal have en lærestreg, og derfor er sygehuset blevet en stor knast i finanslovsforhandlingerne. En strategi, som Lars Krarup kalder »helt uhørt«.
Jeg synes, det er godt, at en venstreborgmester som Lars Krarup nu vågner op og begynder at sige fra over for Dansk Folkepartis monopol på dansk politik. Jeg synes omvendt, det er trist, at der skal en så forholdsvis ligegyldig og absurd sag som 16 kilometers forskel i placeringen af et sygehus til at gøre en forskel. Kan Lars Krarup ikke finde ud af at åbne munden, når regeringen gør knæfald for Dansk Folkeparti på udlændingeområdet, eller når regeringen igen og igen bøjer nakken for et parti, hvis eneste mission her i livet synes at være at lægge alt “udansk” for had?
Men om ikke andet skal Hernings borgmester og regeringen såmænd nok snart rette ind og flytte placeringen af det nye sygehus til Aulum i stedet for Gødstrup. Her i landet er det trods alt halen, der logrer med hunden, og ikke omvendt.
Fort Hood
Erklæring fra Fort Hood-afdelingen af Iraq Veterans against the War om skyderiet forleden:
Our community is distraught by the tragic shooting at Fort Hood yesterday. We extend our condolences to the families and friends of the victims.
As upset as we are about this incident, this shooting does not come as a shock. Eight years of senseless wars have taken a huge toll on our troops and their families. It’s time to admit that the wars in southwest Asia are in no one’s best interests. Bring the troops home now!
The Army has also repeatedly demonstrated that it is more interested in making soldiers “deployable” than it is in helping them fully recover from PTSD and other mental health issues. This often leaves soldiers with few options other than to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol. The Army routinely deploys soldiers who are clearly suicidal and homicidal. Yesterday was a gruesome reminder of the possible violent consequences of this policy. We hope the Army now takes its duty to take care of soldiers more seriously.
We demand transparency from the Army and other federal agencies involved with this investigation.
Under the Hood Café provides military service members support with referrals to legal, financial, and medical services. It is a space for troops to freely express their views on the wars and the military. It also offers GI rights counseling. Iraq Veterans Against the War calls for the immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces in Iraq, reparations for the human and structural damages Iraq has suffered, and full benefits for returning military.
Under the Hood Café
Iraq Veterans Against the War – Fort Hood Chapter
Andetsteds har de sædvanlige racister og antisemitter travlt med at bruge massakren som påskud for de sædvanlige krav om pogromer og indgreb mod alle muslimer – lige så kvalmende som altid.
Lenin’s Tomb har også et godt indlæg om skyderiet og hvorfor dets egentlige gru ikke skal have lov at drukne i racistisk ævl.
Venezuela vil forbyde voldelige computerspil
Læs om det, bl.a. i Register Hardware:
An end to the sale of violent videogames in Venezuela has moved one step closer to becoming a reality.
Venezuela’s National Assembly recently considered the Prohibition of Video Games and Toy Weapons bill, which it subsequently approved after just one debate.
The bill’s exact details aren’t widely known, but the title suggests that all videogames – violent or not – could face sales restrictions in the country.
Before the bill can be written into Venezuelan law, it must be debated and approved during a second National Assembly session – and then rubber-stamped by President Hugo Chavez.
Exactly how the bill’s supporters envisage a ban on violent videogames contributing to a reduction in the country’s colossal crime rate is a mystery. A link between the violent crime and violent games has never been proven.
Før vi griner alt for hånligt og overlegent, er det naturligvis værd at huske, at der også er politikere på vore breddegradder, der har været inde på noget af det samme – senest i Tyskland. Selveste Hillary Clinton var ude at forlange en undersøgelse med henblik på et forbud af det berømte GTA San Andreas.
Ikke desto mindre er det stadig ret dårligt nyt. En ung mand fra Venezuela beklager sig højt og klart over den nye lov:
The law scapegoats gamers for the obscene levels of violence in our country (see below), and goes to extraordinary lengths to criminalize gaming, to the point of holding out long jail terms to people who buy the wrong kinds of games.
It’s no joke. Last year, on a trip to the US, I was able to buy a Nintendo DS for my brother, and a puzzle game that deals with using weapons to defend the fish stock of penguins in Antarctica, Defendin’ de Penguin. Early next year, when the law kicks in, bring such a game could land me in jail for 3 to 5 years, for importing forbidden violent games, as the penguins use snowball guns to ward off walruses, foxes (in Antarctica? OMG think of Biogeography!), polar bears and the Yeti.
The law is just the latest nail in the coffin of Venezuelans’ right of dissent and broader civil liberties. A pitiful attempt to blame video games and toys for the widespread lethal violence in our country, instead of a defective judicial structure, systemic corruption and governmental (purposeful?) ineptitude to deal with the problem.
I am 26 years old. Ever since I can remember Venezuela has been a very dangerous place. Every year the body count seemed to climb higher than the previous year. Being on the streets after dark, especially in the big cities, became a little bit more dangerous with each passing year, no matter who was in power or how high prices for our oil rose.
I believed it was just a fact of life. Then, ten years ago, Hugo Chávez came to power promising change at every level, promising a new, less corrupt, wealthier, safer society. Most of my friends and family voted for him, to register their contempt for our traditional politicians, because they wanted justice and a decent country.
Ten years later, we are indeed wealthier, thanks to a feverish oil boom, but the country’s also falling deeper into debt, issuing bonds and getting loans even from the despised Capitalist tool that is the IMF, and printing money like there’s no tomorrow, while our electric system collapses, many staples are hard to find on store shelves, our hospitals are rotting and corruption and crime are still getting worse. […]
Let’s put this in perspective. Last year, we had almost 14,000 deaths due to crime, out of a population of about 27 million people. Let’s round it up to 28 million, and make some calculations: If Bangladesh had our murder rate, there would be 125,000 murder victims there every year, if the US had our murder rate, we would be talking about 150,000 deaths due to crime, if Japan had our problem, there would be 60000 Japanese dead due to crime every time our pretty planet goes around the sun. If China and India had our levels of violence, we would get rid of 1,100,000 people every year.
The numbers of death due to violence do not seem so big in Venezuela due to our smallish population, but this a serious problem that is only getting worse after almost 11 years of Bolivarian rule. The number of people mugged, assaulted and robbed are much greater than that. Some relatives of mine have been shot and stabbed, most of my friends have been robbed at least once, and I had to jump from a bus in motion to avoid being robbed a month ago, in Mérida, where I live, a university town that not so long ago used to be relatively safe. In Valera, where my parents live, it is unwise to go out after 9 in the streets, and after 8:30, it gets really difficult to find public transportation.
So, will the government correct its strategy, accept that we have a huge problem that has to be solved ASAP and will follow its rhetoric and work along the communities to tackle crime (Death penalty and traditional top-down approaches won’t work)?
No. Instead, it will blame the gamers for the problem.
Sørgeligt.
‘I support free software’
Jeremy Allison forklarer i denne video fra Free Software Foundation, hvad fri software er, og hvorfor det efter hans mening er bedre.