(...) The piece is about how mining for the mineral coltan, which is used to make components found in cell phones, laptops, and video game consoles, has transformed the Congo. Harden calls it “a squalid encounter between the global high-tech economy and one of the world’s most thoroughly ruined countries.” Things are so bad, Harden says, that even though coltan mining has disastrous social and environmental consequences, people in the Congo have calculated that the only thing worse than mining coltan would be not mining it (...)
Hurricane Katrina brought of a lot conspiracy theories and hoaxes into play, including a huge one which played into the New Orleans Astrodome myth in the wake of the disaster. Supposedly eye witness accounts reported on horrors that were later found to be untrue, and there is a lot of confusion over who actually wrote this and whether or not they were even there. Yet, many bloggers continue to point to these as proof of whatever theory they support on what happened in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and the dikes breaking. (...)
a great article on urban legends, conspiracy blogs and other rumours we spread ... so never, ever trust sauseschritt!
Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd swept to power, ending an 11-year conservative era and promising major changes to policies on global warming and his country's role in the Iraq war (...)
reports the guardian. a prime minister for indigenous people, immigrants, soldiers, for all - promoting education and the fight for environmental protection ? thats, what he said. strangely enough: blood sweat and tears was repeatedly mentioned. listen to bbc (20 min).
we read it again and again - these stories of boys in wars. they follow the journalists and the journalists follow them. they are part of the war and war is in them, forever. this time its the so called marlboro-man. read his story in the observer (via 3quarksdaily)
(...) Dieses Gemisch aus Radikalität, Demütigung, Deklassierung und Islam explodiert dann auch mal. „Das ist die Art, wie al-Qaida wirklich funktioniert“, sagt ein Beamter des österreichischen Innenministeriums. Es gibt keine Zentrale, keine Befehlskette, nur Sympathisanten, die sich einer Idee verpflichtet fühlen und Teil einer weltumspannenden Bewegung sein wollen (...)
lieber folgt sauseschritt nun doch der nummernforschung und adresscomptoir bietet hier einiges: abseits des mainstreams, klug und informativ. das, was alle haben, wirkt platt, das, was wenige sehen, interessant. merci, adresscomptoir!
sagt der polizist zum waffenhändler anlässich des lange erwarteten show-downs, welches ebenso unspektakulär endet, wie es begonnen hat. aber was hilft es? die welt wird nicht besser durch derart moralische postulate und binsenwahrheiten.
vielleicht ist es besser, wir schauen mehr auf das, was wir sind, als auf das, was wir gerne wären. was wir sind? vielleicht un-tiere, bestimmt zur destruktivität. der film lord of war ist zynisch, aber nie moralisch. vielleicht ist es das, was seinen wert ausmacht. gesehn zum zweiten mal, heute ....