(...) England in the mid-1950s is not the same as it was. The powers that be have instituted some changes. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen have been disbanded and disavowed, and the country is under the control of an iron-fisted regime. Now, after many years, the still youthful Mina Murray and a rejuvenated Allan Quatermain return in search of some answers — answers that can only be found in a book buried deep in the vaults of their old headquarters — a book that holds the key to the hidden history of the League throughout the ages: The Black Dossier. As Allan and Mina delve into the details of their precursors, some dating back centuries, they must elude their dangerous pursuers who are hellbent on retrieving the lost manuscript…and ending the League once and for all (...)

schreibt wildstorm. eigentlich ist sauseschritt erst über die heutige ausgabe der welt auf diesen comicsband gestoßen und durch die rezension auf den geschmack gekommen:

(...) Mittels Fakten und Fragmenten schreiben Moore und sein kreativer Partner dieses Werks, der Comiczeichner Kevin O'Neill, die Geschichte einer Welt, in der sämtliche je ersonnenen Figuren und Orte aller Autoren aller Zeiten real sind. Ein heilloses Chaos? Nicht für Moore, der nur 200 Seiten braucht, um Ordnung in das Ganze zu bringen.

Von König Ödipus bis zu Chaplins "Großem Diktator" Adenoid Hynkel, von der Feenkönigin Gloriana bis zu Emma Peel, Superagentin "mit Schirm, Charme und Melone", reicht diese fiktive Geschichtsschreibung. Mehrere hundert Figuren agieren in diesem Buch. Oft finden sie nur in einem einzigen Bild oder Nebensatz Platz, so literarisch dicht bevölkert ist diese Schöpfung. Jede einzelne Seite liebevoll gestaltet, in Sprache, Form und Design klassischer Folianten, billiger Schundheftchen oder nüchterner wissenschaftlicher Abhandlungen (...)

image by richard brand

berichtet heute zeit online:

(...) Demokratie ist langsam. Das liegt nicht nur an der Bürokratie, auch nicht so sehr an den Politikern oder den Juristen. Der Hauptgrund für die strukturelle Langsamkeit der Demokratie ist, dass bei wichtigen Entscheidungen fast alle Individuen und Interessengruppen gehört werden müssen. Langsamkeit ist also eine Folge von Rücksichtnahme und Respekt. Beim Klima jedoch ist – vor allem, weil zu lange zu wenig getan wurde – höchster Zeitdruck entstanden. Innerhalb von vier Jahrzehnten den Ausstoß von Kohlendioxid um 80 Prozent reduzieren zu müssen, das ist unter demokratischen Bedingungen kein Pappenstil. Im Grunde müsste die richtige Klimapolitik durchgepeitscht werden. Aber die Peitsche ist in der Demokratie eben kein besonders wirkungsvolles Instrument (...)

sollte man/frau da nicht besser auf die vermeintliche schnelligkeit, effizienz und innovationsfreudigkeit des marktes setzen? das fragt sich in diesem zusammenhang the nation:

(...) The Bush Administration, still roadblocking firm caps on emissions, wants to let the market solve the crisis. "We're on the threshold of dramatic technological breakthroughs," Bush assured the world last January, adding, "We'll leave it to the market to decide the mix of fuels that most effectively and efficiently meet this goal." The idea that capitalism can save us from climate catastrophe has powerful appeal. It gives politicians an excuse to subsidize corporations rather than regulate them, and it neatly avoids a discussion about how the core market logic of endless growth landed us here in the first place (...)

(...) Events are being held to mark the 20th World Aids Day, many highlighting the need to fight continued prejudices against people with HIV-Aids. The UN recently reduced its estimate of the number of people with HIV/Aids, but the figure still stands at 33 million (...)

reports bbc (ENG).

the un has published its 2007 aids epidemic update which can be downloades in various languages, amongst them english and german via this link.

plus: (...) To mark World AIDS Day (1 December), the International HIV/AIDS Alliance is holding a photography exhibition called Communities for Life! showing the extraordinary things that ordinary people are doing to respond to HIV around the world. (...)

see the exhibition on the international hiv/aids alliance website.

sauseschritt came across this interview with naomi klein, in which she compares tendencies in the usa with those faced under stalin and hitler. we also hear why this may be problematic. npr has the interview (ENG) for us:

(...) In her new book, The End of America: Letter of Warning To A Young Patriot, social critic Naomi Wolf argues that many of the Bush administration's actions have paralleled those of notorious dictators. Alex Cohen speaks with Wolf as well as Josef Joffe, a Hoover Institution scholar, who disagrees with her premise (...)

naomi klein is one of the lead figures of the critical globalization movement and became well known by her book no logo.

weil wir gerade bei der ganz alltäglichen gewalt (hier und anderswo) sind. sie wird auch gerne aufgenommen, die kids haben ja auch immer ihre mobile phones dabei. die einen geilen sich im kampf auf, die anderen genießen den voyeuristischen blick auf youtube. die intellektuellen masturbieren auch, freilich mit der tastatur. hier ein gelungener höhepunkt am beispiel von carlo rotella's so genannter analyse von streetfight-videos auf youtube (ENG):

(...)Cheap, ultraportable video technology has freed bystanders at street fights to do more than simply shout, "Fight! Fight! Fuck him up!" Now they can record the event for posterity, too. The result is a growing online video archive of informal fisticuffs. You can find these videos collected on Web sites that specialize in them—ComeGetYouSome.com, Psfights.com, NothingToxic.com, and others—or you can just go to good old YouTube and type in "street fight" or other evocative keyword combinations, such as "sucker punch" or "knock out." The videos that come up offer near-infinite permutations on the eternal street-fight drama of posturing, mayhem, and consequences(...)

sauseschritt bezieht einen gutteil seiner hinweise auf interessantes und spannendes von worldchanging (ENG). pragmatisches zur veränderung der welt: das war es doch, auf was wir immer schon gewartet hatten, oder?

ein wenig fühlt sich sauseschritt nun verpflichtet, die unterstützung positiv zu erwidern und empfiehlt heftigst diese sammlung der interessantesten postings oder auch nur den feed zur seite. bis weihnachten schafft die zustellung amazon-us noch spielend, und wenn nicht: auch im neuen jahr wird man/frau noch lesen können.
hier ein wenig mehr (ENG) über diesen spannenden sammelband, eine kurzrezension (ENG) auch hier.

I would tell you to go to hell, but I think you are allready there ...

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 ....

there is some hope to overcome the mental gartenzwerg. some thesis presented by ulrich beck via sightandsight:

(...) The nationalist perspective - which equates society with the society of the nation state - blinds us to the world in which we live. In order to perceive the interrelatedness of people and of populations around the globe in the first place, we need a cosmopolitan perspective. The common terminological denominator of our densely populated world is "cosmopolitanisation", which means the erosion of distinct boundaries dividing markets, states, civilizations, cultures, and not least of all the lifeworlds of different peoples. The world has not certainly not become borderless, but the boundaries are becoming blurred and indistinct, becoming permeable to flows of information and capital. Less so, on the other hand, to flows of people: tourists yes, migrants no. Taking place in national and local lifeworlds and institutions is a process of internal globalisation. This alters the conditions for the construction of social identity, which need no longer be impressed by the negative juxtaposition of "us" and "them". (...)

jill/text made sauseschritt aware of this movie by director jennifer fox. again a documentary, but this time 350 minutes long. the trailer made me very curious, as did annelogue' s post:

(...) This summer, Danish television showed “FLYING: Confessions of a Free Woman” in a series of 6 episodes. At first I was not too keen to watch it, but after seeing one episode I was completely engrossed in it. The film is asking questions and considering issues that are really important to women. What does the modern woman want? What is a woman’s life like around the world? Do women have a special language? The narrative is following Jennifer Fox’s personal life over four years and her conversations with other women around the world. Super intimate and honest conversations. I’m really impressed. There are only very few of my own friends who are so open about their lives and how they live (...)

itunes has a complete interview with jennifer fox about the making of the film. more reviews on rottentomatoes. many more episodes plus a long review on divine caroline.

ted, a platform to spread ideas of global relevance brings to us talks and performances of politicians, experts and others, who are considered of having interesting ideas. only recently sauseschritt presented some research on the use of mobile phones.

this time sauseschritt wishes to continue with the climate change issue raised in his previous post. geo-engineering, risk control or moral hazard ? I agree with david keith, that we should talk about it widely and not leave it to those, who would not dare to discuss it democratically. how about commenting on it, dear readers?

(...) Environmental scientist David Keith talks about a cheap, effective, shocking solution to climate change: What if we injected a huge cloud of ash into the atmosphere, to deflect sunlight and heat? As an emergency measure to slow a melting ice cap, it could work. Keith discusses why it's a good idea, why it's a terrible one -- and who, despite the cost, might be tempted to use it (...)