EDF strikers cut power to French homes
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6150447.ece

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSEIC85725820080428?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews&rpc=22&sp=true



http://www2.nysun.com/article/75363




http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=cp_fv4ssqrje13&show_article=1

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/11/21/scicosmos121.xml&CMP=ILC-mostviewedbox

http://wwwc.aftonbladet.se/atv2/popup_wmp.html?id=categories/Livsstil/Halsa/0711/8513&category=livsstil/halsa&commercial=yes

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/washington/14weapons.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article1007747.ab

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=2964509&page=1

http://www.slate.com/id/2161936/fr/flyout

http://www.theage.com.au/news/in-depth/paranoid-planet/2007/03/17/1174080219538.html

http://www.aftonbladet.se/atv2/popup.html?id=categories/Nyheter/0703/850

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/13/science/13tier.html?ref=science

Nepal's 'Buddha Boy' does second vanishing act

A Nepalese teenager hailed as a reincarnation of the Buddha has vanished for a second time in southern Nepal, a member of his support committee said Saturday.
Ram Bahadur Bomjam, 17, who shot to fame in 2005 when his supporters said he had begun a meditation session that would go on uninterrupted for years, went missing on Thursday night, the committee member said.

"He suddenly disappeared from his meditating site in the jungle of Bara," said Raju Shah, a member of the committee set up after the boy became a local media sensation.
"He told his priest Indra Lama that he would meditate somewhere in other undisclosed locations."
Local media dubbed Bomjan "Buddha Boy" after supporters said he had been meditating for months without food, water or sleep, and tens of thousands of people flocked to see him.
He first disappeared in March 2006, telling his supporters the site had become too crowded.
Nine months later he reappeared and was set up at a new site by the committee, but this time visitors have been sparse.
Scepticism about the teenager's claims increased after his reappearance late last year, and local authorities froze bank accounts containing money collected from visitors.
Gautama Siddhartha, who later became known as Buddha or the Enlightened One, is believed to have been born in southern Nepal in around 500 BC.
Buddhists believe Siddhartha achieved enlightenment after meditating under a pipal tree.

Warming Report to Warn of Coming Drought
By SETH BORENSTEIN

WASHINGTON (AP) - The harmful effects of global warming on daily life are already showing up, and within a couple of decades hundreds of millions of people won't have enough water, top scientists will say next month at a meeting in Belgium.
At the same time, tens of millions of others will be flooded out of their homes each year as the Earth reels from rising temperatures and sea levels, according to portions of a draft of an international scientific report obtained by The Associated Press.
Tropical diseases like malaria will spread. By 2050, polar bears will mostly be found in zoos, their habitats gone. Pests like fire ants will thrive.
For a time, food will be plentiful because of the longer growing season in northern regions. But by 2080, hundreds of millions of people could face starvation, according to the report, which is still being revised.
The draft document by the authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change focuses on global warming's effects and is the second in a series of four being issued this year. Written and reviewed by more than 1,000 scientists from dozens of countries, it still must be edited by government officials.
But some scientists said the overall message is not likely to change when it's issued in early April in Brussels, the same city where European Union leaders agreed this past week to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. Their plan will be presented to President Bush and other world leaders at a summit in June.
The report offers some hope if nations slow and then reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, but it notes that what's happening now isn't encouraging.
"Changes in climate are now affecting physical and biological systems on every continent," the report says, in marked contrast to a 2001 report by the same international group that said the effects of global warming were coming. But that report only mentioned scattered regional effects.
"Things are happening and happening faster than we expected," said Patricia Romero Lankao of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., one of the many co-authors of the new report.
The draft document says scientists are highly confident that many current problems - change in species' habits and habitats, more acidified oceans, loss of wetlands, bleaching of coral reefs, and increases in allergy-inducing pollen - can be blamed on global warming.
For example, the report says North America "has already experienced substantial ecosystem, social and cultural disruption from recent climate extremes," such as hurricanes and wildfires.
But the present is nothing compared to the future.
Global warming soon will "affect everyone's life ... it's the poor sectors that will be most affected," Romero Lankao said.
And co-author Terry Root of Stanford University said: "We truly are standing at the edge of mass extinction" of species.
The report included these likely results of global warming:
_Hundreds of millions of Africans and tens of millions of Latin Americans who now have water will be short of it in less than 20 years. By 2050, more than 1 billion people in Asia could face water shortages. By 2080, water shortages could threaten 1.1 billion to 3.2 billion people, depending on the level of greenhouse gases that cars and industry spew into the air.
_Death rates for the world's poor from global warming-related illnesses, such as malnutrition and diarrhea, will rise by 2030. Malaria and dengue fever, as well as illnesses from eating contaminated shellfish, are likely to grow.
_Europe's small glaciers will disappear with many of the continent's large glaciers shrinking dramatically by 2050. And half of Europe's plant species could be vulnerable, endangered or extinct by 2100.
_By 2080, between 200 million and 600 million people could be hungry because of global warming's effects.
_About 100 million people each year could be flooded by 2080 by rising seas.
_Smog in U.S. cities will worsen and "ozone-related deaths from climate (will) increase by approximately 4.5 percent for the mid-2050s, compared with 1990s levels," turning a small health risk into a substantial one.
_Polar bears in the wild and other animals will be pushed to extinction.
_At first, more food will be grown. For example, soybean and rice yields in Latin America will increase starting in a couple of years. Areas outside the tropics, especially the northern latitudes, will see longer growing seasons and healthier forests.
Looking at different impacts on ecosystems, industry and regions, the report sees the most positive benefits in forestry and some improved agriculture and transportation in polar regions. The biggest damage is likely to come in ocean and coastal ecosystems, water resources and coastal settlements.
The hardest-hit continents are likely to be Africa and Asia, with major harm also coming to small islands and some aspects of ecosystems near the poles. North America, Europe and Australia are predicted to suffer the fewest of the harmful effects.
"In most parts of the world and most segments of populations, lifestyles are likely to change as a result of climate change," the draft report said. "Net valuations of benefits vs. costs will vary, but they are more likely to be negative if climate change is substantial and rapid, rather than if it is moderate and gradual."
This report - considered by some scientists the "emotional heart" of climate change research - focuses on how global warming alters the planet and life here, as opposed to the more science-focused report by the same group last month.
"This is the story. This is the whole play. This is how it's going to affect people. The science is one thing. This is how it affects me, you and the person next door," said University of Victoria climate scientist Andrew Weaver.
Many - not all - of those effects can be prevented, the report says, if within a generation the world slows down its emissions of carbon dioxide and if the level of greenhouse gases sticking around in the atmosphere stabilizes. If that's the case, the report says "most major impacts on human welfare would be avoided; but some major impacts on ecosystems are likely to occur."
The United Nations-organized network of 2,000 scientists was established in 1988 to give regular assessments of the Earth's environment. The document issued last month in Paris concluded that scientists are 90 percent certain that people are the cause of global warming and that warming will continue for centuries.

The Atlantic Monthly June 2005
How We Would Fight China

The Middle East is just a blip. The American military contest with China in the Pacific will define the twenty-first century. And China will be a more formidable adversary than Russia ever was

by Robert D. Kaplan


http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200506/kaplan

Automatiska öron, spionerande mobiltelefoner och manipulerade insekter. Den nya övervakningstekniken ser allt, hör allt och finns överallt

aftonbladet.se

"De kommer börja läsa allt du skriver på hotmail, msn och nästan alla andra internetforum".

Pär Ström, självutnämnd integritetsombudsman vid stiftelsen Den nya välfärden sammanställde i höstas en rapport där den senaste tekniken för olika former av övervakning presenteras. En del är redan verklighet, annat på försöksstadiet men fullt möjligt i ett framtida samhälle.

Här publicera aftonbladet.se listan på sakerna som gör att du snart inte kan gömma dig - någonstans.

Automatisk ansiktsigenkänning:

En programvara jämför ansikten i digitala bilder med porträttfoton som redan finns lagrade. Igenkänningen görs genom att mäta avstånd mellan olika kroppsdelar i ett ansikte. Även hud kan analyseras. Används bland annat på offentliga platser i Storbritannien och ska införas på en tunnelbanestation i Tokyo.

Gångigenkänning:

Tekniken utvecklas på flera håll. Bland annat av den USA:s militära forskningsmyndighet Darpa för att kunna identifiera en människa via hennes gångstil. På så sätt ska man hindra någon från att komma för nära en amerikansk regeringsbyggnad.

Automatiska öron:

Istället för att polis eller underrättelsetjänstemän avlyssnar telefonsamtal kan jobbet göras av datorer. Forskningen hittills har lärt datorer att känna igen vissa ord, namn, röster och dialekter.

Manipulerade insekter:

Låter som science fiction men utvecklas hos Darpa, USA:s militära forskningsmyndighet. Mikroskopiskt liten teknologi planteras in i insekterna. Sedan fjärrstyrs de för att avlyssna, överföra videobilder eller lukta sig fram till dolda bomber. Särskilt lämpliga anses dagsländor och nattfjärilar vara.

Automatisk sanningskontroll:

Det israeliska företaget Nemesysco har tagit fram en programvara som analyserar frekvenser, vibrationer och andra kännetecken i en människas röst och kan därefter tala om ifall någon ljuger eller talar sanning, enligt företaget med 80 procents säkerhet. Provas i säkerhetskontrollen på Domodedovo-flygplatsen i Moskva.

Spionerande mobiltelefoner:

Genom att installera en programvara i en telefon går det att via mobilens mikrofon avlyssna omgivningen - även när samtal inte pågår. Programvaran installeras på distans av mobiloperatören utan att telefonens ägare vet om det. Enligt uppgifter i Financial Times kan tekniken ha använts i samband med att en av de misstänkta för terrorattentaten i London 2005 spårades och greps.

Tjallande skrivare:

Enligt Pär Ström samarbetar myndigheter i flera länder med tillverkarna av färgskrivare och kopiatorer för att förse utskrifter med hemliga koder. På så sätt kan man spåra personen som skrivit ut ett visst papper. Statens Kriminaltekniska Laboratorium bekräftar för Ström att kodsystemet används i Sverige.

Umgängesanalys:

Programvaror analyserar kontakter mellan människor och ritar ”umgängeskartor”. Analyserna bygger bland annat på telefon- och eposttrafik, ekonomiska överföringar och information om resor och besök. Umgängesanalys användes av de amerikanska styrkorna i jakten på Saddam Hussein i Irak, skriver Pär Ström.

Internetdammsugare:

Systemet används av bland andra det amerikanska säkerhetsdepartementet och går ut på att programvaror automatiskt går igenom internet och suger upp information om människors intressen och åsikter - till exempel från bloggar och mejl. Enligt Pär Ström är svenska Skatteverket på gång att införa internetdammsugare för att hitta personer som bedriver yrkesmässig handel med varor på till exempel Blocket.

Flygande övervakningskameror:

Kamerorna monteras in i obemannade flygplan och har använts av den amerikanska militären i Irak och Afghanistan. Brittisk polis är på gång att införa de flygande kamerorna för att få bättre koll över vissa problemområden och ”identifiera antisocialt beteende”.

Nakenscanner:

Med hjälp av röntgenstrålar kan man ”klä av” en person för att upptäcka till exempel vapen som göms innanför kläderna. Scannern har testats i säkerhetskontrollerna på amerikanska och brittiska flygplatser.

Israel unveils portable hunter-killer robot

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyid=2007-03-08T103103Z_01_L08481636_RTRUKOC_0_US-ISRAEL-ROBOT.xml&src=rss&rpc=22

INSIDE CHENEY'S BUNKER
[THE SECRET ELITE GOVERMENT?]

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?pid=170390



THE REDIRECTION
by SEYMOUR M. HERSH

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/070305fa_fact_hersh

http://www.vertigo.se/kulturkriget/

Hornets hit France and could reach Britain

By Peter Allen in Paris, telegraph.co.uk
Last Updated: 2:40am GMT 21/02/2007

Swarms of giant hornets renowned for their vicious stings and skill at massacring honeybees have settled in France.
And there are now so many of the insects that entomologists fear it will just be a matter of time before they cross to Britain.

A hornets nest.

Global warming has largely been blamed for the survival and spread of the Asian Hornet, Vespa velutina, which is thought to have arrived in France from the Far East in a consignment of Chinese pottery in late 2004.
Thousands of football-shaped hornet nests are now dotted all over the forests of Aquitaine, the south-western region of France hugely popular with British tourists.
"Their spread across French territory has been like lightning," said Jean Haxaire, the entomologist who originally identified the new arrival.
He said he had recently seen 85 nests in the 40-odd miles which separate the towns of Marmande and Podensac, in the Lot et Garonne department where the hornets were first spotted.
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The hornets can grow to up to 1.8in and, with a wingspan of 3in, are renowned for inflicting a bite which has been compared to a hot nail entering the body.
A handful can destroy a nest of 30,000 bees in just a couple of hours — a major concern among the beekeeping industry.
"The problems are not necessarily public health ones, but ecological ones. These hornets can cause immense damage to beehives," said Mr Haxaire. The hornets are renowned for feeding their young with the larvae of other social insects, including bees, whose nests they break into and ransack. The French beekeeping industry has already been decimated by pesticides and long, hot summers.
Honey production from the 1.3 million hives run by 80,000 beekeepers has been decreasing annually — down by 60 per cent in south-western France during the past decade.
A spokesman for the French National Been Surveillance Unit said the bee death rate during winter was now up to six in ten.
As a result France has to import some 25,000 tons of honey annually.
"The arrival of these hornets has made the situation considerably worse," the spokesman added. "The future of our entire industry is at stake."
Yesterday, there was concern that it may not take long before the Asian hornet makes its way to Britain.
"There's no doubt that these hornets are heading north and will probably find their way to Britain at some point," said Stuart Hine, manager of the Insect Information Service at London's Natural History Museum.
"Climate change certainly means they can cope with European summers. However, they would still have difficulty coping with our winter frosts."
While some 40 people a year die from hornet stings — mainly because of allergic reactions — Claire Villement, of France's Natural History Museum, said there was no need for a "national panic about killer wasps".
Mrs Villement said: "The legend that three bites from a hornet can kill you are totally false. People can still enjoy their picnics in the countryside."

http://www.slate.com/id/2159935