Zajímavé aktuální zahraniční články

[Dalibor.Zahora]

Rusko plánuje základnu v Súdanu

Russia set to establish naval logistics base in Sudan
https://tass.com/defense/1222673

[Dalibor.Zahora]

https://sneak.berlin/20201112/your-computer-isnt-yours/

I’m speaking, of course, of the world that Richard Stallman predicted in 1997. The one Cory Doctorow also warned us about.

On modern versions of macOS, you simply can’t power on your computer, launch a text editor or eBook reader, and write or read, without a log of your activity being transmitted and stored.

It turns out that in the current version of the macOS, the OS sends to Apple a hash (unique identifier) of each and every program you run, when you run it. Lots of people didn’t realize this, because it’s silent and invisible and it fails instantly and gracefully when you’re offline, but today the server got really slow and it didn’t hit the fail-fast code path, and everyone’s apps failed to open if they were connected to the internet.
...

[davkol]

Providing decent living with minimum energy: A global scenario

It is increasingly clear that averting ecological breakdown will require drastic changes to contemporary human society and the global economy embedded within it. On the other hand, the basic material needs of billions of people across the planet remain unmet. Here, we develop a simple, bottom-up model to estimate a practical minimal threshold for the final energy consumption required to provide decent material livings to the entire global population. We find that global final energy consumption in 2050 could be reduced to the levels of the 1960s, despite a population three times larger. However, such a world requires a massive rollout of advanced technologies across all sectors, as well as radical demand-side changes to reduce consumption – regardless of income – to levels of sufficiency. Sufficiency is, however, far more materially generous in our model than what those opposed to strong reductions in consumption often assume.

Joel Millward-Hopkins, Julia K. Steinberger, Narasimha D. Rao, Yannick Oswald
Global Environmental Change, Volume 65, 2020, 102168, ISSN 0959-3780
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102168.

[davkol]

A room, a bar and a classroom: how the coronavirus is spread through the air

The risk of contagion is highest in indoor spaces but can be reduced by applying all available measures to combat infection via aerosols. Here is an overview of the likelihood of infection in three everyday scenarios, based on the safety measures used and the length of exposure.

[infografika]

Javier Salas, Mariano Zafra, translation Heather Galloway, videos Luis Almodóvar
October 29, 2020
El País

[davkol]

European states ordered to respond to youth activists' climate lawsuit. European court of human rights case could result in countries being bound to take greater action.

The European court of human rights has ordered 33 European governments to respond to a landmark climate lawsuit lodged by six youth campaigners, the Guardian has learned.

The plaintiffs’ British barrister says it could be the most important case ever tried by the Strasbourg-based judges.

In a sign of the urgency of the climate crisis, the court will announce on Monday that it has green-lighted the crowdfunded case, which was filed two months ago. It has already confirmed it will be treated as a priority, which means the process will be fast-tracked.

The states – the EU27 plus Norway, Russia, Switzerland, the UK, Turkey and Ukraine – are obliged to respond by 23 February to the complaints of the plaintiffs, who say governments are moving too slowly to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are destabilising the climate.

If the defendant countries fail to convince the Strasbourg-based judges, lawyers say they will be legally bound to take more ambitious steps and to address the contribution they – and multinational companies headquartered in their jurisdictions – make to overseas emissions through trade, deforestation and extractive industries.

…

More than 1,300 climate-related lawsuits have been filed worldwide since 1990. The most successful so far was in the Netherlands, where the Urgenda Foundation forced the government into scaling back coal-fired power plants and taking other compliance measures worth about €3bn (£2.7bn).

The impact the Strasbourg judges could have is potentially greater as they sit on a standard-setting court and this case crosses multiple international boundaries.

The court has also taken the unusual step of expanding its consideration of the case by asking the 33 countries to explain whether their failure to tackle global heating violates article 3 of the European convention on human rights, which protects the right not to be subjected to ‘inhumane and degrading treatment’.

The Glan director, Gearóid Ó Cuinn, said he was encouraged by the judges’ sense of urgency. “As only a tiny minority of cases filed with the European court of human rights are fast-tracked and communicated, this development is highly significant. This is an appropriate response from the court given the scale and imminence of the threat these young people face from the climate emergency.”

Jonathan Watts
November 30, 2020
The Guardian

[Milus.Kotisova]

1) Ústavní žaloba Texasu k nejvyššímu soudu pro porušení ústavy - volby 2020

Stát Texas podal 8. prosince 2020 žalobu na čtyři státy - Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan a Wisconsin, - pro údajné porušení rovných podmínek voličů v prezidentských volbách 2020 tím, že přijali zásadní změny v organizaci voleb MIMO legislativní orgán států, který je jediný oprávněný takové změny dělat (úpravy termínu přijetí volebních lístků apod.) - např. z pozice guvernéra státu apod. Texas žádá Nejvyšší soud o rozhodnutí neústavnosti těchto kroků.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/texas-fil ... 20-12-08-1

K dnešním dni se k této žalobě (přátelsky, na podporu) přidalo dalších 18 států.

Jedná se o pokus posunout datum 14. 12., kdy by se měli sejít volitelé a zvolit příštího prezidenta.

2) NTD: 6členný výbor Kongresu pro inaugurační ceremoniální záležitosti neodhlasoval tento týden rezoluci o uznání zvolení Bidena prezidentem USA.

https://www.bitchute.com/video/boo5OoaEy0Xg/

Poznámka: Je dost ostudné, jakým způsobem o událostech kolem prezidentských voleb referují česká média.

[Mikulas.Ferjencik]

Americký Nejvyšší soud zamítl žalobu Texasu...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... on-results

[davkol]

Here’s proof that tax cuts for the rich don’t boost the economy

Governments shouldn’t be worried that raising taxes on the rich will harm their economies when deciding on how to pay for COVID-19. Our new research on 18 advanced economies shows that major tax cuts for the rich over the past 50 years have pushed up inequality but have had no significant effects on economic growth or unemployment.

These findings shed new light on a debate that has long divided policymakers, with one side claiming higher taxes on the rich could raise revenue and reduce inequality, and the other arguing that low taxes on the rich are the best route to wider economic prosperity.

…

Many analysts and policymakers believe that taxes will need to rise in the coming years to ensure the sustainability of public finances. Higher taxes on the rich could help to fund the substantial and potentially long-lasting expansion of government spending and social protection seen during the pandemic. They could also help address health and economic inequalities, which have only been exacerbated by COVID-19 and its economic fallout.

Such tax rises after crises are not unprecedented. Historically, the main drivers of taxes on the rich were wars and economic catastrophes. The COVID-19 crisis might have a similar effect.

Our recent research shows that the economic case for low taxes on the rich is weak. Major tax cuts for the rich since the 1980s have worsened income inequality without boosting economic performance. This might be welcome news for supporters of higher taxes on the rich in the wake of the pandemic.

David Hope, Julian Limberg
December 16, 2020
MarketWatch

Hope, David and Limberg, Julian (2020) The economic consequences of major tax cuts for the rich. International Inequalities Institute Working Papers (55). London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.

[Qubes_OS]

New “Brain Science” Specialization, “Neuroetics”: Remote Control of Human Thinking, Neuroweapons, “Personality Simulations”, Nanobotes

Článek pochází od Mojmíra Babáčka.
Je to nezávislý publicista a občanský aktivista (zakladatel Mezinárodního hnutí za zákaz manipulace lidské nervové soustavy technickými prostředky). Vystudoval Filozofickou fakultu Univerzity Karlovy, obor filozofie a politická ekonomie.
Během normalizace navštěvoval bytové semináře Petra Rezka a Zdeňka Pince a v roce 1978 podepsal Chartu 77. V roce 1981 emigroval do Spojených států amerických, kde pracoval mimo jiné jako počítačový programátor.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/neurotics ... ng/5719680

Úryvek několika zajímavých informací z článku:

In the meantime even the brain research that is not classified advances in more than a fast pace. Scientists work on a silicon chip containing living neurons, which could be inserted in the brain and then used to produce false memories (in 2006 they already produced false memories in mice brain using electrodes.)

As soon as the brain is connected to Internet it will be possible to control its activity from Internet as well. Hackers will just have to expand their activities in order to play with the brain waves using the internet. Will politicians decide to ban, in a verifiable manner, the remote control of the activity of the human brain and as well the control of its activity from the Internet? So far there are no hints that anywhere in the world the governments would be working on legislation to protect the brain activity from external manipulation.

[Dalibor.Zahora]

Yanis Varoufakis @yanisvaroufakis
A fitting end to a year when the utter obscenity of our Technofeudalism (formerly known as Capitalism) was unveiled for all to see. Let's make 2021 the year when humanity strikes back at the hideous regime that the very few have inflicted on so many
https://twitter.com/yanisvaroufakis/sta ... 9999415301
https://www.ft.com/content/6ed46c9b-ce0 ... efbc4eebb9