With the rebels now in charge of most parts of Libya, it won’t take long for France to sell its Rafale fighter jets to their buddies. In fact, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the rebels’ “government” has already promised the countries that helped them to power a lion’s share of the contracts. It’s [...]
Archive of posts filed under the Social category.
Cablegate resumes
After the initial release of a couple of thousands of diplomatic cables from US embassies and the US Department of State by WikiLeaks, the stream of leaks suddenly ground to a halt. This was very disappointing to all of us interested in specific topics and regions.
Kunduz, one more time
The German Parliament Committee responsible for investigating the Kunduz incident (Kunduz Untersuchungsausschuß) has completed its deliberations, and was predictably divided along party lines as to whom was responsible and whom was to blame for this disaster.
Sarrazinism on the decline
A year ago, former central banker Thilo Sarrazin‘s social-darwinistic, xenophobic and racist theses have been all the rage in the German public sphere. This wave culminated in his party, the social democrats (SPD) trying to expel him… yet miserably failing to do so (sic!).
German Politics Update
During the last federal elections in Germany, the liberal democrats (FDP) reached 14.6%, and the Pirate Party made its debut with 2%. A lot has changed in the mean time in the overall political climate, as the last regional elections in the federal state of Berlin show:
The Libya War, or How to Sell Rafale and Eurofighter Jets
The current air campaign of France and some NATO countries against Libya’s Gaddafi could be a marketing plot for Rafale and Eurofighter jets.
Resisting Data Retention Laws
Background information about Germany’s recent proposal for a watered down version of the European Data Retention Directive consisting of 7 days worth of IP-to-account-holder mapping logs.
It is official! Germany’s FDP is Dying!
A variation of “Netcraft now confirms: *BSD is dying”, applied to the German liberal democratic party FDP, after Federal Justice minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (a.k.a. “Ben Schnali”) sold out by giving up her staunch opposition to EU-style data retention laws.
Ali Reza Pahlavi Dies From Depression
On January 4th 2011, Alireza Pahlavi, the younger son of the late Shah of Iran, took his life in his home in Boston. At first, I couldn’t believe it was suicide, until the Pahlavi family confirmed that he suffered from depression and that he shot himself dead. 2011 starts with sad news indeed.
Cablegate: WikiLeaks Releases Too Many Secrets
WikiLeaks starts releasing confidential and secret US Embassy cables. I’m torn between a very human curiosity on one side, and skepticism w.r.t. this IMHO unethical kind of whistle blowing on the other side. Do we really desire to live in a world without secrets… and without privacy? Shouldn’t talks between diplomats and foreign leaders enjoy the same privilege of privacy as talks between two lovers in their bedroom?