Mois : septembre 2014

Published on the National Security Archive, Electronic Briefing Book No. 484, Sept 16, 2014 (Source: provided to book author Richard Whittley by Col. (ret) Mark A. Cooter, USAF).

… As detailed in Richard Whittle’s Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution (Henry Holt and Company, September 16, 2014), the Predator’s configuration was derived from drones developed in the 1980s by former Israeli aeronautical engineer Abraham Karem. Documents obtained by Whittle and posted today by the National Security Archive at George Washington University, www.nsarchive.org, confirm key facts about the Predator’s transformation by the Air Force into the first armed drone used to stalk and kill individual enemies by remote control at intercontinental range.   Continuer la lecture de « Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution »

Published on Global Research.ca, by Dr. Ajamu Nangwaya, Sept 17, 2014.

… We are no longer living in the 19th century with the spectre of Haiti’s successful struggle for its freedom haunting the consciousness of slave masters across the Americas. Yet the military occupation of this country since 2004 by way of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) is sending a clear message that the Haitians’ tentative step toward exercising control over the destiny in the 1990s and the early years of the new century is still “a source of alarm and terror” to imperial overlords such a Canada, France, and the United States. Continuer la lecture de « Haiti: A Movement of Solidarity to End the UN’s Illegal Occupation »

Published on abc news, Sept 16, 2014.

The Brazilian government Tuesday hailed a new United Nations report that for the first time removed Latin America’s biggest country from the World Hunger Map.

« Leaving the Hunger Map is a historic milestone for Brazil. We are very proud because overcoming hunger was a priority for the Brazilian state, » Social Development Minister Tereza Campello said in a statement. Continuer la lecture de « Brazil Removed From UN World Hunger Map »

• UK: Government given a ‘red card’ for its efforts to prevent flooding after the winter storms battered the South West, on North Devon Journal, Sept 16, 2014;
• Tony Abbott warns Australians fighting FOR Islamic State could be targeted by RAAF bombs, 2.09 min, on The Sydney Morning Herald, by Mark Kenny, Sept 16, 2014;
• Mediterranean shipwrecks leave over 700 refugees dead, many fleeing Mideast wars, on WSWS, by Bill Van Auken, Sept 16, 2014;
• US Corporate Executives to Workers: Drop Dead, on naked capitalism, by Yves Smith, Sept 16, 2014;
• Hours worked per worker in industrialized countries 1979-2013, on RWER Blog, by David F. Ruccio, Sept 16, 2014;   Continuer la lecture de « a mix of catching concerns »

Published on NYT Sinosphere Blog, by DIDI KIRSTEN TATLOW, Sept 14, 2014.

Yong Zhao is professor of education, University of Oregon and author of “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon: Why China Has the Best (and Worst) Education System in the World,” being published this week … //

… Following are excerpts from an interview with Mr. Zhao:

Q. You hav said that traditional Chinese education actively “harms” children. How?   Continuer la lecture de « Q. and A.: Yong Zhao on Education and Authoritarianism in China »

Published on Al-Ahram weekly online, by Doaa El-Bey, Sept 11, 2014:

Confidence-building measures are key to resolving the dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over the Renaissance Dam. Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hossam Moghazi has been invited by Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn to visit Addis Ababa and the Renaissance Dam construction site this month.

The fourth tripartite meeting, held in Khartoum last month, Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri’s visit to Addis Ababa last week and Moghazi’s trip are part of ongoing confidence-building measures between Addis Ababa and Cairo … // Continuer la lecture de « Moves to contain water fears »

reviewed at Intl. Documentary Festival Amsterdam – running time 96 min – Published on Variety, by Peter Debruge, Chief International Film Critic, Nov. 29, 2013 … American ethnomusicologist Louis Sarno’s journey into the Congo (and back) is the subject of this mesmerizing documentary.

Having left his native New Jersey long behind, Louis Sarno has dedicated the better part of his life to documenting one of the rarest and most remote musical traditions on earth — that of the Central African Republic’s Bayaka pygmies. In “Song From the Forest,” German director Michael Obert displays only passing interest in this music, offering instead a mesmerizing glimpse into Sarno’s search for a sub-Saharan Walden and the implications of that choice. Best suited to NPR-listening, New Yorker-skimming culture-philes, this loosely structured but intricately sound-designed docu serves as a fest-friendly follow-up to both Sarno’s little-read autobiography and “Oka!,” the even-less-seen fish-out-of-water dramedy inspired by his story … // Continuer la lecture de « Film: Song From the Forest »

Published on Mashable, by Matt Petronzio, Sept 11, 2014.

Birth control pills and traditional latex condoms have been among the most popular and effective methods of contraception for decades. But innovators think it’s time for an upgrade — not only to increase protection, but also to establish safe sex as a basic human right.

Health organizations and forward-thinking companies are making breakthroughs in the field of contraception, working to develop new products such as hormone-releasing microchips, radically redesigned condoms and even low-cost male birth control injections that could last up to 15 years.   Continuer la lecture de « 6 Innovative Ways We're Reinventing Birth Control »

Published on YahooNews, by Zach Campbell, Sara Miller Llana, Sept 7, 2014 – (Recommended: 10 Immigration myths debunked, on Christian Science Monitor, by Amy Taxin, July 12, 2014).

Two brothers from Senegal sought a better life in Europe. Only one of them made it. But their experiences highlight the pressure on European governments to fairly tackle illegal immigration … //

… Today, Yalou is part of Spain’s undocumented migrant class, working as a street seller in Bilbao. Ndiaye also works as a street seller, but in a market on the outskirts of Tangier, Morocco. They haven’t seen each other in years.   Continuer la lecture de « Asylum, Migration and Integration: African passage to Europe, two brothers, two paths, two struggles »

Published on The Washington Post, by Ishaan Tharoor, Sept 9, 2014 (beginning with 37 photos).

… In Indian-administered Kashmir, heavy monsoon rains led to surging floodwaters and the deaths of at least 175 people. Across the disputed border in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, the floods have claimed more than 60 lives, in addition to 131 in Punjab province. It is the mountainous region’s worst flooding in six decades, submerging hundreds of villages and prompting a crisis that has led to a brief thaw in ties between two bickering foes. // Continuer la lecture de « Kashmir’s epic floods link India and Pakistan in disaster »