Comment by Bernd Pickert

Translated from https://taz.de/Trump-erneut-gewaehlt/!6047329/

Donald Trump's renewed election victory is an absolute catastrophe. But it reveals where the Democratic Party simply didn't want to look.

Trump at his election party in Florida on election night   Photo: Evan Vucci/ap

Germany November 6, 2024 1:41 p.m

This morning started with a shock that many had feared but that few wanted to believe.

Donald Trump, the convicted felon, the candidate who either says nonsense or personal insults, wild threats, misogynistic impossibilities or racist outbursts; Trump, whose economic proposals including mass deportations, if implemented, would plunge the United States into a deep economic and human rights crisis; Trump, whose contempt for democratic rules has been hidden from no one since January 6, 2021 at the latest; This Donald Trump moves into the White House again, wins at least the Senate, and possibly also the House of Representatives. What's more: He is the first Republican since George W. Bush in 2004 to win the so-called "popular vote", i.e. a majority of votes across the country.

And in the background, the masterminds of “Project 2025” are waiting with their agenda to convert the US institutions from a politically neutral government apparatus to a subservient instrument of power and thus destroy everything that actually characterizes the – God knows, imperfect – US democracy for years to come .

None of this can be true. Why? The minority asks themselves.

No, the majority of Americans have not suddenly forgotten that they actually enjoy living in a democratic country.

Many of Trump's supporters, an expert recently said on a US TV show, love him but don't take him seriously. The Democrats, on the other hand, loathe him – and take him completely seriously. That's why they ran an election campaign that was largely based on warnings against anti-democrats, but that's exactly why it came to nothing outside of their own bubble.

What the Democrats didn't want to notice: In almost all post-election surveys, around 70 percent of those surveyed said they were dissatisfied or angry about the state of the country. And they are saying this not for the first time, but for at least two years.

This is a cry for change, given that the magnitude of Trump's victory still seems relatively moderate. Explaining to people that the economic data was excellent and that they shouldn't be like that wasn't a good idea. Nobody pays rent or buys groceries.

Yes, swapping Joe Biden for Kamala Harris was the right thing to do. Harris at least came within striking distance of the now re-elected Donald Trump. However, it was wrong to assume that the incredibly poor poll numbers for the Democrats since at least 2023 had mainly to do with the clumsiness of the president, who was in office until January 20th.

Of course: Joe Biden would have been better off declaring two years ago that he would not run again. That would have paved the way for open primaries within the Democratic Party, and in this process there would have been the chance to analyze problems differently and catapult someone to the top who is not part of the unpopular Biden administration and develop a program independently of it , could have changed the topic and found a different language.

Would have, would have.

Trump can now carry out an unhindered march – even if he is unlikely to deport millions of undocumented workers paying social security contributions any more than he had a wall paid for by Mexico built in 2016.

Nevertheless: He abolished protection against water and air pollution in his first term in office, he calls climate change a lie, he wants to abolish entire authorities such as the Ministry of Education and cut social security. There's no reason to believe he won't.

And: He has another four years to appoint countless right-wing federal judges. There may not be an opposition party that controls at least one chamber of Congress to provide him with guardrails. And on top of that, with its ruling in July, the Supreme Court guaranteed him almost absolute immunity for all official acts.

These are extremely bleak prospects. Especially since Trump's renewed victory has a global impact on the authoritarian right.

Democrats, whether party or civil society, will have their hands full organizing themselves and preventing the worst. This means that they remain on the defensive and, in order to organize majorities in elections at some point, are dependent on the Trump government failing resoundingly - and on the fact that they still have at least enough discourse sovereignty to define this failure.

Trump's election victory is a catastrophe that also causes its own continuation.

Bernd Pickert

* grobi

Credits: Commentary by Fabian Kretschmer

Translated from: https://taz.de/Kommandant-eines-beruechtigten-Korps/!6046601/

The North Korean general for Putin's Ukraine war-8,000 North Korean soldiers are said to have already arrived in the Kursk region of Russia. They are led by General Kim Yong Bok.

8,000 North Korean soldiers are said to have already arrived in the Kursk region of Russia. They are led by General Kim Yong Bok.

Seoul taz | Whenever North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un inspects his troops, General Kim Yong Bok with his stoic facial features is not far away. In images from the Korean news agency KCNA, the uniformed man can be seen pulling out the notepad to write down words from his leader. Such staged photos leave no doubt: the three-star general is part of North Korea's innermost leadership circle.

Now he has been supervised by Kim Jong Un with his most important task to date: he is supposed to build up North Korea's troops in Russia, prepare them for use against Ukraine and get them into position.

Kim Yong Bok's personal life is unknown. One can only speculate about his age: in the photos taken by the state media, he looks as if he is well over 60.

North Korea experts first noticed Kim nine years ago when he gave a speech at a memorial rally for Kim Jong Il - the incumbent leader's late father. Shortly thereafter, he took command of the infamous 11th Army Corps, often called the “Storm Corps.” North Korea's soldiers sent to Russia are presumably recruited from this elite unit. The general also sits on the Central Committee of the Workers' Party

Kim Yong Bok currently also serves as Vice Chief of the General Staff. But he also belongs to the highest leadership circle within the Labor Party. He was elected to its central committee for the first time in 2016.

Kim Yong Bok has been spotted alongside Kim Jong Un in over half a dozen public appearances this year alone. According to the US Department of Defense, at least 8,000 North Korean soldiers are now in the Kursk region of Russia.

On Monday, Ukrainian authorities reported for the first time that North Korean soldiers had come under fire there. The information cannot be independently verified.

South Korea's defense minister recently called North Korean soldiers "cannon fodder mercenaries." Media reports also state that they are physically short and appear weak. Their fighting ability and motivation were also repeatedly questioned.

But experts warn against underestimating the North Korean troops. They shouldn't lack motivation. If even a fraction of the rumored $2,000 monthly wage ends up in their pockets, it would be many times what they receive as wages in North Korea.

* grobi

]]> https://rant.li/press/html Tue, 05 Nov 2024 08:55:40 +0000 https://rant.li/press/west-sees-escalation-in-north-korean-troops-against-ukraine <![CDATA[html head link rel="Stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css" link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="rss.xml" title21.10.2024/title meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /head body div id="West sees escalation in North Korean troops against Ukraine"h1 id="West sees escalation in North Korean troops against Ukraine" class="header"a href="#West sees escalation in North Korean troops against Ukraine"West sees escalation in North Korean troops against Ukraine/a/h1/div div id="West sees escalation in North Korean troops against Ukraine-translated from dutch: https://nos.nl/artikel/2541588-westen-ziet-escalatie-in-noord-koreaanse-troepen-tegen-oekraine"h5 id="translated from dutch: https://nos.nl/artikel/2541588-westen-ziet-escalatie-in-noord-koreaanse-troepen-tegen-oekraine" class="header"a href="#West sees escalation in North Korean troops against Ukraine-translated from dutch: https://nos.nl/artikel/2541588-westen-ziet-escalatie-in-noord-koreaanse-troepen-tegen-oekraine"translated from dutch: a href="https://nos.nl/artikel/2541588-westen-ziet-escalatie-in-noord-koreaanse-troepen-tegen-oekraine"https://nos.nl/artikel/2541588-westen-ziet-escalatie-in-noord-koreaanse-troepen-tegen-oekraine/a/a/h5/div img src="https://cdn.nos.nl/image/2024/10/21/1149079/1024x576a.jpg" alt="https://cdn.nos.nl/image/2024/10/21/1149079/1024x576a.jpg" img src="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.jYawwEMDNPRL9sW7CCXTQHaEK%26pid%3DApi&amp;f=1&amp;ipt=3d768af81b5e1227c26c709ecf60f1c4956e327c5c89cc575df8a32bad3ca4ca&amp;ipo=images" alt="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.jYawwEMDNPRL9sW7CCXTQHaEK%26pid%3DApi&amp;f=1&amp;ipt=3d768af81b5e1227c26c709ecf60f1c4956e327c5c89cc575df8a32bad3ca4ca&amp;ipo=images"h6 Translator's note: Chairman of the State Affairs Committee of the DPRK, Commander-in-Chief of the Korean People's Army Kim Jong-un is sending 12,000 soldiers to Russia for Putin's war of annihilation against Ukraine, while the vast majority of the population of North Korea is on the verge of starvation from poverty. The Russian population, on the other hand, complains about high losses due to the cruel and human-contemptuous war of annihilation, which they secretly call a meat grinder. Two monsters who are very aware of their horrific legacy./h6 p h2North Korea's interference in Ukraine is 'a serious threat to the international community/h2 /p p South Korea has summoned the Russian ambassador to the country and demanded the immediate withdrawal of North Korean troops from Russia. According to South Korea, around 1,500 soldiers have already arrived in Russia and are being trained to fight in Ukraine. /p p South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun warned that Seoul "will respond with all available measures." /p p According to the Russian ambassador, the cooperation falls within the framework of international law. It is unclear what cooperation this means, because neither Russia nor North Korea has confirmed that troops will fight with the Russian army. /p div id="West sees escalation in North Korean troops against Ukraine-International condemnation"h2 id="International condemnation" class="header"a href="#West sees escalation in North Korean troops against Ukraine-International condemnation"International condemnation/a/h2/div p NATO chief Mark Rutte says he is concerned about the developments. He says it would be a "significant escalation" if North Korea sent troops to Ukraine to fight alongside the Russians. He called South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol about cooperation with the country. /p p The United States and Japan have also condemned military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. South Korea is an ally of the United States and NATO and supports Ukraine. The European Commission said it was "very concerned" by the reports. /p p “This only illustrates how determined Russia is to escalate its illegal actions against Ukraine, that Russia is absolutely not interested in seeking peaceful solutions,” the spokesperson said. Foreign Minister Veldkamp also warns that the deployment of North Korean troops would represent a "serious escalation". /p div id="West sees escalation in North Korean troops against Ukraine-Tires tightened"h2 id="Tires tightened" class="header"a href="#West sees escalation in North Korean troops against Ukraine-Tires tightened"Tires tightened/a/h2/div p Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the Russian president has strengthened ties with North Korea. There are strong suspicions that Kim supplies weapons to Russia. The United States and Ukraine say they have also been deployed on the battlefield. North Korea and Russia deny this. /p p According to the South Korean intelligence service NIS, North Korea wants to deploy 12,000 troops in Russia. "This is a serious threat not only to South Korea, but also to the international community," the South Korean deputy minister responded to the news. /p p According to the intelligence service, North Korean soldiers would be provided with Russian uniforms and IDs from Siberian regions such as Yakutia and Buryatia. The local population in Siberia partly has similar physical characteristics as the population in North Korea. /p div id="West sees escalation in North Korean troops against Ukraine-Moscow-Pyongyang cooperation"h2 id="Moscow-Pyongyang cooperation" class="header"a href="#West sees escalation in North Korean troops against Ukraine-Moscow-Pyongyang cooperation"Moscow-Pyongyang cooperation/a/h2/div p During Putin's visit to Pyongyang in June, Russia and North Korea announced that the countries want to cooperate more economically and militarily. Putin also said that the agreement states that Russia and North Korea will help each other if either country experiences aggression against one of them. /p p If North Korean troops are actually fighting in Ukraine, it will be the first time that North Korean troops are active on European soil. /p div id="West sees escalation in North Korean troops against Ukraine-Moscow-Pyongyang cooperation- following the last message: https://nos.nl/l/2541251"h6 id=" following the last message: https://nos.nl/l/2541251" class="header"a href="#West sees escalation in North Korean troops against Ukraine-Moscow-Pyongyang cooperation- following the last message: https://nos.nl/l/2541251" following the last message: a href="https://nos.nl/l/2541251"https://nos.nl/l/2541251/a/a/h6/div div id="West sees escalation in North Korean troops against Ukraine-Moscow-Pyongyang cooperation- the Reuters article on the topic: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/what-we-know-about-north-korean-troops-joining-russias-war-ukraine-2024-10-21/"h5 id=" the Reuters article on the topic: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/what-we-know-about-north-korean-troops-joining-russias-war-ukraine-2024-10-21/" class="header justcenter"a href="#West sees escalation in North Korean troops against Ukraine-Moscow-Pyongyang cooperation- the Reuters article on the topic: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/what-we-know-about-north-korean-troops-joining-russias-war-ukraine-2024-10-21/" the Reuters article on the topic: a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/what-we-know-about-north-korean-troops-joining-russias-war-ukraine-2024-10-21/"https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/what-we-know-about-north-korean-troops-joining-russias-war-ukraine-2024-10-21//a/a/h5/div /body /html h6 grobi /h6]]>

West sees escalation in North Korean troops against Ukraine

translated from dutch: https://nos.nl/artikel/2541588-westen-ziet-escalatie-in-noord-koreaanse-troepen-tegen-oekraine

* Translator's note: Chairman of the State Affairs Committee of the DPRK, Commander-in-Chief of the Korean People's Army Kim Jong-un is sending 12,000 soldiers to Russia for Putin's war of annihilation against Ukraine, while the vast majority of the population of North Korea is on the verge of starvation from poverty. The Russian population, on the other hand, complains about high losses due to the cruel and human-contemptuous war of annihilation, which they secretly call a meat grinder. Two monsters who are very aware of their horrific legacy.

North Korea's interference in Ukraine is 'a serious threat to the international community

South Korea has summoned the Russian ambassador to the country and demanded the immediate withdrawal of North Korean troops from Russia. According to South Korea, around 1,500 soldiers have already arrived in Russia and are being trained to fight in Ukraine.

South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun warned that Seoul "will respond with all available measures."

According to the Russian ambassador, the cooperation falls within the framework of international law. It is unclear what cooperation this means, because neither Russia nor North Korea has confirmed that troops will fight with the Russian army.

International condemnation

NATO chief Mark Rutte says he is concerned about the developments. He says it would be a "significant escalation" if North Korea sent troops to Ukraine to fight alongside the Russians. He called South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol about cooperation with the country.

The United States and Japan have also condemned military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. South Korea is an ally of the United States and NATO and supports Ukraine. The European Commission said it was "very concerned" by the reports.

“This only illustrates how determined Russia is to escalate its illegal actions against Ukraine, that Russia is absolutely not interested in seeking peaceful solutions,” the spokesperson said. Foreign Minister Veldkamp also warns that the deployment of North Korean troops would represent a "serious escalation".

Tires tightened

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the Russian president has strengthened ties with North Korea. There are strong suspicions that Kim supplies weapons to Russia. The United States and Ukraine say they have also been deployed on the battlefield. North Korea and Russia deny this.

According to the South Korean intelligence service NIS, North Korea wants to deploy 12,000 troops in Russia. "This is a serious threat not only to South Korea, but also to the international community," the South Korean deputy minister responded to the news.

According to the intelligence service, North Korean soldiers would be provided with Russian uniforms and IDs from Siberian regions such as Yakutia and Buryatia. The local population in Siberia partly has similar physical characteristics as the population in North Korea.

Moscow-Pyongyang cooperation

During Putin's visit to Pyongyang in June, Russia and North Korea announced that the countries want to cooperate more economically and militarily. Putin also said that the agreement states that Russia and North Korea will help each other if either country experiences aggression against one of them.

If North Korean troops are actually fighting in Ukraine, it will be the first time that North Korean troops are active on European soil.

* following the last message: https://nos.nl/l/2541251

* the Reuters article on the topic: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/what-we-know-about-north-korean-troops-joining-russias-war-ukraine-2024-10-21/

* grobi

]]> https://rant.li/press/west-sees-escalation-in-north-korean-troops-against-ukraine Wed, 23 Oct 2024 20:10:15 +0000 https://rant.li/press/china-and-india-rapprochement-agreement-on-patrols-along-disputed-border <![CDATA[html head link rel="Stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css" link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="rss.xml" title21.10.2024-1/title meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /head body img src="https://cdn.nos.nl/image/2024/10/21/1149100/1024x576a.jpg" alt="https://cdn.nos.nl/image/2024/10/21/1149100/1024x576a.jpg" div id="China and India rapprochement: agreement on patrols along disputed border"h1 id="China and India rapprochement: agreement on patrols along disputed border" class="header"a href="#China and India rapprochement: agreement on patrols along disputed border"China and India rapprochement: agreement on patrols along disputed border/a/h1/div div id="China and India rapprochement: agreement on patrols along disputed border-translated from dutch: https://nos.nl/artikel/2541596-toenadering-china-en-india-akkoord-over-patrouilles-langs-betwiste-grens"h5 id="translated from dutch: https://nos.nl/artikel/2541596-toenadering-china-en-india-akkoord-over-patrouilles-langs-betwiste-grens" class="header"a href="#China and India rapprochement: agreement on patrols along disputed border-translated from dutch: https://nos.nl/artikel/2541596-toenadering-china-en-india-akkoord-over-patrouilles-langs-betwiste-grens"translated from dutch: a href="https://nos.nl/artikel/2541596-toenadering-china-en-india-akkoord-over-patrouilles-langs-betwiste-grens"https://nos.nl/artikel/2541596-toenadering-china-en-india-akkoord-over-patrouilles-langs-betwiste-grens/a/a/h5/div p China and India have agreed on how soldiers will patrol the disputed border in the Himalayas. The disputed border has led to tensions between the two nuclear powers for decades. /p p The last violent confrontation was in 2020. Patrols from both countries encountered each other on terrain they believed was part of their territory. A total of 24 soldiers were killed, twenty of whom were from India. /p p The confrontation soured the already difficult relationship between China and India, both of which have tens of thousands of troops stationed in the area. The agreement that has now been concluded is a sign of rapprochement between the two countries. /p div id="China and India rapprochement: agreement on patrols along disputed border-Weeks of negotiations"h2 id="Weeks of negotiations" class="header"a href="#China and India rapprochement: agreement on patrols along disputed border-Weeks of negotiations"Weeks of negotiations/a/h2/div p Indian Foreign Minister Vikram Misri announced the agreement at a press conference on the eve of the BRICS summit, the group of nine countries of which China is a member. He said it had been negotiated for weeks. China has not yet said anything about the agreement. /p p The agreement states, among other things, that both countries will "act with restraint". Agreements have also been made about patrols. Misri did not provide further details. According to the AP news agency, both countries have withdrawn troops from the border area. /p img src="https://cdn.nos.nl/image/2024/10/21/1149101/1024x576a.jpg" alt="https://cdn.nos.nl/image/2024/10/21/1149101/1024x576a.jpg" div id="China and India rapprochement: agreement on patrols along disputed border-Line of current control"h2 id="Line of current control" class="header"a href="#China and India rapprochement: agreement on patrols along disputed border-Line of current control"Line of current control/a/h2/div p Both China and India do not speak of a border, but of a line of control that they call 'the line of current control'. It is more than 3,400 kilometers long and runs through wildly flowing rivers, lakes and moving glaciers. Both China and India claim the area. /p p In 1962, the two countries fought a war in the Himalayas for over a month, and there have been several armed confrontations since then. /p /body /html h6 * grobi /h6]]>

China and India rapprochement: agreement on patrols along disputed border

translated from dutch: https://nos.nl/artikel/2541596-toenadering-china-en-india-akkoord-over-patrouilles-langs-betwiste-grens

China and India have agreed on how soldiers will patrol the disputed border in the Himalayas. The disputed border has led to tensions between the two nuclear powers for decades.

The last violent confrontation was in 2020. Patrols from both countries encountered each other on terrain they believed was part of their territory. A total of 24 soldiers were killed, twenty of whom were from India.

The confrontation soured the already difficult relationship between China and India, both of which have tens of thousands of troops stationed in the area. The agreement that has now been concluded is a sign of rapprochement between the two countries.

Weeks of negotiations

Indian Foreign Minister Vikram Misri announced the agreement at a press conference on the eve of the BRICS summit, the group of nine countries of which China is a member. He said it had been negotiated for weeks. China has not yet said anything about the agreement.

The agreement states, among other things, that both countries will "act with restraint". Agreements have also been made about patrols. Misri did not provide further details. According to the AP news agency, both countries have withdrawn troops from the border area.

Line of current control

Both China and India do not speak of a border, but of a line of control that they call 'the line of current control'. It is more than 3,400 kilometers long and runs through wildly flowing rivers, lakes and moving glaciers. Both China and India claim the area.

In 1962, the two countries fought a war in the Himalayas for over a month, and there have been several armed confrontations since then.

* grobi

]]> https://rant.li/press/china-and-india-rapprochement-agreement-on-patrols-along-disputed-border Wed, 23 Oct 2024 19:58:54 +0000 https://rant.li/press/nuclear-power-for-artificial-intelligence <![CDATA[html head link rel="Stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css" link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="rss.xml" title19.10.2020-3/title meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /head body div id="Nuclear power for artificial intelligence"h3 id="Nuclear power for artificial intelligence" class="header"a href="#Nuclear power for artificial intelligence"Nuclear power for artificial intelligence/a/h3/div div id="The double dystopia"h1 id="The double dystopia" class="header"a href="#The double dystopia"The double dystopia/a/h1/div div id="The double dystopia-AI consumes a lot of energy."h2 id="AI consumes a lot of energy." class="header"a href="#The double dystopia-AI consumes a lot of energy."AI consumes a lot of energy./a/h2/div div id="The double dystopia-The corporations want to use nuclear power for this."h2 id="The corporations want to use nuclear power for this." class="header"a href="#The double dystopia-The corporations want to use nuclear power for this."The corporations want to use nuclear power for this./a/h2/div div id="The double dystopia-Crazy? Probably."h2 id="Crazy? Probably." class="header"a href="#The double dystopia-Crazy? Probably."Crazy? img src="https://taz.de/picture/7306818/1900/36799034-1.jpeg" alt="https://taz.de/picture/7306818/1900/36799034-1.jpeg" width="990" height="661" class="shrinkToFit"h6Pretty baddest AI: Agent Smith from “The Matrix Revolutions”   Photo: mary evans/warner/imago/h6/a/h2/div h4Probably ../h4 div id="The double dystopia-But maybe it will help"h2 id="But maybe it will help" class="header"a href="#The double dystopia-But maybe it will help"But maybe it will help/a/h2/div div id="The double dystopia-But maybe it will help-19.10.2024 19:19"h5 id="19.10.2024 19:19" class="header"a href="#The double dystopia-But maybe it will help-19.10.2024 19:19"19.10.2024 19:19/a/h5/div figure class="pr-small is-flex-shrink-0" title="Johannes Drosdowski" img class="image is-rounded author-profile " src="https://taz.de/kommune/files/images/profile/192x192/37646.png" alt="Johannes Drosdowski " /figure div id="The double dystopia-Commentary by Johannes Drosdowski"h3 id="Commentary by Johannes Drosdowski" class="header"a href="#The double dystopia-Commentary by Johannes Drosdowski"Commentary by Johannes Drosdowski/a/h3/div p translated from german:a href="https://taz.de/Atomkraft-fuer-die-Kuenstliche-Intelligenz/!6041039/"https://taz.de/Atomkraft-fuer-die-Kuenstliche-Intelligenz/!6041039//a /p div id="The double dystopia-But maybe it will help-First Things First"h3 id="First Things First" class="header"a href="#The double dystopia-But maybe it will help-First Things First"First Things First/a/h3/div p Nuclear power is fun. Just not: nuclear waste and nuclear disasters. Anyone who thinks further than the nearest socket should actually fear this. Nevertheless, Google, Microsoft and Amazon are now increasingly relying on nuclear power again. For artificial intelligence, of all things. They cause a lot of energy demand in the companies' data centers. And their solution is nuclear power from recommissioned and completely new mini-power plants in the USA. Oh dear, a double dystopia: nuclear catastrophe and AI. /p p In pop culture - let's stay there, because real emotions are much more complex - the AI dystopia is usually based on the AI becoming independent (also in terms of character) and then a) looking for freedom like in “Ex Machina” or b) its hunger for energy wants to breastfeed like in the “Matrix” series. When it comes to character, willingness to act, consciousness... we're not there (yet?). But fantasy does not provide us with facts, but rather with truths about feelings. In “The Matrix,” people in artificial amniotic sacs act as living batteries to supply the machines. To do this, people themselves need energy and – boom! – we are having lunch à la “Soylent Grün”, because the machines feed people via tubes with other people processed into mush. We consume ourselves. /p p The fear of self-consuming in favor of the machine has been wandering around in films and comics for a while. In “The Matrix,” the robots eat. With Romero and Co. the zombies. The machine, the brutal, murderous, criticized system there was initially slavery, then capitalism. /p div id="The double dystopia-But maybe it will help-Are they allowed to do that?"h3 id="Are they allowed to do that?" class="header"a href="#The double dystopia-But maybe it will help-Are they allowed to do that?"Are they allowed to do that?/a/h3/div p AI is not slavery. AI won't eat our brains or squeeze us into artificial amniotic sacs. But we have reached a point where corporations are tapping into energy sources for AI that should have dried up and been sealed long ago. Because even if there is no catastrophe in the power plants - and experience contradicts optimism here - the waste will still remain. And in the long term it will consume the healthy future of our planet and thus that of humanity. /p p So the ethical question arises: Are corporations even allowed to do this? Are we even allowed to do that? Because even if Google, Microsoft and Amazon decide where they get their energy from, we also use the energy. /p div id="The double dystopia-But maybe it will help-&quot;Only what receives energy can grow. We can determine which direction. Maybe in this one: AIs in the fight against climate change. We humans have not yet found any solutions on our own&quot;"h3 id="&quot;Only what receives energy can grow. We can determine which direction. Maybe in this one: AIs in the fight against climate change. We humans have not yet found any solutions on our own&quot;" class="header"a href="#The double dystopia-But maybe it will help-&quot;Only what receives energy can grow. We can determine which direction. Maybe in this one: AIs in the fight against climate change. We humans have not yet found any solutions on our own&quot;""Only what receives energy can grow. We can determine which direction. Maybe in this one: AIs in the fight against climate change. We humans have not yet found any solutions on our own"/a/h3/div p Many of us ordinary citizens consciously use AI to chat with us. So that she summarizes a super long text for us. Or briefly explains how I cook perfect, vegan spaetzle. Or for relationship tips. A single search query on ChatGPT will consume 2.9 watt-hours, the Electric Power Research Institute calculated. Ten times more than a Google query. If you google it 20 times, you will use as much energy as an energy-saving lamp in an hour. Anyone who asks ChatGPT to rephrase their work email might as well turn on a light for 30 minutes. Unfortunately I wouldn't get a better email for that. /p p It's all about the masses: In November 2023, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, said that 100 million people worldwide were using ChatGPT every week. But they don't just ask one question. The portal ingenieur.de from the publisher VDI Fachmedien, a media company for engineers, expects 214 million daily inquiries. This consumes over half a million kilowatt hours of energy per day. /p div id="The double dystopia-But maybe it will help-Das Problem mit der Eigenverantwortung"h3 id="Das Problem mit der Eigenverantwortung" class="header"a href="#The double dystopia-But maybe it will help-Das Problem mit der Eigenverantwortung"Das Problem mit der Eigenverantwortung/a/h3/div p AI therefore urgently needs to become more energy efficient. There needs to be more green coding, smarter data centers, more climate-conscious AI training. And yes: Maybe we don't have to ask the AI everything. But it would be wrong to just rely on personal responsibility now. /p p Because our dealings with Corona (“Well, I don’t wear a mask on the train anymore!”) and climate change (“Oh, that one flight to Italy”) have shown that we humans are not particularly good at personal responsibility. And the fiction of the zombie series shows that anyone who shoots against capitalism in a brain rush will quickly be bitten. It takes communities that give themselves rules and set boundaries. In our case perhaps: rules for corporations. So that nuclear power, for example, is not completely wasted on chatbots, but instead flows into progress. Maybe like this: 70 percent of the energy must be used for science, education and medicine and the corresponding AIs must be usable free of charge. /p p Only what receives energy can grow. We can determine which direction. Maybe in this one: AIs in the fight against climate change. We humans obviously haven't found any solutions on our own that we can or want to actually implement. Maybe the AIs will come up with something. Ideally without nuclear power. But the main thing: without people as batteries. (Translator's addition: as in the matrix.. ) /p p Johannes Drozdowski Editor media/digital Editor for media and digital. Otherwise, freelance journalist and teamer on the subject of conspiracy narratives and fake news. Likes comics, zombies and the internet. Mastodon: @drosdowski@social.anoxinon.de /p /body /html h6 * grobi /h6]]>

Nuclear power for artificial intelligence

The double dystopia

AI consumes a lot of energy.

The corporations want to use nuclear power for this.

Crazy?

Pretty baddest AI: Agent Smith from “The Matrix Revolutions”   Photo: mary evans/warner/imago

Probably ..

But maybe it will help

19.10.2024 19:19

Commentary by Johannes Drosdowski

translated from german:https://taz.de/Atomkraft-fuer-die-Kuenstliche-Intelligenz/!6041039/

First Things First

Nuclear power is fun. Just not: nuclear waste and nuclear disasters. Anyone who thinks further than the nearest socket should actually fear this. Nevertheless, Google, Microsoft and Amazon are now increasingly relying on nuclear power again. For artificial intelligence, of all things. They cause a lot of energy demand in the companies' data centers. And their solution is nuclear power from recommissioned and completely new mini-power plants in the USA. Oh dear, a double dystopia: nuclear catastrophe and AI.

In pop culture - let's stay there, because real emotions are much more complex - the AI dystopia is usually based on the AI becoming independent (also in terms of character) and then a) looking for freedom like in “Ex Machina” or b) its hunger for energy wants to breastfeed like in the “Matrix” series. When it comes to character, willingness to act, consciousness... we're not there (yet?). But fantasy does not provide us with facts, but rather with truths about feelings. In “The Matrix,” people in artificial amniotic sacs act as living batteries to supply the machines. To do this, people themselves need energy and – boom! – we are having lunch à la “Soylent Grün”, because the machines feed people via tubes with other people processed into mush. We consume ourselves.

The fear of self-consuming in favor of the machine has been wandering around in films and comics for a while. In “The Matrix,” the robots eat. With Romero and Co. the zombies. The machine, the brutal, murderous, criticized system there was initially slavery, then capitalism.

Are they allowed to do that?

AI is not slavery. AI won't eat our brains or squeeze us into artificial amniotic sacs. But we have reached a point where corporations are tapping into energy sources for AI that should have dried up and been sealed long ago. Because even if there is no catastrophe in the power plants - and experience contradicts optimism here - the waste will still remain. And in the long term it will consume the healthy future of our planet and thus that of humanity.

So the ethical question arises: Are corporations even allowed to do this? Are we even allowed to do that? Because even if Google, Microsoft and Amazon decide where they get their energy from, we also use the energy.

"Only what receives energy can grow. We can determine which direction. Maybe in this one: AIs in the fight against climate change. We humans have not yet found any solutions on our own"

Many of us ordinary citizens consciously use AI to chat with us. So that she summarizes a super long text for us. Or briefly explains how I cook perfect, vegan spaetzle. Or for relationship tips. A single search query on ChatGPT will consume 2.9 watt-hours, the Electric Power Research Institute calculated. Ten times more than a Google query. If you google it 20 times, you will use as much energy as an energy-saving lamp in an hour. Anyone who asks ChatGPT to rephrase their work email might as well turn on a light for 30 minutes. Unfortunately I wouldn't get a better email for that.

It's all about the masses: In November 2023, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, said that 100 million people worldwide were using ChatGPT every week. But they don't just ask one question. The portal ingenieur.de from the publisher VDI Fachmedien, a media company for engineers, expects 214 million daily inquiries. This consumes over half a million kilowatt hours of energy per day.

Das Problem mit der Eigenverantwortung

AI therefore urgently needs to become more energy efficient. There needs to be more green coding, smarter data centers, more climate-conscious AI training. And yes: Maybe we don't have to ask the AI everything. But it would be wrong to just rely on personal responsibility now.

Because our dealings with Corona (“Well, I don’t wear a mask on the train anymore!”) and climate change (“Oh, that one flight to Italy”) have shown that we humans are not particularly good at personal responsibility. And the fiction of the zombie series shows that anyone who shoots against capitalism in a brain rush will quickly be bitten. It takes communities that give themselves rules and set boundaries. In our case perhaps: rules for corporations. So that nuclear power, for example, is not completely wasted on chatbots, but instead flows into progress. Maybe like this: 70 percent of the energy must be used for science, education and medicine and the corresponding AIs must be usable free of charge.

Only what receives energy can grow. We can determine which direction. Maybe in this one: AIs in the fight against climate change. We humans obviously haven't found any solutions on our own that we can or want to actually implement. Maybe the AIs will come up with something. Ideally without nuclear power. But the main thing: without people as batteries. (Translator's addition: as in the matrix.. )

Johannes Drozdowski Editor media/digital Editor for media and digital. Otherwise, freelance journalist and teamer on the subject of conspiracy narratives and fake news. Likes comics, zombies and the internet. Mastodon: @drosdowski@social.anoxinon.de

* grobi

]]> https://rant.li/press/nuclear-power-for-artificial-intelligence Wed, 23 Oct 2024 19:20:16 +0000 https://rant.li/press/drug-country-the-netherlands-is-to-blame-for-the-explosion-of-violence-in <![CDATA[html head link rel="Stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css" link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="rss.xml" title19.10.2020-2/title meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /head body img src="https://cdn.nos.nl/image/2024/01/19/1045003/1024x576a.jpg" alt="https://cdn.nos.nl/image/2024/01/19/1045003/1024x576a.jpg" div id="Friday January 19, 2024, 4:45 PM"h4 id="Friday January 19, 2024, 4:45 PM" class="header"a href="#Friday January 19, 2024, 4:45 PM"Friday January 19, 2024, 4:45 PM/a/h4/div div id="Drug country The Netherlands is to blame for the explosion of violence in Ecuador, experts say"h1 id="Drug country The Netherlands is to blame for the explosion of violence in Ecuador, experts say" class="header"a href="#Drug country The Netherlands is to blame for the explosion of violence in Ecuador, experts say"Drug country The Netherlands is to blame for the explosion of violence in Ecuador, experts say/a/h1/div div id="Drug country The Netherlands is to blame for the explosion of violence in Ecuador, experts say-[[19.10.2020-2]] translated from dutch: https://nos.nl/nieuwsuur/artikel/2505495-drugsland-nederland-heeft-schuld-aan-geweldsexplosie-ecuador-zeggen-experts"h6 id="[[19.10.2020-2]] translated from dutch: https://nos.nl/nieuwsuur/artikel/2505495-drugsland-nederland-heeft-schuld-aan-geweldsexplosie-ecuador-zeggen-experts" class="header"a href="#Drug country The Netherlands is to blame for the explosion of violence in Ecuador, experts say-[[19.10.2020-2]] translated from dutch: https://nos.nl/nieuwsuur/artikel/2505495-drugsland-nederland-heeft-schuld-aan-geweldsexplosie-ecuador-zeggen-experts" translated from dutch: a href="https://nos.nl/nieuwsuur/artikel/2505495-drugsland-nederland-heeft-schuld-aan-geweldsexplosie-ecuador-zeggen-experts"https://nos.nl/nieuwsuur/artikel/2505495-drugsland-nederland-heeft-schuld-aan-geweldsexplosie-ecuador-zeggen-experts/a/a/h6/div p The explosion of violence in Ecuador reached a new low last night: the prosecutor who investigated the attack on a TV studio earlier this month was shot dead. Everything points to a liquidation by drug criminals. Residents and experts have long seen a growing influence of drug gangs in Ecuador. The fact that the South American country became a hub in the drug trade is also partly the responsibility of major buyers such as the Netherlands, they say. /p div id="Drug country The Netherlands is to blame for the explosion of violence in Ecuador, experts say-Haven of peace"h3 id="Haven of peace" class="header"a href="#Drug country The Netherlands is to blame for the explosion of violence in Ecuador, experts say-Haven of peace"Haven of peace/a/h3/div p "You always had to be careful here and not walk across the street with your phone in your hand, for example", says Dutch doctor Els van der Linden, who has lived in Ecuador's largest city Guayaquil for sixteen years. "But from the pandemic onwards it became more and more dangerous." /p p "Until three years ago, Ecuador was known as a haven of peace between Colombia and Peru", confirms Ecuador expert Maria Gabriela Palacio (Leiden University). "Until then, we had managed to escape quite well from the high levels of violence in our neighboring countries." /p div id="Drug country The Netherlands is to blame for the explosion of violence in Ecuador, experts say-Turnaround"h2 id="Turnaround" class="header"a href="#Drug country The Netherlands is to blame for the explosion of violence in Ecuador, experts say-Turnaround"Turnaround/a/h2/div p According to Gabriela Palacio, this was mainly due to agreements between the government and drug gangs. "Three years ago, those agreements were broken and we saw a huge increase in violence." Professor Ramiro Avila (Simón Bolívar University) is a former judge of the Constitutional Court of Ecuador and has noticed a tense calm in the country for a long time. He also says that the "relative peace" was only possible because the government turned a blind eye to the drug trade. That policy has changed recently. Last August, a presidential candidate was shot dead, prompting the new government of President Daniel Noboa to promise to take tough action against the gangs. /p p a data-testid="external-content-youtube" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eW0yQVpbDg" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="blank" data-tracking="eventType=navigation|eventName=open|elementType=social|elementId=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v-eW0yQVpbDg|nestType1=external-content|eventContext=youtube" class="sc-f8d4bfd8-1 exwNPt"div class="sc-67cf2978-0 dVctfw"picturesource media="" sizes="(min-width: 786px) 786px, 100vw" srcset="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-eW0yQVpbDg/default.jpg 120w, https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-eW0yQVpbDg/mqdefault.jpg 320w, https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-eW0yQVpbDg/hqdefault.jpg 480w, https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-eW0yQVpbDg/sddefault.jpg 640w, https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-eW0yQVpbDg/maxresdefault.jpg 1280w"img alt="Zo werd Ecuador het nieuwe cocaïne-knooppunt" decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-eW0yQVpbDg/hqdefault.jpg" class="sc-67cf2978-1 dajunI"/picture/divdiv class="sc-f8d4bfd8-2 dPcIwn"svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="72" height="16" viewBox="0 0 72 16" class="sc-f8d4bfd8-3 dlKHVM"path fill="currentColor" fill-rule="evenodd" d="M11.582-.001h.084L11.88 0c.779.005 2.452.022 4.139.085l.532.021c1.59.07 3.11.183 3.807.37a2.86 2.86 0 0 1 2.021 2.021c.418 1.56.47 4.603.477 5.339v.121l.001.042v.164c-.007.736-.06 3.779-.478 5.338a2.86 2.86 0 0 1-2.02 2.021c-.737.198-2.389.314-4.074.381l-.532.02a142 142 0 0 1-3.989.076l-.249.001h-.176l-.249-.001c-.682-.003-2.305-.017-3.988-.076l-.532-.02c-1.686-.067-3.337-.183-4.074-.38A2.86 2.86 0 0 1 .477 13.5C.072 11.997.01 9.114 0 8.251v-.503c.01-.864.073-3.747.476-5.25A2.86 2.86 0 0 1 2.497.475c.698-.187 2.217-.3 3.808-.37l.532-.021A144 144 0 0 1 10.976 0h.215l.083-.001ZM35.1 4.633q1.111 0 1.782.458.67.458.98 1.43.31.973.311 2.591v1.455q0 1.602-.302 2.575-.303.972-.981 1.422t-1.84.45q-1.193 0-1.87-.458-.68-.458-.965-1.422-.286-.965-.286-2.567V9.112q0-1.618.326-2.6.327-.98 1.022-1.43.694-.45 1.823-.449m6.499.196v7.356q0 .67.147.957.148.285.49.286.295 0 .564-.18.27-.18.401-.458V4.83h2.256v10.02h-1.766l-.196-1.226h-.049q-.72 1.39-2.158 1.39-.997 0-1.47-.655-.475-.653-.475-2.043V4.83H41.6Zm11.572 0v7.356q0 .67.147.957.147.285.49.286.294 0 .564-.18t.4-.458V4.83h2.257v10.02h-1.766l-.196-1.226h-.049q-.72 1.39-2.158 1.39-.997 0-1.471-.655-.475-.653-.474-2.043V4.83h2.256Zm15.595-.189q1.161 0 1.782.425t.875 1.325q.253.9.253 2.484v1.717H67.9v.507q0 .965.057 1.446.057.483.237.703.18.222.556.221.507 0 .695-.392c.188-.392.193-.698.204-1.308l1.945.114q.016.132.016.36 0 1.389-.76 2.076t-2.15.687q-1.666 0-2.337-1.046-.67-1.047-.67-3.237v-1.75q0-2.255.695-3.294.695-1.037 2.378-1.038M60.563.628v5.28h.017q.294-.572.833-.924.54-.351 1.161-.351.8 0 1.259.425.457.425.662 1.373.204.949.204 2.632v1.586q0 2.239-.54 3.294-.54 1.053-1.683 1.054-.638 0-1.16-.294a1.9 1.9 0 0 1-.786-.801h-.048l-.23.948H58.39V.628zm-33.204.506.899 4.202q.343 1.553.507 2.648h.065q.114-.784.507-2.632l.932-4.218h2.24l-2.6 9.27v4.446h-2.223v-4.447l-2.567-9.269zm24.228 0V2.95h-2.24v11.9h-2.206V2.95H44.9V1.134h6.686ZM35.051 6.187q-.457 0-.646.499-.188.498-.188 1.577v3.123q0 1.111.18 1.601t.654.49c.474 0 .537-.163.662-.49q.188-.49.188-1.601V8.262q0-1.08-.188-1.577-.188-.5-.662-.5Zm26.51.05q-.328 0-.605.26a1.43 1.43 0 0 0-.393.671v5.689a1 1 0 0 0 .384.392q.237.132.515.131.36 0 .573-.261t.302-.883q.09-.62.09-1.717v-1.29q0-1.178-.074-1.815-.074-.639-.261-.908a.61.61 0 0 0-.532-.27ZM9.141 4.57v6.858L15.082 8zm59.575 1.59q-.36 0-.531.213t-.23.695q-.056.483-.056 1.463v.72h1.65v-.72q0-.964-.065-1.463t-.237-.703-.53-.204Z"/path/svg/divh3 class="sc-f8d4bfd8-4 cijPTz"This is how Ecuador became the new cocaine hub (dutch)/h3/a /p p A few weeks ago the situation got further out of hand. The leader of one of the country's largest drug gangs escaped from a prison in Guayaquil. President Noboa then declared a state of emergency and announced that he would deploy the army against the drug gangs. The incidents of violence followed in quick succession. For example, armed men invaded a TV studio and riots broke out in six prisons. Prison staff were taken hostage, police officers kidnapped and notorious prisoners escaped. /p p Public life has come to a standstill in many places. "We don't go out in the evening anymore," says Van der Linden. “We live in fear.” She is pleased with President Noboa's tough action, even though that approach produces violent counter-reactions. “Finally the president is doing something to change the situation.” /p div id="Drug country The Netherlands is to blame for the explosion of violence in Ecuador, experts say-Scare is their system"h2 id="Scare is their system" class="header"a href="#Drug country The Netherlands is to blame for the explosion of violence in Ecuador, experts say-Scare is their system"Scare is their system/a/h2/div p Former judge Avila agrees with her. "The drug criminals have been corrupting the government for years, they are part of it. The murdered prosecutor tried to tackle organized crime, and had to pay for it with his death. With his murder, the gangs are trying to scare the system. The government has "We have no choice but to take back the monopoly on violence from the gangs by force." /p p However, the government should not go too far, Avila warns. He fears that many poor Ecuadorians living in slums are being unfairly targeted. "We are already seeing mass arrests, unwarranted searches and excessive force. Soon we will have thousands of prisoners who we have nowhere to place." /p p img src="https://cdn.nos.nl/image/2024/01/19/1045004/960x720a.jpg" alt="https://cdn.nos.nl/image/2024/01/19/1045004/960x720a.jpg" width="881" height="661" class="responsive" /p div id="Drug country The Netherlands is to blame for the explosion of violence in Ecuador, experts say-Scare is their system-Soldiers in Quito stop a boy to check whether he has tattoos that indicate gang membership"h6 id="Soldiers in Quito stop a boy to check whether he has tattoos that indicate gang membership" class="header"a href="#Drug country The Netherlands is to blame for the explosion of violence in Ecuador, experts say-Scare is their system-Soldiers in Quito stop a boy to check whether he has tattoos that indicate gang membership"Soldiers in Quito stop a boy to check whether he has tattoos that indicate gang membership/a/h6/div p Much more is needed than tough military action, the experts say. Ecuador is in an economic crisis, causing poverty to increase. Professor Gabriela Palacio: "The government must address the socio-economic insecurities that drive young people to join drug gangs." /p p But other countries also have a responsibility, they emphasize. Certainly also the Netherlands, as one of the largest drug importers. /p p __________________________________________________________________________ /p div id="Drug country The Netherlands is to blame for the explosion of violence in Ecuador, experts say-Western countries have an important role. They decide what is illegal and what is not."h2 id="Western countries have an important role. They decide what is illegal and what is not." class="header"a href="#Drug country The Netherlands is to blame for the explosion of violence in Ecuador, experts say-Western countries have an important role. They decide what is illegal and what is not."Western countries have an important role. They decide what is illegal and what is not./a/h2/div div id="Drug country The Netherlands is to blame for the explosion of violence in Ecuador, experts say-Western countries have an important role. They decide what is illegal and what is not.-Maria Gabriela Palacio, Ecuador expert"h5 id="Maria Gabriela Palacio, Ecuador expert" class="header justcenter"a href="#Drug country The Netherlands is to blame for the explosion of violence in Ecuador, experts say-Western countries have an important role. They decide what is illegal and what is not.-Maria Gabriela Palacio, Ecuador expert"Maria Gabriela Palacio, Ecuador expert/a/h5/div p Ecuador is by far the most important country of origin for cocaine intercepted in the port of Rotterdam, which in turn is an important transit port for cocaine for Europe. Avila thinks that agreements between the Netherlands and Ecuador, such as the recently concluded customs treaty, can help combat drug smuggling. /p p But, Avila says, as long as demand in America and Europe remains high and cocaine makes a lot of money, "it is naive to think that the problems can be solved in a few months." /p p The Dutch are not sufficiently aware of this, says doctor Van der Linden. "In the Netherlands, drugs are of course something to have a fun party. But there is much more to it. A lot of sadness, a lot of violence, a lot of problems." /p div id="Drug country The Netherlands is to blame for the explosion of violence in Ecuador, experts say-Legalization?"h2 id="Legalization?" class="header"a href="#Drug country The Netherlands is to blame for the explosion of violence in Ecuador, experts say-Legalization?"Legalization?/a/h2/div p The war on drugs should therefore not only be fought in the producing countries, says Gabriela Palacio. "Western countries are largely responsible for drug trafficking because they determine what is illegal." /p p Legalizing and regulating (some) drugs by consumer countries must be part of the solution, she believes. Because it is precisely the illegality of drugs that makes the trade so dangerous, violent and lucrative. /p p Avila: "The war on drugs has killed a million people in 50 years and corrupted democracies. We must change the recipe for the solution." /p /body /html h6 * grobi /h6]]>

Friday January 19, 2024, 4:45 PM

Drug country The Netherlands is to blame for the explosion of violence in Ecuador, experts say

translated from dutch: https://nos.nl/nieuwsuur/artikel/2505495-drugsland-nederland-heeft-schuld-aan-geweldsexplosie-ecuador-zeggen-experts

The explosion of violence in Ecuador reached a new low last night: the prosecutor who investigated the attack on a TV studio earlier this month was shot dead. Everything points to a liquidation by drug criminals. Residents and experts have long seen a growing influence of drug gangs in Ecuador. The fact that the South American country became a hub in the drug trade is also partly the responsibility of major buyers such as the Netherlands, they say.

Haven of peace

"You always had to be careful here and not walk across the street with your phone in your hand, for example", says Dutch doctor Els van der Linden, who has lived in Ecuador's largest city Guayaquil for sixteen years. "But from the pandemic onwards it became more and more dangerous."

"Until three years ago, Ecuador was known as a haven of peace between Colombia and Peru", confirms Ecuador expert Maria Gabriela Palacio (Leiden University). "Until then, we had managed to escape quite well from the high levels of violence in our neighboring countries."

Turnaround

According to Gabriela Palacio, this was mainly due to agreements between the government and drug gangs. "Three years ago, those agreements were broken and we saw a huge increase in violence." Professor Ramiro Avila (Simón Bolívar University) is a former judge of the Constitutional Court of Ecuador and has noticed a tense calm in the country for a long time. He also says that the "relative peace" was only possible because the government turned a blind eye to the drug trade. That policy has changed recently. Last August, a presidential candidate was shot dead, prompting the new government of President Daniel Noboa to promise to take tough action against the gangs.

This is how Ecuador became the new cocaine hub (dutch)

A few weeks ago the situation got further out of hand. The leader of one of the country's largest drug gangs escaped from a prison in Guayaquil. President Noboa then declared a state of emergency and announced that he would deploy the army against the drug gangs. The incidents of violence followed in quick succession. For example, armed men invaded a TV studio and riots broke out in six prisons. Prison staff were taken hostage, police officers kidnapped and notorious prisoners escaped.

Public life has come to a standstill in many places. "We don't go out in the evening anymore," says Van der Linden. “We live in fear.” She is pleased with President Noboa's tough action, even though that approach produces violent counter-reactions. “Finally the president is doing something to change the situation.”

Scare is their system

Former judge Avila agrees with her. "The drug criminals have been corrupting the government for years, they are part of it. The murdered prosecutor tried to tackle organized crime, and had to pay for it with his death. With his murder, the gangs are trying to scare the system. The government has "We have no choice but to take back the monopoly on violence from the gangs by force."

However, the government should not go too far, Avila warns. He fears that many poor Ecuadorians living in slums are being unfairly targeted. "We are already seeing mass arrests, unwarranted searches and excessive force. Soon we will have thousands of prisoners who we have nowhere to place."

Soldiers in Quito stop a boy to check whether he has tattoos that indicate gang membership

Much more is needed than tough military action, the experts say. Ecuador is in an economic crisis, causing poverty to increase. Professor Gabriela Palacio: "The government must address the socio-economic insecurities that drive young people to join drug gangs."

But other countries also have a responsibility, they emphasize. Certainly also the Netherlands, as one of the largest drug importers.

___________________________________________________________________________

Western countries have an important role. They decide what is illegal and what is not.

Maria Gabriela Palacio, Ecuador expert

Ecuador is by far the most important country of origin for cocaine intercepted in the port of Rotterdam, which in turn is an important transit port for cocaine for Europe. Avila thinks that agreements between the Netherlands and Ecuador, such as the recently concluded customs treaty, can help combat drug smuggling.

But, Avila says, as long as demand in America and Europe remains high and cocaine makes a lot of money, "it is naive to think that the problems can be solved in a few months."

The Dutch are not sufficiently aware of this, says doctor Van der Linden. "In the Netherlands, drugs are of course something to have a fun party. But there is much more to it. A lot of sadness, a lot of violence, a lot of problems."

Legalization?

The war on drugs should therefore not only be fought in the producing countries, says Gabriela Palacio. "Western countries are largely responsible for drug trafficking because they determine what is illegal."

Legalizing and regulating (some) drugs by consumer countries must be part of the solution, she believes. Because it is precisely the illegality of drugs that makes the trade so dangerous, violent and lucrative.

Avila: "The war on drugs has killed a million people in 50 years and corrupted democracies. We must change the recipe for the solution."

* grobi

]]> https://rant.li/press/drug-country-the-netherlands-is-to-blame-for-the-explosion-of-violence-in Wed, 23 Oct 2024 18:53:14 +0000 https://rant.li/press/cocaine-production-rises-to-record-levels-in-colombia <![CDATA[h1 id="Cocaine production rises to record levels in Colombia" class="header"Cocaine production rises to record levels in Colombia/h1/div p img src="https://cdn.nos.nl/image/2024/10/19/1148270/1024x576a.jpg" alt="https://cdn.nos.nl/image/2024/10/19/1148270/1024x576a.jpg" /ph5Cocaine cultivation and production on a farm in Colombia/h5 p/p div id="Cocaine production rises to record levels in Colombia-NOS News•today, 2024-10-19 10:51"h3 id="NOS News•today, 2024-10-19 10:51" class="header"NOS News•today, 2024-10-19 10:51/h3/div div id="Cocaine production rises to record levels in Colombia-NOS News•today, 2024-10-19 10:51-translated from dutch: https://nos.nl/artikel/2541323-cocaineproductie-stijgt-in-colombia-naar-recordhoogte"h6 id="translated from dutch: https://nos.nl/artikel/2541323-cocaineproductie-stijgt-in-colombia-naar-recordhoogte" class="header"translated from dutch: a href="https://nos.nl/artikel/2541323-cocaineproductie-stijgt-in-colombia-naar-recordhoogte" rel="nofollow"https://nos.nl/artikel/2541323-cocaineproductie-stijgt-in-colombia-naar-recordhoogte/a/h6/div p In Colombia, coca leaf cultivation has reached record levels. The area where coca leaves are grown increased by ten percent last year. Coca leaves are the main ingredient for cocaine. The UN has been monitoring the extent of coca leaf cultivation in Colombia since 2001. The latest report from the Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) shows that cocaine production has never been this high. In one year, production grew from 1.7 million kilos (2022) to 2.6 million kilos (2023), an increase of 53 percent. /p p Colombian authorities have been trying to crack down on drug trafficking for years, but the country remains one of the largest cocaine producers in the world. Cocaine production has increased steadily over the past ten years. Most cocaine is destined for Europe and the United States. /p p The areas in Colombia with the largest increase in cocaine production in 2023 were Cauca and Narino. In both regions, former members of the FARC guerrilla army, which was disbanded in 2017, are active in the drug trade. /p p/p p/p p/p p/p h6FYI about similar developments in Brazil: a href="https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/insurgency-illicit-trade-analyzing-farc-dissidents-cocaine-market" rel="nofollow"https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/insurgency-illicit-trade-analyzing-farc-dissidents-cocaine-market/a/h6 img src="https://smallwarsjournal.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/BRA-Amazon-Forests-Destroyed2.jpg" alt="https://smallwarsjournal.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/BRA-Amazon-Forests-Destroyed2.jpg" h6Brazilian Federal Police eradicating illicit crops in Maranhão in the Amazon region where FARC-D and Brazilian Gang Operations Converge (Photo: Brazilian Federal Police, November 2023)/h6 p/p h6 * grobi /h6]]>

Cocaine production rises to record levels in Colombia

Cocaine cultivation and production on a farm in Colombia

In Colombia, coca leaf cultivation has reached record levels. The area where coca leaves are grown increased by ten percent last year. Coca leaves are the main ingredient for cocaine. The UN has been monitoring the extent of coca leaf cultivation in Colombia since 2001. The latest report from the Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) shows that cocaine production has never been this high. In one year, production grew from 1.7 million kilos (2022) to 2.6 million kilos (2023), an increase of 53 percent.

Colombian authorities have been trying to crack down on drug trafficking for years, but the country remains one of the largest cocaine producers in the world. Cocaine production has increased steadily over the past ten years. Most cocaine is destined for Europe and the United States.

The areas in Colombia with the largest increase in cocaine production in 2023 were Cauca and Narino. In both regions, former members of the FARC guerrilla army, which was disbanded in 2017, are active in the drug trade.

FYI about similar developments in Brazil: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/insurgency-illicit-trade-analyzing-farc-dissidents-cocaine-market

Brazilian Federal Police eradicating illicit crops in Maranhão in the Amazon region where FARC-D and Brazilian Gang Operations Converge (Photo: Brazilian Federal Police, November 2023)

* grobi

Source: South Korean intelligence service NIS

There are increasing indications that North Korean soldiers are being trained in Russia to support Russian troops in Ukraine. According to the South Korean intelligence service NIS, a first group of 1,500 soldiers has been moved to Russia.

These are said to be members of an elite unit who were sent to military bases in the far east of the country on a Russian Navy transport ship between October 8 and 13. Released satellite images from the NIS allegedly show North Korean soldiers at army bases in Vladivostok and Usurisk, among others.

According to NIS, North Korea plans to send around 12,000 troops to Ukraine to assist Russia in the war. If the information is correct, it will be the first time that North Korean troops have been active on European soil.

According to the intelligence service, North Korean soldiers would be provided with Russian uniforms and IDs from Siberian regions such as Yakutia and Buryatia. The local population in Siberia partly has similar physical characteristics as the population in North Korea.

It is unclear where the soldiers should be deployed. The head of Ukrainian military intelligence Budanov stated yesterday that North Korean troops will be ready to fight on Ukrainian territory on November 1.

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un observes a military exercise

A spokesperson for South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol calls the troop movements "a serious threat" to South Korea and the entire international community. According to Ukrainian President Zelensky, there is no doubt that North Korea will become more involved in the war. "It's not just about supplying weapons anymore. It's now even about moving people from North Korea to the occupied territories," he said on Monday. The Kremlin and North Korea have not responded to the statements.

Ukraine has often accused Russia of deploying North Korean soldiers in the war. Earlier this month, the Kyiv Independent wrote that six North Korean officers had been killed in the occupied Luhansk region. This week, Ukrainian media wrote about a group of North Korean deserters. The soldiers are said to have left their positions in the Russian regions of Bryansk and Kursk.

Allies of Ukraine have long been concerned about the close cooperation between Russia and North Korea. During a visit in June, Russian President Putin signed a 'strategic partnership' with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. Since the start of the war, there have been strong suspicions that Kim is supplying munitions and ballistic missiles to Russia on a large scale. The United States and Ukraine say they have also been deployed on the battlefield. North Korea and Russia have always contradicted the reports.

* grobi

Mitigating Climate Change – What is Necessary and Possible

The third part of the 6th IPCC assessment report assessed the progress in limiting global greenhouse gas emissions and the range of reduction and action options in all sectors. Without rapid political implementation, the global temperature target of 1.5°C by 2100 is no longer achievable. Ambitious climate protection is also the prerequisite for successful climate adaptation.

At the beginning of April, the third part of the 6th Assessment Report (AR 6) of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (u2060IPCCu2060) was published. Around 18,000 scientific studies were evaluated to update the AR 5 from 2013/14. A key finding of the IPCC report is that it is currently still possible to limit global warming to 1.5°C in the long term. However, the CO2 budget that we still have left for this can hardly be met given current international climate policy.

An important lever for climate protection is sustainable development: the richest 10% of private households account for up to 45% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. At the same time, the report shows that demand-side mitigation approaches, nature conservation and sustainable system transformations enable immense emissions reductions. We have to decide whether we trust in uncertain future technologies or implement ambitious and sustainable climate protection with the means available

Probably the most important message of the IPCC report is that it is still technically and economically possible to limit global warming to 1.5°C by 2100 in accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement (see Fig. 1). However, this requires an immediate global turnaround as well as profound greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions in all regions of the world and all sectors – i.e. in energy systems, in cities, in agriculture and forestry, in land use, in buildings, in transport and in industry –. Particularly cost-effective and sustainable technologies are available in the energy sector, especially solar and wind energy (see Fig. 2). Immediate climate action compatible with the Paris Agreement would also only slightly reduce global GDP growth. The potential damage caused by “climate change” is not taken into account, nor are the adaptation costs avoided.

The third part of the 6th IPCC assessment report entitled “Mitigation of Climate Change” offers an internationally coordinated and objective basis for science-based political decisions in climate protection. The report also analyzes the different options in the context of sustainable development.

Global GHG emissions modeled pathways and projected emissions outcomes

Global GHG emissions from modeled pathways and projected emissions outcomes from short-term policy assessments for 2030. Translated and modified from IPCC, 2022: Summary for Policymakers, Figure SPM.4. In: Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Source: IPCC 2022: Summary for Policymakers. Figure SPM.4.

The current National Mitigation Plans (NDCs) lead to global warming of 2.8°C (2.1°C-3.4°C) by 2100. The report shows an implementation gap, an emissions (or ambition) gap and indirectly also a credibility gap. In order to stay below global warming of 1.5°C, emissions must have peaked before 2025 and reduced by 43% in 2030 compared to 2019 become. In order to stay below global warming of 2°C, emissions must also reach their peak before 2025 and be reduced by 27% in 2030 compared to 2019 .

• Since 2010, GHG emissions have increased more slowly at around 1.3% per year than in the previous decade (2.1% per year); But they are still higher than ever before in human history. Increasing economic activity across all sectors is outpacing growing climate action. The probability in the scenario ensembles of exceeding 1.5°C global warming in the long term is therefore greater than in the IPCC 1.5° special report from 2018.
• Historical cumulative net CO2 emissions between 1850 and 2019 amount to about four-fifths of the total carbon budget (central estimate about 2900 GtCO2) to limit global warming with a 50%-like probability to be limited to 1.5°C. The remaining CO2 budget after 2019 is approximately 510 Gt CO2 890 Gt CO2 at 1.5°C or 2°C paths. However, the existing and currently planned infrastructure for fossil energy alone already exceeds the global CO2 budget for 1.5°C. With the NDCs for 2030 submitted to the UNFCCC by October 11, 2021, global warming of 2.1°C-3.4°C is expected by 2100. This means that the lower the reduction in GHG emissions, the greater the climate risks for people and ecosystems. In order for “adaptation to climate change” to be successful, “climate protection” that is as ambitious as possible is necessary.
• Differences in GHG emissions per capita reflect income inequalities across world regions and between households. The 10% richest private households worldwide, about two-thirds of which are in developed countries, contribute 34-45% contributes to global GHG emissions.
• For 1.5°C paths, global CO2 emissions must be reduced by 48% compared to 2019 by 2030 and by 80% will decrease by 2040 and reach net zero emissions in all sectors and regions by the early 2050s (net zero CO2 means all human-caused CO2 emissions be removed from the atmosphere during the same period via CO2 removal measures).
• Decisive measures include transforming the energy system, ending subsidies for fossil fuels, reducing emissions in the industrial and building sectors – including through more compact development – as well as creating CO2 sinks through green and water areas, expanding low-emission technologies in the transport sector and demand-side reduction options in the agriculture and forestry sector. Climate protection ideally goes hand in hand with adaptation to climate change: expanding green and water areas in large cities, for example, increases the quality of life by reducing the heat island effect in cities; Sustainable forest conversion can reduce damage caused by extreme events such as storms or heat waves.
• Approaches on the demand side, e.g. in the transport and building sectors as well as in the food system, could contribute to reducing emissions by 40-70% by 2050. They are also compatible with improving basic well-being for all (e.g. through healthier diets).
• In almost all 1.5-2°C scenarios, the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere (Carbon Dioxide Removal, CDR) and a sometimes considerable amount of carbon capture and storage (u2060CCSu2060) are assumed. However, large-scale deployment of CDR and CCS faces significant feasibility and sustainability issues and is extremely costly in the foreseeable future (see Figure 2). The only widely used CDR options currently involve strengthening natural sinks (e.g. through reforestation, agroforestry and improved forest management). However, the level of negative emissions – and thus our dependence on unsafe or unsustainable CDR options – varies greatly in the model calculations. Overall, the larger and earlier the emissions reductions, the smaller the need for CDR options.

• Significant investments are necessary for climate protection. For 2°C warming, the investment requirement averaged over the decade from 2020 to 2030 is three to six times higher than the current level. Accelerated financial support for developing countries from industrialized countries and other, including private, sources is a crucial factor for strengthening climate protection and adaptation measures, especially for low-income regions at risk.
• Public and private investments in fossil fuels are still higher than investments in climate protection and adaptation. The most cost-effective mitigation options with the greatest climate protection potential are solar and wind energy (see Figure 2). Investments in fossil resources or infrastructure are also associated with the risk of loss (stranded assets). The expected economic benefits alone are greater than the mitigation costs for 2°C pathways. Mitigation measures for 2⁰C pathways slow global GDP growth very little (in 2050 global GDP would be around 1.3-2.7% smaller than the theoretically expected growth to more than 200%), whereby avoided climate change damage and avoided adaptation measures as well as additional benefits of climate protection even are not taken into account.

Potential contribution to net emissions reduction in 2030

Potential contribution to net emissions reduction in 2030 exemplified for various areas of the energy sector (visible by the bar length, given in gigatons of CO2 equivalent per year) as well as the balanced costs of individual options (visible by the reddish color gradation, given in US dollars per ton of CO2 equivalent). ). Source: IPCC 2022: Summary for Policymakers. Figure SPM.7. In: Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Over three years, a core team of 278 authors from 65 countries evaluated more than 18,000 scientific studies and then prepared the report. This was evaluated in three rounds of reviews by experts and governments. To approve the overall report, delegations from the 195 IPCC member states discussed the approximately 60-page Summary for Policymakers (SPM) sentence by sentence with the authors present. After 2 weeks of deliberations on April 4th, 2022, the plenum adopted the SPM and with it the 3,675-page overall report. However, the adoption of the report was delayed by three days because a few delegations required a lot of speaking time with numerous and sometimes repetitive interventions. This resulted in a significant disadvantage in the negotiations, especially for very small (sometimes 1-person) delegations due to continuous meetings, compared to delegations with large numbers of people.

Because of the formal approval of all IPCC member countries, the reports have great political weight in international and national climate policy. Some climate protection scenarios rely on the previously extremely costly and uncertain large-scale application of CCS and CDR. In this way, they are already increasing the risk that comprehensive GHG reductions with reduction options available today will be weakened in favor of uncertain future technologies (so-called mitigation deterrence). However, for sustainable development, accelerated and socially and globally fair climate protection is crucial. On the other hand, improved global framework conditions such as political and regulatory instruments, international cooperation, market instruments (e.g. CO2 pricing), investments, innovations, technology transfer, capacity building and climate-friendly lifestyles provide a basis for improving system transformations in line with sustainable development. Poverty reduction and a secure energy supply can thus be achieved without significant increases in emissions. The most important options lie in the use of solar energy and wind power, as well as in the mobility, building and food sectors, but also particularly in the protection of ecosystems (especially the protection of global forests and moors). What's new in the report is, among other things, the focus on energy and emissions-saving behavior in companies and in everyday life. It is emphasized that climate protection does not have to be a burden, but can also lead to a better quality of life. The report also illustrates the connection between climate protection, sustainable development and “adaptation to climate change”.

Changes in the global climate system have increased rapidly since 1950 and are unprecedented compared to previous millennia. Undoubtedly, human influence has led to significant warming of the atmosphere, oceans and land areas. Continued greenhouse gas emissions will continue to cause major climate changes and further extreme events in the future.

Based on significantly improved knowledge of climate processes, better (paleoclimatic) evidence of the climate conditions of past epochs on earth and the reaction of the climate system to the increasing radiative forcing of the sun, human-caused "climate change" is clearly detectable and is already affecting a wide range of "weather" conditions. and climate extremes in all regions of the world.

This human influence on the Earth's climate (anthropogenic climate change) and the associated widespread changes are reflected in the rapid warming of the lower atmosphere and the oceans, in the changes to the global water cycle, in the worldwide decrease in snow and ice, in the increase the mean global sea level and changing seasons. In addition, there are now even more observed changes in weather extremes such as heat waves, heavy rainfall, floods, droughts and tropical cyclones and, in particular, even more clear evidence of their attribution to human influence.

Monthly Average Mauna Loa CO₂

The greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere have continued to rise over the last 10 years and in 2023 have annual average values of 419 ppm for carbon dioxide (CO2), 1,940 ppb for methane (CH4) and 336.8 ppb for nitrous oxide (N2O ) reached. The mean global decadal surface temperature rose by more than 1.3 °C between 1880 and 2023 (see Fig. “Human influence has warmed the climate to a degree not seen in at least 2,000 years was”). In the northern hemisphere, the last decade was the warmest in more than 125,000 years.

Human Influence On The Earth's Climate

The warming of the surface air layer will continue until the end of the 21st century. All greenhouse gas emission scenarios used result in an increase in temperature by the end of the 21st century. Depending on the scenario, average warming can range from 1.5 to 5.7 °C compared to pre-industrial conditions (reference period: 1850-1900). Only under the condition of very ambitious climate protection measures and drastic reductions in CO2 and other "greenhouse gas" emissions could the average temperature increase by 2100 be limited to 1.5 °C to 2.4 °C compared to the pre-industrial period.

The report of Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change comes to the clear conclusion that human-caused (anthropogenic) greenhouse gas emissions are clearly the cause of the current and further warming of the Earth's climate system. The numerous “consequences of global warming” – including extreme events – are becoming increasingly obvious and can be directly attributed to the anthropogenic “greenhouse effect”. The effects of global climate change have therefore become more intense and frequent and will continue to do so in the coming decades. The increase in global mean surface temperature compared to pre-industrial levels is likely to reach 1.5°C in the early 2030s.

The second part of the report focuses on the consequences of climate change and “adaptation to climate change”. The IPCC warns: Climate risks for ecosystems and people are increasing rapidly worldwide. Only consistent climate protection and early climate adaptation can reduce risks. The partial report describes the effects of the climate crisis very clearly. Massive consequences for ecosystems and people are already visible in all regions of the world and global CO₂ emissions continue to rise. The effects of the climate crisis will still have a noticeable impact on people and ecosystems even if we manage to decisively change course and limit global warming to 1.5 °C.

Probably the most important message of the third part of the report is that it would still be technologically and economically possible to limit global warming to 1.5°C by 2100 in accordance with the Paris Agreement. However, this requires an immediate global trend reversal as well as profound greenhouse gas reductions in all regions of the world and all sectors (i.e. in energy systems, cities, agriculture and forestry, land use, buildings, transport and industry). Immediate climate protection measures would only slightly reduce global economic growth – compared to a purely hypothetical development that does not include climate change at all. Compared to the expected economic crises and recessions if warming exceeds 1.8 °C, immediate climate protection measures also represent an extremely worthwhile investment from an economic point of view. For the first time, energy and emissions-saving behavior in companies and in everyday life was also the focus of the partial report. Improved global framework conditions such as political and regulatory instruments, international cooperation, market instruments (e.g. CO₂ pricing), investments, innovations, technology transfer, development of know-how and climate-friendly lifestyles offer opportunities for the necessary system transformations in line with sustainable development and global justice to design. Poverty reduction and a secure energy supply could be achieved without significant increases in emissions. The most important options lie in the use of solar energy and wind power as well as in the mobility, building and food sectors (especially less meat consumption), but also particularly in the protection and improvement of the effectiveness of ecosystems (especially global forests and... Moore).

https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/minderung-des-klimawandels-was-notwendig-moeglich#undefined

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Mitigating Climate Change – What is Necessary and Possible

The third part of the 6th IPCC assessment report assessed the progress in limiting global greenhouse gas emissions and the range of reduction and action options in all sectors. Without rapid political implementation, the global temperature target of 1.5°C by 2100 is no longer achievable. Ambitious climate protection is also the prerequisite for successful climate adaptation.

Here we have summarized the key statements of the third part of the report for you.

https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/minderung-des-klimawandels-was-notwendig-moeglich#undefined

and it's translation

* grobi