Cień dnia (1): grudnia 2017

czwartek, 28 grudnia 2017

When Harry Met Barry: The BBC Obama Interview

By CEYLAN YEGINSUDEC. 27, 2017

LONDON — It was a case of the famous interviewing the famous. The BBC aired an interview on Wednesday that was unusual in at least a couple of respects: The man answering the questions was former President Barack Obama, and the man asking them was his friend Prince Harry.

The prince took the seat as a guest editor for BBC Radio 4's flagship program, "Today," and broadcast a long-awaited interview in which he questioned the former president about the day he left the White House, his work since leaving office and his plans for the future.

Neither party mentioned President Trump by name, but Mr. Obama's successor was never far from the conversation. The two men discussed the risks of using social media and the corrosion of civil discourse.

The interview was recorded in Toronto in September, when Prince Harry and Mr. Obama met during the Invictus Games, a sporting competition for injured military members and veterans.

The highlights of the interview:

Life after the White House

Since leaving office in January, Mr. Obama has more time on his hands. He gets to wake up later, spend more time with his family and take control of his day, something he says he couldn't do as president. But the things that are important to him have not changed.

"I still care about making sure that the United States and the world is a place where kids get a decent education. Where people who are willing to work hard are able to find a job that pays a living wage. That we're conserving the amazing resources of our planet so that future generations can enjoy the beauty of this place. Like we did."

Now that he no longer has the authority that came with being president, Mr. Obama said he relies on persuasion rather than legislation.

"A lot of the things that still motivate me and move me continue to this day," he added.

Addressing Trump, obliquely

While neither man mentioned Mr. Trump directly, they discussed the role of social media in leadership, a conversation that brought to mind Mr. Trump's blunt, unvarnished posts on Twitter.

Mr. Obama warned against the irresponsible use of social media by people in positions of power and expressed his concern about a future in which facts were discarded.

"One of the dangers of the internet is that people can have entirely different realities. They can be cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases."
"The question has to do with how do we harness this technology in a way that allows a multiplicity of voices, allows a diversity of views, but doesn't lead to a Balkanization of society and allows ways of finding common ground."

Mr. Obama also mentioned that he had developed a thick skin during his presidency. Mr. Trump, in contrast, has been criticized since the 2016 campaign as thin-skinned and unable to rise above provocation.

Passing the baton

During the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20, many people — including Prince Harry — wondered what Mr. Obama was thinking as he sat in the crowd, showing little emotion.

"The first thing that went through my mind was sitting across from Michelle, how thankful I was that she had been my partner through that whole process," he said in a reflective tone.

Looking back, he said he felt a sense of completion as he handed over power to Mr. Trump. There was a "satisfying feeling that was mixed with all the work that was still undone," he said, adding that he had " concerns about how the country moved forward."

"But over all, there was serenity there," he said.

Working with the prince

Mr. Obama and Prince Harry have a range of shared interests, and since meeting in London last year, they have been discussing ways in which they can work together to provide a platform to empower young people.

"How do we make it a reality?" Prince Harry asked in the interview.

Mr. Obama used his 2008 presidential campaign as an example.

"You have this African-American, mixed race, born in Hawaii, named Barack Hussein Obama and somehow he becomes president.
"How did that happen? Well it happened primarily because you had a bunch of 20-year-olds and 23-year-olds and 25-year-olds who started going out into communities that oftentimes they'd never been in before and believed in the possibilities of a different kind of politics."

The campaign was fueled by a grass-roots approach that was brought together by new technologies of the time, Mr. Obama added.

Prince Harry's wedding

Prince Harry's engagement to the American actress Meghan Markle was announced in November, long after the interview was recorded, so it obviously did not come up during the conversation with Mr. Obama.

It did come up as part of Prince Harry's role as guest editor, however, and there was an Obama angle. British tabloids, citing unidentified sources, reported this week that senior government officials were putting pressure on Prince Harry to leave the Obamas off the guest list, out of fear that a snub would enrage Mr. Trump.

Asked about the issue by a Radio 4 host on Wednesday, Prince Harry sidestepped the question, saying that he and Ms. Markle were yet to work out who would be invited to their wedding, which is set for May 19.

Correction: December 27, 2017
An earlier version of this article misspelled the name of the actress who is engaged to Prince Harry. She is Meghan Markle, not Megan.

More in Europe

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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/27/world/europe/obama-prince-harry-interview.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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środa, 27 grudnia 2017

Bach - Christmas Oratorio [1-3] Harnoncourt

Die Schlacht um Polen

VON ERIC BONSE am 21. Dezember 2017

Beim EU-Verfahren gegen die Regierung in Warschau geht es nicht nur um den Rechtsstaat. Es geht auch um die Zukunft der Union. Kann eine Spaltung noch vermieden werden?

Der polnische PiS-Parteiführer Jaroslaw Kaczynski im Gespräch mit dem Senatssprecher Stanislaw Karczewski

PiS-Parteichef Jaroslaw Kaczynski im Gespräch mit Senatssprecher Stanislaw Karczewski: Wie geht es mit Polen weiter? / picture alliance

Autoreninfo

Eric Bonse berichtet seit 2004 aus Brüssel über Europapolitik. Er betreibt auch den EU-Watchblog „Lost in Europe".

So erreichen Sie Eric Bonse:

Zur Artikelübersicht

Sie haben viel versucht, um das Schlimmste zu verhindern. Schon vor der Sommerpause hatte Frans Timmermans, der mächtige Vizepräsident der Europäischen Kommission, Polen mit einem Sanktionsverfahren gedroht. Danach schwieg der niederländische Kommissar wochenlang. Fast schien es, als wolle er seine Drohung vergessen machen. Gleichzeitig startete Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel eine Charmeoffensive. Noch am Tag, als die polnische Regierung ihre umstrittene Justizreform abschloss, gratulierte Merkel dem neuen Premierminister Mateuz Morawiecki. „Die deutsch-polnischen Beziehungen sind heute vielfältig und lebendig wie nie zuvor", säuselte die Kanzlerin.
Gebracht hat alles nichts. Nun ist der Worst Case eingetreten: Die polnische Justiz wurde „politisiert", die Regierungspartei PiS kann auf höchstrichterliche Entscheidungen „Einfluss nehmen", wie Timmermans am Mittwoch in Brüssel beklagte. Damit ist genau das eingetreten, was die EU verhindern wollte – der Rechtsstaat ist in Gefahr.

Abgründe tun sich auf

Gleichzeitig hat Brüssel die schärfste Waffe gezogen und ein Verfahren nach Artikel 7 des EU-Vertrags eingeleitet. Weil dieses Verfahren mit einem Entzug des Stimmrechts enden kann – also der Entmündigung Polens – wird es als „Nuklearoption" bezeichnet. Ähnlich wie die Atombombe soll diese Waffe vor allem der Abschreckung dienen. Doch die Abschreckung hat versagt und der Dialog ist gegenseitigen Vorwürfen gewichen. Timmermans versuchte zwar noch, Brücken zu bauen. Er habe seine Entscheidung „schweren Herzens" getroffen und würde sie gerne wieder rückgängig machen, sagte er. „Dies ist nicht die Nuklearoption, sondern der Versuch eines Dialogs".
Doch in Warschau kommen diese Worte nicht mehr an, dort verschanzt man sich in der selbst gebauten Wagenburg. Sogar der polnische Präsident Andrzej Duda, der bis 2015 als Abgeordneter im Europaparlament saß, hat die EU der Lüge bezichtigt. „Viele Vertreter der europäischen Institutionen sagen Unwahrheiten über Polen. Sie lügen." Das Tischtuch ist zerrissen, nun tun sich Abgründe auf. Schon im Streit um die Flüchtlingspolitik hatte sich Warschau von Brüssel entfremdet. Beim EU-Gipfel vor einer Woche warnte EU-Ratspräsident Donald Tusk, selbst Pole, vor einer Spaltung zwischen Ost und West. Die EU müsse ihren Kurs überdenken, wenn sie nicht Schaden nehmen wolle.

Der nationalistische Ostblock steht

Nun wirkt der Graben so tief, dass selbst ein EU-Austritt nicht mehr undenkbar scheint. Die rechtskatholische Regierung in Warschau habe die EU zum Gegner der Polen stilisiert, sagt die Politologin Renata Mienkowska in der „Zeit". Das könne auch zu einem Abschied von Europa führen, nach dem Brexit sei ein „Polexit" denkbar geworden. Bisher sieht es allerdings eher so aus, als habe Polen das innere Exil gewählt – und als stelle sich die Regierung in Warschau auf einen Kalten Krieg mit Brüssel ein. In diesem Szenario werden die nächsten drei Monate entscheidend sein. So lange dürfte es nämlich dauern, bis das nun eingeleitete Sanktionsverfahren Wirkung zeigt.
Bisher ist es vor allem ein symbolischer Akt, ohne konkrete Folgen. Polen steht am Pranger, muss aber sonst nicht viel fürchten. Zum Entzug des Stimmrechts wird es nicht kommen, da dafür Einstimmigkeit im Ministerrat nötig wäre und Ungarn ein Veto einlegen wird. Der neue nationalistische Ostblock steht, daran ist nicht zu rütteln. Die entscheidende Schlacht der nächsten Wochen wird woanders geschlagen: In den von Duda gescholtenen EU-Institutionen – und in der polnischen Öffentlichkeit. Die EU-Kommission wird versuchen, zunächst das (in dieser Frage durchaus willige) Europaparlament und dann die Mehrheit des EU-Ministerrats auf ihre Seite zu ziehen.

Ratspräsident Tusk als Herausforderer der PiS?

Im Rat braucht sie vier Fünftel der Mitgliedstaaten, also 22 Stimmen, um die Gefahr einer „schwerwiegenden Verletzung" der europäischen Grundwerte feststellen zu lassen. Dies wird eine erste Bewährungsprobe - für die Kommission, aber auch für ihre Gegner. Wird Polen weitere Verbündete finden? Wie verhalten sich Tschechien oder Großbritannien? EU-Kommissionspräsident Jean-Claude Juncker und sein Vize Timmermans hoffen, dass die Mehrheit steht; Deutschland und Frankreich haben schon Unterstützung signalisiert. Sollte der erste Akt des Sanktionsverfahrens gelingen, so könnte die PiS-Regierung in Warschau nicht mehr die verfolgte Unschuld spielen, so das Kalkül in Brüssel.
Dann wäre sie allein zu Haus und müsste sich einer gestärkten, proeuropäischen Opposition stellen. Schon jetzt ist die polnische Gesellschaft tief gespalten. Nicht nur die Opposition hofft auf Europa. Auch viele Polen, die die Regierungspartei PiS gewählt haben, hängen an der EU – und sei es nur, weil sie von den Subventionen aus Brüssel profitieren. Eine Schlüsselrolle könnte Ratspräsident Tusk zukommen. Zum einen ist er es, der die Abstimmung im Ministerrat organisieren muss. Zum anderen werden dem EU-Gipfelchef neue politische Ambitionen nachgesagt: Er könnte rechtzeitig vor der nächsten polnischen Wahl 2019 nach Warschau zurückkehren und die PiS herausfordern.

Wie sieht die Zukunft der EU aus?

Doch was passiert, wenn dieser Plan nicht aufgeht? Wenn sich die – von der PiS-Regierung schikanierten – polnischen Medien endgültig gegen „Brüssel" wenden und auch keine EU-Mehrheit für eine scharfe Rüge zustande kommt? Dann hätte sich das Sanktionsverfahren als stumpfe Waffe erwiesen. Die Kommission wäre ins eigene Messer gelaufen. Dies würde nicht nur die Spaltung zwischen Ost und West vertiefen. Es wäre auch Wasser auf die Mühlen all jener, die sich vom Modell der „inklusiven" EU verabschieden wollen und einen „harten Kern" oder eine „Avantgarde" fordern. Ihr Vorreiter heißt Emmanuel Macron. Der liberale französische Staatschef fordert eine „Neugründung" der EU – mit der Eurogruppe als Kern.
Bisher hielten Merkel und Juncker dagegen. Sie versuchen, die EU um jeden Preis zusammenzuhalten - und sei es mit finanziellen Sanktionen, also dem Entzug von EU-Hilfen. Doch wenn sie die Schlacht um Polen verlieren, dann wird die Debatte um die Zukunft der EU neu entbrennen. Dass Berlin (noch) keine neue Regierung hat, wird dann nicht mehr als Ausrede taugen.

https://www.cicero.de/comment/104589#comment-104589

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Trump Makes Israel Great Again - #NewWorldNextWeek

Scott Oliver • 20 days ago

The USA has been warned by practically everyone - except the Israelis of course who have been planning for this - that this "historic" recognition and "new approach" will cause some serious problems and most likely, a bloody backlash against American citizens and U.S. interests around the world.
I would suggest that they are going ahead because Israel knows this and they deliberately want to cause more conflict, the bloodier the better. Israel can continue to play the 'victim' card that we're all sick-to-death of hearing about except now it will be more protected than ever before by their 'Big Brother' in the USA which is totally under their control and, they will now face down the global backlash together as one!
The Israelis are deliberately creating the problem where the US is now "plunging the region and the world into a fire with no end in sight", it will then appear that the US/Israel are trying to manage the reaction but they know they will eventually fail and then, they will offer up their 'one world government' with a single currency as the only viable solution to help combat terrorism worldwide and to finally create a 'world at peace' so Israel can continue to their plunder.
Of course it's guaranteed that 'the only democracy in the Middle East' Israel won't contribute one shekel for the new embassy construction even though this move is because of their pressure, so once again, the US taxpayer will pay how much for a totally unnecessary, new Embassy? $50,000,000? More? But that will be a drop in the bucket compared to the expenses incurred in the new, expanded 'war FOR terror.'
https://www.bitchute.com/video/UyA3KVV8hQA/

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Fwd: Science Times: A River Nurtures Unusual Life in the Mojave Desert

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Date: Tue, Dec 19, 2017 at 2:32 PM
Subject: Science Times: A River Nurtures Unusual Life in the Mojave Desert
To: pascal.alter@gmail.com

Plus: Killer Penguins, the Pentagon's U.F.O. Program and a New Treatment for Irregular Heartbeats —

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Tuesday, December 19, 2017

NYTimes.com/Science »

An abandoned car along the Amargosa River Trail, which runs between Death Valley and the Mojave Desert in California. Rick Loomis for The New York Times

The Amargosa River Defies the Desert

By JIM ROBBINS

The slender, delicate stream flows through the Mojave, giving life to plants and animals found nowhere else in the world.

John Sueme of St. Louis was the first patient to receive an experimental treatment that exposes scarred heart tissue to radiation, eliminating damaged cells that cause rapid, sometimes fatal heartbeats.

Whitney Curtis for The New York Times

A 'Game Changer' for Patients With Irregular Heart Rhythm

By GINA KOLATA

Rapid, erratic heartbeats — called ventricular tachycardia — can lead to sudden death. An experimental radiation treatment has eased the condition in five patients.

An artist's rendering compares Kumimanu biceae, an extinct giant penguin, to a human diver. Kumimanu stood 5 feet 7 inches and weighed 220 pounds. It is among the earliest known penguin species.

G. Mayr/Senckenberg Research Institute

Ancient Penguins Were Giant Waddling Predators

By CARL ZIMMER

Scientists have discovered an fossilized penguin as big as a human, and with a long, spear-like beak.

U.S Department of Defense

Glowing Auras and 'Black Money': The Pentagon's Mysterious U.F.O. Program

By HELENE COOPER, RALPH BLUMENTHAL AND LESLIE KEAN

The shadowy program began in 2007 and was largely funded at the request of Harry Reid, the former Senate majority leader, who has had a longtime interest in space phenomena.

The emails of Gary Morton, an E.P.A. employee in Philadelphia, were requested seven days after he participated in a union rally challenging proposed budget cuts.

Jessica Kourkounis for The New York Times

E.P.A. Employees Spoke Out. Then Came Scrutiny of Their Email.

By ERIC LIPTON AND LISA FRIEDMAN

A Republican research group has requested the emails of E.P.A. employees critical of the agency. Now the E.P.A. has hired an affiliated company.

• Trump's E.P.A. Chemical Safety Nominee Withdraws

A comparison of planets in our own solar system, bottom, with planets observed circling Kepler 90, a star more than 2,000 light-years from Earth. Scientists using artificial intelligence supplied by Google researchers just detected an eighth planet orbiting the star.

NASA/Ames Research Center/Wendy Stenzel

An 8th Planet Is Found Orbiting a Distant Star, With A.I.'s Help

By NICHOLAS ST. FLEUR

A Google neural network analyzed data collected by NASA and helped astronomers detect another planet around a star some 2,500 light years away.

A layered latte made at home by Bob Fankauser, a retired engineer in Oregon, who wanted to know how espresso poured into heated milk created those layers.

Bob Fankhauser

How Layers in a Latte Form

By JOANNA KLEIN

A retired engineer's accident while making a coffee drink spurred fluid dynamics researchers to study how espresso and milk arrange themselves in a glass.

An image of a 99-million-year-old tick, enlarged at inset, grasping a dinosaur feather, preserved in amber found in Myanmar.

Nature Communications; Peñalver et al.

Ticks Trapped in Amber Were Likely Sucking Dinosaur Blood

By NICHOLAS ST. FLEUR

It is rare to find parasites with their hosts in the fossil record, and the discovery is the first direct evidence of the pests feeding on dinosaur blood.

NASA/Gerald Eichstadt/Justin Coward

The Great Red Spot Descends Deep Into Jupiter

By KENNETH CHANG

The iconic storm plunges 200 miles beneath the clouds of the solar system's largest planet, and possibly much deeper, according to data from NASA's Juno spacecraft.

Anchiornis was a birdlike dinosaur with four wings that lived 160 million years ago. Fossils found in China demonstrate the evolution of feathers in modern birds.

An Ancient Step Toward Modern Birds

By NICHOLAS BAKALAR

An artist's rendering shows a flyby of the New Horizons spacecraft of 2014 MU69, a distant object in the solar system's Kuiper belt. MU69 is no more than 20 miles wide, and it's possible, scientists say, it has an even smaller moon.

Tiny Moon May Orbit Distant Object That NASA's New Horizons Probe Will Visit

By KENNETH CHANG

Rocket Men: The Team Building North Korea's Nuclear Missile

By CHOE SANG-HUN, MOTOKO RICH, NATALIE RENEAU AND AUDREY CARLSEN

Q&A

How deep is the sand on a typical beach?

By C. CLAIBORNE RAY

WRITE BACK

Give us suggestions, criticisms and feedback at sciencenewsletter@nytimes.com.

Climate Change

Gene Blevins/Reuters

How Global Warming Fueled Five Extreme Weather Events

By BRAD PLUMER AND NADJA POPOVICH

Scientists analyzed 27 extreme weather events from 2016 and found that global warming was a "significant driver" for most of them. We look at five cases.

• Climate Change Increased Hurricane Harvey's Rainfall By as Much as 38 Percent

A false-color infrared satellite image from this year shows natural tundra in pink. The yellow area shows the footprint of the old well.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services

Here's What Oil Drilling Looks Like in the Arctic Refuge, 30 Years Later

By HENRY FOUNTAIN

Satellite images of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge show the effects of an oil well that operated there in the mid-1980s.

Health

Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reportedly were barred from using several words or phrases, causing upset among some staff and outside groups.

John Amis/European Pressphoto Agency

Uproar Over Purported Ban at C.D.C. of Words Like 'Fetus'

By SHEILA KAPLAN AND DONALD G. MCNEIL JR.

The Department of Health and Human Services played down a report that officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were told not to use several words in budget documents.

Julian Glander

Why New Blood Pressure Guidelines Could Lead to Harm

By AARON E. CARROLL

Fear is typically not effective in getting people to adopt healthier habits. A more likely outcome is overtreatment.

iStock

Exercise May Aid Parkinson's Disease, but Make It Intense

By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS

Vigorous treadmill exercise was safe and slowed progression of Parkinson's disease, a new study reports.

A baby born with microcephaly caused by Zika virus in a rehabilitation center in Recife, Brazil, last year. The most severely affected babies have little language or mobility and will likely require a lifetime of care, a new study shows.

Adriana Zehbrauskas for The New York Times

As Zika Babies Become Toddlers, Some Can't See, Walk or Talk

By PAM BELLUCK

They are 2 years old, but developmentally they are 6 months old. The children most severely affected by Zika face a lifetime of care, new research shows.