New York Fotos

Meine Fotos auf derstandard.at/reise!

Alternatives Logo für London2012

Auf bbc.com haben User ihre Meinung zum gestern vorgestellen Logo für die Olympischen Spiele in London gepostet...mein Lieblingsbeitrag kommt von Graham Coe: "The origin of the Olympic Logo?"

Jobangebot!

Alle die sich vorstellen können beim Hervis im Europark als
SportartikelverkäuferIn zu arbeiten, bitte bei mir melden! Wichtig:
Interesse an Laufsport. Arbeitszeit: 10.5 Stunden pro Woche, immer Samstags,selten unter der Woche - wie man es sich eben beim Bewerbungsgespräch ausmacht. Bezahlung: Etwas mehr als €300/Monat.

e-mail: r.riedlsperger@gmail.com

Wunderbar! Fairbanks it is!

I am going to be at UAF soon! From now on I will keep you updated about the preparation phase and once I am up there you will find lots of pictures on this site.

Take care!

(Photo: An ice sculpture of a Native hunter stands near the Lola Tilly Commons on the UAF campus. Credit: UAF photo by Todd Paris.)

Bergen or Fairbanks?

ok, so now there finally is some news on my studying-abroad-plans. as some of you might know, I applied for graduate school in fairbanks, alaska. that´s my first choice, but not the only one. meanwhile I got accepted in bergen, norway, so if alaska says "no" you will find me here. I guess alaska and norway do have some things in common and I am very happy for having the opportunity to study in scandinavia.

more on this as soon as I know more.

take care!

Watch out, Gusi!

("Pearls before Swine" by S. Pastis)

The Joe Wilson Show (2)

This is from the online edition of the New York Times:

"Libby Guilty of Lying in C.I.A. Leak Case -
I. Lewis Libby Jr., the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney was convicted today of lying to F.B.I agents and grand jurors investigating the unmasking of a C.I.A.operative amid a burning dispute over the war in Iraq. The jury rejected Mr. Libby’s claims of memory lapses as it convicted him of obstruction of justice, giving false statements to the F.B.I. and perjuring himself, charges embodied in four of the five counts of the indictment."

The "C.I.A. operative" is Valerie Plame, wife of former ambassador Joe Wilson. Joe Wilson spoke at Willamette University a year ago, so, because of the new developments, I post my impression once again:

The Joe Wilson Show - April 07, 2006

now it takes some background information, one can start here for example, to enjoy what I call "the joe wilson show". needless to say, with all his (diplomatic) experience it is hard to find a speaker more eloquent than joe wilson. willamette students and salem townspeople had the pleasure to be witnesses of what it means to "live" freedom of speech.

"Did the Bush administration manipulate intelligence about Saddam Hussein's weapons programs to justify an invasion of Iraq?

Based on my experience with the administration in the months leading up to the war, I have little choice but to conclude that some of the intelligence related to Iraq's nuclear weapons program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat."



accusing the us-government of starting war in iraq under false pretenses, wilson´s article "what I didn´t find in africa" (first published by "the new york times" in july 2003) brought him into trouble. his wife´s identity as a cia-agent got revealed in an article by columnist robert novak. since this act of treason, "valerie plame" is a name well known in the united states. anyhow, the traitors have not been called to account for their felony yet. and just click on the novak link to get an idea of the variety of persons involved in this scandal.

for wilson, one thing is clear: the government wanted his wife´s identity to be revealed because of three main reasons: to change the subject towards something more advantageous for the government, pure revenge for not supporting the war in iraq and, most important, to make an example of him. the ordinary us-citizens should know that if they did the same to the government than joe wilson, then the government would do to the citizens what it did to joe wilson and his wife.

so wilson sees it as his mission to speak up against such injustice. "you must hold our government to account". the united states depends on the vigilance of the citizens for its success. in his eyes, the bush administration lied and twisted intelligence to get support for a war that should not have been fought under these circumstances.

it´s his word against the governments. and, as always, one has to be very cautious to take every word that´s said for granted. but joe wilson shows that public dispute is far from being dead in the states. and climbing onto a podium and expressing ones believes is by itself an act essential to every vital democracy.

3rd world farmer...

...a "thought-provoking game" that is worth giving a shot.

Che

He is a hero of the political left in Europe and he sure is one of the most charismatic persons of the 20th century: Ernsesto "Che" Guevara - the Argentinian upper middle class doctor who got the Cuban Revolution under way in the late 1950's. With the other half of this "project" - Fidel Castro - being close to death, it is the right time (well, it is ALWAYS the right time) to recommend a book that does a good job in "separating the man from the myth", as the New York Times Book Review finds. JON LEE ANDERSON'S "CHE" is a classic by now. First published in 1997 this epic biography gives an insight into the weird struggle of the Cuban Revolution. It started with the journey of a group of men to the island south of Florida on what by today´s standards cannot be called a boat (the boat´s name was grandma - so is the title of a Cuban propaganda newspaper). It continued in the Cuban wilderness - with scarce supplies. Eventually, and I still don´t get how exactly that was possible, Che and his men managed to overthrow a corrupt and smugly self-confident system, a system, where nobody with a liberal-democratic mindset would want to live. But who would want to live in Che´s socialist Cuba either? There were plenty of downsides to this whole thing, you can still see them today. Other than the fact that Che´s beloved firing squads had a lot of work to do in the dawn of the revolution, life under his regiment reminds one of a George Orwell novel ("1984" or "Animal Farm" - choose your favourite). Free speech, free press, free choice of what to study? Non of these things existed, and mostly still don´t exist in 2007. That is particulary interesting since Che is extraordinarily popular among students. If you plan the economy, don´t plan on a prosperous future for your country (probably somone already put it like this, if not, I keep the credits).
Until his death, Che's vision was to enable a revolution that would hit the Americas like a huge wave. That didn´t exactly work out the way he imagined. Maybe one of his biggest problems was that his closest comrades - first and foremost Fidel - were not as idealistic about Socialism/Communism/Marxism/Leninism than Che himself. They paid lip service to Che´s ideas and real service to power and influence.

Let´s wait and see how long Cuba will be like we know it. Of course, oil money comes in handy these days - but I have already talked about that elsewhere.

Anderson, Jon Lee: "Che Guevara - A Revolutionary Life". Publisher: Grove/Atlantic. 1st Pbk. Ed edition, April 1998.

Filmvorführung: Mittelpunkt der Welt

Hingehen, anschauen - Ende der Diskussion.

Mehr Infos hier. Also, nochmal zum Mitschreiben: Am 2. März ist der SN-Saal in Salzburg Mittelpunkt der Welt.

delay...

...I admit it´s a bit frustrating but I received a letter from UAF, saying that they don´t accept the grades from the University of Salzburg. well, they do accept them, but not before they are sent to WES first. but before I do that, I will finish my B.A. here so I can submitt all the stuff, not just parts of it. what does that mean? I still don´t know whether or not I get to go to AK, at least for a couple more months...

and WWU wrote that they did not get my TOEFL scores. I keep sending and sending stuff but nothing reaches its destination it seems like.

well what can you say. things worth having don´t come easy. (or easily I think it is. man, I SHOULD take that TOEFL test again.)

365 days...

...until the new hampshire primaries.

how are you today?

the austrian remainings of the ATTAC movement complain about the decreasing opportunities for citizens to express their opinions. "attac finded das schon lange verheerend" ("attac thinks that´s awful"), and so they have installed an "act now" section in their homepage, giving visitors the possibility of sharing their thoughts on a variety of topics.

well, "variety" may be the wrong word. "insufficient variety" seems better. the only two questions asked are "how are you today?" (68.8% are doing great) and, for people who are not overchallenged already, "how do you like our new homepage?".

another world is possible.

happy new year everyone!

thanks for checking my blog every now and then...watch out for '07!

Anti-fair trade mit gutem Gewissen

Im "Economist", Ausgabe December 9th-15th, lautet die Schlagzeile: "Good food? Why ethical shopping harms the world". Argumentiert wird mit klassisch liberalen Prinzipien, kurz gesagt: "Only free trade is fair trade".

Konkret werden drei Aspekte unserer derzeitigen Einkaufskultur kritisiert. Zum einen wäre da der Hang, "biologische" Produkte zu kaufen. Zum zweiten sollen die Produkte im Einkaufskorb am besten "zu fairen Bedingungen", also "fair trade", hergestellt sein. Schließlich wird auch Wert darauf gelegt, so "lokal wie möglich" einzukaufen, also am besten direkt vom Bauern am Rande der Stadt. Das klingt super und damit soll die Welt durch unser Kaufverhalten besser werden. Warum schreibt der "Economist" dann: "If you think you can save the planet by buying ethical food, think again"?

1. Probleme mit Bionahrung

Die Herstellung von "biologisch einwandfreier" Nahrung, also ohne Verwendung von Pestiziden usw. ist sehr "raumintensiv", dh es besteht schlicht nicht genug Platz, unsere gesamte Nahrung in dieser Weise herzustellen. Durch die Verwendung von Düngern etc. ist es möglich, das gleiche Stück Land ständig zu bewirtschaften. So ist es auch der "Green Revolution" aus den 1960er Jahren zu verdanken, dass zwar die Produktionsquote von Nahrung seit den 50ern verdreifacht wurde, dafür aber nur 10% mehr Landfläche vonnöten ist! Man kann auch sagen: wer bio-food kauft, unterstützt die Abholzung von Regenwald, weil irgendwo muss der Platz ja herkommen. Übrigens gibt es keine Studien darüber, dass Bioessen gesünder oder höherwertiger wäre, als konventionell hergestellte Nahrung, solange gewisse Regeln beachtet werden.

2. Probleme mit "Fair Trade"

Die Idee hinter "Fair Trade" ist folgende: Der Konsument ist bereit einen höheren Preis als den Marktpreis für ein Produkt zu bezahlen. Die Differenz kommt, theoretisch, direkt den Erzeugern zu Gute. Sie bekommen mehr Geld für die gleiche Arbeit, werden also "fairer" entlohnt. Der "Ungerechtigkeit der niedrigen Preise" soll so entgegengewirkt werden. Dahinter versteckt sich klassischer Protektionsimus, die Selbstregulierungsfunktion des Marktes wird ausgehebelt. Es ist einfach: Die Nachfrage bestimmt das Angebot und den Preis. Niedrige Preise sind Zeichen dafür, dass es schon zu viel von einem Produkt auf dem Markt gibt. Nehmen wir unsere Milchbauern und ihre "A Faire Milch", die es seit kurzem zu erstehen gibt. Würde man den Gesetzen des freien Marktes folgen, wären viele Milchbauern gezwungen, in andere, ertragreichere Bereiche als jener der Milchproduktion zu investieren. Durch die subventionierte Milch kommt dieses Signal nur ungenügend an, sie verharren in der Milchproduktion. Darüber hinaus werden andere Bauern animiert, noch mehr "Fair Trade" Milch zu produzieren, weil sich damit ja mehr Geld machen lässt, als eigentlich vorgesehen. Jene Bauern, die konventionell Milch erzeugen und die große Mehrheit darstellen, haben es dadurch noch schwerer. Sie verdienen weniger als zuvor, gleichzeitig wird der Vielfältigkeit ein Riegel vorgeschoben, da sich alle auf subventionierte Bereiche stürzen.
Dasselbe gilt für Kaffee: es ist nicht so einfach, als Produzent "Fair Trade" Status zu erlangen und so schauen zum Beispiel ausnahmslos alle Plantagenarbeiter durch die Finger. Kaffeeplantagen im großen Stil entsprechen nämlich nicht den Fair Trade Kriterien.

3. Probleme mit lokaler Produktion

Viele ehemalige Fair Trade Befürworter haben die Probleme erkannt und sagen: "Buying direct means producers get a fair price, with no middlemen adding big margins along the distribution chain." Außerdem muss die Nahrung nicht um die halbe Welt geliefert werden, man spart also an "food miles" (jener Weg, den ein Produkt von seiner Entstehung bis zum Endkonsumenten zurück legt). Das größte Problem liegt darin, festzustellen, wo denn ein Produkt am besten und umweltfreundlichsten hergestellt werden kann. Es ist klüger, Tomaten aus Spanien zu importieren als diese in einem britischen Gewächshaus über den Winter zu züchten. So verhält es sich mit vielen Produkten. Außerdem ist das Zuliefersystem der Supermärkte mittlerweile äußerst effizient. "Another surprising finding was that a shift towards a local food system, and away from a supermarket-based food system, with its central distribution depots, lean supply chains and big, full trucks, might actually increase the number of food-vehicle miles being travelled locally, because things would move around in a larger number of smaller, less efficiently packed vehicles."

Die Revolution durch Fair Trade - sie wird wohl nicht passieren.

long time no see...

...aber viel tut sich nicht zur zeit. sobald es us-unitechnisch etwas neues gibt werde ich das hier posten, aber das wird noch eine weile dauern. jetzt sind alle nötigen unterlagen auf dem weg nach alaska und wenn ich glück habe, werde ich ab august nächsten jahres ordentlich frieren. :-)

ausserdem zerbreche ich mir gerade den kopf über mein thema für die bakk-arbeit. wird wohl etwas mit liberalismus zu tun haben. und legitimtiät der EU. ich rätsle nur, wie ich das am besten verbinden soll. der plan sieht vor mit der schreibarbeit mitte dezember zu beginnen und anfang märz mit allem fertig zu sein. ist schaffbar, denke ich. leider bin ich zur zeit sehr abgelenkt und es fällt mir schwer, mich zu konzentrieren. warum laufen nur ständig so gute serien im fernsehen?

Hegel died 175 years ago

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, born 1770 in Stuttgart, died on the 14th of November in the year 1831.

censorship

a nice sunday afternoon link.

some pearls before swine

it´s in our hands

no matter who the new austrian chancellor will be, I recommend him to read charles murray´s "in our hands". the book is a plan to replace the welfare state. sounds utopian? well, sooner or later we will have to face the problems created by our welfare system anyway.

charles murray´s short statement of the argument goes like this: "America´s population is wealthier than any in history. Every year, the American government redistributes more than a trillion dollars of that wealth to provide retirement, health care, and the alleviation of poverty. We still have millions of people without comfortable retirements, without adequate health care, and living in poverty. Only a government can spend so much money so ineffectually. The solution is to give the money to the people."

murray slates to give every american age 21 and older $10 000 a year for life. no other welfare measures would be available. the "plan", as he calls it, would be the end for social security, medicare and all other "income transfer programs". the result should be a prosperous society with poverty and unemployment reduced to the minimum.

I am not going to judge on the strengths and weaknesses of his proposal here - murray himself is aware that his plan is far from becoming implemented policy. but on the same token it is another good reminder of why it is important to keep our government from throwing money down the drain.

charles murray: "in our hands - a plan to replace the welfare state". AEI press. american enterprise institute for public policy research. washington, d.c. 2006.