Category: Europe,

The NRA Welcomed Maria Butina—Even As She Worked to Arm Anti-American Thugs Abroad – Mother Jones

On By peanutgallerynhIn Central Northern Asia and The Caucasus,, Domestic Affairs,, Europe,Leave a comment

Butina wasn’t just a gun rights fan who attended American University, romanced a veteran Republican operative, and pitched US-Russian collaboration at NRA conventions.

…In the immediate aftermath of the invasion and annexation in March 2014, Butina denounced retaliatory sanctions by the Obama administration and traveled to Crimea to promote the arming of pro-Russian separatists. Her efforts there included pledging support to a leader of a militia group that violently seized a Crimean news outlet it deemed “pro-American” and swiftly repurposed for a Kremlin propaganda operation.

…Butina’s role in Crimea raises additional questions about why the NRA—known historically for its hawkish “freedom loving” image—spent years getting close with a Russian national who was doing work hostile to US national security interests.

…In America, she enthused about gun rights and international friendship. But in Moscow, she used fervently nationalistic rhetoric to endorse the takeover in Crimea and called for backing Russian separatists fighting elsewhere in Ukraine. Ethnic Russians throughout the region, she said, were being culturally oppressed—a theme long pushed by Putin’s regime.

…During an audience Q&A at a political conference in Las Vegas, she asked about foreign policy. Specifically, she wanted to know whether the candidate at the podium might back off from “damaging” US sanctions against Russia.

The answer Donald Trump gave Butina was yes.

The NRA Welcomed Maria Butina—Even As She Worked to Arm Anti-American Thugs Abroad – Mother Jones

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Style Tip: Cultural Appropriation Always Backfires

On By peanutgallerynhIn Europe,, Media and Culture,, The Americas,Leave a comment

Style Tip: Cultural Appropriation Always Backfires

Presumably the designers had access to information about where the orignal design came from. Good intentions or no, the fact that they did not try to and request permission from the family/tribe stands in stark contrast to the positions espoused in their apology.

Ukraine’s ex-president Viktor Yanukovych found guilty of treason

On By peanutgallerynhIn Central Northern Asia and The Caucasus,, Europe,Leave a comment

A Ukrainian court has found the former president Viktor Yanukovych guilty of treason for his efforts to crush the 2014 pro-western demonstrations that eventually toppled his government.

Yanukovych was also charged with asking Vladimir Putin to send Russian troops to invade Ukraine after he had fled the country.

The verdict came almost five years after Yanukovych was overthrown, and could serve as an important symbolic conclusion to the events of 2014. More than 100 people were killed, many by sniper fire, on Kiev’s Maidan Square in clashes between protesters and police.

The charges will have little real effect on Yanukovych, 68, who has lived in exile in the Russian city of Rostov since fleeing Ukraine under armed guard nearly five years ago.

Ukraine’s ex-president Viktor Yanukovych found guilty of treason | World news | The Guardian

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The End Of Plastic Cutlery, Plates And Straws: EU Market Says Goodbye To Single-Use Plastic Products

On By peanutgallerynhIn Environment,, Europe,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

The aim of the directive, which is part of the European Plastics Strategy, is to protect the environment and reduce marine litter by avoiding the emission of 3.4 million tonnes of CO2. However, it should be noted the importance of the economic benefits that the new regulation will bring: the directive may avoid environmental damages which would cost the equivalent of €22 billion ($24.9 billion) by 2030 and save consumers a projected €6.5 billion ($7.38 billion). 

…The measures discussed are closely related to the latest estimates on marine litter, according to the European Commission, plastics make up 85% of beach litter, which is causing catastrophic consequences on the environment. The organization WWF has already pointed out the dramatic effects that the excessive use of plastics, poor management of waste and mass tourism are having in the Mediterranean Sea, the most visited sea in Europe.

…The new rules aim to stop the use of throwaway plastic products and packaging for which alternatives exist and is focused on the most frequently found items polluting European seas: plastic cutlery (forks, knives, spoons, and chopsticks), plastic plates, plastic straws, cotton bud sticks made of plastic, beverage and food containers made of expanded polystyrene (such as fast food and takeaway boxes), and products made from oxo-degradable plastic, which contributes to microplastic pollution.  According to the European Commission, together these products constitute 70% of all marine litter items.

…The global production of plastics has not stopped to increase since 1960. According to the European Commission, in 2015 the global production reached 322 million tonnes and it is expected to double over the next 20 years. In Europe, around 25.8 million tonnes of plastic waste is generated every year and less than 30% of such waste is collected for recycling. 

The End Of Plastic Cutlery, Plates And Straws: EU Market Says Goodbye To Single-Use Plastic Products

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Thousands rally against Hungary’s ‘slave-law’, PM Orban

On By peanutgallerynhIn Europe,Leave a comment

Thousands of Hungarians have rallied in capital Budapest demanding the abolition of the so-called “slave-law” that allows employers to demand that staff work up to 400 hours of overtime a year.

…Protesters had a wide range of demands, including the removal of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

They “want academic freedom, they want free media, they want the abolition of the so-called ‘slave law’, they also want the abolition of the so-called ‘administrative courts’,” she said.

In addition to the labour code reform, the Fidesz-dominated parliament also passed a law to set up a new administrative court system to rule on issues such as corruption.

Critics say the courts could be politically manipulated as the judges are to be appointed by the justice minister.

Thousands rally against Hungary’s ‘slave-law’, PM Orban | Hungary News | Al Jazeera

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Emotional And Psychological Abuse Are Now Crimes In Ireland

On By peanutgallerynhIn Chick Stuff,, Europe,Leave a comment

The legislation defines coercive control as “psychological abuse in an intimate relationship that causes fear of violence, or serious alarm or distress that has a substantial adverse impact on a person’s day-to-day activities.”

…The new law recognizes that “the effect of non-violent control in an intimate relationship can be as harmful to victims as physical abuse because it is an abuse of the unique trust associated with an intimate relationship,” Ireland’s Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan, said in a statement on Wednesday.

…The Domestic Violence Act 2018 also criminalizes forced marriage, allows restraining orders for couples who do not live together and restricts media coverage in cases of gender-based violence.

Emotional And Psychological Abuse Are Now Crimes In Ireland | HuffPost

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Rare blue pigment found in medieval woman’s teeth rewrites history

On By peanutgallerynhIn Europe,, Media and Culture,, Science and Stuff,1 Comment

The researchers were studying a skeleton of a woman who was estimated to be between 45 and 60 years old when she died sometime between 997 and 1162. The skeleton itself was unremarkable, with no visible signs of trauma or infection.

But blue flecks were embedded in her teeth. Multiple spectrographic analyses revealed the blue pigment to be ultramarine, a rare pigment made from crushed lapis lazuli stones. It was as expensive as gold at the time, mined from a single region in Afghanistan and the ultimate luxury trade good then.

…”Only scribes and painters of exceptional skill would have been entrusted with its use,” said Alison Beach, study co-author and historian at Ohio State University, in a statement.

…”Based on the distribution of the pigment in her mouth, we concluded that the most likely scenario was that she was herself painting with the pigment and licking the end of the brush while painting,” said Monica Tromp, study co-author and microbioarchaeologist at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, in a statement.

Rare blue pigment found in medieval woman’s teeth rewrites history – CNN

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How might an Indigenous voice to Parliament work? Here’s some ideas from Nordic nations –

On By peanutgallerynhIn Europe,, Media and Culture,, Pacific Basin,Leave a comment

In 1987 came the Sami Act, which created a special elected body that would review “any matter that in the view of the parliament particularly affects the Sami people”.

The first Sami Parliament in Norway was opened two years later by his Majesty King Olav V.

…In the ’70s the Finnish Sami Parliament became one of the first of its kind in the world.

The 21-member board served as an elected body for Sami decision making.

However, unlike their Norwegian counterparts, the Finnish Sami were not granted political independence.

The Sami Parliament has instead functioned as an agency of the national parliament.

“It could only make papers, it has no real control of Sami policy areas,” Professor Lehtola says.

…While the established Sami parliamentary ‘voices’ of Scandinavia offer a representative passage denied to Indigenous people in Australia, in practice, the Sami still have much to fight for.

Consultation with Sami leaders is often legally required for development and environmental projects that impact Sami livelihood, but these obligations are not always honoured.

How might an Indigenous voice to Parliament work? Here’s some ideas from Nordic nations – RN – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

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Security cooperation with Europe is ‘imperative’, MI6 chief to warn as no-deal Brexit threat grows

On By peanutgallerynhIn Europe,, Media and Culture,Leave a comment

In a rare public address, Alex Younger will outline how cooperation with European allies has prevented multiple attacks in the UK and the continent by Isis and other terrorist groups.

…Speaking at St Andrews University in Scotland, he will reiterate that: “Russia or any other state intent on subverting our way of life not to underestimate our determination and our capabilities, or those of our allies.”

Security cooperation with Europe is ‘imperative’, MI6 chief to warn as no-deal Brexit threat grows | The Independent

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Google May Shutter Google News in EU Over ‘Link Tax’ Laws

On By peanutgallerynhIn Europe,, Media and Culture,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

This set of rules says that technology firms like Google and Facebook that profit from content on the internet by linking to it should have to pay a fee to those sites.

…Many traditional media companies in Europe blame Google for siphoning off ad revenue that kept newspapers afloat. Musicians and artists are also largely in favor of the Digital Single market rules. However, many smaller websites rely on the traffic Google News and similar services drive.

Google May Shutter Google News in EU Over ‘Link Tax’ Laws – ExtremeTech

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Living in a cold, dark climate linked to heavy drinking. Or not.

On By peanutgallerynhIn Drugs & Drink,, Europe,Leave a comment

One expert attending, Prof Jurgen Rehm from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, cast doubt on any link between temperature, light and alcohol consumption.

He told BBC Scotland that research in Europe had found the highest rates of alcohol consumption and harm in a central belt of countries such as Ireland, the UK, Germany and Poland.

Lower alcohol use was found in countries to the north – such as Norway, Sweden and Finland – and further south in places like Italy, Malta and Greece.

He said: “Basically, we have found within Europe that this correlation that has been found in another study globally, plays no role.”

Living in a cold, dark climate linked to heavy drinking – BBC News

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Archaeology: Treasure, animal skulls in 3,300-year-old Transylvania tomb

On By peanutgallerynhIn Europe,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

Transylvania perches on a plateau surrounded by the great arc of the Carpathian Mountains in central Romania. Richly endowed with medieval castles, cities, and ruins, Transylvania is the home of the real Count Dracula, portrayed in fiction as a vampire. In the Bronze Age, however, the province was famous for entirely different reasons. The area is rich in metal, and became a focal point in trade between the major cities in the eastern Mediterranean and northern Europe.

…Merchants and travelers alike followed the vast rivers – the Mures, the Danube and the Tisza – through flat floodplains and meadows nestled in the Carpathian Mountains.

Some of the smaller rivers were rich in gold, and in the mountains one could extract copper. Because of this the area became an important meeting point between peoples from North and South some 3,300 years ago.

…Not only did Cioclovina Cave have beads and glass originating from Mesopotamia and Egypt: the archaeologists also found 1,770 amber beads that came from Scandinavia. 

…Radiocarbon analysis carried out on animal bones found in the cave supports the timeline of between 1,428 to 1,263 B.C.E.

Treasure, skulls in 3,300-year-old Transylvania tomb were from nymph cult, archaeologists suggest – Archaeology – Haaretz.com

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Trump Confused the Baltics With Balkans—And Accused Confused Leaders of Starting Yugoslav Wars

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Europe,, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Trump confused the Baltic states in Europe with the Balkans—and chastised leaders of the former for starting wars in the 1990s that lead to the break-up of Yugoslavia, French daily Le Monde reported. 

…The Baltic states lie in northern Europe, on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. 

Around 1,000 miles away sits the Balkan region in south-eastern Europe. It comprises states including Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia. 

…Trump’s mistake is perhaps more surprising given that his wife, Melania, was born in Slovenia, a state that was part of Yugoslavia until 1991. 

Trump, according to the Le Monde report, remained “apparently uneducated in the matter by his wife, Melania, originally from the former Yugoslavia.”

Trump Confused the Baltics With Balkans—And Accused Confused Leaders of Starting Yugoslav Wars: Report

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Russia’s Cyberwar on Ukraine Is a Blueprint For What’s to Come

On By peanutgallerynhIn Central Northern Asia and The Caucasus,, Europe,, Media and Culture,Leave a comment

For the past 14 months, Yasinsky had found himself at the center of an enveloping crisis. A growing roster of Ukrainian companies and government agencies had come to him to analyze a plague of cyberattacks that were hitting them in rapid, remorseless succession. 

…For decades they warned that hackers would soon make the leap beyond purely digital mayhem and start to cause real, physical damage to the world. In 2009, when the NSA’s Stuxnet malware silently accelerated a few hundred Iranian nuclear centrifuges until they destroyed themselves, it seemed to offer a preview of this new era. 

…A hacker army has systematically undermined practically every sector of Ukraine: media, finance, transportation, military, politics, energy. Wave after wave of intrusions have deleted data, destroyed computers, and in some cases paralyzed organizations’ most basic functions.

…Russian troops promptly annexed the Crimean Peninsula in the south and invaded the Russian-­speaking eastern region known as Donbass. Ukraine has since then been locked in an undeclared war with Russia, one that has displaced nearly 2 million internal refugees and killed close to 10,000 Ukrainians.

From the beginning, one of this war’s major fronts has been digital. 

Russia’s Cyberwar on Ukraine Is a Blueprint For What’s to Come | WIRED

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