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Welterklärer Fischer ist wieder im Dienst
Der Ex-Außenminister prophezeit vor Hamburger Politikern einen "atomaren GAU" in Fernost, der Deutschland nützt
HAMBURG- Er ist wieder im Dienst, und er wirkt, als sei er nie weg gewesen: Joschka Fischer, der grüne Übervater, der zerfurchte Welterklärer, Bundesaußenminister a. D., der vertraut ist mit den Mächten und Mächtigen auf diesem Globus. "Sehr, sehr große Sorgen" umtrieben ihn vor allem, wenn er in den Nahen und Mittleren Osten blicke: "Ich sehe dunkle Wolken am südöstlichen Horizont, da baut sich eine starke Krise auf", orakelt Fischer.
Dennoch sichtlich entspannt und gut gelaunt erklärt der Mann, der in zwei rot-grünen Bundesregierungen Vizekanzler und Minister des Auswärtigen war, in seinem als "europapolitische Grundsatzrede" angekündigten Referat im Hamburger Rathaus am Dienstag den Weltenlauf. Zwei Stunden lang.
"Aus der Summe meiner Erfahrungen als Ihr langjähriger Außenminister und als überzeugter Europäer" breitet Fischer sich verbal aus. Die EU könne "die Staaten auf dem Westbalkan" nicht ausgrenzen. Dem "Hegemonialanspruch des Iran" müsse der Westen einschließlich der "amerikanischen Freunde" mit Diplomatie und wirtschaftlichem Druck begegnen.
Fischer ist ganz Staatsmann, wie er im Kaisersaal des Rathauses frei spricht zu einem 200-köpfigen Publikum, zu den Abgeordneten des Europaausschusses im Hamburger Feierabend-Parlament. Die haben ihn als krönenden Abschluss der Europawoche in die Hansestadt eingeladen, um endlich mal erklärt zu bekommen, was südlich der Elbe so los ist.
"Wenn meine Analyse zutreffend ist …", sagt Fischer insgesamt siebenmal. "Dann" schade jede "künstliche Trennung in Europa" dem "strategischen Interesse" Deutschlands und der EU an Frieden und Sicherheit. Deshalb müsse selbst für die Ukraine, Weißrussland und Moldawien "die Tür zum Beitritt offen" sein. "Dann" müsse die Türkei "ins Zentrum unserer Sicherheitsstrategie" gegen die islamischen Staaten rücken.
Umso wichtiger sei das angesichts der "militärischen Nuklearisierung des Iran", an der er "keinen Zweifel" habe. "Und dann" stehe die Existenz Israels in Frage. "Ein Flächenbrand" drohe am östlichen Mittelmeer, und der sei "nur lösbar mit einer europäischen Sicherheitspolitik zusammen mit der Türkei".
Fischer wäre nicht der Alte, würde er nicht auch den Zusammenhang herstellen zwischen "der ökologisch und ökonomisch so wichtigen Windkraft hier bei Ihnen in Norddeutschland" und der Industrialisierung Chinas und Indiens. "Zu einem zweiten Tschernobyl" im Fernen Osten werde der leider "mit Atomkraft gedeckte" Energiebedarf der "neuen Mega-Ökonomien" führen, prophezeit Fischer. "Und dann" werde die Nachfrage nach "dem deutschen Exportschlager regenerative Energieerzeugung" in ungeahnte Höhen schnellen. Zum Wohle der EU, Deutschlands, Norddeutschlands.
Wie der Bundesaußenminister a. D. das so sagt, klingt es nicht einmal zynisch. Nur erschreckend zwangsläufig.
http://tinyurl.com/rwuzr

Spy Agency Watching Americans From Space
May 13, 6:29 AM (ET)
By KATHERINE SHRADER
WASHINGTON (AP) - A little-known spy agency that analyzes imagery taken from the skies has been spending significantly more time watching U.S. soil.
In an era when other intelligence agencies try to hide those operations, the director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. James Clapper, is proud of that domestic mission.
He said the work the agency did after hurricanes Rita and Katrina was the best he'd seen an intelligence agency do in his 42 years in the spy business.
"This was kind of a direct payback to the taxpayers for the investment made in this agency over the years, even though in its original design it was intended for foreign intelligence purposes," Clapper said in a Thursday interview with The Associated Press.


Reitired Air Force Gen. James R. Clapper, outgoing head of the National Geospatial Intelligence...

Geospatial intelligence is the science of combining imagery, such as satellite pictures, to physically depict features or activities happening anywhere on the planet. A part of the Defense Department, the NGA usually operates unnoticed to provide information on nuclear sites, terror camps, troop movements or natural disasters.
After last year's hurricanes, the agency had an unusually public face. It set up mobile command centers that sprung out of the backs of Humvees and provided imagery for rescuers and hurricane victims who wanted to know the condition of their homes. Victims would provide their street address and the NGA would provide a satellite photo of their property. In one way or another, some 900 agency officials were involved.
Spy agencies historically avoided domestic operations out of concern for Pentagon regulations and Reagan-era executive order, known as 12333, that restricted intelligence collection on American citizens and companies. Its budget, like all intelligence agencies, is classified.
On Clapper's watch of the last five years, his agency has found ways to expand its mission to help prepare security at Super Bowls and political conventions or deal with natural disasters, such as hurricanes and forest fires.
With help, the agency can also zoom in. Its officials cooperate with private groups, such as hotel security, to get access to footage of a lobby or ballroom. That video can then be linked with mapping and graphical data to help secure events or take action, if a hostage situation or other catastrophe happens.
Privacy advocates wonder how much the agency picks up - and stores. Many are increasingly skeptical of intelligence agencies with recent revelations about the Bush administration's surveillance on phone calls and e-mails.
Among the government's most closely guarded secrets, the quality of pictures NGA receives from classified satellites is believed to far exceed the one-meter resolution available commercially. That means they can take a satellite "snapshot" from high above the atmosphere that is crisply detailed down to one meter level, which is 3.3 feet.
Clapper says his agency only does big pictures, so concerns about using the NGA's foreign intelligence apparatus at home doesn't apply.
"We are not trying to examine an individual dwelling, for example, because what our mission is normally going to be is looking at large areas," he said. "It doesn't really affect or threaten anyone's privacy or civil liberties when you are looking at a large collective area."
When asked what additional powers he'd ask Congress for, he said, "I wouldn't."
His agency also handles its historic mission: regional threats, such as Iran and North Korea; terrorist hideouts; and tracking drug trade. "Everything and everybody has to be some place," he said.
He considers his brand of intelligence a chess match. "There are sophisticated nation states that have a good understanding of our surveillance capabilities," including Iran, he said. "What we have to do is counter that" by taking advantage of anomalies or sending spy planes and satellites over more frequently.
Adversaries who hide their most important facilities underground is a trend the agency has to work at, he said.
NGA was once a stepchild of the intelligence community. But Clapper said it has come into its own and become an equal partner with the other spy agencies, such as the CIA.
Experience-wise, the agency is among the youngest of the spy agencies. About 40 percent of the agency's analyst have been hired in the last five years.
"They are very inexperienced, and that's just fine. They don't have any baggage," said Clapper, who retires next month as the longest serving agency director. "The people that we are getting now are bright, computer literate. ... That is not something I lie awake and worry about."
http://tinyurl.com/qu7wr

"Rumsfeld isn't a mensch" - Amerikas Schwäche für Deutsch
12. Mai 2006
Deutsche Lehnwörter zieren das Englische
Wer als Deutscher neu in die USA kommt, wundert sich oft, dass er Wörtern wie "Strudel", "Schadenfreude" oder "Gesundheit!" begegnet. Viele Amerikaner finden deutsche Lehnwörter "wunderbar", vor allem "Bildungsbürger" (ebenfalls ein Import aus Old Germany). Der eine oder andere versucht sich gar an Zungenbrechern wie "Lumpenproletariat" oder "Sturm-und-Drang-Zeit". "Viele benutzen diese Wörter, um sich ein kosmopolitisches Flair zu geben", sagt die Germanistin und Amerikanistin Ulrike Wagner aus New York.



Man muss nur darauf achten, dann sieht man überall deutsche Wörter. "Gotti Blitz" titelt die Boulevardzeitung "New York Post" und meint damit eine Razzia bei einer Mafiafamilie. Gleich neben dem Zeitungsstand gibt es "Pretzel" (Brezel) im "Deli" an der Ecke, abgeleitet von dem deutschen Wort Delikatessen. Im Fernsehen hört man einen Politiker sagen: "There are no verbotens with me!" Womit er klar macht: Bei ihm gibt es keine Tabu-Fragen. Das Präfix "über" hat es den Amerikanern zurzeit besonders angetan. Schüler mit zu schweren Tornistern zum Beispiel sind "Überpackers", und mit "Überkitsch" könnte man die lebensgroßen Krippen bezeichnen, die sich viele Amerikaner zur Weihnachtszeit in den Vorgarten stellen.

Ein "Mensch-Gap" in der Bush-Regierung
Manchmal wirkt das deutsche Wortgeklingel geradezu übertrieben. Die "New York Times" überschrieb eine Buchrezension neulich mit: "Marathon Mensch - An angst-ridden man encounters his doppelgänger." Auf der Meinungsseite stellt ein Kommentator derweil die These auf: "Donald Rumsfeld isn't a mensch." In der ganzen Regierung Bush klaffe ein riesiges "Mensch Gap". Was er damit meint, erklärt er so: "Wörtlich übersetzt ist ein 'Mensch' eine Person. Aber impliziert ist, dass ein Mensch eine Person mit Rückgrat ist, die für ihre Handlungen die Verantwortung übernimmt." Manchen deutschen Wörtern haben die Amerikaner einen ganz neuen Sinn gegeben oder mit anderen Vokabeln zusammengesetzt. Schon mal von einem "Jägerdude" gehört? Das ist jemand, der wilde Partys feiert und dabei so trinkfest ist, dass er sich einen Jägermeister nach dem anderen genehmigt.

Tradition der Dichter und Denker
Viele dieser Wörter sollen erst in den letzten Jahren richtig populär geworden sein. Im Vergleich zu den Briten haben Amerikaner keine so ausgeprägte Schwäche für Wörter, die geeignet sind, den deutschen Botschafter in Rage zu bringen ("Achtung!", "Panzer"). Viele verweisen im Gegenteil auf die stolze Tradition der Dichter und Denker: "Weltanschauung", "Bildungsroman" und "Leitmotif" mit "f" werden in der "New York Times" ständig verwendet. "Where's the Fingerspitzengefuhl?" titelt das Weltblatt - und an anderer Stelle heißt es: "The zeitgeist is right now." "Vieles lässt sich eben einfach nicht übersetzen", erläutert Wagner, die den Einfluss der deutschen Geistesgeschichte auf die amerikanische Nationalliteratur untersucht.

Die Legende vom Deutsch als Amtssprache
Eine Legende ist allerdings, dass die Vereinigten Staaten kurz nach ihrem Unabhängigkeitskrieg gegen Großbritannien um ein Haar Deutsch als Landessprache eingeführt hätten. Die Geschichte geht darauf zurück, dass 1794 einige deutsche Einwanderer eine Petition an das Repräsentantenhaus richteten, nach der Gesetzestexte künftig auch auf Deutsch veröffentlicht werden sollten. Sie begründeten dies damit, dass viele Einwanderer noch kein Englisch sprächen. Dieser Antrag wurde mit 42 zu 41 Stimmen abgelehnt. Die entscheidende Gegenstimme soll der Speaker des Hauses, der Deutschamerikaner Frederick Augustus Conrad Mühlenberg, abgegeben haben. Sein Argument: "Je eher die Deutschen Amerikaner werden, desto besser."
http://tinyurl.com/rykd9

US, ISRAEL OPERATE IN IRAN
COVERT FORCES IN IRAN TRAINING KURDISH REBELS
By Richard Walker
(Issue #21, May 22, 2006)
Behind the increasingly shrill rhetoric and saber rattling over Iran’s nuclear ambitions America and Israel are engaged in a secret war against Iran that has echoes of the years when the CIA supported the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviet Union. This time, the United States and Israel are running covert operations with the help of Kurdish militias and rebel Iranian fighters. For some observers, training and arming Islamic fighters smacks of the days of Soviet rule in Afghanistan. Then, the Soviet army, which was the second most powerful military in the world, was defeated by Islamic militants, including men like Osama bin Laden.
Now the U.S. military, with Israeli commandos lending a hand, is arming and secretly training a different breed of mujahideen, or Islamic fighters—Kurdish militias with links to ethnic Kurdish communities in Iran and Syria, and fighters from the Iranian Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK), which has bases in southern Iraq and has provided the United States with information about the Iranian military and Iran’s nuclear sites.
From the perspective of Washington and Tel Aviv, the history of the Kurds makes them ideal recruits for a covert war against Iran and Syria.
During and after Saddam Hussein’s rule, the Kurds of northern Iraq longed for an independent Kurdistan. When the so-called “no-fly zone” was in place over Iraq, the Kurds had protection from the U.S. Air Force and U.S. allies. That enabled them to build a large militia force and to develop a burgeoning economy. But, since the fall of Saddam the Kurds have become disillusioned with the country’s slide into chaos and have hinted that they would be happy to see Iraq divided into three parts. In that event, they would establish an autonomous region called Kurdistan and the rich northern oil fields of Kirkuk would ensure their prosperity for decades to come.
Not everyone favors creation of an independent Kurdistan. The Turks, Iranians and Syrians are united in a belief that it would generate instability by encouraging large ethnic Kurdish communities in their countries to demand separation and an alignment with Iraq’s Kurds. In the 20th century ethnic Kurdish demands for autonomy led to more than 30,000 of them being slaughtered by the Turks. In Iran, they were brutally suppressed in three provinces they dominated.
As part of a covert scheme to destabilize and soften up the Iranian regime for possible Special Forces attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, Washington has turned to disaffected Iranian Kurds for help and to Iranian dissidents in the MEK.
Using fighters trained by the United States in secret bases in southern Iraq, the MEK has carried out a series of attacks in Iran. In recent months, there has been increasing instability inside three Iranian provinces dominated by Kurds, as well as attacks on Iranian troops near the border with Iraq. A Kurdish guerrilla group claimed responsibility for two of the attacks, saying they were in retaliation for Iranian shelling into Kurdish areas of northern Iraq.
New York journalist Seymour Hersh claimed in December 2005 that U.S. combat troops were already in Iran. Following that report, there was an incident near the Iran-Iraq border in January when an Iranian military cargo plane carrying 10 top Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders mysteriously crashed. Later, there were rumors it was brought down by U.S. Special Forces within Iran.
In April 2006, Iran said it shot down a U.S. surveillance drone flying over the country. Israel has been running its own black operations with the help of Kurds it has trained. The Kurds reportedly have strong ties to Israel because it supports the creation of an independent Kurdistan. From an Israeli perspective, such an entity would provide Israel with an ally in a region in which it is totally isolated and would keep Iraq destabilized.
It was Israel’s neo-con friends in Washington who once believed a new Iraq would be Israel’s best ally, but the more that vision has turned to nightmare, the more Israel has looked to the creation of a separate Kurdish state in Iraq as the next best thing.
Israel’s relationship with the Kurds goes back a long way. During the Iran-Iraq war, the Israelis supplied the Kurds with weapons to attack Saddam Hussein’s forces. Then, after the first Gulf War, when the United States and its allies abandoned the Kurds, Israel continued to provide them with weapons and training.
To that end, Israeli special forces and Mossad have been training and recruiting Kurds for clandestine operations and surveillance in Iran and Syria. The advantage of having Kurdish fighters carry out operations is that they can easily blend into ethnic Kurdish communities and sow dissent.
They can also recruit rebel elements and build bases for future operations. Kurdish militiamen and fighters from the MEK are seen by Israel as ideal insurgents.
Richard Walker is the nom de plume of a former mainstream news producer who now writes for AFP so he can expose the kinds of subjects that he was forbidden to cover in the controlled press.
http://tinyurl.com/p75r6

Villains on the run as beat Bobbies get ID scanners
May 16 2006
VILLAINS could be facing the end of their criminal careers if the latest CCTV technology starts scanning Reading's streets.
Bobbies already use head cameras to keep their hands free and gather vital identification evidence while dealing with brawls or violent arrests.
But police are considering raising the stakes to make sure the crooks stay clear of trouble or away from the town altogether.
Inspector Andy Bagnall, the man in charge of town centre law and order, says his team is looking at the possibility of installing state-of-the-art facial recognition software.
The town already boasts 450 CCTV cameras, making it impossible to walk across town without being caught on tape, and operators have assisted in a staggering 6,000 arrests since 1998.
Inspector Bagnall said: "We already use the head cameras and we are looking at bringing the facial recognition system in.
"CCTV sends out a clear message. It is not only about detection but also prevention, and the images collected can prove vital in prosecutions."
There is no firm timetable for installing the facial recognition system, but if it gets the green light the move is sure to enrage civil liberties groups.
West Yorkshire Police were among the first to recognise the benefit of facial recognition technology, which scans the face and links it to a database of offenders.
The force credits the system for putting a string of criminals behind bars, including rapists, street robbers and drug dealers.
Inspector Bagnall was speaking last week at the release of Reading's annual crime figures, which reveal that while violent crime has fallen, household burglaries increased by 16%.
Chief Inspector Shaun Virtue and borough community action leader Cllr Tony Page pledged to work closely to put violent crime - particularly anti-social behaviour and alcohol or drug-related offences - on a downward spiral.
http://tinyurl.com/nxy77


Alert Driver Fatigue Wrist Device
May 12 2006
A future concept designed for the AA, this flexible rubber device uses motion combined with reaction time to determine whether or not you are suffering from driver fatigue. The device comunicates with an RFID tag positioned in your car and only starts to detect whether you are tired when you are in your car. The device can be bent to fit your wrist, and has memory to stay in position, to ensure it will not fall off.

Designer: Daniel Ruffle
http://tinyurl.com/qugwu


Patient Care Technology Systems Announces Integration of Exavera RFID Tracking Technologies
Tuesday May 16, 1:26 pm ET
Companies Sign Agreement to Co-Market Solutions to Hospitals
MISSION VIEJO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 2006--Patient Care Technology Systems (PCTS), a provider of advanced charting and tracking systems, announced today the integration of their automatic patient and asset tracking software with the wireless location-services suite from Exavera Technologies Inc. The companies have signed an agreement to market their combined solution to hospitals. PCTS will be demonstrating its automatic tracking software at the Towards the Electronic Patient Record conference in Baltimore on May 20-24.
Healthcare providers seeking to improve patient safety and optimize workflow are adopting technologies that can identify, locate and track patients and mobile medical equipment automatically without requiring manual updates by busy caregivers. PCTS automatic tracking software provides real-time patient location and care status information by integrating with most major tracking hardware platforms including infrared, active RFID, ultra wideband and WiFi. Identification and location messages are sent to the software by tracking tags placed with people and assets. The software uses rules-based intelligence to measure interactions between staff, patients and mobile medical equipment to identify patient care milestones. This information helps caregivers to anticipate resource needs and to streamline patient flow. Movement and interactions are time-stamped to provide detailed data for further analysis of department utilization. Exavera provides locating hardware and a wireless method of sending data that can be integrated with the PCTS software. The system uses cost-effective RFID-enabled devices to communicate with a hospital's network to provide an affordable information delivery solution. Marketed as the eShepherd(TM) system, it is a complete delivery network that includes tags, readers and access points. "We are pleased to integrate the eShepherd(TM) system with PCTS automatic tracking software," stated Scott Zeller, co-founder and VP of corporate affairs for Exavera. "Our relationship with PCTS is yet another way for us to seamlessly deliver our value to the end users in a healthcare environment." "PCTS automatic tracking software is designed to work with all major locating hardware platforms," said Tony Marsico, CEO of PCTS. "We are very pleased to expand the breadth of options to include Exavera. Their ability to integrate RFID-enabled devices with a WiFi network represents an exciting new capability." PCTS will be hosting a special interactive automatic tracking event at the 22nd annual Towards the Electronic Patient Record conference in Baltimore on May 20-24. Registered conference attendees can wear tracking badges to identify and track the location of fellow participants, conference & event staff and mock mobile medical equipment throughout the exhibit hall and lecture rooms. The event will provide a dynamic, first-hand experience of the capabilities of automatically tracking in a virtual healthcare enterprise. For more information, please visit www.tepr.com/rfid.

About Patient Care Technology Systems
Patient Care Technology Systems, a subsidiary of Consulier Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ:CSLR - News), is dedicated to becoming the leading provider of patient safety solutions in the high-acuity segments of healthcare. Featuring the Amelior ED(TM) patient care system, a comprehensive ED information system with clinical decision support, and Amelior EDTracker(TM) automatic tracking, the most widely implemented automatic tracking system in U.S. emergency departments, PCTS provides a family of integrated and intelligent solutions designed to reduce medical errors and improve the operating performance of high-acuity departments. Amelior patient care system customers have been recognized nationally for department productivity and nursing excellence. For more information, visit www.pcts.com.

About Exavera Technologies Inc.
Exavera Technologies Inc. combines RFID and WLAN technologies to build advanced networks that enable the identification, location and tracking of people and assets. With headquarters in Portsmouth, N.H., the company focuses on using the insight provided by their solution to automate processes and optimize workflow. For more information, visit www.exavera.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. PCTS and CSLR caution you that any statements contained in this press release which are not strictly historical statements constitute forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those related to PCTS's and CSLR's expectations regarding continued business growth. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements, (copies of which may be obtained at the SEC's Web site at: http://www.sec.gov) -- could impact the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Readers should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. PCTS and CSLR disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise any such statements to reflect any change in PCTS and CSLR's expectations, or in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements may be based, or that may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those set forth in the forward-looking.
http://tinyurl.com/qxexu