New Falklands war, about oil?

This music video by the British punk band Crass is called Sheep farming in the Falklands. It is a protest against the 1982 Falklands/Malvinas war. The lyrics are here.

From Associated Press:

Argentina blocks supply ship in Falklands dispute

As I toured Buenos Aires, residents were uniformly upbeat except when I mentioned my upcoming visit to the Falkland Islands.

”The British stole the Falklands from us,” I heard over and over. “Those islands belong to Argentina.”

Now, I was approaching East Falkland Island and Stanley, the largest town — well, the only town — on more than 200 South Atlantic Ocean islands whose combined population includes 650,000 sheep and 3,000 humans.

Three British soldiers have died in southern Afghanistan, officials announced Monday, raising Britain’s death toll in the conflict to 256 – breaking the number of Britons lost in the Falklands war of 1982.

Britain reached the grim milestone as British, American and Afghan forces are preparing for a major attack on Marjah in Helmand province, the biggest town in southern Afghanistan under Taliban control. Britain’s defense secretary has warned the British public to expect more casualties when the Marjah attack occurs. …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina has escalated its dispute with Britain over oil and gas exploration in the South Atlantic, blocking a ship it said was carrying drilling equipment for the disputed Falkland Islands from leaving the port of Buenos Aires.

The Foreign Ministry said port officials prevented the Techint vessel from leaving because of evidence that its cargo of Argentine-made seamless tubes would be used for drilling activity “illegitimately promoted” by Britain in the sea surrounding the islands.

The ministry said the boat visited Port Stanley, the islands’ capital, last month without securing Argentine permission.

Last week Argentina formally objected to the start of oil and gas exploration in the islands, which the government calls the Malvinas and considers to be its own despite losing a war with Britain over the territory in 1982.

Techint, the world’s biggest producer of seamless steel tubing for the oil industry, denied that the tubes were destined for the Falklands. It said they were headed to destinations in the Mediterranean and companies that have no operations in the disputed area.

Argentina took the South Atlantic islands by force in April 1982, and 649 of its soldiers and 258 British soldiers were killed before it surrendered two months later.

Both countries have filed claims with international organizations over rights to the seabed surrounding the islands.

This is a music video of another song against the 1982 Falklands war; Robert Wyatt – Shipbuilding (1982).

Argentina has refused to back down from controversial legislation designed to hamper trade between the country and the Falkland Islands. The ruling requires ships heading to the islands to obtain a government permit from Buenos Aires first: here.

A British rig is due to begin drilling for oil in the territorial waters of the Falkland Islands, despite strong opposition from Argentina: here.

A British firm has started drilling for oil off the disputed Falkland Islands in the face of fierce opposition from Argentina: here.

Argentina’s foreign minister went to the UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday over its escalating dispute with Britain: here.

Britain’s decision to begin exploratory drilling has stoked tensions with the Argentine government over control of the disputed Malvinas (Falklands) Islands, and the oil reserves on the seabed around them: here.

Guardian: Rockhopper shares soar on Falklands oil upgrade: here.

Oil firm Rockhopper raises £48.5m for Falklands drilling: here.

Rockhopper fails to find oil with Falklands well: here.

Warmonger Hoon out of British Parliament

From British daily The Morning Star:

Hopeless Hoon heads out of Parliament

Thursday 11 February 2010

Former defence secretary Geoff Hoon is to stand down from Parliament at this year’s election, he has announced.

Mr Hoon has been MP for the Nottinghamshire seat of Ashfield since 1992 and has been embroiled in controversy since Labour was elected in 1997.

In a 2003 interview on the BBC, he asserted that Britain was willing to use nuclear weapons against Iraqi forces “in the right circumstances.”

And in that same year, he continued to claim that two trailers found in Iraq were mobile weapons laboratories. This was in spite of the fact that it had been leaked to the press by Dr David Kelly and other weapons inspectors that they were nothing of the sort.

He also faced anger from some activists after launching a failed coup attempt against Gordon Brown earlier this year with former Cabinet colleague Patricia Hewitt.

A spokeswoman for Mr Hoon’s constituency party said letters were being sent out to members to inform them of his decision to stand down.

Geoff Hoon is up to his neck into the British parliamentary expenses scandal.

Chilean ichthyosaurs discovered

This video is called The history of paleoillustrations: Ichthyosauria.

From the Santiago Times in Chile:

Palaeontologists discover Jurassic marine reptile fossils, the oldest ever found in Torres del Paine

February, 11 2010

After undergoing difficult weather conditions (heavy rain, strong winds, and frequent snow storms) palaeontologists at Torres del Paine National Park in Chile’s Patagonia recently uncovered the remains of four marine reptiles from the Jurassic period.

The Jurassic classification of the reptile, scientifically named Ichthyosauri, makes these fossils the oldest found in the area. One of the female skeletal fossils contained fossil evidence of a reptile fetus.

“[This discovery] makes the Torres del Paine National Park one of the most important paleontology sites for marine reptiles in the world,” said University of Heidelburg professor Wolfgang Stinnesbeck.

The palaeontologists were also able to extract bone marrow from the remains, which will be analyzed in German labs to reconstruct and study the dinosaur’s anatomy.

Ichthyosaurs, though living at the same time as dinosaurs, are not dinosaurs themselves.

The presence of bone marrow demonstrates the incredible preservation conditions unique to Torres del Paine, said Chilean biologist Judith Pardo.

The excavation project, which began in 2007, is led by German experts Stinnesbeck and Eberhard “Dino” Frey from the Karlsruhe Natural History Museum.

Marine reptiles, which at the time of the last great extinction included mosasaurs, plesiosaurs and pliosaurs: here.

A teenager in Queensland, Australia, recently dug up a 100-million-year old Dinosaur Era marine reptile in his school’s vegetable garden. A local museum has since identified the fossil as belonging to an ichthyosaur: here.

Giant reptiles that ruled dinosaur-era seas might have been warm-blooded, a new study says: here.

Swedish nazi Auschwitz sign thief arrested

This music video is Spike Jones’ song “Der Fuehrer’s Face”. Lyrics are here.

From Associated Press:

Suspect in Auschwitz sign theft arrested in Sweden

Thursday, February 11, 2010; 9:23 AM

STOCKHOLM — Swedish authorities say a man wanted in Poland in connection with the theft of a famous sign at Auschwitz has been arrested in Stockholm.

Prosecutor Agnetha Hilding Qvarnstrom says 34-year-old Anders Hogstrom was arrested Thursday on a European arrest warrant.

Qvarnstrom says Hogstrom will be appointed a defense lawyer and questioned by Swedish investigators before authorities can decide on extraditing him to Poland.

Polish officials have said Hogstrom is suspected of incitement to commit theft of a cultural treasure.

The sign was stolen in December from the site of the Nazis’ former Auschwitz death camp in Poland. Polish police found the sign in the woods three days later, and charged five Polish men with its theft.

Neo-nazi Hogström (Associated Press forgot the dots on the ö) is the ex-Führer of the Swedish National Socialist Front.

See also here.

Winter Olympics and human rights

This video from Canada says about itself:

CTV clip showing how a police state is being set up for Vancouver’s 2010 Olympics.

The billion-dollar security operation being mounted in conjunction with the Winter Olympic Games will turn Vancouver, a metropolitan region of more than two million people, into a quasi-police state for the duration of the Games: here.

The Afghan war and the Winter Olympics: here.

Vancouver Winter Olympics: A festival of corporate greed: here.

London Assembly members have warned that the virtual privatisation of the capital’s 2012 Olympics site after the Games end will “risk isolating” some of Britain’s poorest communities: here.