Cyberculture agenda: “common data visualization mistakes… “Reddit vs. Trolls…

How Richard Stallman does his computing  kottke.org by Jason Kottke Richard Stallman, the free software activist and author of some of the world’s most used and useful software, probably uses his computer and the Internet a lot differently than you do. For starters, ethics and privacy concerns trump his need for convenience. EZTV Shuts Down After Hostile … Read more

Eurosphere agenda: “EU tackles Google.. “400 immigrants drown off of Libya…”France opens Rwanda genocide archive….

EU tackles Google over search ‘abuse’  BBC News | Europe | World Edition The European Union’s competition commissioner has announced details of its case against Google over its search engine. 400 immigrants drown off of Libya, say survivors  EurActiv.com Up to 400 illegal migrants died after their vessel capsized off the Libyan coast on Sunday (12 April), … Read more

Eurosphere agenda: “How the Pirates in Germany have lost their way… “Milk quotas come to an end…

How the Pirates in Germany have lost their way  open Democracy News Analysis – by Alessio Colonnelli Is there any connection between the decline of the Pirate Party and the rise of the right-wing Alternative for Germany?   MAIN FOCUS: Milk quotas come to an end | 01/04/2015 euro|topics The EU will abolish the milk quota system … Read more

Eurosphere agenda: A quarter of French voters support Front National, the far-right party…

MAIN FOCUS: Merkel and Tsipras seek conciliation | 24/03/2015  euro|topics   Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and German Chancellor Angela Merkel adopted a conciliatory tone in Berlin on Monday, after politicians and media in both countries repeatedly attacked each other in recent weeks. Finally Tsipras has realised that he needs Merkel, some commentators write in delight. … Read more

Eurosphere agenda: Pirate Party victory in Iceland… Greek-German summit…

Pirate Party Becomes Iceland’s Most Popular Political Party  TorrentFreak On January 1, 2006, Rick Falkvinge founded the Swedish and first Pirate Party. The party has survived more than nine turbulent years while provoking heated discussion on copyright reform, privacy and freedom of speech.   Icelandic Pirates soar: citizenship for Snowden?  Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow The Icelandic Pirate … Read more

Eurosphere agenda: Anti-corruption parties shake Spain… “Germany ends teacher headscarf ban….

Why we occupy: Dutch universities at the crossroads open Democracy News Analysis – by Enzo Rossi, Johan Hartle, Robin Celikates and Nicholas Vrousalis The Netherlands, a mere 10 years behind the UK, seems eager to catch up. Twin pressures of authoritarianism from above and neoliberalism from below make it necessary to develop the democratic alternative put … Read more

Eurosphere agenda: Greek and German ministers meet and clash… “Youth radicalization in Hungary, Bulgaria, and Greece…

Greek and German ministers meet, to no avail EurActiv.com The first meeting between Greece’s iconoclastic new finance minister from the Marxist left and his 72-year-old conservative German nemesis was never going to be easy. It turned out even worse than expected. Greek, German finance ministers clash in first talks  EurActiv.com The Greek and German finance ministers could … Read more

Eurosphere agenda: “Euro slides to a nine-year low…”In Europe, Pirates and The Copyright Law

Northern Ireland’s incomplete peace: young feminists speak out open Democracy News Analysis – by Claire Pierson and Maria Deiana   Organising around a belief in feminism’s ability to articulate and represent visions of peace and politics, a new generation of feminists is emerging to challenge the traditional rigidity of Northern Irish politics.   Pipes for South Stream … Read more

Eurosphere agenda: “The EU’s expensive, empty airports

Anti-Islam march in German city  BBC News | Europe | World Edition A controversial march against “Islamisation of the West”, and a big counter-demonstration, are held in the German city of Dresden. Germany and the eurozone: The view from Paris Centre for European Reform On recent visits to Berlin, I have been surprised at how negative people … Read more

Eurosphere agenda: Merkel coalition partners’s strange desire…

Merkel coalition partners want immigrants to speak German at home  EurActiv.com Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Bavarian allies have caused outrage by suggesting immigrant families that want to remain in the country should be obliged to speak German at home.   ‘Speak German at home’ row erupts BBC News | Europe | World Edition A call by German conservatives … Read more

Cyberculture agenda: A new secret malware, Regin…Facebook and your mental health…EFF Co-launches Global Coalition on Net Neutrality…

Secret Malware in European Union Attack Linked to U.S. and British Intelligence The Intercept by Morgan Marquis-Boire Complex malware known as Regin is the suspected technology behind sophisticated cyberattacks conducted by U.S. and British intelligence agencies on the European Union and a Belgian telecommunications company, according to security industry sources and technical analysis conducted by The … Read more

Eurosphere agenda: One year after Euromaidan… UKIP has another seat in parliament…

One Year Later: Ukrainians Remember Euromaidan Online Global Voices Online by Tetyana Lokot Euromaidan protesters sing the Ukrainian anthem in central Kyiv. Photo from Demotix.   VIDEO: Ukraine uprising: One year on  BBC News | Europe | World Edition Services have been held in Ukraine to mark the anniversary of the mass protests which sparked the downfall … Read more

Eurosphere agenda: “The rise of Podemos…”33 European languages in danger of extinction

The centre is falling apart across Europe theguardian.com – Ian Traynor – Nov 15, 4:04 PM – Wednesday morning in Brussels and Beppe Grillo has brought his anti-establishment roadshow to the European parliament. The committee room is packed, standing room only for the former standup act. Once he gets going, Grillo resembles a force of … Read more

Cyberculture agenda: “Cyber conflict and psychological IR perspectives…”Turks manipulating Twitter TTs…

Turks manipulate trending topics in spite of Twitter Hurriyet Daily News ‘Any person can push a hashtag to Turkish and worldwide TT lists in 10-15 minutes,’ an experiment shows Cyber conflict and psychological IR perspectives  open Democracy News Analysis – by Mischa Hansel As cyber attacks and cyber terrorism become more prevalent, overreaction and conflict escalation must … Read more

Erdoğan promises legislation against street violence… That is, total criminalization of democratic street politics…

  The emerging Middle East order: who can shape it and how? open Democracy News Analysis – by Dlawer Ala’Aldeen For the first time for decades, all sides to the conflict agree that terrorism has grown out of all proportions and poses a major threat to all. The current aerial bombardment by the US and its … Read more