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Memories of a balanced view of China

From: Helmut Schmidt "A Last Visit: Encounters with the World Power China"

by Reinhild Felten, Germany

(date) Helmut Schmidt (1918–2015) was German Chancellor from 1974 to 1982 and co-editor of "DIE ZEIT" since 1983. He remains one of the best-known and most popular politicians and publicists in Germany. He has published numerous books.

In his book "One last visit: encounters with the world power China",* published in 2013, Helmut Schmidt conveys an unusually balanced, benevolent view of China, considering he is a German politician.

Swiss federal popular initiative

The micro-tax as a tax of the future

by Guy Mettan,* member of the initiative committee, Geneva

(3 May 2021) On February 25, 2020, the Federal Gazette published the text of the Swiss federal popular initiative entitled “Micro-tax on cashless Monetary Transactions", paving the way for the collection of signatures.

Reflections on Genocide as the Ultimate Crime

by Alfred de Zayas and Richard Falk*

(3 May 2021) The misuse of the word «genocide» is disdainful toward relatives of the victims of the Armenian massacres, the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide – and as well a disservice to both history, law, and the prudent conduct of international relations.

We already knew that we were adrift in an ocean of fake news. It is far more dangerous to discover that we are also at risk of being immersed in the turbulent waters of “fake law”. We must push back with a sense of urgency. Such a development is not tolerable.
Germany

The Covid-19 Crisis and Privatization of the Health System

“The health of the population is the least of their concerns”

Interview with Werner Rügemer* by Reinhard Jellen**

(25 April 2021) It sometimes seems as if the health-care system and government offices have had to cut costs to such an extent that they do not have the capacity to cope with the Covid-19 crisis. Is this really the case? To find out, Telepolis talked to the privatization expert Werner Rügemer, who has studied this phenomenon for many years (see: Der Staat entmachtet sich selbst [The State disempowers itself] and has published several seminal works on the subject.

From Rossum’s Robots To Artificial Intelligence

by Leonid Savin*

(25 April 2021) The 25 January 2021 marked one hundred years since the première of Czech sci-fi writer Karel Čapek’s play “R.U.R.” (Rossum’s Universal Robots). The short work anticipated subsequent books on the subject, as well as cyberpunk and post-apocalyptic films like “The Terminator” and “Alien: Covenant”. Rossum’s universal robots were conceived as human helpers, but after a while they rebel and destroy the human race, with the exception of one factory worker, whom they need to recreate their own kind.

A digital village shop

by Max Hugelshofer, Swiss Mountain Aid

(25 April 2021) What do you do when the village shop closes because the turnover figures are too low and the personnel costs are too high? Then, a step into the future is a necessary dare. In the village of Cerniat, the “Val-Marché” is now open 24 hours a day – with self-service and access via QR code.