New American Frontiers

Rodeo represents the cruelest form of Capitalism, survival of the fittest. It's built on unequality; animals trapped behind bars, men and women waiting for their own personal ride to glory, fame and wealth on the animals backs – they can fall off, they can hurt themselves, even die. In the midst of all is the crowd, paying overprices for Budweisers and hot dogs, cheering from the stands. When everybody stands up to sing the national anthem, we wonder which flag people are ready to die for: the Stars and Stripes or the Coca-Cola?

»Nuclear Pioneers:«

How To Bury the Forever Living?

At Olkiluoto, the heart of Finland’s nuclear energy, is the belief in nuclear energy similar to religious faith, and the Onkalo Project – the world’s first eternal storage facility for spent nuclear fuel – could very well be its spiritual temple, where nuclear believers come to give thanks and praises for the atomic power’s gifts to mankind.

Who Owns Angola's Land?

As people displaced during the civil war return to the countryside, the land issue is one of Angola's biggest challenges. Especially in southern Angola, where land-mines and memories of war still dictates people's lives.

Dusk Over Kwanza River

Fishermen lay nets in the Kwanza river at dusk. The tide is low and the silence is a far cry from Angola’s busy capital Luanda. The river was an important gateway into Angola for slave traders during the colonial era. Now, the government has started to search for oil along the riverbanks, while Kissama national park is adjusting to life after civil war. The river is important to thousands of Angolans. There is now competition over catches between locals and established fishing lodges with modern equipment and speedboats.

»A New Frontier.« Kalimantan At A Multi-Way Crossroad.

At dawn, small freighter ships return to the port of Samarinda with loads of coal and timber from the heart of Kalimantan. The brown coal is sorted into huge piles: tons of fuel to meet the world’s demand for energy. In the port, all the coal is prepared for its journeys to Japan, China or Europe. Kalimantan’s coal – along with its palm oil and logging– contributes to Indonesia’s record-setting growth.

In Memoriam: Anna Politkovskaya

October 7 is the annual date of the death of the Russian writer and investigative journalist, Anna Politkovskaya. It was a miserable and shameful deed in 2006, which forever silenced a brave voice that is badly needed in today's Russia–and in the rest of the world, as well. Politkovskaya’s journalism not only highlighted delicate issues that post-Communist Russia wanted to remain hidden in the dark; first as an investigative reporter under the regime of President Boris Yeltsin, and then, especially, during his successor, Vladimir Putin.

A Tattooed Republic?

At the café at the train station in Yogyakarta, a man in his late twenties pulls up his left shirtsleeve. A cool breeze from a fan hits the fresh tattoo. One or two café guests cast quick, nervous glances at the man’s arm while he thanks someone else for the kind words regarding his latest acquisition — a tattoo encircled by a dark, explicit background. Why did he get the tattoo? »I love tattoos,« the man says.

Countdown to real independence

One of East Timor’s highest peaks is the mountain of Matebian; »the mountain of the dead«. It was here, surrounded by the souls of their ancestors, that the Timorese resistance movement made its last stand before the war against the Indonesian occupation forces changed into clandestine guerilla warfare. The Indonesian air force, backed by Washington, finally brought the Fretilin guerilla to its knees with napalm and bombardments over Matebian.