La marche impériale du grand-duc Georges Romanov

Le grand-duc Georges Romanov et sa fiancée, Rebecca Virginia Bettarini, le 15 septembre, dans leur appartement à Moscou. Maria Turchenkova pour Le figaro
Correspondant à Moscou
LE FIGARO : RÉCIT - Le tsarévitch, prétendant au trône impérial russe, épousera le 1er octobre à Saint-Pétersbourg la fille d’un diplomate italien. Des centaines d’invités, dont Vladimir Poutine, sont conviés à l’événement qui remet en lumière la gloire tragique et les querelles dynastiques des Romanov.

Cela fait des siècles qu’un tel événement ne s’était pas produit en ce lieu symbolique. Le 1er octobre, le grand-duc Georges Romanov, 40 ans, prétendant au trône impérial de Russie, épousera religieusement Rebecca Virginia Bettarini, 39 ans, d’origine italienne - Victoria Romanovna, selon son nom de baptême orthodoxe —, en la cathédrale Saint-Isaac de Saint-Pétersbourg. C’est au même endroit, en 1712, dans l’église de bois qui se tenait alors à la place de l’imposante basilique, que Pierre le Grand, «empereur de toutes les Russies», s’était uni officiellement à Catherine Ire.

Durant quatre siècles, la dynastie fastueuse et tragique des Romanov a incarné l’Empire et sa «monarchie absolue tempérée par l’assassinat», selon le mot acerbe du marquis de Custine. La révolution d’Octobre et son cortège d’atrocités, les décennies d’exil, puis les retrouvailles avec la Russie «nouvelle» après la chute du communisme n’ont pas anéanti la longue marche des Romanov. Ils seront des centaines d’invités, avec les représentants des principales familles royales et princières d’Europe, pour assister au mariage sur les bords de la Neva, comme l’explique le grand-duc Georges. » | Par Alain Barluet | vendredi 24 septembre 2021

Réservé aux abonnés

GBT Seniors Tell Their Stories | LA LGBT Center

An Oral History is an ongoing project of the Los Angeles LGBT Center's Senior Services Department. This short film captures the perspective of eleven LGBT seniors in Los Angeles who came of age during a time in which imprisonment, daily discrimination, physical violence and abuse were commonplace. Exemplifying elegant survival, the individuals you will meet in ‘An Oral History’, made the community we have today possible. From the "Daughters of Bilitis" and "Mattachine Society" to the marches led by Frank Kameny and Barbara Gittings, the history of the LGBT movement has often been forgotten, overlooked or ignored. This is an attempt to give voice to and shine the light on the stories and lives of these individuals.

The National Security State Is Devouring Our Democracy with Lawrence Wilkerson

Oct 16, 2020 • Co-sponsored with the Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency and the International Scene Lecture Series

WIKIPEDIA: Lawrence Wilkerson.

Merkel Departs: Political Genius or World-class Pragmatist? | To the Point

Sep 23, 2021 • From a token woman in East Germany to the leader of the free world. After four terms, or sixteen years, in office, that same Angela Merkel is stepping aside as German chancellor. So, what will her legacy be? Does she leave behind a Germany more united, or more divided? What are her greatest achievements? And her biggest mistakes? Above all, perhaps: who is the real Angela Merkel and how has she survived so long? Our guests: the Merkel biographers Ursula Weidenfeld, Ralph Bollmann and Andreas Rinke.

Russia Tightens Its Grip on the Internet

BLOOMBERG: Google’s decision to pull a protest election app from Russia before the election is significant in some surprising ways

No nation asks Google to scrub more from the internet than Russia. Over the past decade, Russian officials have requested the removal of nearly 1 million web pages, documents, apps and videos, mostly for reasons Google categorizes as "copyright" or "national security."

Last week, Russia made another request. Russian officials demanded Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Apple Inc. pull a voting app from Alexey Navalny, a jailed politician, that recommends a slate of candidates opposing President Vladimir Putin. A Russian court had ruled Navalny's app was "extremist" and requested its removal from app stores in the country. The companies complied.

It was an unprecedented intervention, and an alarming one for those who see Russia as a growing threat to internet freedoms. Armed men reportedlyspent "several hours" inside Google's Moscow office last week to enforce the order, which came with a threat to arrest Russian staff if the company didn't comply. Some Google employees protested the decision. Historically, Google officials have often spoken out about attacks on the open web—and the company's position as its defender—but Google has said nothing officially about the recent Russian incident.

Also quiet is the person from Google’s history who once had strong opinions on the topic: Sergey Brin. » | Mark Bergen | Thursday, September 23, 2021

Swedish Sticky Chocolate Cake – Kladdkaka

Get the recipe here.

WIKIPEDIA: Kladdkaka.

Is Jesus Christ Just a Myth? | Pagan Christ | Timeline

Jul 25, 2020 • There are 2.1 billion Christians on the planet—roughly one third of the entire human population. At the heart of their religion is the New Testament and the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. To Christianity, the written word is the glue that binds the faith of its followers. So, what if it could be proven that Jesus never existed? What if there was evidence that every word of the New Testament—the cornerstone of Christianity—is based on myth and metaphor? The Pagan Christ investigates these very questions. | Views on YouTube: 1,045,052

La Palma Volcano: Firefighters Retreat as Eruption Intensifies | DW News

Sep 25, 2021 • Volcanic activity on the Spanish island of La Palma has been intensifying again, prompting authorities to step up evacuations. And with ash clouds rising up to four kilometres high, flights have been cancelled for the first time since the volcano began erupting last weekend. With hundreds of homes already destroyed, the Spanish government is promising help for those affected.

La Palma residents warned of ‘evolution of volcanic emergency’: People evacuated from three towns are told they cannot return as volcano has entered new explosive phase »

Boris Johnson Is Finished - and He Knows It

Sep 25, 2021 • Boris Johnson led the Brexit campaign because he saw it as a way of advancing his own career. He expected the referendum to result in a vote to remain. Hence the look of shock on his and Michael Gove's faces the day after the referendum. But he saw an opportunity to become prime minister and pursued this.

Since then, it has become clear that he is incompetent, dishonest and a worldwide laughing stock. His incompetence has led the UK to a desperate place where prices are out of control, shortages of labour are seriously affecting many industries and there is no prospect of a return to prosperity for the UK.

The pandemic together with the sudden hike in gas prices have served to show how weak and vulnerable the UK economy is post-Brexit. The sudden increase of gas prices has gone to show how foolish it has been to allow foreign enterprises and states to buy up our utilities.

Four of the big six power companies in the UK are owned by European governments and other funds, 71% of our water companies are foreign-owned as are more than 70% of our railways.

During Johnson's ill-fated trip to New York and Washington it became clear that he is finished. He is now a loser and the whole world, and increasingly the British population, can see this. He has defeat in his eyes and he realises it is all over. The time for jokes and wisecracks is over. It is only a matter of time before backbench Tory MP's rebel and he will be soon gone.

In Britain, Rising Prices and Shortages Evoke 1970s-Style Jitters

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The nation’s economy is very different from the bleak days of the 70s, but certain parallels are unnerving Britons and loom as a potential headache for Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Motorists lining up for fuel at a gas station in London on Friday. | Daniel Leal-Olivas/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
LONDON — Long lines at gas stations, rising fuel prices, empty shelves in supermarkets and worries about runaway inflation.

Britons have emerged from 18 months of pandemic-imposed hibernation to find their country has many of the same afflictions it had during the 1970s. There is nothing Austin Powers-like about this time machine: Unlike the swinging Sixties, the Seventies were, by all accounts, some of the bleakest days in postwar Britain; even contemplating a return to them is enough to make leaders of the current government shiver.

The sudden burst of doomsaying in Britain is rooted at least as much in psychology as economics. While there is no question the country faces a confluence of problems — some caused by the pandemic, others by Brexit — experts said it was far too soon to predict that Britain was headed for the kind of economic malaise and political upheaval that characterized that decade.

“It’s a combination of things that could, in principle, lead to that, but are quite survivable on their own,” said Jonathan Portes, a professor of economics at Kings College London. “We always talk about the 1970s, but it’s half a century later, and all sorts of things are different.” » | By Mark Landler, Eshe Nelson and Jenny Gross | Friday, September 24, 2021

U.K. Economic Headaches Pile Up From Inflation to Energy Crisis: Gas crisis, Brexit, the pandemic and furlough weigh on growth / Inflation surge adds to pressure on BOE to remove stimulus »

…petrol bosses limit drivers to £30 fuel each while panic-buyers gridlock forecourts and tempers flare at the pumps »

Humorous Gay Quote

Source : Dear Straight People. With thanks.

Leaving Your Partner in No Doubt!

A great expression of love.
Very many thanks to Alex Salgues, Google Images, and Pinterest for this very expressive photo.

Liebe bedeutet…

L'amour veut dire... / Love means…
Many thanks to Andrew Grey, the author of Love Means... No Boundaries on Good Reads, and to Google Images for this expressive image.

Don Winslow Films - #MyLetterToRepublicans

"We are headed back into darkness again as a country because of lies, misinformation and gutter politics."

There’s a sucker born every minute of each and every day! – Mark

Pourquoi l’Australie a peur de la Chine

Le premier ministre australien Scott Morrison. EPA/LUKAS COCH via MaxPPP
LE FIGARO : DÉCRYPTAGE - Face à la constante montée en puissance de la Chine dans la zone indopacifique et aux tensions commerciales de plus en plus fortes entre les deux pays, l’Australie a choisi de renforcer sa coopération militaire avec les États-Unis et le Royaume-Uni.

1. Une diplomatie sous haute tension
Si la deuxième économie au monde s’intéresse particulièrement aux richesses minières et aux productions agricoles australiennes, elle ne cesse par ailleurs d’accentuer son implantation dans les pays du sud du Pacifique, voisins de l’Australie. Au point que l’île-continent - où vivent un peu plus de 25 millions d’Australiens - craint de devenir peu à peu l’arrière-pays d’une Chine de 1,4 milliard d’habitants, située à 4000 kilomètres de ses côtes. Depuis le vote, en 2017, d’une loi sur les ingérences étrangères et le financement de la vie politique qui visait particulièrement l’activisme du Parti communiste chinois en Australie, le torchon diplomatique brûle entre les deux pays.

D’autant plus qu’en arrivant à la tête du gouvernement l’année suivante, le nouveau premier ministre Scott Morrison, bien décidé à freiner les projets d’investissement chinois sur son territoire, a suivi la même ligne et multiplié les passes d’armes. Le 20 avril 2021, il a notamment mis son veto à un accord par lequel l’État de Victoria envisageait d’être partie prenante de la «nouvelle route de la soie» chinoise, provoquant une nouvelle fois la colère de Pékin. Depuis, la liste des litiges entre les deux puissances régionales n’en finit plus de s’allonger. » | Par Cyril Hofstein | vendredi 24 septembre 2021

Réservé aux abonnés

À LIRE AUSSI :

Chine contre Australie: les raisons de l’escalade »

Chopin: Nocturne No.8 In D Flat, Op.27 No.2 | Maurizio Pollini

Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group

Gipsy Kings - Trista Pena

Scenes from the film «Revenge» starring Kevin Costner and Madeleine Stowe Lyrics, music: Andre Reyes, Jacques Baliardo, Jalhoul Bouchikhi, Maurice Baliardo, Nicolas Reyes, Tonino Baliardo | Views on YouTube: 10,886,283

«Ich spreche für die Frauen», sagt der Sprecher der Taliban – was sie wollen, fragt er sie nicht

NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG: Die Taliban versprechen den Frauen Afghanistans Rechte. Doch die Erfahrung lässt bezweifeln, dass sie es ernst meinen. Das könnte ein Stolperstein für die internationale Anerkennung sein, die sie sich erhoffen.

Eine Frau sitzt verschleiert auf dem hinteren Sitz eines Motorrads. Seit die Taliban an der Macht sind, fürchten es viele Frauen, ihr Haus zu verlassen. | Bulent Kilic / AFP
Das gefürchtete Ministerium ist zurück. Über dem Eingang des einstigen Ministeriums für Frauen in Kabul prangt eine neue Tafel: Es ist jetzt das Ministerium zur «Verbreitung von Tugend und Verhinderung von Untugend». Hinter dem Namen verbirgt sich ein Ministerium, das im ersten Taliban-Emirat der neunziger Jahre Schrecken verbreitete: Frauen wurden geschlagen, wenn sie keine Burka trugen, Männer bestraft, wenn ihr Bart nicht genug lang war.

Vergangene Woche protestierte eine kleine Gruppe Frauen vor dem Gebäude, die Taliban liessen sie diesmal gewähren. Die Bilder gingen durch die Social Media und um die Welt. Eine Frau sagte der «BBC»: «Wir wollen nicht, dass das Frauenministerium entfernt wird.» Das Entfernen von Frauen bedeute das Entfernen von Menschen.

Es ist vielleicht der grösste Stolperstein des neuen Taliban-Regimes: Die Welt will wissen, welche Rechte die neuen und alten Herrscher Afghanistans den Afghaninnen gewähren. Viele Frauen haben Angst, sie fürchten einen Rückfall in die neunziger Jahre, die Zeit des ersten Emirats. » | Andreas Babst, Kandahar | Freitag, 24. September 2021

Verwandt.

How Nancy Wake Saved Countless Lives | Enemy of the Reich | Timeline

Nancy Wake: Gestapo’s Most Wanted
Jul 19, 2018 • This is the incredible true story of Nancy Wake, the daring allied spy who became the Gestapo’s most wanted woman in WWII. Codenamed ‘The White Mouse’ for her elusiveness, this international femme fatale was a key inspiration behind Sebastian Faulkes’ celebrated fictional spy Charlotte Gray.

The Buddhist View on Gay Marriage

An intellectual conversation between Khenpo Sodargye and Professor Eyal Aviv.