Monday, November 29, 2021
Marc & Roger: The Highlights of an Epic Gay Jewish Wedding | Music: Justin Timberlake - Can't Stop the Feeling
Ces jeunes hommes ont de la laine et de l’amour les garder au chaud cet hiver !
Virgil Abloh: Designer and Off-White Founder Dies Aged 41
BBC: Virgil Abloh, the Louis Vuitton artistic director and founder of the Off-White fashion label, has died from cancer aged 41, it has been announced.
Revealing the news, the French fashion house's parent company LVMH described Abloh as a "genius" and a "visionary".
The US designer came to prominence as Kanye West's creative director but later made history as the first African-American to lead Louis Vuitton.
Abloh is survived by his wife, Shannon, and their two children.
A statement on his Instagram page described him as a "fiercely devoted father, husband, son, brother, and friend".
Abloh was diagnosed with cardiac angiosarcoma - a rare, aggressive form of cancer - in 2019, but did not make the diagnosis public. » | BBC | Sunday, November 28, 2021
Sous le choc, le monde de la mode réagit au décès de Virgil Abloh, "une belle âme", "un visionnaire" : «Dévasté», «le coeur brisé», «ne pouvant y croire»... Suite à l'annonce, le 28 novembre, du décès du créateur américain Virgil Abloh, à l'âge de 41 ans, des suites d'un cancer, l'industrie de la mode a réagi sur la toile avec beaucoup d'émotion, lui rendant un hommage sincère et appuyé. »
Virgil Abloh, Barrier-Breaking Designer, Is Dead at 41: His expansive approach to design inspired comparisons to artists including Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons. For him, clothes were totems of identity. »
In a Nonbinary Pronoun, France Sees a U.S. Attack on the Republic
THE NEW YORK TIMES: When a French dictionary included the gender-nonspecific “iel” for the first time, a virulent reaction erupted over “wokisme” exported from American universities.
PARIS — Perhaps France was always going to have a hard time with nonbinary pronouns. Its language is intensely gender-specific and fiercely protected by august authorities. Still, the furor provoked by a prominent dictionary’s inclusion of the pronoun “iel” has been remarkably virulent.
Le Petit Robert, rivaled only by the Larousse in linguistic authority, chose to add “iel” — a gender-neutral merging of the masculine “il” (he) and the feminine “elle” (she) — to its latest online edition. Jean-Michel Blanquer, the education minister, was not amused.
“You must not manipulate the French language, whatever the cause,” he said, expressing support for the view that “iel” was an expression of “wokisme.”
Mr. Blanquer is seemingly convinced of a sweeping American “woke” assault on France aimed at spreading racial and gender discord over French universalism. Last month he told the daily Le Monde that a backlash against what he called woke ideology was the main factor in the 2016 victory of Donald J. Trump. » | Roger Cohen and Léontine Gallois | Sunday, November 28, 2021
Related :
L'idéologie woke à l'assaut du dictionnaire Le Robert »
PARIS — Perhaps France was always going to have a hard time with nonbinary pronouns. Its language is intensely gender-specific and fiercely protected by august authorities. Still, the furor provoked by a prominent dictionary’s inclusion of the pronoun “iel” has been remarkably virulent.
Le Petit Robert, rivaled only by the Larousse in linguistic authority, chose to add “iel” — a gender-neutral merging of the masculine “il” (he) and the feminine “elle” (she) — to its latest online edition. Jean-Michel Blanquer, the education minister, was not amused.
“You must not manipulate the French language, whatever the cause,” he said, expressing support for the view that “iel” was an expression of “wokisme.”
Mr. Blanquer is seemingly convinced of a sweeping American “woke” assault on France aimed at spreading racial and gender discord over French universalism. Last month he told the daily Le Monde that a backlash against what he called woke ideology was the main factor in the 2016 victory of Donald J. Trump. » | Roger Cohen and Léontine Gallois | Sunday, November 28, 2021
Related :
L'idéologie woke à l'assaut du dictionnaire Le Robert »
Sunday, November 28, 2021
Brexit Leaves EU-bound Christmas Presents Out in the Cold
THE OBSERVER: An increase in red tape and charges means headaches for those sending gifts to Europe
People preparing to send Christmas parcels to family and friends in Europe face being caught out by post-Brexit red tape and charges that threaten to take some of the joy out of gift-giving.
A warning has also been sounded that some of those who have sent gifts to the EU this year have encountered problems ranging from delays and unexpected charges to items going missing.
This will be the first time most people have encountered rules that came in this year relating to VAT and customs charges applying to items being posted to the EU.
The consumer organisation Which? told the Observer that its research indicates the vast majority of people know little or nothing about the new rules. “The changes brought about by Brexit have created a greater burden of customs paperwork for consumers and couriers alike,” said Adam French, Which? consumer rights expert. “You now have to attach customs declaration forms to anything you send, very clearly describing what it is and where it has originated from.” » | Rupert Jones | Sunday, November 28, 2021
People preparing to send Christmas parcels to family and friends in Europe face being caught out by post-Brexit red tape and charges that threaten to take some of the joy out of gift-giving.
A warning has also been sounded that some of those who have sent gifts to the EU this year have encountered problems ranging from delays and unexpected charges to items going missing.
This will be the first time most people have encountered rules that came in this year relating to VAT and customs charges applying to items being posted to the EU.
The consumer organisation Which? told the Observer that its research indicates the vast majority of people know little or nothing about the new rules. “The changes brought about by Brexit have created a greater burden of customs paperwork for consumers and couriers alike,” said Adam French, Which? consumer rights expert. “You now have to attach customs declaration forms to anything you send, very clearly describing what it is and where it has originated from.” » | Rupert Jones | Sunday, November 28, 2021
The Nature of Neoliberalism and Its Consequences
Nov 11, 2021 • On the show, Chris Hedges discusses the nature of neoliberalism and its consequences with Professor Wendy Brown*, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University.
Does the eruption of ethnonationalist movements defined by hyper-patriotism, xenophobia, racism, religious chauvinism, and so-called traditional moral values signal the end of neoliberalism? Or are these protofascist movements, the natural consequence of neoliberal policies that allowed corporations to corrupt and seize governing institutions and the press, impoverish the working class, and orchestrate the largest transference of wealth upwards in American history?
There is no doubt, as the political scientist Wendy Brown writes, that the constellation of principles, policies, practices, and forms of governing reason that may be gathered under the sign of neoliberalism has importantly constituted the catastrophic present, but, she argues, this was not neoliberalism’s intent, rather its Frankensteinian creation.
By generating anti-democratic forms of state power above its natural consequence, she argues, it was antidemocratic culture from below. The synergy between these two forces sees an increasingly undemocratic and anti-democratic citizenry ever more willing to validate an increasingly anti-democratic state.
• Professor Wendy Brown teaches at the Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton University and isthe author of In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise of Antidemocratic Politics in the West.
Does the eruption of ethnonationalist movements defined by hyper-patriotism, xenophobia, racism, religious chauvinism, and so-called traditional moral values signal the end of neoliberalism? Or are these protofascist movements, the natural consequence of neoliberal policies that allowed corporations to corrupt and seize governing institutions and the press, impoverish the working class, and orchestrate the largest transference of wealth upwards in American history?
There is no doubt, as the political scientist Wendy Brown writes, that the constellation of principles, policies, practices, and forms of governing reason that may be gathered under the sign of neoliberalism has importantly constituted the catastrophic present, but, she argues, this was not neoliberalism’s intent, rather its Frankensteinian creation.
By generating anti-democratic forms of state power above its natural consequence, she argues, it was antidemocratic culture from below. The synergy between these two forces sees an increasingly undemocratic and anti-democratic citizenry ever more willing to validate an increasingly anti-democratic state.
• Professor Wendy Brown teaches at the Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton University and isthe author of In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise of Antidemocratic Politics in the West.
L’Angleterre sonne l’alarme et renoue avec le port du masque obligatoire
LE FIGARO : Critiqué pour avoir été lent à réagir au début de l’épidémie, le gouvernement britannique a voulu, cette fois, réagir vite.
Encore traumatisés par un Noël 2020 plombé par la fulgurante apparition du «variant anglais», les Britanniques s’alarment aujourd’hui pour les fêtes qui viennent. Boris Johnson les a assurés que la période serait plus festive que l’année dernière mais toute la presse faisait sa une sur de possibles projets de vacances torpillés. Et l’île recommence à se barricader. Face à la menace du variant Omicron, Boris Johnson s’est résolu à prendre des mesures qu’il s’interdisait trois jours auparavant.
L’apparition dans le royaume de trois cas Omicron - tous liés à un voyage en Afrique australe -, a tiré la sonnette d’alarme. Le premier ministre Boris Johnson a annoncé samedi durcir les mesures d’entrée en Angleterre à partir de mardi. Tous les voyageurs entrant dans le pays devront passer un test PCR deux jours après leur arrivée et s’isoler dans l’attente des résultats. Les mesures aux frontières avaient été relâchées cet été, seul un test antigénique était requis sans nécessité d’isolement. Londres a aussi mis sur une «liste rouge» dix pays d’Afrique australe. Par ailleurs, le port du masque va de nouveau être obligatoire dans les magasins et les transports en commun. » | Par Arnaud De La Grange | dimanche 28 novembre 2021
Réservé aux abonnés
Sterben im Ärmelkanal: Das europäische Asylrecht wird missbraucht
NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG: Nach dem Untergang eines Migrantenbootes im Ärmelkanal geraten die Politiker in London und Paris aneinander. Hilfreicher wäre es, sie würden besser zusammenarbeiten, um den Grenzschutz zu stärken und den Missbrauch des Asylrechts einzuschränken.
Es war nur eine Frage der Zeit, bis eine solche Tragödie passieren würde. 27 Menschen sind diese Woche in einer Nacht gestorben, als ihr Gummiboot beim Übersetzen über den Ärmelkanal nach England Luft verloren hatte und gesunken war. So viele Opfer sind noch nie gezählt worden bei einem Unglück auf diesem vielbefahrenen Gewässer.
Und wie reagieren die Politiker in Frankreich und Grossbritannien darauf? Premierminister Boris Johnson publiziert einen an Präsident Macron gerichteten offenen Brief auf Twitter, in dem er reichlich plump von den Franzosen fordert, sie sollten alle über den Kanal nach Grossbritannien gelangten Migranten umgehend zurücknehmen. Auf diese Weise, so doziert Johnson scheinheilig, könne das Problem rasch gelöst werden. Dabei muss auch ihm klar sein, dass die Franzosen kein Interesse haben, das Migrationsproblem der Briten einfach bei sich ansammeln zu lassen.
Präsident Macron wies das Schreiben umgehend als doppelzüngiges Gerede zurück. Der französische Innenminister Gérald Darmanin lud flugs seine britische Amtskollegin Priti Patel von einem für Sonntag geplanten Krisentreffen europäischer Innenminister in Calais aus. So wird man des Problems der lebensgefährlichen Überfahrten über den Ärmelkanal gewiss nicht Herr. » | Peter Rásonyi | Freitag, 26. November 2021
Frankreich fordert von Großbritannien legale Migrationswege: Nach dem Tod von Migranten im Ärmelkanal verlangt Paris eine Reform der britischen Asylgesetzgebung. Sie lasse derzeit keine andere Möglichkeit als die illegale Einreise zu, sagt Innenminister Darmanin. »
Crise des migrants : Darmanin appelle le Royaume-Uni à «prendre ses responsabilités»
LE FIGARO : À l'issue de la réunion de crise sur les migrants qui s'est tenue ce dimanche à Calais, le ministre de l'Intérieur a déclaré que la France ne devait pas être «l'otage de la politique intérieure» du Royaume-Uni.
«La Grande-Bretagne doit prendre ses responsabilités», a affirmé Gérald Darmanin à l'issue de la réunion de crise sur les migrants menée à Calais avec d'autres représentants européens. Le ministre de l'Intérieur a toutefois assuré que cette réunion n'était pas «antianglaise, mais proeuropéenne». «Nous devons travailler avec nos amis britanniques. Ils doivent nous aider collectivement à mieux lutter contre les passeurs», a-t-il poursuivi. La réunion d'urgence s'est tenue à la suite de la mort de 27 migrants lors du naufrage d'un bateau pneumatique dans la Manche mercredi. Regarder la vidéo » | Par Le Figaro | dimanche 28 novembre 2021
USA: Gay Marriage Becomes Law [in 2015]
This whole video is interesting, but what is particularly interesting is Rabbi Mark Golub’s modern and progressive take on gay marriage which features towards the end of this video. – Mark
Jewish 101: Ep. 17 - Sex in Judaism
I post this video because much in it is so different from the Christian view and perspective. Indeed, much of it is in stark contrast with the Christian view of sexual desire and behaviour. It is most interesting to learn a completely different approach to this issue. Listening to what this rabbi has to say on the matter is well worth your time. – Mark
As Buyer’s Remorse Begins to Stalk Even Ardent Brexiters, They Can No Longer Indulge in Fantasy
THE OBSERVER: The government has to give up on playing games and start to make deals with the EU
Brexit isn’t working. We were sold a false prospectus. Businesses, especially small and medium-size ones, are reeling. They are absorbing unwanted costs; paying hidden tariffs; suffering hitherto avoidable checks on exports; moving factories, depots and offices to within the EU; shedding workers and haemorrhaging orders. Children’s school trips to and from Europe have collapsed. It takes months to get a visa. British science remains outside the EU’s Horizon programme, the biggest international science programme in the world. So it goes on.
As importantly, centuries of British statecraft, aimed at building alliances in Europe with whatever constellation of countries best suited our interests, has been shattered. Britain’s leaders, from Pitt and Palmerston to Churchill, all understood the vital need to engage with Europe. Now, Ireland’s taoiseach, Micheál Martin, or France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, are vastly strengthened, securely knowing they have the entire EU behind them. Whether attempting to solve the cross-Channel migrant crisis or trying to join Horizon, bellicose jingoism is not only crass – it has no hope of achieving the results we want. Britain is suddenly diminished even if our Brexit leaders have yet to realise how little Britain has become.
These realities can’t be disguised for much longer. The Brexit minister, David Frost, felt the need at last week’s one-day Margaret Thatcher conference on trade to argue that success, clearly elusive, would need Britain to overcome “the forces of entropy, of laziness, of vested interest”, his blather signifying desperation and beleaguerment. The “vested interests” are no more than businesses bewildered by rising costs and diminished opportunity. The Spectator’s editor, Fraser Nelson, who had earlier chaired a debate between Vince Cable and veteran Brexiter Daniel Hannan, admitted in a Telegraph column entitled “Was I right to support Brexit?” that he found himself challenging Hannan more than Cable. Where were the sunlit uplands we were promised? From Global Britain to unleashed freedom to “liberalise, innovate and grow” the Brexit project was sinking. Even Keir Starmer at last felt emboldened at the CBI conference to begin to exploit such fertile ground; Labour had a plan to make Brexit work, which the government evidently hadn’t, he argued. » | Will Hutton, Observer columnist | Sunday, Novermber 28, 2021
Brexit was a silly idea from the very start. The Brexit referendum should never have been held. The referendum asked the electorate to vote on something they knew little or nothing about. Therefore, when many people voted for Brexit, they voted based on emotion rather than fact. They couldn’t vote on facts, because they had been given few to contemplate. Any ‘facts’ they were given were “alternative facts”!
No voter with any understanding of economics or geopolitics would ever have voted to come out of the world’s greatest single market: the Single Market.
The electorate shouldn’t be blamed for this blunder. Why? Because they were lied to by Brexit zealots – the people at the top who wanted to make a Brexit killing. They wanted to line their own pockets; the rest be damned.
Britain’s place is in Europe. Even Margaret Thatcher saw that; and she was no real fan of the European Union. But, in fairness to her, she worked tirelessly to bring about the Single Market. She was no federalist; but she was all for making it easy for business and commerce, all for tearing down impediments to free trade. She knew it would bring the UK prosperity. And it did.
Current Tories have done the very opposite: They have destroyed what Margaret Thatcher worked so hard to create. It is far easier to destroy than it is to create and build. That is a well-known fact of life.
The bottom line is this: The electorate were lied to. The result for the United Kingdom is simple to understand. Brexit will impoverish the nation. In fact, more than this, it might even break up the nation. The unintended consequences of stupidity! – © Mark
Brexit isn’t working. We were sold a false prospectus. Businesses, especially small and medium-size ones, are reeling. They are absorbing unwanted costs; paying hidden tariffs; suffering hitherto avoidable checks on exports; moving factories, depots and offices to within the EU; shedding workers and haemorrhaging orders. Children’s school trips to and from Europe have collapsed. It takes months to get a visa. British science remains outside the EU’s Horizon programme, the biggest international science programme in the world. So it goes on.
As importantly, centuries of British statecraft, aimed at building alliances in Europe with whatever constellation of countries best suited our interests, has been shattered. Britain’s leaders, from Pitt and Palmerston to Churchill, all understood the vital need to engage with Europe. Now, Ireland’s taoiseach, Micheál Martin, or France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, are vastly strengthened, securely knowing they have the entire EU behind them. Whether attempting to solve the cross-Channel migrant crisis or trying to join Horizon, bellicose jingoism is not only crass – it has no hope of achieving the results we want. Britain is suddenly diminished even if our Brexit leaders have yet to realise how little Britain has become.
These realities can’t be disguised for much longer. The Brexit minister, David Frost, felt the need at last week’s one-day Margaret Thatcher conference on trade to argue that success, clearly elusive, would need Britain to overcome “the forces of entropy, of laziness, of vested interest”, his blather signifying desperation and beleaguerment. The “vested interests” are no more than businesses bewildered by rising costs and diminished opportunity. The Spectator’s editor, Fraser Nelson, who had earlier chaired a debate between Vince Cable and veteran Brexiter Daniel Hannan, admitted in a Telegraph column entitled “Was I right to support Brexit?” that he found himself challenging Hannan more than Cable. Where were the sunlit uplands we were promised? From Global Britain to unleashed freedom to “liberalise, innovate and grow” the Brexit project was sinking. Even Keir Starmer at last felt emboldened at the CBI conference to begin to exploit such fertile ground; Labour had a plan to make Brexit work, which the government evidently hadn’t, he argued. » | Will Hutton, Observer columnist | Sunday, Novermber 28, 2021
Brexit was a silly idea from the very start. The Brexit referendum should never have been held. The referendum asked the electorate to vote on something they knew little or nothing about. Therefore, when many people voted for Brexit, they voted based on emotion rather than fact. They couldn’t vote on facts, because they had been given few to contemplate. Any ‘facts’ they were given were “alternative facts”!
No voter with any understanding of economics or geopolitics would ever have voted to come out of the world’s greatest single market: the Single Market.
The electorate shouldn’t be blamed for this blunder. Why? Because they were lied to by Brexit zealots – the people at the top who wanted to make a Brexit killing. They wanted to line their own pockets; the rest be damned.
Britain’s place is in Europe. Even Margaret Thatcher saw that; and she was no real fan of the European Union. But, in fairness to her, she worked tirelessly to bring about the Single Market. She was no federalist; but she was all for making it easy for business and commerce, all for tearing down impediments to free trade. She knew it would bring the UK prosperity. And it did.
Current Tories have done the very opposite: They have destroyed what Margaret Thatcher worked so hard to create. It is far easier to destroy than it is to create and build. That is a well-known fact of life.
The bottom line is this: The electorate were lied to. The result for the United Kingdom is simple to understand. Brexit will impoverish the nation. In fact, more than this, it might even break up the nation. The unintended consequences of stupidity! – © Mark
The Saudi Arabian Tyrant Silencing His Critics with Savagery | 60 Minutes Australia
Jewish 101: Ep. 03 – Our Obsession
Even though I am not a Jew, I find this rabbi so inspiring. He sets out in plain terms what a Jew really is. I believe that this is a very valuable lesson for us all. There are so many misconceptions about the nature of Judaism.
I find this gentleman so inspiring that he brings tears to my eyes. – Mark
Saturday, November 27, 2021
Jewish 101: Ep. 02 – What Is a Jew?
Arnold Schwarzenegger Calls Leaders 'Liars' over Climate Change - BBC News
Johannes Brahms : Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15 - Maurizio Pollini
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)