Johnson Faces Trust Crisis as Sleaze Shatters Faith in MPs

THE OBSERVER: Poll reveals huge public cynicism, with just 5% of respondents believing politicians work for public good

Boris Johnson campaigning in the North Shropshire byelection, which was called following the resignation of Owen Paterson. Photograph: Andrew Parsons CCHQ/Parsons Media
Trust in politicians to act in the national interest rather than for themselves has fallen dramatically since Boris Johnson became prime minister, according to figures contained in a disturbing new study into the state of British democracy.

The polling data from YouGov for the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) shows a particularly sharp fall in trust in the few weeks since the Owen Paterson scandal triggered a rash of Tory sleaze scandals.

In 2014, when David Cameron was prime minister, 48% of voters believed politicians were “out merely for themselves” as opposed to their country or party. This had increased to 57% by May 2021 after nearly two years of Johnson in No 10, and leapt to 63% last week in the wake of the Paterson affair. In the same poll, just 5% of voters thought politicians were in the job primarily for the good of their country.

While the polls have asked about politicians of all colours, the main opposition parties now believe the Tories are particularly vulnerable on questions of trust and sleaze, offering them a chance to break through. » | Toby Helm and Michael Savage | Saturday, November 4, 2021

Why trust politicians? How UK voters lost faith in our leaders: More people than ever before feel disaffected by our political system. But what are the reasons for this and what risks does it pose? »

One thing is for sure: history will not be kind to Boris Johnson. In years to come, pages in the history books describing his administration will be stamped with the words ‘sleaze and corruption’. In addition, the chapters written on Brexit will be stamped almost certainly with the following words: sleazy, corrupt, undemocratic, ‘financed by foreigners’.

Johnson’s apparent victory is but an illusion. One day, it will be shown to have been pyrrhic. – © Mark

Konsum im Zeitalter der Aufklärung | Geschichte schreiben | ARTE

Dec 5, 2021 • Mit der Kunst- und Wissenschaftshistorikerin Noémi Etienne als Gast wird in der heutigen Folge gezeigt, wie im 18. Jahrhundert bedruckte Stoffe ihren Weg aus Indien nach Europa fanden. Der Handel mit den Stoffen fand schon damals auf globaler Ebene statt und leistete so einen entscheidenden Beitrag zur Globalisierung der heutigen Zeit.

Die sogenannten Indienne-Stoffe sind Baumwollstoffe, die in bunten Farben und Mustern bemalt oder bedruckt sind. Wie der Name schon sagt, stammen sie ursprünglich aus Indien, wobei sich ihr Trend im 18. Jahrhundert bis nach Europa ausbreitete. Dort standen sie hoch im Kurs – sowohl als Kleiderstoff in bürgerlichen Kreisen als auch als Bezüge für verschiedene Möbel. Mit der Kunst- und Wissenschaftshistorikerin Noémi Etienne als Gast wird in der heutigen Folge von "Geschichte schreiben" gezeigt, wie die bedruckten Stoffe ihren Weg nach Europa fanden. Der Handel mit den Stoffen fand schon damals auf globaler Ebene statt und leistete so einen entscheidenden Beitrag zur Globalisierung der heutigen Zeit. Da sie zunächst vordergründig in Asien produziert wurden, um dann nach Europa importiert zu werden, gelten die Indienne-Stoffe als erster Schritt in Richtung der sogenannten Fast Fashion, wie wir sie derzeit kennen. Die französische YouTuberin Manon Bril schlägt an dieser Stelle die Brücke zwischen der Geschichte und dem digitalen Zeitalter der Gegenwart. "Indienne-Stoffe - Konsum im Zeitalter der Aufklärung" veranschaulicht die Geschichte der Indienne-Stoffe und zieht Paralellen zur heutigen Fast-Fashion-Industrie.

Dokureihe, Regie: Tamara Erde (F 2020, 18 Min)

UK’s Progress on Covid Now Squandered, Warns Top Scientist

THE GUARDIAN: Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of Wellcome Trust, suggests emergence of Omicron variant means pandemic is far from over

Farrar warned that rich countries had ‘a very blinkered domestic focus’ over Covid. Photograph: Nic Bothma/EPA
The emergence of the Omicron variant shows that the world is “closer to the start of the pandemic than the end”, one of Britain’s most senior scientific figures has warned, as he lamented a lack of political leadership over Covid.

Sir Jeremy Farrar, the director of the Wellcome Trust who stepped down as a government scientific adviser last month, said the progress in combatting Covid-19 since its emergence was “being squandered”.

Writing in the Observer, he said rich countries had been taking “a very blinkered domestic focus, lulled into thinking that the worst of the pandemic was behind us”. He said while he was cautiously hopeful that current vaccines would protect against severe illness from Omicron, that may not be true for future variants.

“The longer this virus continues to spread in largely unvaccinated populations globally, the more likely it is that a variant that can overcome our vaccines and treatments will emerge,” he writes. “If that happens, we could be close to square one. » | Michael Savage, Robin McKie | Saturday, December 4, 2021

Autriche : des dizaines de milliers de manifestants contre les mesures prises face au Covid-19

Plusieurs arrestations ont eu lieu pour troubles à l'ordre public. FLORIAN WIESER / APA / AFP
LE FIGARO : Des dizaines de milliers de personnes ont manifesté samedi en Autriche pour le troisième week-end consécutif contre les mesures gouvernementales de lutte contre le coronavirus, notamment la vaccination qui sera obligatoire à partir de février, a annoncé la police.

Plusieurs arrestations ont eu lieu pour troubles à l'ordre public, selon la police qui a recensé «plus de 40.000» manifestants à Vienne, après plusieurs rassemblements dans la capitale. Selon la police, certains manifestants ont jeté des «engins pyrotechniques» sur les forces de l'ordre qui ont répliqué par l'usage de gaz poivre et une contre-manifestation a rassemblé 1500 personnes. » | Par Le Figaro avec AFP | samedi 4 décembre 2021

Le bitcoin s'effondre soudainement, rattrapé par le coup de froid sur les marchés

LE FIGARO : La cryptomonnaie a perdu 10.000 dollars en moins d'une heure, avant de se reprendre un peu.

Le bitcoin a perdu 10.000 dollars en moins d'une heure dans la nuit de vendredi à samedi, soit près de 20%, avant de se reprendre un peu mais restait affecté par la prudence prévalant sur les marchés financiers. Vers 16h GMT samedi, la devise virtuelle s'échangeait à 48.210 dollars, en baisse de 10% par rapport à vendredi soir. Vers 5h GMT, il avait soudainement chuté jusqu'à 42.296 dollars, sans explication particulière a priori. » | Par Le Figaro avec AFP | samedi 4 décembre 2021

Almost $12,000 wiped off value of bitcoin in weekend ‘thumping’: Cryptocurrency settles to just below $50,000 after record-high last month, in continuation of recent volatility »

Dimitra’s Dishes: Greek Mini Olive Pies: Eliopitakia | Vegan (Optional)

Get the recipe here.

Boris Johnson, the 'Clown' - Mistakes, Misjudgments, U-turns and Lies

Dec 4, 2021 • Boris Johnson, surely the worst prime minister ever, is not only dishonest but also incompetent making mistakes, misjudgments and U-turns almost every day.

Brexit, confrontation with the EU and especially with France, failure to resolve the Northern Ireland issue, failing to agree any serious new trade deals and the complete mishandling of the pandemic, whereby we have the second or third highest levels of new cases almost every day amounting to 40 - 50,000 cases per day. In three weeks, that’s a million cases! These are all problems caused, or made worse, by the prime minister.

Unlike countries throughout the EU such as Italy and France, this government half-heartedly brings in a new law making it obligatory to wear a mask in shops and on public transport. The public, seeing how the prime minister and Conservative politicians flout such regulations do the same.

In the past week Johnson has been called a liar in Parliament and the French president has described him as a clown running a circus and a knucklehead.

Wie krank ist Homo-Heilung? | Doku | ARTE

May 19, 2021 • In Deutschland hat das Bundeskabinett am 18. Dezember 2019 einem Gesetzentwurf von Gesundheitsminister Jens Spahn zugestimmt, der sogenannte Konversionstherapien verbietet. Denn bis heute gibt es weltweit Geistliche und Therapeuten, die Menschen von ihrer homosexuellen Orientierung "heilen" wollen - mit gravierenden psychischen und gesundheitlichen Folgen für die Betroffenen

Der investigative Dokumentarfilm spürt Netzwerke auf, die äußerst fragwürdige Konversionstherapien betreiben – mit gravierenden psychischen und gesundheitlichen Folgen für die Betroffenen. Elektroschocks, frontale Lobotomien, Hormonbehandlungen und Aversionstherapien – seit Homosexualität in der WHO-Klassifizierung nicht mehr als psychische Erkrankung geführt wird, gelten diese dubiosen Praktiken eigentlich als verschwunden. Doch an ihre Stelle sind andere, ebenso grausame und menschenverachtende Methoden getreten, die weiterhin weltweit verbreitet werden. Wie es um solche Pseudotherapien steht, haben Bernard Nicolas und sein Journalistenteam zwei Jahre lang in den USA, in Frankreich, Deutschland, Polen und der Schweiz ermittelt. In den Vereinigten Staaten bekennen sich evangelikale Vereinigungen lautstark zu ihren Praktiken. In Frankreich, Deutschland und der Schweiz dagegen verhalten sich Katholiken und Evangelikale zurückhaltender, selbst wenn einige dieser „Heiler“ hohes Ansehen genießen und ein florierendes Geschäft betreiben. Der Dokumentarfilm enthält erschütternde Aussagen von Opfern, die erstmals vor der Kamera über die von ihnen erlittenen Qualen sprechen. So berichtet Benoit, dass ihn seine streng katholischen Eltern vom 15. bis zum 18. Lebensjahr in ein Sommerlager für Homosexuelle schickten, die dort umerzogen werden sollten. Deb, die Tochter eines evangelikalen Paares aus Arkansas, verfiel nach schlimmen Exorzismus-Sitzungen in eine tiefe Depression. Auch Jean-Michel erlitt die verheerenden Auswirkungen von Teufelsaustreibungen; er wähnte sich lange vom Dämon der Homosexualität besessen und lank>seiner Religion hielt. Ewa wiederum musste qualvolle Heilungsmessen, Umerziehungslager und Elektroschocks über sich ergehen lassen, die sie von ihrer Homosexualität „erlösen“ sollten.

Dokumentarfilm von Bernard Nicolas (F 2019, 90 Min)

Das Einbetten dieses Dokumentarfilms ist nicht erlaubt. Deshalb muß er an YouTube selber angesehen werden. Hier ist ein Link dazu. – Mark

In France, a Right-Wing Polemicist Tries Channeling De Gaulle to Win Votes

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Éric Zemmour has adopted imagery reminiscent of Charles de Gaulle, the wartime leader. But his call for reborn glory for France is sharply at odds with the realities of the country today.

PARIS — The retro choreography was heavy-handed, its intent obvious: Éric Zemmour in a dark tie, eyes averted from the camera, reading into an old-fashioned microphone from sheets of paper, just like Charles de Gaulle in his famous speech from London on June 18, 1940, when he called for the liberation of a fallen France.

Mr. Zemmour is not a towering general, and France is not on its knees. But Mr. Zemmour, the far-right polemicist who this week announced his run for next year’s presidential election, understands the power of provocative imagery. Effrontery and scandal have propelled his outsider candidacy.

His campaign-launching video was a nationalistic call for reborn French glory. From Joan of Arc to the singer Johnny Hallyday, from Napoleon Bonaparte to Brigitte Bardot, from Voltaire to Versailles, from Notre Dame to village church bells, it took viewers on a tour of Mr. Zemmour’s imaginary France.

The France that — in the telling of this Jewish journalist of North African descent whose family arrived in France 70 years ago — existed before immigrants, Muslim veils, vandalism and mealy-mouthed elites led the country to its most recent strange defeat. » | Roger Cohen | Saturday, December 4, 2021

Anti-Semitism: 2021 Likely to Be 'the Worst Year on Record'

The related BBC webpage here.

It Is Impossible to Work Seriously with Boris Johnson’s Government

THE GUARDIAN: On refugees, fishing and the NI protocol, we need cooperation. But Britain and France are a long way from an entente cordiale

Macron said of Johnson’s letter tweet: “I am surprised when methods are not serious. One does not communicate on those issues, from one leader to another, via tweets or by a letter made public.” Photograph: Alastair Grant/PA
Britain and France have a long and intertwined history, encompassing great friendship and solidarity as well as war and rivalry. This was evident most recently following terrorist attacks in our respective countries. It’s a relationship that can still be characterised as “sweet enemies”, as Philip Sidney put it in a sonnet in 1591.

We are twin countries, with more or less the same population, similar economies, and the same status on the world stage, as permanent members of the United Nations security council, and nuclear countries with military projection capability. As members of the same international organisations, we have often held the same positions, and coordinated closely. This respect and cooperative spirit have been particularly strong among diplomats from our two nations.

Any prejudices and mockery have remained mostly friendly, or been delivered with a touch of humour – as in 2012, when both Boris Johnson and David Cameron riled François Hollande’s government by saying they would “roll out the red carpet” for French businessmen who were being highly taxed in France. The then French Minister of Labour, Michel Sapin, rejoindered: “Frankly, I don’t understand how you can unfurl a red carpet across the Channel. It could get quite wet.” » | Sylvie Bermann | Saturday, December 4, 2021

Sylvie Bermann is a former French ambassador to the UK

France rejects idea of joint patrols with UK forces on Calais coast: Boris Johnson proposal rebuffed with suggestion he offer legal alternatives to reduce risky Channel crossings »

Emmanuel Macron Accused of Trying to ‘Rehabilitate’ Mohammed bin Salman

THE GUARDIAN: Human rights groups criticise French president’s planned meeting with crown prince in Saudi Arabia

The meeting on Saturday will mark the first one-on-one between the crown prince and a major western leader since the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi. Photograph: Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters
Human rights groups have criticised Emmanuel Macron’s planned meeting with Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, which will mark the first one-on-one public meeting of a major western leader with the crown prince since the state-sponsored assassination of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

For three years since the 2018 murder, western heads of state have avoided direct one-on-one meetings with the crown prince in the kingdom. The US president, Joe Biden, has even avoided speaking to the future king in what has widely been seen as an attempt to avoid conferring legitimacy on the de facto ruler.

But Macron’s move suggests at least one major western leader is ready to formally re-establish ties to the crown prince directly, less than a year after US intelligence agencies released a report stating they believed that Prince Mohammed had approved the murder of Khashoggi. » | Angelique Chrisafis in Paris and Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington | Friday, December 3, 2021

Emmanuel Macron entame une visite contestée en Arabie saoudite : Le président français est l’un des premiers dirigeants occidentaux à rencontrer le prince héritier Mohammed Ben Salmane depuis l’assassinat, en 2018, du journaliste saoudien Jamal Khashoggi. »

Élysée : Depuis Djeddah, le Président Emmanuel Macron répond aux questions de la presse. »

En dix mois, Joe Biden a déçu une grande partie des Américains

Joe Biden quitte la Maison-Blanche, jeudi, pour aller visiter les Instituts de santé américains. NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP
LE FIGARO : RÉCIT - Covid, inflation, immigration, politique étrangère ou réformes intérieures: le président démocrate n’est pas jugé à la hauteur de ses promesses.

De notre correspondant à Washington
Il avait fait campagne sur le retour de la compétence à la Maison-Blanche, le rétablissement d’une certaine normalité et l’apaisement des divisions partisanes. Un an plus tard, Joe Biden n’a guère convaincu, ni par ses qualités de gestionnaire, ni sur sa capacité à tourner la page de la pandémie, et les États-Unis sont plus polarisés que jamais sur presque tous les sujets.

Une récente défaite électorale en Virginie en septembre, et une autre évitée in extremis dans le New Jersey, deux États remportés par Biden en 2020, ont créé un début de panique chez les démocrates. Ces résultats sont de mauvais augure pour les élections de mi-mandat de l’année prochaine, traditionnellement difficiles pour le parti au pouvoir. Détenant une très faible majorité au Congrès, les démocrates craignent de la perdre au Sénat comme à la Chambre. Et l’élection présidentielle de 2024 est aussi dans les esprits. Même si le président, qui vient d’avoir 79 ans, a l’intention de se représenter, la question d’une éventuelle relève se pose. » | Par Adrien Jaulmes | vendredi 3 décembre 2021

Réservé aux abonnés

Fall Osman Kavala: Europarat leitet Strafverfahren gegen die Türkei ein | DW Nachrichten

Dec 3, 2021 • Der Europarat hat wegen der anhaltenden Inhaftierung des türkischen Kulturförderers und Menschenrechtsaktivisten Osman Kavala ein Strafverfahren gegen die Türkei eingeleitet. Das Ministerkomitee mit Vertretern der 47 Mitgliedsstaaten forderte in Straßburg die Regierung in Ankara zugleich auf, bis zum 19. Januar ihren Standpunkt darzulegen, wie das Gremium mitteilte.

Doch die politische Führung unter Präsident Recep Tayyip Erdogan gibt sich hartleibig: Die anhaltende Inhaftierung Kavalas sei eine Sache der "unabhängigen Justiz" in der Türkei, bekräftigte sie jüngst. Ankara ermahnte den Europarat, auf jegliche "Einmischung" in türkische Justizangelegenheiten zu verzichten.

"Im schlimmsten Fall droht der Türkei ein Rausschmiss aus dem Europarat," sagt DW-Korrespondentin Julia Hahn.

Our Persian-American Wedding | Jonathan and Zachary Kiani | @jonkiani

After the outpouring of love and support we've received over the last few days. We felt compelled to share the entirety of what was truly the most special night of both our lives.

It is not lost on us how blessed we've been. To have the full unconditional support of all our loved ones is beyond priceless. Many still yearn for that reality. But in that evening, it was clear; a brighter future, void of ignorance and bigotry, familiar to far too many, is attainable. We love you all and are forever thankful.

(A huge thank you to our godmother and officiant, Ms. Shohreh Aghdashloo)

Instagram: @jonkiani

When a Far-right Candidate Has ‘le buzz’, France Shouldn’t Take Young People for Granted

THE GUARDIAN – OPINION: The youth movement around Éric Zemmour, though small, is an indication that this deeply political generation can also be nihilistic

A placard saying, ‘Stop spreading hatred, Monsieur Zemmour’, at a rally to mark Éric Zemmour’s visit to Geneva last week. Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

They all rolled their eyes when I asked them what they thought of Éric Zemmour, the smirking far-right polemicist running for president. My students thought he was racist and wrote him off as a crank. They hated Marine Le Pen of the far-right Rassemblement National (National Rally) but took her seriously. You had to accept that she was part of the political furniture, but this guy was beyond the pale. He had, after all, been convicted of hate speech.

Yet even then he was depressingly mainstream, writing bestsellers containing Vichy apologia and hate-filled screeds against feminism and homosexuality. He had a column at Le Figaro where he penned conspiratorial pieces arguing that Christianity had made France but Islam was trying to break it. Recently, Zemmour has become a semi-permanent TV fixture. A murky infrastructure of donors and online shock troops supporting him has emerged, and he tours France meeting fans.

Zemmour’s politics are horribly nihilistic. His ideas are straight from extremist Renaud Camus’ “great replacement” theory of a concerted demographic annihilation of white Europeans by immigration. Although his new book, La France n’a pas dit son dernier mot (France Has Not Spoken Its Last Word), is tinged marginally with optimism, his conclusion about the supposed renaissance ignores living standards and lapses into a war cry against foreigners and those who dare object to police brutality.

He is frequently compared to Donald Trump, though politically Zemmour is a different beast. He is, in his own words, engaged in a Gramscian struggle over culture. His strategy seems more considered than Trump’s spasmodic demagoguery. » | Oliver Haynes | Thursday, December 2, 2021

This article was highly commended in the Guardian Foundation’s 2021 Hugo Young award, which champions political opinion writing among 18- to 25-year-olds

From Abortion Bans to Anti-Trans Laws, a Christian Legal Army Is Waging War on America

As the Supreme Court looks poised to uphold Mississipi’s 15-week abortion ban and possibly overturn Roe v. Wade we speak to The Nation’s Amy Littlefield about her investigation into the Christian legal army behind the Mississippi law as well as anti-trans laws across the country. She also critiques the mainstream pro-choice movement’s failure to center the poor and people of color. “There is a change coming within the movement because of its reckoning with these past missteps including, frankly, the failure to adequately protect Black women and to stand up for the safety of the people whose rights were eroded first,” says Littlefield.

After nullifying abortion rights in the USA, extreme Christians will come after LGBT rights. You’d better believe it! Get ready for the fight! This side of the Atlantic, I wouldn't trust Éric Zemmour on LGBT rights either. He's also too extreme for comfort. – © Mark

TGF ! And TG It’s Absolut o’Clock Again !

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Democracy Now! Top US News & World Headlines — December 3, 2021

Dimitra’s Dishes: No-Bake Chocolate Biscuit Cake: Greek Mosaiko

Get the recipe here.