Bitcoin Could Become ‘Worthless’, Bank of England Warns

THE GUARDIAN: People investing in the cryptocurrency should be aware of risks, central bank says

Bitcoin peaked above $67,000 a piece in early November but could ‘practically drop to zero’, said the Bank of England’s deputy governor, Sir John Cunliffe. Illustration: Dado Ruvić/Reuters
The Bank of England has said that bitcoin could be “worthless” and people investing in the digital currency should be prepared to lose everything.

In a warning over the potential risks for investors, the central bank questioned whether there was any inherent worth in the most prominent digital currency, which has soared in value this year to close to $50,000 (£37,786) a piece.

The cryptocurrency peaked above $67,000 in early November, but suffered a sell-off after news first broke of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, before stabilising around its current level in the past week.

The Bank’s deputy governor, Sir Jon Cunliffe, said it had to be ready for risks linked to the rise of the crypto asset following rapid growth in its popularity. “Their price can vary quite considerably and they [bitcoins] could theoretically or practically drop to zero,” he told the BBC.

The market capitalisation of crypto assets has grown tenfold since early 2020 to about $2.6tn, representing about 1% of global financial assets. About 0.1% of UK households’ wealth is in bitcoin and similar crypto assets, such as ethereum and Binance coin. As many as 2.3 million people hold crypto assets, at an average amount of about £300 each. » | Richard Partington, Economics correspondent | Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Delia's Classic Christmas | Parts 1, 2 & 3

Ray's Coming Out Story (2010)

Democracy Now! Top US News & World Headlines — December 14, 2021

Valérie Pécresse: Part-Thatcher, Part-Merkel and Wants to Run France

Valérie Pécresse (left) currently heads France's most populous Île-de-France region | GETTY IMAGES
BBC: France's traditional right-wing Republicans party is preparing to fight for its life in the presidential election next spring. Its surprise choice of Valérie Pécresse as candidate has boosted the party, with a new opinion poll suggesting she could beat Emmanuel Macron to become France's first female president.

You know you're making headway as a female politician when people start analysing your clothes.

For Valérie Pécresse, it began with a red jacket, worn for her victory speech after winning the nomination for Les Républicains.

One daily newspaper even asked fashion historians to decrypt it.

"This red jacket was chosen to distinguish her from the crowd," one said. "It's the colour of power."

Another described it as evoking "warrior spirit [and] blood".

Just a few days later, a poll by Elabe suggested that, if the election were held today, Valérie Pécresse would beat President Macron in a run-off vote by 52% to 48%.

That's encouraging news for a party that's been out of power for nine years, eaten away from one side by Mr Macron and from the other by France's far-right leader, Marine Le Pen. Her close ally and senator for Hauts-de-Seine, Roger Karoutchi, says Mrs Pécresse is a reassuring figure, because of her experience in running the Paris region with its 12 million inhabitants.

"It's not enough to be a woman; you have to be a stateswoman," he said. "[She] has been a minister, a deputy, a regional president. She has a proven track record on issues like secularism and security. She's extremely pugnacious: when she has a goal, she goes for it." » | Lucy Williamson, BBC Paris correspondent | Saturday, December 11, 2021

Présidentielle 2022 : la popularité de Valérie Pécresse en forte hausse, selon un sondage : La candidate LR à l'élection présidentielle est la deuxième personnalité préférée des Français, selon le baromètre Odoxa-Mascaret pour LCP-Assemblée nationale, Public Sénat et la presse régionale. »

Commentary: I Don’t Defend Using Cigarettes or Tobacco. I Defend the Individual Freedom to Use Them.

This Dec. 17, 2019 photo shows a group of cigarettes in New York. About 14% of U.S adults were cigarette smokers last year, for the third year in a row. Meanwhile, the adult vaping rate still appears to be rising, according to a new government report. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE: The once-glorified cigarette graced the silver screen and could be seen in almost every magazine. Lucky Strike advertisements were as American as apple pie. Joe Camel was a four-legged hero and probably more popular than Spuds MacKenzie. Who didn’t want to look as cool as James Dean with a cigarette between their lips? On the battlefield, a cigarette provided tranquility even if just for a moment. Taking a few drags in a foxhole on a French battlefield while German soldiers were heard yelling or reloading was a little reminder of home.

For decades, cigarettes were a normal part of life. People smoked in every setting. From dinner parties, at the office, on airplanes or in the kitchen after a long day. It was normal and accepted. Then we started learning about the negative health implications. Americans became aware smoking cigarettes can have long-term negative effects on our bodies. We learned a lot of about nicotine and its addictiveness. Cancer was then linked to tobacco use. Long-term cigarette or cigar smoking could cause lung cancer. As people became aware, folks changed their behavior. Tobacco use, naturally, started to decline. » | Jess Nuñez | Wednesday, November 25, 2020

As far as I am concerned, the problem of obesity, as brought out in this German documentary started at around the time that the authorities and do-gooders started waging a war on cigarette-smoking and smokers.

I am going to stick my neck out here and state that there is a DIRECT CORRELATION between the decrease in the use of tobacco and the increase in obesity and the incidence of type-2 diabetes. When people smoked cigarettes more, both obesity and type-2 diabetes were far less prevalent in society.

Further, the authorities keep pushing vaping and e-cigarettes as alternatives to smoking real, traditional, combustible cigarettes, yet they have absolutely no reliable data on the long-term health consequences of vaping. This is grossly irresponsible on the part of medical people and governments worldwide.

People have been fed fairy stories, myths and lies about smoking cigarettes. If you listen to what they say about the dangers of smoking, if you dare indulge in the pleasurable habit, you will end up wrinkled, bald, toothless and you'll cough your lungs up! This is all balderdash, of course. I have smoked for most of my adult life and have very few wrinkles, a full mouthful of healthy teeth, a headful of thick, dark hair and I NEVER EVER cough! Moreover, I am not fat and I DO NOT suffer from diabetes. I believe that being a moderate smoker has helped me stay relatively slim and keep diabetes at bay. So, if I wish to do so, I shall continue to smoke real cigarettes despite the nonsense being talked about them. I am as proud to be a smoker as I am to be gay! I make absolutely no excuses for either!

As it happens, I have not smoked a cigarette for about ten days now. I had no intention of giving up smoking—and maybe I haven't long-term—but due to inclement weather, it was too wet to go out and buy cigarettes; so I didn't and did without. I haven't bothered to buy any cigarettes since that time.

Despite having a twenty-a-day habit for most of my adult life, I find it very easy to stop smoking when I wish to do so. Hence, I do not believe thaat smoking is half as addictive as they say it is. In my opinion and experience, smoking cigarettes is a habit rather than an addiction. Smoking is addictive only if one allows it to become so. Personally, all my adult life, I have refused to allow myself to become addicted to anything. When it comes to cigarettes, addiction is a choice: one becomes addicted if one allows oneself to become so. Basta!

At this point, I should add that I find it both maddening and stupid that at the very time that they are clamping down so much on smoking cigarettes, they are relaxing laws on smoking cannabis and other soft drugs. It is maddening because they have made the life of a smoker so difficult and expensive; it is stupid, because they are replacing one habit they say is so unhealthy with an even unhealthier one: smoking cannabis!

I would be the first person to admit that it is far better not to smoke at all. But only if the person doesn't replace smoking cigarettes with a habit which is even unhealthier than smoking cigarettes has ever been.

There is much more I could say about this subject, but for now, I shall leave it at that. – © Mark

Drei Jahre nach dem Khashoggi-Mord sieht die Welt den saudischen Kronprinzen wieder als Geschäftspartner

NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG: Die Saudi haben Khashoggi ermordet und führen einen grausamen Krieg in Jemen. Joe Biden hatte sie im Wahlkampf deshalb als Parias bezeichnet. Heute verkauft er Riad Waffen. Anmerkungen zu einem bemerkenswerten diplomatischen Comeback.

Der saudisch Kronprinz Mohammed bin Salman und der französiche Präsident Emmanuel Macron vor dem Élysée-Palast in Paris. | Christophe Ena / AP
Am 2. Oktober 2018 wurde Jamal Khashoggi auf dem saudischen Konsulat in Istanbul erstickt, zerstückelt und dann so gründlich beseitigt, dass bis heute jede Spur von ihm fehlt. Zwei Versionen zirkulieren seither. Die Türken, die CIA und die Briten sagen, Khashoggi sei vorsätzlich ermordet worden, den Auftrag habe höchstwahrscheinlich der Kronprinz Mohammed bin Salman gegeben. Die Saudi geben den Mord zu, sagen aber, er sei nicht von oben befohlen worden, schon gar nicht vom Kronprinzen.

Die Glaubwürdigkeit der saudischen Aussagen tendiert gegen null, selbst eingefleischte Feinde Amerikas verlachen sie. Es gab anfangs denn auch so etwas wie moralische Entrüstung, vor allem von amerikanischer Seite. Nicht von Donald Trump, der damals regierte. Trump verlangte «Transparenz», aber er wies die CIA-Version zurück und verteidigte den Kronprinzen. Doch Joe Biden zeigte sich empört. Als Präsident werde er dafür sorgen, dass Amerika seine Prinzipien nicht mehr «an der Garderobe abgebe, nur um Öl zu kaufen oder Waffen zu verkaufen», sagte der Demokrat als Präsidentschaftsaspirant. Im November 2019, ein gutes Jahr nach dem Mord, bezeichnete Biden Saudiarabien als Paria-Staat, den man büssen lassen müsse für die Ermordung Khashoggis. Amerika dürfe zudem den Saudi keine Waffen mehr verkaufen, die im Krieg in Jemen eingesetzt werden könnten. » | Ulrich Schmid, Tel Aviv | Montag, 13. Dezember 2021

Lionel Richie : Ballerina Girl

Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group

Pourquoi mon père s’habille comme un jeune?

Dans La Vie aquatique de Wes Anderson (2004), Bill Murray incarne Steve Zissou, un capitaine de marine fantasque. Ned, joué par Owen Wilson, est persuadé d’être son fils. ©Touchstone Pictures/Everett/ Bridgeman images
LE FIGARO : DÉCRYPTAGE - Alors qu’ils flirtent avec la soixantaine, bien des hommes portent sneakers et tee-shirts quand leurs fils trentenaires se réfugient dans un vestiaire plus traditionnel.

On le lui a maintes fois répété: David, 27 ans, ressemble beaucoup à Renaud, son père, 57 ans. De la forme de leur nez à l’implantation capillaire, les points communs sont nombreux. Pourtant, dès le premier coup d’œil, une différence saute aux yeux: quand le fils porte le blazer, la chemise rentrée dans le pantalon de flanelle et les mocassins, le père préfère les tee-shirts, les jeans (parfois artificiellement délavés et déchirés) et les baskets à la pointe de la mode - en ce moment, des React Vision, modèle de Nike qui s’arrache chez les adolescents fans de streetwear. » | Par Matthieu Morge Zucconi | lundi 2 novembre 2020

Réservé aux abonnés

À LIRE AUSSI :

Vestiaire de plein air pour citadins élégants : Des pardessus en tweed de la révolution industrielle aux parkas en Gore-Tex qui arpentent aujourd’hui le bitume, comment les vêtements d’extérieur sont devenus des standards en ville. »

En Israël, les ultraorthodoxes marginalisés par Naftali Bennett

Des milliers de juifs ultraorthodoxes manifestent, le 5 novembre, dans la vieille ville de Jérusalem pour protester contre pour l’égalité des sexes sur le site du Mur occidental. EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP
LE FIGARO : RÉCIT - Le nouveau gouvernement israélien veut briser les monopoles, tabous et avantages acquis par les haredim en trente-sept ans.

Correspondant à Jérusalem
Coiffé d’une kippa, Matan Kahana, le ministre israélien des Affaires religieuses, respecte le shabbat, est fidèle aux règles de la casherout, le code alimentaire du judaïsme, respecte les traditions et veut renforcer l’identité juive d’Israël qui, selon lui, aurait tendance à se dissoudre. Ce conservateur bon teint est l’un des ténors de Yamina, un parti sioniste religieux ancré à droite dont le chef, Naftali Bennett, dirige le gouvernement de coalition en place depuis juin. Son profil pourrait rassurer les milieux religieux. Il déclenche au contraire une vague de colère dans le camp des haredim, les «Craignant Dieu» en hébreu. » | Par Thierry Oberlé | lundi 13 décembre 2021

Réservé aux abonnés

À LIRE AUSSI :

La rébellion des juifs ultraorthodoxes tourne à la violence en Israël : Une partie marginale de la population israélienne n’accepte pas les consignes sanitaires. »

How to Make Glühwein : German Mulled Wine | MyGerman.Recipes

Dec 19, 2019 • Glühwein is the name of the German mulled wine that one can buy at the Christmas markets. Its name means "glow wine" and it really makes you feel like you are glowing from the inside.

Get the recipe here.

Delia Smith's Christmas Pudding

Oct 10, 2020 • First broadcast November 1990 - Delia will show you how to make a traditional Christmas Pudding

Get the recipe here.

Democracy Now! Top US News & World Headlines — December 13, 2021

Turkey Faces Threat of Financial Crisis after Lira Plunges against Dollar

THE GUARDIAN: Central bank forced to defend currency as traders respond to interest rate cut with sharp selloff

A customer at a bureau de change in Istanbul over the weekend. The lira was trading at almost 15 to the dollar at one point on Monday. Photograph: Serkan Senturk/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock
Fears that Turkey is on course for a full-scale financial crisis have intensified after the lira plunged to fresh lows against the US dollar.

Turkey’s central bank was forced to step in to defend the ailing currency – selling US dollars for lira – after the latest sharp selloff.

The lira was at one stage trading at almost 15 to the dollar as currency dealers contemplated the prospect of the latest in a series of interest rates cuts demanded of the central bank by the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Erdoğan’s insistence that the central bank should keep reducing the cost of borrowing despite annual inflation running at 20% has led to the value of the lira halving during 2021. » | Larry Elliott, Economics editor | Monday, December 13, 2021

New Jersey Conducts First Gay Weddings (2013)

Oct 21, 2013 • Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, marries seven same-sex couples and two straight couples in a ceremony at City Hall to commemorate New Jersey legalising gay marriage. The first couple to be married are Joseph Panessidi and Orville Bell, both 65. Booker had refused to officiate at wedding ceremonies until the state legalised same-sex marriage

Coming Out: This Is a Hoot!

Old Gays Share Their Coming Out Stories

The Golden Guys! »

Agne Radzeviciute Plays Chopin Étude Op. 25, No. 1 in A Flat Major

Covid: UK Alert Level Raised to Four due to Omicron Spread

BBC: The UK's coronavirus alert level has been raised from three to four due to the spread of Omicron, the UK's chief medical officers have said.

The last time the UK was at level four was in May.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to make a televised statement on Covid at 20:00 GMT on Sunday.

He is expected to provide an update on the booster programme. The BBC has been told there will not be any more new rules announced. » | Francesca Gillett, BBC News | Sunday, December 12, 2021

Royaume-Uni : le niveau d'alerte Covid relevé en raison d'une forte poussée du variant Omicron : Le niveau passe de trois à quatre, ce qui est le deuxième niveau le plus élevé et indique que «la transmission est élevée et que la pression sur les services de santé est généralisée et importante ou en augmentation». »

How Traditional Panettone Is Made in Italy | Regional Eats

Dec 8, 2021 • Panettone is famous for its tangy flavor and yellow, soft and gooey dough that is like no other. The secret behind it is an Italian yeast called lievito madre, or mother yeast. It gives panettone a tangy flavor and the just perfect texture. But it’s not an easy yeast to work with: you need time and patience to master it. In Milan, the birthplace of panettone, lievito madre is the one and only yeast bakers are allowed to use. We visited Pavé, a local bakery, to find out what else makes Milanese panettone so special.

Saumon fumé : Quel vin boire avec ce mets de fêtes ?

Saumon fumé Adobe Stock
LE FIGARO : Quel vin choisir pour un accord mets-vin idéal avec le saumon fumé, ce mets de fêtes qui affiche une belle intensité aromatique ?

Qu’est-ce que le saumon fumé ?

La technique du fumage apporte au saumon une intensité aromatique importante. En bouche, le goût est plutôt gras, légèrement amer et de forte persistance. » | Par Enrico Bernardo | vendredi 10 décembre 2021