Why Brexit Is a Disaster and How Things Are about to Get Very Much Worse

Jan 1, 2022 • The whole world can see that Brexit is a disaster, a massive self-inflicted act of madness promoted by a prime minister whose only concern was getting into No 10.

The U.K. is a worldwide laughing stock. Exports are tumbling and shortages of workers are crippling many sectors of the economy. There is no prospect of any of this improving any time soon. Small and medium sized firms find it all but impossible to export to the E.U.

Millions of pounds have been wasted whilst food has been left rotting in the fields and thousands of healthy pigs have been killed and burnt. The introduction of import controls on goods, especially food, coming into the U.K. from the E.U. from January 1st is likely to make it no longer viable for many exporters to continue supplying the U.K.

Increasing prices in the shops, more shortages, increasing gas and electricity prices, increasing taxes (NHI) as well as council taxes, rising interest rates and further inevitable cuts in government spending are all about to become reality. In the meantime, an already very anxious and worried population wonders what will come next.

New Year’s Eve Celebrations: Countries around the World Get Ready to Ring in 2022 • France 24

New Year’s Eve 2021 around the world – in pictures »

Duchess Of Windsor, Wallis Simpson: The Queen That Never Was - Prince Harry Documentary

Premiered Dec 2, 2021 • Duchess Of Windsor Wallis Simpson: The Queen That Never Was - Prince Harry Documentary. Drama-documentary about the woman blamed for a royal crisis.

Legendary Actress Betty White Dies At 99

Dec 31, 2021 • Betty White, the actor whose charm and deadpan comedic delivery earned her an eight-decade career, has died. She was 99. White became best known for her quick one-liners as the gullible yet lovable Rose Nylund on "The Golden Girls."

Betty White Understood Gay Men, and We Loved Her for It »

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz Urges Solidarity in His First New Year’s Address | DW News

Dec 31, 2021 • German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who succeeded Angela Merkel as chancellor in early December, calls for the public to stand together in the fight against the pandemic and support his government's planned renewal of the country in his first new year's address to the nation.

The new Chancellor appealed to all Germans to get vaccinated amid a massive fifth wave of infections in the country driven by the Omicron coronavirus variant.

Scholz asked for understanding regarding the significantly tightened restrictions that have just come into force in Germany, including the limits on private gatherings.

Other than tackling the pandemic, the biggest challenge was to lay the foundation for Germany's continued advancement, Scholz continued. "The 2020s will be a decade of new beginnings," he said. Scholz also said that his centre-left coalition government intended to transform the German economy. "We will be able to master the great changes of our era collectively and communally, if we stick together as a society," Scholz concluded.

Former Models Expose the Ugly Truth of the Beauty Industry | 60 Minutes Australia

First there was Harvey Weinstein, and then Jeffrey Epstein, two men so corrupted by their own power and money they thought it entitled them to sexually abuse any woman or teenager they lusted after. Now one of the icons of the world of modelling stands similarly accused of being a sex fiend. His name might not be familiar to those outside the beauty industry, but for decades Frenchman Gérald Marie, now aged 70, was the super-agent who decided, or torpedoed, the careers of supermodels. He even married one of the most famous of them all, Linda Evangelista. But a 60 MINUTES global investigation has uncovered more than a dozen former models with shocking accusations about him. They say he’s a predator who ritually abused and raped young women – including minors. As Tara Brown reports, the women are now demanding that Gérald Marie be held accountable for his depravity, and it seems prosecutors in France are finally taking notice.

What Ghislaine Maxwell's Conviction Means for Britain's Royal Family l GMA

Dec 31, 2021 • Lawyers for Britain's Prince Andrew are due in court next week as he battles lawsuits brought by an Epstein accuser not part of the criminal case against Maxwell.


Prince Andrew ‘cannot prove’ his inability to sweat after request by Virginia Giuffre’s lawyers »

The New Year’s Kiss

Der Neujahrskuß / Le baiser du nouvel an
Many thanks to emepretty.com for this great photo.

Brexit: un an après, Boris Johnson peine à tenir ses promesses

C’est sur le front politique que ce premier anniversaire du Brexit est le plus tumultueux pour Boris Johnson. Hollie Adams/AP
LE FIGARO : RÉCIT - L’avenir glorieux promis aux Britanniques se fait attendre et l’opposition au premier ministre gagne du terrain, y compris dans son propre parti.

Il était 23 heures à Londres et minuit à Bruxelles. Il y a un an, la célèbre cloche de Big Ben saluait la sortie de l’Union européenne après quarante-sept années d’un mariage parfois houleux. En ce 31 décembre 2020, l’heure était à l’euphorie pour Boris Johnson. Le premier ministre vantait un «moment incroyable pour le pays». Douze mois plus tard, l’anniversaire est triste. À quelques jours de la célébration de cette «nouvelle ère» pour le Royaume-Uni, le ministre du Brexit, David Frost, a démissionné. Une défection symbolique et fâcheuse pour BoJo. Le grand artisan du divorce se trouve pris dans des turbulences politiques sans précédent. Depuis quelques mois, les premiers effets du Brexit se font concrètement sentir. Et la flambée spectaculaire du variant Omicron a encore assombri le tableau. Censé gagner le grand large une fois larguées les aussières européennes, le navire britannique tangue sérieusement.

«Nous avons notre liberté entre nos mains et il nous revient d’en tirer le meilleur parti», avait ajouté Boris Johnson dans son message de Nouvel An. Apparemment, David Frost lui reproche d’avoir échoué, ou de ne pas prendre les bons chemins. Certes, le «Mr Brexit» britannique a invoqué des désaccords sur les nouvelles restrictions sanitaires. Mais ce diplomate qui a mené les âpres discussions avec l’UE a aussi dit ses «inquiétudes sur la route prise aujourd’hui». «J’espère que nous pourrons aller aussi vite que possible là où nous devons aller: une économie d’entrepreneurs, peu réglementée et peu taxée», a ainsi écrit David Frost dans sa lettre de démission. Boris Johnson avait un jour assuré qu’il n’y avait pas l’épaisseur d’une «feuille de papier à cigarette» entre eux. Cette couche s’était apparemment épaissie. » | Par Arnaud De La Grange | jeudi 30 décembre 2021

Réservé aux abonnés

Il n'y a pas de hauts plateaux ensoleillés du Brexit, seulement des inconvénients et des problèmes et des friches sombres et ombragées. – © Mark

Australia's 2021 Sydney New Year Celebrations

Seong-Jin Cho – Fantasy in F minor Op. 49 | First Stage

Oct 3, 2015 • Narodowy Instytut Fryderyka Chopina/ The Fryderyk Chopin Institute

UK Faces Challenges One Year into Brexit | DW News

Dec 31, 2021 • It's now a year since Brexit took full effect, and the UK left the EU's single market and customs union. The date came with predictions of disaster for the British economy. 12 months later, how has the country coped?

Happy New Year! / Frohes neues Jahr! / Bonne année !

Image: Adobe Stock
I should like to take this opportunity to wish everyone, gay or straight, a Covid-free and very happy, very healthy and very prosperous 2022. Further, again, many thanks to you all for your continued support, which I value greatly. Stay safe! – Mark

Santander: Bank Hands Out £130m in Christmas Blunder

BBC: Tens of thousands of people awoke on Christmas morning to a surprise from an unexpected benefactor - Santander.

The bank mistakenly deposited £130m into 75,000 accounts on 25 December.

Santander's staff are now rushing to claw back the money, although the job is being made more difficult because much of it was deposited in accounts at rival banks, according to The Times.

The error occurred when payments from 2,000 business accounts were made twice.

"We're sorry that due to a technical issue, some payments from our corporate clients were incorrectly duplicated on the recipients' accounts," the bank said in a statement.

"None of our clients were at any point left out of pocket as a result and we will be working hard with many banks across the UK to recover the duplicated transactions over the coming days." » | Dan Ascher, Business reporter | Thursday, December 30, 2021

Katar: Millionen für Europas Islam | Doku | ARTE

Sep 18, 2019 • Ein Whistleblower spielte zwei französischen Journalisten Tausende von vertraulichen Dokumenten der NGO Qatar Charity zu. Sie enthüllen ein Programm zur Stärkung der Einflussnahme des politischen Islam in ganz Europa mit der Finanzierung von 140 Moscheebauten, Kulturzentren und Schulen, die alle mit der Muslimbruderschaft zusammenhängen. Recherche über eine hermetische Institution.

Alles begann mit einem mysteriösen USB-Stick, den ein anonymer Whistleblower den beiden französischen Journalisten Georges Malbrunot und Christian Chesnot zuspielte. Darauf befanden sich Tausende vertraulicher Dokumente der größten NGO der Golfstaaten, der Qatar Charity: unter anderem Spenderlisten, E-Mail-Korrespondenzen und Informationen zu Banküberweisungen. Die Unterlagen enthüllen Einzelheiten über ein Missionierungs- und Finanzierungsprogramm zur Stärkung des politischen Islams in ganz Europa, mit 140 Moscheebauten, Kulturzentren und Schulen, die alle auf die eine oder andere Art mit der Muslimbruderschaft zusammenhängen. Doch die Behörden in der Hauptstadt Doha bestreiten jegliche religiöse Aktivität im Westen. Das Filmteam wollte es genauer wissen und recherchierte über das Programm. Am Beispiel des europaweit größten Vorhabens für ein Islam-Zentrum im elsässischen Mulhouse, eines im Jahr 2016 in La Chaux-de-Fonds in der Schweiz eingeweihten Museums der Zivilisationen des Islam, einer mit dubiosen Mitteln finanzierten Ausbildungseinrichtung für Imame im zentralfranzösischen Département Nièvre und eines Flüchtlingszentrums auf Sizilien, das auf dem Höhepunkt der Syrienkrise Migranten aufnimmt, wird mit den Finanzierungsströmen auch die dahinterstehende Ideologie aufgedeckt. Sind diese Vorhaben Teil eines viel weitreichenderen Projekts oder ist das Programm lediglich der europäische Ableger einer Strategie Katars, mit der das Land seit dem Arabischen Frühling durch die Stärkung der Muslimbruderschaft seine Führungsposition in der arabischen Welt weiter auszubauen versucht? Die investigative filmische Recherche gibt Einblicke in die ebenso finanzstarke wie hermetische Organisation, deren Verbindungen bis in die Spitze des Staates Katar und die Herrscherfamilie Al-Thani reichen.

Dokumentarfilm von Jérôme Sesquin (F 2019, 90 Min)

Dieser höchst interessante Dokumentarfilm ist nur an YouTube selber verfügbar. Hier ist ein Link dazu. – Mark

"If Donald Trump Is Not Dead or in Jail, He Will Run for President" | Lincoln Project's Rick Wilson

Dec 30, 2021 • 'The threat of violence is a powerful political tool.' Ines Pohl, DW's Washington bureau chief, spoke with Rick Wilson, co-founder of the Lincoln Project, about the political future of the United States, the consequences of the Capital riot a year ago, and the dangers of the fractionalized country.

Südafrika nimmt Abschied von Friedensnobelpreisträger Tutu

Dec 30, 2021 • Südafrika nimmt Abschied von einem Nationalhelden: In einer feierlichen Zeremonie wurde der Leichnam des Anti-Apartheid-Kämpfers und Friedensnobelpreisträgers Desmond Tutu in der Sankt-Georg-Kathedrale von Kapstadt aufgebahrt. In der anglikanischen Kirche hatte Tutu bis 1996 als Erzbischof gewirkt. © AFP

A Magical Kiss in a Kilt.

Un baiser magique en kilt. / Ein magischer Kuß in einem Kilt.
With many thanks to imgur.com on Pinterest for this splendid photo.

Vaccine-hesitant Germans Emigrate | Covid-19 Special

Dec 30, 2021 • With every wave of COVID-19 illnesses in Germany comes a new backlash from those strongly opposed to the health measures taken in response -- Including vaccination. Protests and refusal to wear a mask in public-places are the actions they most commonly take. Some, however, have gone to more extreme measures.

Europe Marks 20 Years of the Euro | DW News

Dec 30, 2021 • Europe is marking 20 years of the euro. It's been a rollercoaster couple of decades for the single currency. For some, the euro has been a stabilizing factor for the continent. Others say it's driven up prices. As we wait to see what the future holds for the euro, let's first take a look at the past.