Thursday, December 23, 2021

Aretha Franklin : I Say A Little Prayer | Official Lyric Video

It’s Time to Boogie!

Justin Timberlake : Can't Stop The Feeling | Stormtroopers Dance Moves & More | Tradução, HQ

Capitalism Hits Home: Addiction and Desperation


It is sad, very sad, that BoJo and his band of merry clowns are trying to emulate the appalling American ‘healthcare system’ here in the UK! Followers of BoJo and his buddies are being fooled into believing that the American healthcare system is superior. It is NOT! It is very inferior indeed. I know that from personal and sad experience. I say this NOT as a friend of socialism; I am NOT. But I can assure you that, based on my sad experience(s), the American healthcare system is INFERIOR. Don’t be fooled! – © Mark

Orient-Express, le voyage d'une légende | ARTE

Dec 21, 2021 • Symbole de luxe et d'aventure, l’Orient-Express a ouvert une nouvelle voie entre l’Occident et l’Orient. Mata Hari, Joséphine Baker ou Agatha Christie, qui lui dédia un roman, contribuèrent à sa légende. Plongée dans les secrets d'un train mythique. Paris, le 4 octobre 1883. L’Orient-Express quitte la gare de Strasbourg (future gare de l’Est) pour son premier voyage vers Constantinople (aujourd'hui Istanbul).

Le Tout-Paris est venu assister à l’inauguration en grande pompe de ce palace sur rail. Relier la capitale française à celle de l’Empire ottoman est le pari fou d’un entrepreneur belge, Georges Nagelmackers, fondateur de la Compagnie internationale des wagons-lits, fasciné par les fastueuses voitures-couchettes de l’Américain George Pullman.

La création, en 1869, de la première ligne transcontinentale américaine inspire ce train de luxe européen à l'homme d'affaires, qui rêve d’unir les peuples au-delà des frontières. Dans les couloirs feutrés de l'Orient-Express vont se côtoyer diplomates, politiciens, artistes, têtes couronnées, négociants, espions et femmes fatales. Mata Hari, Joséphine Baker ou Agatha Christie, qui lui dédie un roman, contribueront à sa légende.

De Paris à Istanbul, en passant par Munich, Vienne et les Balkans, il a été le témoin de l’histoire et des soubresauts géopolitiques des XIXe et XXe siècles. Seul train à pouvoir franchir le rideau de fer, il convoie ainsi pendant la guerre froide les exilés économiques ou politiques fuyant les régimes de l’Est. Mais la démocratisation des voyages en avion lui porte un coup fatal, et le service régulier s'arrête en 1977.

À la recherche du train perdu Nourri des recherches et des témoignages d’historiens, d'écrivains, de passionnés de trains anciens, ce documentaire retrace une tumultueuse épopée, entre gloire, déclin et ruine.

Pour revivre cette longue histoire, le réalisateur suit le parcours d’Arthur Mettetal, historien chercheur en patrimoine industriel, en quête des wagons de l'Orient-Express disséminés à travers l'Europe, et qui parvient à retrouver une rame de treize voitures, abandonnée aux confins de la Pologne et de la Biélorussie.

S’appuyant sur des images d’archives, des reconstitutions et des scènes de fiction tournées dans d’authentiques voitures, un voyage passionnant au cœur de la légende, entre mythe et réalité. Orient-Express, le voyage d'une légende.

Documentaire de Louis Pascal Couvelaire (France, 2018, 1h23mn)
Disponible jusqu'au 04/01/2022


Seong-Jin Cho : Piano Concerto in E minor, Op. 11 | Final Stage of the Chopin Competition 2015

How Stonewall Became Famous | Op-Docs

A Gay Mormon Love Story: Elder | Op-Docs | The New York Times

Brandon Spevak | Rearranging Everything Comfortable in My Life

Premiered Aug 11, 2021

Wie in der Mitte des Lebens Neues wagen? | Autor Bas Kast | Sternstunde Philosophie | SRF Kultur

Exprimez votre amour ! Nullement intimidé !

Photograph: Adobe Stock

Express your love! Unabashedly! / Drücken Sie Ihre Liebe aus! Ungeniert!

Ricciarelli : Typical Italian Christmas Almond and Orange Pastries – Quick, Easy & Gluten-free

Dec 18, 2020 • Ricciarelli are a classic Italian Christmas dessert. They are so soft that they melt in the mouth. They have a predominant flavor of Aamond and orange. The amount of sugar used has been reduced a little, though they are still sweet!


Ingredients

400 g almond flour
150 g sugar
70 g corn starch / [cornflour]
1 orange
Extra] 60 g sugar for the orange spread
30 ml of water
Juice of 1/2 an orange / 75-80 g
2 – 3 egg whites
1/2 vial of almond flavor

Dimitra’s Dishes : Gluten-free Almond & Orange Cake


Get the recipe here.

Emigrating to Germany? I ARTE.tv Documentary | December 2021

Putin Accuses West of ‘Coming with Its Missiles to Our Doorstep’

THE GUARDIAN: Russian president again voices anger at Nato expansion and says he would be prepared to intervene in Ukraine

‘They keep telling us: war, war, war’: Vladimir Putin during the press conference on Thursday.Photograph: Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP/Getty Images

Vladimir Putin has accused the west of “coming with its missiles to our doorstep” as he reiterated demands for no further Nato expansion in Europe.

The Russian president did little to reduce tensions over Ukraine as he spoke at a televised press conference, saying he would be prepared to launch an intervention if he felt Ukraine or its western allies were preparing an attack on Russia’s proxies in the country.

“They keep telling us: war, war, war,” Putin said on Thursday. “There is an impression that, maybe, they are preparing for the third military operation [in Ukraine] and give us a fair warning: do not intervene, do not protect these people but if you do intervene and protect them, there will be new sanctions. Perhaps, we should prepare for that.” » | Andrew Roth in Moscow | Thursday, December 23, 2021

At a Paris Market, Costs Rise, Even for the Humble Baguette

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Soaring inflation in Europe is starting to squeeze shopkeepers and consumers. Many are preparing for more price increases in the new year.

Florian Bocciarelli, right, a third-generation butcher in Paris. Meat prices are up 10 percent since the summer. | Andrea Mantovani for The New York Times

PARIS — At the Marché d’Aligre, a bustling open-air food and antiques market in the Bastille district of central Paris, Mohamed Sharif grabbed a piece of chalk and reluctantly marked up the price of the fragrant Valencia clementines that he sells to throngs of shoppers.

Transport costs for produce imported to France had more than doubled since autumn amid a surge in gasoline prices, he said, one of several factors that have driven up wholesale costs for oranges from Spain, lychee from south China and passion fruit from Vietnam — and the prices he must charge at his fruit stand.

“Customers don’t understand why they are having to pay more for what they buy,” Mr. Sharif said, pricing a pound of clementines on a recent weekend at 1.90 euros (about $2.15), up from 80 cents ($0.90) a week earlier. “People are buying less because costs are going up.”

Meat prices at a nearby butcher are up 10 percent since the summer. Some French cheeses are expected to rise 20 percent in the new year. Even the traditional baguette, a staple of the French diet, will get more expensive, bakers say. » | Liz Alderman | Published: Wednesday, December 22, 2021 ; Updated: Thursday, December 23, 2021

L'Arabie saoudite déjoue une attaque visant un aéroport

LE FIGARO : La coalition militaire dirigée par l'Arabie saoudite au Yémen a annoncé jeudi 23 décembre la destruction d'un drone piégé lancé en direction d'un aéroport du sud du royaume, sans faire de victime, les rebelles Houthis ayant multiplié les attaques ces derniers mois.

Ryad intervient au Yémen depuis 2015 pour appuyer les forces gouvernementales en guerre depuis sept ans contre les rebelles. Ces derniers, proches de l'Iran, lancent régulièrement des attaques depuis le Yémen vers le territoire saoudien. «Un drone piégé qui a tenté de viser l'aéroport international d'Abha a été détruit», a annoncé la coalition dans un communiqué cité par l'agence de presse officielle SPA. L'interception de l'engin n'a fait «aucune victime», avec seulement des éclats d'obus éparpillés aux alentours de l'aéroport. Un responsable de l'aéroport a assuré à l'AFP qu'«aucun vol n'a été annulé». » | Par Le Figaro avec AFP | jeudi 23 décembre 2021

Stevie Wonder : Knocks Me Off My Feet

Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group. | Views on YouTube: 3,138,364

Wednesday, December 22, 2021

George Michael : Careless Whisper | Official Video

Views on YouTube: 801,855,367

Davidoff of London - Cigar Band Etiquette

Jul 1, 2021 • Eddie addresses common questions

Auguste Escoffier, la naissance de la gastronomie moderne | Reportage ARTE

Eine süße Delikatesse | Karambolage | ARTE

Ägypten: Ikone der Demokratiebewegung zu langjähriger Haft verurteilt

NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG: Im September verkündete Präsident Abdelfatah al-Sisi einen Fünfjahresplan zur Verbesserung der Menschenrechte in Ägypten. Dennoch geht das Regime weiterhin hemmungslos gegen Kritiker vor.

Der prominente ägyptische Aktivist Alaa Abdelfatah hat die letzten zehn Jahre mehr im Gefängnis als in Freiheit verbracht. | Khaled Desouki / AFP

Kürzlich schien es, als würden die Ermahnungen westlicher Regierungen an den ägyptischen Autokraten Abdelfatah al-Sisi Wirkung zeigen. Nach 22 Monaten Untersuchungshaft liess das Regime Anfang Dezember den Studenten und Menschenrechtler Patrick George Zaki frei.

Der Kopte hatte an der Universität Bologna studiert, um einen Masterabschluss in Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung zu erlangen. Zudem setzte er sich in Ägypten für Geschlechtergleichheit und Menschenrechte ein. Als er Anfang Februar 2020 für Ferien nach Kairo flog, wurde er festgenommen. Die Klage wurde zwar nicht fallengelassen, aber immerhin schien Zakis Freilassung ein Lichtblick. Das erste Ziel sei erreicht, twitterte der italienische Aussenminister Luigi Di Maio. | Erbarmungslos gegen Demokraten » | Inga Rogg, Jerusalem | Dienstag, 21. Dezember 2021

The Guardian View on Liz Truss and Brexit: New Chapter, Same Story

THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: Even with a will to be pragmatic, the foreign secretary will encounter high obstacles to a better relationship with Europe

‘Liz Truss will not want Brexit to consume all of her political bandwidth.’ Photograph: Reuters

Since her appointment as foreign secretary in September, Liz Truss has said little about the European Union. Her speeches exalt the UK as the broker of a global “network of liberty”, listing alliances with scarcely any reference to the club of democracies on Britain’s continental doorstep. That omission partly reflects the ideological temper of the Conservative party, to which Ms Truss is highly sensitised. It also expressed divisions of labour in the cabinet when David Frost was in charge of post-Brexit negotiations with Brussels. But since Lord Frost’s resignation, the European portfolio has returned to the Foreign Office. Silence on the subject is no longer an option for the secretary of state.

Her first intervention has been to restate Britain’s readiness to trigger article 16 of the withdrawal agreement, suspending its operation, if grievances regarding the Northern Ireland protocol are not satisfied. The terms demanded by Lord Frost for a renegotiation still stand.

The pugnacious tone disappointed those who had hoped that a change in personnel indicated a new willingness to compromise. That prospect is not entirely lost. Ms Truss had to signal continuity in the negotiating position. Anything else would have caused a commotion on the Tory benches and destabilised an already wobbly government. That does not rule out a pragmatic shift in the coming months. The foreign secretary will not want Brexit to consume all of her political bandwidth, and the most efficient way to avoid that is to take her finger off the article 16 trigger. » | Editorial | Wednesday, December 22, 2021

EU und Grossbritannien einigen sich auf Fischfangmengen »

Stark, süß und liebevoll!

Strong, sweet and loving! / Fort, doux et affectueux !

Für dieses entzückende Foto bedanke ich mich bei Wattpad auf Pinterest.

EU-Kommission eröffnet Verfahren gegen Polen

WEGEN VERFASSUNGSGERICHT

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Weil das polnische Verfassungsgericht nationales Recht über EU-Recht stellt, leitet die EU-Kommission ein Vertragsverletzungsverfahren gegen Polen ein. Dieses könnte zu abermaligen finanziellen Sanktionen führen.

Wegen umstrittener Urteile des polnischen Verfassungsgerichts zum Status von EU-Recht geht die EU-Kommission rechtlich gegen das Land vor. Die Brüsseler Behörde leitete am Mittwoch ein Vertragsverletzungsverfahren ein, das mit einer weiteren Klage vor dem Europäischen Gerichtshof (EuGH) und schließlich mit finanziellen Sanktionen gegen Warschau enden könnte.

Nach Ansicht der EU-Kommission verstoßen die Urteile des Verfassungsgerichts unter anderem gegen den Vorrang und das Prinzip der einheitlichen Anwendung des EU-Rechts sowie gegen die bindende Wirkung von EuGH-Urteilen. Zudem äußerte die Brüsseler Behörde erhebliche Zweifel an der Unabhängigkeit und Unparteilichkeit des Verfassungsgerichts. » | Quelle: DPA_Basis | Mittwoch, 22. Dezember 2021

Männer werden immer weiblicher | Männlichkeit im Gespräch | Sternstunde Philosophie | SRF Kultur

Sep 21, 2020 • Eigentlich ist der gekränkte Mann eine Gefahr. Denn überall herrscht heute Männerüberhang: Gewalt, Alkoholismus, Suizid, Rechtsextremismus, Verschwörungstheorien. Warum ist das so? Und wie findet der Mann mit einer Gegenbewegung zur toxischer Männlichkeit aus der Krise?

Democracy Now! Top US News & World Headlines — December 22, 2021

Arrests, Beatings and Secret Prayers: Inside the Persecution of India’s Christians

Villagers praying in secret in Bihar, India, amid an uptick in violence against Christians in the country. | Photograph: Atul Loke

THE NEW YORK TIMES: “They want to remove us from society,” a Christian farmer said of Hindu extremists. Rising attacks on Christians are part of a broader shift in India, in which minorities feel less safe.

INDORE, India — The Christians were mid-hymn when the mob kicked in the door.

A swarm of men dressed in saffron poured inside. They jumped onstage and shouted Hindu supremacist slogans. They punched pastors in the head. They threw women to the ground, sending terrified children scuttling under their chairs.

“They kept beating us, pulling out hair,” said Manish David, one of the pastors who was assaulted. “They yelled: ‘What are you doing here? What songs are you singing? What are you trying to do?’”

The attack unfolded on the morning of Jan. 26 at the Satprakashan Sanchar Kendra Christian center in the city of Indore. The police soon arrived, but the officers did not touch the aggressors. Instead, they arrested and jailed the pastors and other church elders, who were still dizzy from getting punched in the head. The Christians were charged with breaking a newly enforced law that targets religious conversions, one that mirrors at least a dozen other measures across the country that have prompted a surge in mob violence against Indian Christians.

Pastor David was not converting anyone, he said. But the organized assault against his church was propelled by a growing anti-Christian hysteria that is spreading across this vast nation, home to one of Asia’s oldest and largest Christian communities, with more than 30 million adherents. » | Jeffrey Gettleman and Suhasini Raj | Photographs by Atul Loke | Undated

Antisemitismus? Wo denn?

TACHLES: Neue antisemitische Skandale jenseits des Kanals.

Grossbritannien ist - leider – ein Hort antisemitischer Vorfälle, wie eine breite Öffentlichkeit spätestens mit dem Aufstieg des antisemitischen Politikers Jeremy Corbyn zum Vorsitzenden der altehrwürdigen Labour-Partei erfahren konnte. Auch die zum Teil antisemitische BDS-Bewegung hat an den Campi britischer Universitäten mehr Erfolg als in so manch anderen Staaten. Nun gibt es neue antisemitische Vorfälle, in ganz unterschiedlichen Bereichen, die zeigen, wie tief sich der Judenhass auch in der Gegenwart in die britische Kultur hineingefressen hat. … » | Redaktion | Dienstag, 21. Dezember 2021

Héritage nazi : une artiste juive veut retirer ses œuvres du Kunsthaus de Zürich

Ronald S. Lauder, en 2016, président du Congrès juif mondial lors de son discours sur les origines douteuses des œuvres du Kunsthaus. AFP/Michael Buholzer

LE FIGARO : La Suisse Miriam Cahn, dont la renommée est mondiale, a adressé une lettre ouverte à l'hebdomadaire Tachles dans laquelle elle revient sur les soupçons qui pèsent sur les origines de la collection Bürhle.

Miriam Cahn, une artiste suisse de confession juive veut retirer ses œuvres du Kunsthaus de Zürich, qui accueille la collection Bührle, ternie par le soupçon d'avoir été en partie constituée d'œuvres acquises à la faveur de la persécution des Juifs par les nazis.

« Je ne veux plus être représentée dans “ce” Kunsthaus de Zürich », déclare Miriam Cahn, une artiste de renommée mondiale dans une lettre adressée à l'hebdomadaire juif Tachles, paru mercredi 22 décembre. » | Par Le Figaro avec AFP | mercredi 22 décembre 2021

Miriam Cahn zieht ihre Bilder vom Kunsthaus Zürich ab: Die international renommierte Schweizer Künstlerin reagiert auf die Causa-Bührle. »

'The Big Quit' as Millions Leave Jobs in US - BBC News

Dec 21, 2021 • Millions of Americans are leaving their jobs in what economists are calling "the great resignation". 2021 has seen a huge number of people in the US change their careers - last month four million quit their jobs. BBC's US correspondent Michelle Fleury went to meet people in Kentucky, where people are quitting at a higher rate than in many other states.

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Bee Gees : How Deep Is Your Love | Official Video

Views on YouTube: 430,821,895

Barbra Streisand & Barry Gibb : What Kind of Fool | 1980

Miles and Jim | Giving Ourselves the Permission to Thrive

Sep 4, 2020 • Miles Hunsaker and Jim White sit down with the Latter Gay Stories podcast to share their individual stories of coming out, finding inner peace and thriving as a couple. Both Jim and Miles label themselves as "late-bloomers." They came out later in life: both were married to women, with children. They each held high callings in the LDS Church and both worked to reconcile their religious teachings with what their heart testified to them. In this episode, Jim and Miles take a deep dive into personal experiences, what they did to navigate the rocky waters of uncertainty and what led them to each other.


Recently, I stumbled upon this great series on gays in the Mormon Church. I have already posted a few of these episodes here on this blog for you. I have posted them not because I have any connection to the Mormon Church; I don’t. But the quality of these discussions is excellent and commendable. These are also quality people: sincere, good-living people who simply have come to terms with same-sex attraction.

Further, there is much to be learnt from these discussions, there is much that crosses religious divides. I find that the people that are interviewed are very fascinating and very much to be respected. They are sincere people who have had great difficulty coming to terms with their sexuality. I therefore hope that you enjoy these discussions every bit as as much as I do. Please remember that this blog is open to people of all faiths and none. Hopefully, you will enjoy this discussion as much as I have. – © Mark

A Birthday Kiss.

Un baiser d'anniversaire. / Ein Geburtstagskuß.

With thanks to the Daily Mail on Pinterest for this lovely photo.

Da Vinci, or Not da Vinci? | Doku HD | ARTE

Dec 4, 2021 • Ist die "Madonna mit der Spindel"

Heston's Christmas Classics : Roasted Gammon with Maple-mustard Glaze | Waitrose & Partners

Dec 2, 2015 • Heston shows you how to make his moreish gammon with maple-mustard glaze. Perfect for an alternative Christmas centrepiece or for Boxing Day lunch.


Get the recipe here.

Gabriel Boric Win in Chile Is “Huge Victory” for Social Movements That Fought Off Far-Right Threat

Dec 21, 2021 • Former student activist and leftist Gabriel Boric will become Chile’s youngest president after easily defeating the far-right candidate José Antonio Kast with over 55% of the vote. Boric has vowed to fight for progressive social reforms and overhaul the neoliberal economic policies left by the U.S.-backed dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. We speak with Chilean writer Pablo Abufom and feminist activist Javiera Manzi, who say Boric’s victory signals an opening for progressive policy in Chile and Latin America more broadly.


The Guardian view on Chile’s new president: Boric brings a fresh start: The leftist triumphed over his far-right rival with promises of a fairer deal for ordinary people. Can he achieve it? »

Barrister Who Sued after Colleague Asked Him to Stop Farting Loses Case

THE GUARDIAN: Lawyer said flatulence was caused by heart medication and argued the request violated his dignity

A senior barrister who sued the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) after a colleague asked him to stop breaking wind in the room they worked in together has lost his case.

Tarique Mohammed sued for harassment and told an employment tribunal that his repetitive flatulence was caused by medication he was on for a heart condition.

He said the comment from his colleague Paul McGorry was “embarrassing” and violated his dignity – but the panel found it was a reasonable request to have asked him to stop.

The prosecutor, who suffered a heart attack in 2014, also alleged he was discriminated against because of his disabilities and made a number of further allegations against his co-workers and bosses.

He claimed they threw away his water bottles, asked him to work one day a week 60 miles away and failed to pay for his barrister’s practising certificate while he was on sick leave. » | Tom Ambrose | Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Democracy Now! Top US News & World Headlines — December 21, 2021

‘A Fire-eater Who’s Run Out of Fuel’: European Press Lays Into Boris Johnson

THE GUARDIAN: Continental media are in no mood to donner un break to the British PM, sensing the ‘beginning of the end’

El País said it was clear that Johnson’s ‘electoral magic has run out’. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/AP

For El País in Spain, his “magic has vanished”. For Libération in France he is “the only actor in the Boris Johnson show – which is, increasingly, a flop”. In Germany, Der Spiegel asked how long Britain could last being governed “almost exclusively by defiant optimism”.

As the scandals mount, the approval ratings plunge, the electoral defeats accumulate, the rebellions multiply, his trusted Brexit lieutenant jumps ship and the Omicron variant runs rampant, continental media seem – to coin a phrase – in no mood to donner un break to Britain’s beleaguered prime minister.

“Johnson says he accepts responsibility,” wrote Libération. “But for what? The spectacular defeat of his party in North Shropshire, which he himself triggered by supporting the local MP, accused of corruption? The multiple parties under his roof when the country was in lockdown?”

Does he also accept responsibility for “the total absence, for months, of any social distancing measures or masks” in the face of a rampaging virus that has killed nearly 150,000 people, the paper asked. And for “the ailing economy; the plunging foreign investments; Brexit, which still has not delivered the slightest positive result?” » | Jon Henley in Paris | Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Ruler of Dubai Ordered to Pay Divorce Settlement That Could Exceed £500m

THE GUARDIAN: Payment to protect Princess Haya and children from threat sheikh poses to them is highest awarded by a UK court

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum and Princess Haya attending Derby Day at Epsom Downs Racecourse in 2016. Photograph: David M Benett/Getty Images

The ruler of Dubai has been ordered to pay his ex-wife Princess Haya and their two children a divorce settlement which could reach over half a billion pounds – the highest ever awarded by a UK court – to protect them from the threat he poses to them.

In a written judgment, Mr Justice Moor said that “uniquely” the “main threat” to Haya and the children came from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who is also prime minister of the United Arab Emirate, a close Gulf ally of Britain.

Haya fled to Britain in April 2019 with her two children. Since then, in a series of hearings concerned with custody, access and financial support, which have so far cost over £70m in legal fees, high court judges have found on the balance of probabilities that: » | Haroon Siddique, Legal affairs correspondent | Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Dubai ruler’s divorce settlement reveals ‘truly opulent’ standard of living: Couple spent £2m on strawberries in a summer and children had annual £10m allowances »

Monday, December 20, 2021

Turkish Lira at Record Low Puts Erdogan under Pressure | DW News

The Guardian View on the Police Bill: A Fight for the Right to Protest

THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: Labour and the Lords must take a stand against the draconian crackdown on demonstrators proposed by ministers

Insulate Britain activists protest in London last month. Photograph: Belinda Jiao/Sopa Images/Rex/Shutterstock

An already illiberal police and crime bill threatens to become even more so, if 18 pages of amendments added to it by the government in the House of Lords last month are accepted. A new criminal offence of obstructing major transport works, the expansion of stop and search powers and a new power for police to ban named people from demonstrations are clearly intended to strangle off what ministers are worried could be a new line in disruptive climate protests, after two months of roadblocks organised by the direct-action group Insulate Britain – and a decision by the supreme court earlier this year reaffirming the right of protesters to cause disruption.

Emboldened by the angry response to Insulate Britain from some members of the public, and criticism from paramedics about delays to ambulances, the home secretary, Priti Patel, and her colleagues have calculated that they can risk bypassing the scrutiny by MPs that is an essential part of our parliamentary process. In January, the Lords will have the opportunity to prove them wrong by rejecting these tacked-on, kneejerk measures.

The police, crime, sentencing and courts bill was bad enough before, as was vividly illustrated by criticism of it from David Blunkett and Theresa May – neither of whom remotely resembles the stereotype of the out-of-touch-with-public-opinion, human-rights-obsessed liberal that some on the right love to hate. The bill, wrote Lord Blunkett earlier this year, would make Britain “more like Putin’s Russia”. More than 600,000 people signed a petition objecting to it. » | Editorial | Sunday, December 19, 2021

Seong-Jin Cho – Chopin: Impromptu No. 1 in A Flat Major, Op. 29

Seong-Jin Cho has made his mark as one of the consummate talents of his generation and most distinctive artists on the current music scene. His thoughtful and poetic, assertive and tender, virtuosic and colourful playing can combine panache with purity and is driven by an impressive natural sense of balance.

«L’Occident devient une civilisation de la démission»

LE FIGARO : TRIBUNE - Renoncer - à sa charge, à son travail - est très bien vu, désormais. C’est un véritable bouleversement de nos valeurs, que pourtant nous remarquons à peine, analyse finement l’écrivain Xavier Patier.

Sauve qui peut! Le suicide, le retrait, la démission: la fin violente ou soudaine des aventures humaines est en train de devenir une norme en Occident. La lente promotion de l’euthanasie, l’essor des lynchages médiatiques ou judiciaires, la déconstruction constante de la «valeur travail» après les lois Aubry, et enfin le culte du «lâcher prise», ressassé dans nos magazines deviennent chaque jour davantage un marqueur de la nouvelle civilisation en train de naître sous nos yeux.

La même semaine, deux chanceliers autrichiens, Schallenberg et Kurtz, l’archevêque de Paris et un ministre clé du gouvernement libanais ont annoncé leur démission, toujours immédiatement acceptée. Peu de jours après, Guy Forget, héros de notre tennis national, à son tour a jeté l’éponge: il quitte brusquement la direction de Roland-Garros au motif que son nom figure dans une affaire qui n’a pourtant donné lieu jusqu’ici à aucune poursuite pénale. » | Par Xavier Patier | Publié : dimanche 19 décembre 2021 ; mis à jour : lundi 20 décembre 2021

Réservé aux abonnés

Democracy Now! Top US News & World Headlines — December 20, 2021