Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Dirty Secrets of American Food | Dispatches | Channel 4 Documentaries
Mass Protests in France, Strikes across Europe: Consequences of Political Failure? | DW News
Mar 28, 2023 | In France hundreds of thousands of people have been on the streets again in a direct challenge to the plans by president Emmauel Macron to make people work longer for their pensions. Demonstrations took place in cities across the country with the unions claiming more than four hundred and fifty thousand taking part in Paris alone. Authorities put that figure lower, but also put a record thirteen thousand police on duty. It's been two weeks since the president used a controversial constitutional power to bypass parliament and move on with steps to raising the retirment age from 62 to 64.
Unions have again been at the forefront of the protests. They've been angered by the government's outright rejection of calls for mediation in the crisis. Macron has been playing deaf and blind for nearly two months, ignoring week after week all the anger and all the demonstrations. And now, once the law has been passed, he agrees to meet with the unions to discuss the social agenda and so on. What he doesn’t understand, what the government does not understand, is that today the work force refuses to move on until we go back on the terms of this law."
Unions have again been at the forefront of the protests. They've been angered by the government's outright rejection of calls for mediation in the crisis. Macron has been playing deaf and blind for nearly two months, ignoring week after week all the anger and all the demonstrations. And now, once the law has been passed, he agrees to meet with the unions to discuss the social agenda and so on. What he doesn’t understand, what the government does not understand, is that today the work force refuses to move on until we go back on the terms of this law."
Atheist vs. Theologe vs. Astrophysikerin | Sternstunde Religion | SRF Kultur
Tuesday, March 28, 2023
France Protests Show Signs of Slowing Down, Hundreds of Thousands Still on the Streets | DW News
Musik im Dritten Reich - Der Maestro und die Cellistin von Auschwitz | DW Doku Deutsch
Nov 9, 2022 | Warum war klassische Musik für Hitler und Goebbels so wichtig? Die Hauptpersonen des Films sind zwei Menschen, die auf sehr unterschiedliche Weise für die Musikkultur im Nationalsozialismus stehen: Stardirigent Wilhelm Furtwängler und die Cellistin des Frauenorchesters in Auschwitz-Birkenau, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch. Hier ein Dirigent, der weltweit gefeiert wurde, der mit Hitler und seinen Helfern ein Bündnis einging. Dort eine junge Frau, die als deutsche Jüdin nach Auschwitz verschleppt wurde und nur dank ihrer musikalischen Begabung überlebte.
Beide waren von der Nazi-Diktatur betroffen: Furtwängler entschied sich in Deutschland zu bleiben und paktierte mit den Nazis. Lasker-Wallfisch dagegen versuchte im brutalen Alltag des Vernichtungslagers zu überleben, das Cello war ihre Lebensversicherung. Beide verband die Liebe zur klassischen Musik, die sowohl in der Berliner Philharmonie, beim Reichsparteitag in Nürnberg oder auch in Auschwitz-Birkenau zu hören war. Warum gingen begnadete Künstler wie Furtwängler einen Pakt mit dem Bösen ein? Warum wurde in Todeslagern Musik gespielt? Und wie veränderte sich für die Opfer ihr Blick auf die Musik?
Deutsche Musik sollte die Vormachtstellung des "Dritten Reiches" in der Welt legitimieren und von den Untaten der Nazis ablenken. Neben Beethoven, Bach oder Bruckner hatte Richard Wagner als Hitlers Lieblingskomponist einen besonders hohen Stellenwert. Hitler war sich der Macht der Musik bewusst und Propagandaminister Joseph Goebbels kontrollierte das Musikleben im Nazistaat, in dem jüdische Künstler keinen Platz mehr hatten. So wurden die Berliner Philharmoniker zum staatlichen "Reichsorchester"
. Gesprächspartner*innen in der Musikdokumentation von Christian Berger sind unter anderem die Dirigenten Daniel Barenboim und Christian Thielemann, die Kinder von Wilhelm Furtwängler und natürlich die 97-jährige Cellistin Anita Lasker-Wallfisch. Es sind besonders ihre Erinnerungen, die unter die Haut gehen. Historisches Filmmaterial, das für den Film restauriert und koloriert wurde, macht Geschichte greifbar und legt Zeugnis ab über eine dramatische Zeit.
Beide waren von der Nazi-Diktatur betroffen: Furtwängler entschied sich in Deutschland zu bleiben und paktierte mit den Nazis. Lasker-Wallfisch dagegen versuchte im brutalen Alltag des Vernichtungslagers zu überleben, das Cello war ihre Lebensversicherung. Beide verband die Liebe zur klassischen Musik, die sowohl in der Berliner Philharmonie, beim Reichsparteitag in Nürnberg oder auch in Auschwitz-Birkenau zu hören war. Warum gingen begnadete Künstler wie Furtwängler einen Pakt mit dem Bösen ein? Warum wurde in Todeslagern Musik gespielt? Und wie veränderte sich für die Opfer ihr Blick auf die Musik?
Deutsche Musik sollte die Vormachtstellung des "Dritten Reiches" in der Welt legitimieren und von den Untaten der Nazis ablenken. Neben Beethoven, Bach oder Bruckner hatte Richard Wagner als Hitlers Lieblingskomponist einen besonders hohen Stellenwert. Hitler war sich der Macht der Musik bewusst und Propagandaminister Joseph Goebbels kontrollierte das Musikleben im Nazistaat, in dem jüdische Künstler keinen Platz mehr hatten. So wurden die Berliner Philharmoniker zum staatlichen "Reichsorchester"
. Gesprächspartner*innen in der Musikdokumentation von Christian Berger sind unter anderem die Dirigenten Daniel Barenboim und Christian Thielemann, die Kinder von Wilhelm Furtwängler und natürlich die 97-jährige Cellistin Anita Lasker-Wallfisch. Es sind besonders ihre Erinnerungen, die unter die Haut gehen. Historisches Filmmaterial, das für den Film restauriert und koloriert wurde, macht Geschichte greifbar und legt Zeugnis ab über eine dramatische Zeit.
Monday, March 27, 2023
Monday, January 23, 2023
Blogging Leave
MARK ALEXANDER: I have been blogging constantly and consistently for a very long time now. As a result, I need some R&R; I am feeling exhausted.
For this reason, I have decided to take a break from blogging for a little while. I need to re-charge the batteries. I therefore ask for your understanding. I shall be back with you as soon as possible. But a little rest will be good for me at this time.
For all the support you have given me thus far, I thank you all kindly. Naturally, all the content of the blog, going back about 21 years, will remain at your disposal.
I thank you for your understanding; and, naturally, for your continued loyalty.
Best wishes to all
Mark Alexander
For this reason, I have decided to take a break from blogging for a little while. I need to re-charge the batteries. I therefore ask for your understanding. I shall be back with you as soon as possible. But a little rest will be good for me at this time.
For all the support you have given me thus far, I thank you all kindly. Naturally, all the content of the blog, going back about 21 years, will remain at your disposal.
I thank you for your understanding; and, naturally, for your continued loyalty.
Best wishes to all
Mark Alexander
Sunday, January 22, 2023
Prinz Harrys Rachezug: "Durch das Buch ist Versöhnung mit der Royal-Family in weite Ferne gerückt"
Saturday, January 21, 2023
Peter Hitchens on Trade Unions, Tony Blair and the End of the Monarchy | Downstream
Sajid Javid Calls for Patients to Pay for GP and A&E Visits
THE GUARDIAN: Radical reforms needed to tackle waiting times, says former health secretary
Sajid Javid cited schemes in Ireland, Norway and Sweden as possible charging models. Photograph: Peter Nicholls/Reuters
Patients should be charged for GP appointments and A&E visits, Sajid Javid has said, as he called the present model of the NHS “unsustainable”.
The former health secretary said “extending the contributory principle” should be part of radical reforms to tackle growing waiting times.
In an opinion piece for the Times, he called for a “grown-up, hard-headed conversation” about revamping the health service, noting that “too often the appreciation for the NHS has become a religious fervour and a barrier to reform”.
The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, is not “currently” considering the proposals, Downing Street told the newspaper. » | PA Media | Friday, January 20, 2023
It should be crystal clear to one and all by now that the Conservatives are in the process of dismantling the National Health Service. They will achieve their goal by stealth, dismantling the service one step at a time. First, they will ask patients to pay for GP appointments and A&E. In a short while, they will be demanding that patients make partial payments for operations and hospital stays. Then later, it will be full payments, and so on. This government is shameless. Give all to the 1% and take all from the 99%. What a shower! What a shameless shower! Be sure: The NHS is NOT safe in the hands of the Tories.
If savings need to be made on the NHS, there are plenty of ways that savings could be made. To start with, there are far too many highly-paid management staff. That was caused by Thatcher and her misguided ideas of making a business out of everything.
We need a change of government. This administration is stale. It is bereft of any good ideas. It is also too ideological. Kick the Tories out as soon as possible. – © Mark Alexander
Patients should be charged for GP appointments and A&E visits, Sajid Javid has said, as he called the present model of the NHS “unsustainable”.
The former health secretary said “extending the contributory principle” should be part of radical reforms to tackle growing waiting times.
In an opinion piece for the Times, he called for a “grown-up, hard-headed conversation” about revamping the health service, noting that “too often the appreciation for the NHS has become a religious fervour and a barrier to reform”.
The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, is not “currently” considering the proposals, Downing Street told the newspaper. » | PA Media | Friday, January 20, 2023
It should be crystal clear to one and all by now that the Conservatives are in the process of dismantling the National Health Service. They will achieve their goal by stealth, dismantling the service one step at a time. First, they will ask patients to pay for GP appointments and A&E. In a short while, they will be demanding that patients make partial payments for operations and hospital stays. Then later, it will be full payments, and so on. This government is shameless. Give all to the 1% and take all from the 99%. What a shower! What a shameless shower! Be sure: The NHS is NOT safe in the hands of the Tories.
If savings need to be made on the NHS, there are plenty of ways that savings could be made. To start with, there are far too many highly-paid management staff. That was caused by Thatcher and her misguided ideas of making a business out of everything.
We need a change of government. This administration is stale. It is bereft of any good ideas. It is also too ideological. Kick the Tories out as soon as possible. – © Mark Alexander
Michael Lambert: Worst UK Government Ever? (After Truss and Johnson)
Jan 21, 2023 | The UK government of Rishi Sunak is incompetent presiding over chaos and collapse. This week the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman confirmed when challenged by a holocaust survivor that she stood by her description of asylum seekers as being an 'invasion'. Sunak responded to six questions from Keir Starmer at PMQ's about ambulance waiting times by criticising the Opposition for not backing his anti-strike legislation. The Chairman of the Conservative Party and former Chancellor of the Exchequer is believed to have settled with HMRC several millions in unpaid taxes.
There is widespread evidence of fraud and corruption and incompetence at the highest levels of government. Whilst we are experiencing a massive cost of living crisis and the economy is collapsing Sunak confirms his main priority is to stop asylum seekers crossing the Channel in small boats.
There is widespread evidence of fraud and corruption and incompetence at the highest levels of government. Whilst we are experiencing a massive cost of living crisis and the economy is collapsing Sunak confirms his main priority is to stop asylum seekers crossing the Channel in small boats.
Friday, January 20, 2023
Michael Jackson : I Just Can't Stop Loving You | Official Video
Democracy Now! Jeremy Corbyn on Freeing Julian Assange, the Working Class, Brazil, Peru & Ending Ukraine War
What’s It Like to Be Gay and a Priest? I Feel Like a Second-class Citizen in the Church of England
THE GUARDIAN – OPINION: The church made me answer prurient questions in order to be ordained – and if I were to enter a civil marriage, I’d essentially be sacked
Charlie Bell (right) and his partner. ‘Piotr and I won’t be getting married any time soon. The Church of England doesn’t want us to just yet.’ Photograph: Charlie Bell
In many ways, my partner and I are quite boring and conventional. We may have met through a dating app – very 21st century – but otherwise there’s been nothing particularly scandalous or unusual about how we do things. Quite frankly, most people wouldn’t bat an eyelid.
Except, of course, for the fact that I’m a priest in the Church of England – and that’s where the problems begin. For while the rest of the country seems able to see the clear and unambiguous good that springs from same-sex relationships, the church continues to drag its heels. For years, in fact, it has told us that there’s nothing good at all about our love for one another – that it’s something to be shunned, embarrassed about, even erased. Our love is, ultimately, a problem.
The poverty of such a view has become increasingly obvious to those within the church and without, but the bishops of the C of E have resolutely refused to say anything at all for years. They - including those bishops who are secretly gay – have been cowed into silence by threats from those who oppose same-sex marriage. A few years ago, in 2017, they finally said something – recognising that the church’s record had hardly been positive towards LGBTQ people but coupled with a firm refusal to do anything about it. And the clergy of the C of E told them to get stuffed. » | Charlie Bell * | Friday, January 20, 2023
* Charlie Bell is an Anglican priest in the diocese of Southwark and a Fellow at Girton College, Cambridge
ALSO READ:
Archbishop will not give new prayer blessing for gay couples: The Archbishop of Canterbury will not use proposed new prayers to bless same-sex couples. »
In many ways, my partner and I are quite boring and conventional. We may have met through a dating app – very 21st century – but otherwise there’s been nothing particularly scandalous or unusual about how we do things. Quite frankly, most people wouldn’t bat an eyelid.
Except, of course, for the fact that I’m a priest in the Church of England – and that’s where the problems begin. For while the rest of the country seems able to see the clear and unambiguous good that springs from same-sex relationships, the church continues to drag its heels. For years, in fact, it has told us that there’s nothing good at all about our love for one another – that it’s something to be shunned, embarrassed about, even erased. Our love is, ultimately, a problem.
The poverty of such a view has become increasingly obvious to those within the church and without, but the bishops of the C of E have resolutely refused to say anything at all for years. They - including those bishops who are secretly gay – have been cowed into silence by threats from those who oppose same-sex marriage. A few years ago, in 2017, they finally said something – recognising that the church’s record had hardly been positive towards LGBTQ people but coupled with a firm refusal to do anything about it. And the clergy of the C of E told them to get stuffed. » | Charlie Bell * | Friday, January 20, 2023
* Charlie Bell is an Anglican priest in the diocese of Southwark and a Fellow at Girton College, Cambridge
ALSO READ:
Archbishop will not give new prayer blessing for gay couples: The Archbishop of Canterbury will not use proposed new prayers to bless same-sex couples. »
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