#2021 dakar

[selidor]

[ummick]

Mick Schumacher At the Crossroads Between WEC and F1: "I Still Don't Know Where I'm Going"

Interview with the young 25-year-old German, who is finishing his endurance season because he is unable to compete in the final 2024 F1 GPs.

He could have been with Williams in F1 this weekend in Baku. More than one believed that he was going to replace Logan Sargeant at Grove from Monza. Instead, Mick Schumacher is at Fuji to continue his hypercar program. In Japan, we felt the young German was somewhat bitter at not being in Azerbaijan. It is clear that he has unfinished business with Formula 1, he who still wants to prove what he's worth in a better context than the one he experienced in 2021 and 2022. In the meantime, he takes stock of this year, where the Alpine program in WEC was a bone to gnaw for him. "When I started my career on circuits, I never imagined one day doing endurance," Mick told us in the Fuji paddock. "It was a year of firsts for everyone. My first time in WEC, but also the first year of the Alpine LMDh. Nevertheless, we've done good things while being in the learning phase. We must keep in mind that we're beginners. There's still a lot of work to do for all of us."

The transition to long-term races was also not easy for the 25-year-old, who nevertheless established himself as a valuable element of the Alpine team throughout the races. "I had to learn to drive with cars of different categories on the track, something I had never experienced in the single-seater era," continues the ex-Haas driver. "Fortunately, my teammates Nicolas Lapierre and Matthieu Vaxivière helped me a lot and still help me today. In addition, the Alpine is heavier while having less power and downforce than an F1 car, so it's less exhilarating to drive. But it's comparing apples and pears since they are two completely different categories of cars." Having already tamed old F1 cars that marked the career of his illustrious father Michael, the former Formula 2 champion did not remain indifferent to a Silver Arrow which was synonymous with a springboard in the Kaiser's career. Ironically, the prototypes served as a fallback for both Michael and Mick at a time when their careers were at a crossroads. "Of course, I love driving the cars that my father once raced with. Not long ago I was able to try the Sauber-Mercedes that he raced in Group C in the early 90s. It was really nice." If the doors of F1 were to definitively close for Schumi Jr, it's not excluded to see him try legendary races in the future. "I haven't yet put myself in a position to know if I can freelance elsewhere. Of course, I'm keeping an eye on the Indianapolis 500 or even the Dakar. But I haven't yet thought about whether it was doable for me in the near future, but it's true that it would be fun to participate in the Dakar one day, even if this event requires a lot of preparation."

Or, racing at Le Mans with Uncle Ralf and cousin David? The latter recently hit the headlines by successfully racing in LMP3 and dreams of eventually being in Sarthe. "Unless David and Ralf choose to do hypercar, it would be complicated to organize that. I still don't know where I'm going in my career. At the moment, I'm not saying yes or no because I don't know where I'll be in a few years." While waiting to know what the future holds for him, Mick will try to achieve a good result at the foot of Mount Fuji. "The two Alpines performed very well in Austin. We can be proud of what we've done. We of course hope that this will be confirmed, even if it's a very different track. We remain cautious, but we hope that it'll go well. If everything falls into place in the race we can fight for the podium, but out of respect for the youth of the program, we avoid thinking about it too much." And to decide if it will stop or still for him in the WEC next year.

[mariacallous]

American R&B singer Aliaune Thiam, professionally known as Akon, has long wanted to help Senegal, the country he grew up in. He started Akon Lighting Africa in 2014 to install cheap Chinese solar-powered lighting systems across the continent. He hoped to do something more significant for Senegal. But how to fund it?

The answer turned out to be the same one adopted by a growing number of governments and entrepreneurs: a mixture of cryptocurrency and urban planning. It’s a combination that offers the promise of development without any of the tricky details—and which tends to turn out to be little more than vaporware. There was Bitcoin City in El Salvador, but also Painted Rock in Nevada, Satoshi Island in Vanuatu, Cryptoland in Fiji, or the Crypto-Kingdom of Bitcointopia in Utah.

In 2018, Akon announced a new cryptocurrency, to be called “akoin.” Akoin would enable Africans to, as the singer put it at a launch event, “advance themselves independent of the government”—in some manner. Most importantly, akoin would fund the creation of Akon City, an advanced planned city to be built in Senegal. Akon announced akoin and Akon City at the Cannes Lions Festival in June 2018. Akon said in November of that year that he had “everything planned out” for the city. But both Akon City and the akoin token remained only ideas for many months.

Akon was interested by the promises of cryptocurrency—specifically, free money by some unclear mechanism—but he was not up on the details of its technical or financial issues: “I come with the concepts and let the geeks figure it out,” he said. The akoin team featured initial coin offering (ICO) entrepreneurs such as Lynn Liss of ICO Impact and Crystal Rose Pierce.

The akoin cryptocurrency was pre-sold in a 2019 crypto token offering called “token of appreciation.” Each dollar “donation” would give you up to four tokens which would convert to akoin.

Akoin had not launched in Senegal at the time, despite billboards across the country. The West African CFA franc is the only legal currency in Senegal; BCEAO, the central bank, warned that akoin could not be used as a currency in the country.

Akoin promised all manner of functionality—special akoin wallet software, direct exchange with other cryptocurrencies or with cellphone minutes, an application marketplace, various “building blocks for entrepreneurship.” None of this was ever implemented.

Akoin finally started trading on a crypto exchange in November 2020. The akoin token didn’t do anything or have any particular utility; it was just a crypto token that you could trade. Pre-sale buyers dumped their akoin immediately and the price crashed. That’s not unusual: As of 2022, 24 percent of new cryptos fell 90 percent or more in their first week.

Akon posted on social media in January 2020 that he had “finalized the agreement for AKON CITY in Senegal”—though he had previously claimed that construction had already started in March 2019. The new city would be built near the small town of Mbodiène, about 100 kilometers south of the capital, Dakar.

Akon City would be a “smart city” inspired by the futuristic African nation of Wakanda from the 2018 movie Black Panther. The city would feature boldly curved skyscrapers, shopping malls, music and movie studios, “eco-friendly” tourist resorts, and a parking garage for flying cars.

Akon claimed in August 2020 that $2 billion of the $6 billion needed to build Akon City had been secured. He laid the foundation stone for the city on Aug. 31, 2020, and said that construction would start “next year,” in 2021.

Construction did not start in 2021, to the disappointment of locals. It was not clear where the $6 billion needed to build Akon City would come from. A representative for KE International, the United States-based contractor for Akon City, told AFP that more than $4 billion had been secured, with Kenyan entrepreneur Julius Mwale as lead investor, and that construction would start in October 2021—but it did not.

By 2022, Akon told the BBC that construction was “100,000 percent moving.” He said the COVID-19 pandemic was partly to blame for the delays. Akon was surprised at the “thousands of studies” that had to be done before work could even commence.

Senegal’s Society for the Development and Promotion of Coasts and Tourist Zones (SAPCO) had claimed the land by eminent domain in 2009 before offering it to Akon City in 2020. By 2023, no building work had been done at the Akon City site—though Axiome Construction insisted that geotechnical studies and environmental assessments were still under way. By this time, according to the Guardian, the only construction was a youth center nearby in Mbodiène, paid for personally by Akon—and built upon the foundation stone that he had laid in 2020.

Senegal finally lost patience with the project. Akon had missed several payments to SAPCO, and in June of this year, SAPCO sent a formal notice to Akon warning that work had to start by the end of July or SAPCO might take back almost all of the land grant.

Akon had already been looking for other opportunities to place akoin. In April 2021, he started talking to Uganda about setting up an Akon City there as well. In January 2022, the Ugandan government allocated him one square mile in Mpunge, in the Mukono district—despite objections from the National Unity Platform party and protests from Mpunge residents wanting compensation, which could not be paid before 2025.

Akon said that Akon City, Uganda, might be completed by 2036. At a 2021 news conference, he evaded questions on what the new city would cost or how it would be funded. The Forum for Democratic Change party said that the Ugandan Akon City would never happen and accused the government of granting “sweetheart deals” to developers.

Akon City was tech solutionism that leveraged the political power of celebrity. Akon wanted to launch a large project and thought that cryptocurrency, the buzzword of 2018, might fund his dream. He thought that this one weird trick would do the job.

In this case, the miracle technology was crypto. These days, such  pushes by celebrities or entrepreneurs of new projects will typically use artificial intelligence—whatever that might mean in a particular case—as the marketing hook for a “smart city.

In his 2023 book Let Them Eat Crypto, Peter Howson of Northumbria University detailed how to head off solutionism-inspired blockchain projects that were heavy on publicity but light on the necessary bureaucratic work on the ground. His approach is broadly applicable to tech solutionism in general: Pay attention to the men behind the curtain. Howson has written recently on “smart city” plans as marketing for crypto tokens.

The Akon City plan was a worked example of speculative urbanization. A project is proposed with science-fiction concept drawings and a pitch aimed at tourists rather than locals; land is allocated; something might eventually be built, but it will bear little resemblance to the brochures. Christopher Marcinkoski of the University of Pennsylvania described Akon City as just one of many such initiatives, particularly in Africa, calling it “very much a real estate play.” The important output from such projects is local political capital—even as they never work out as advertised.

Cryptocurrency was an application of speculative urbanization to money—a high concept, a pitch to financial tourists, and the only end result being a token to speculate on and a tremendous amount of fraud. The Akon City project, however good Akon’s own intentions, seems functionally to have been merely the pitch for a crypto offering that failed—leaving an empty site, disappointed locals, and an embarrassed figurehead.

By 2024, akoin had been removed from the few crypto exchanges it had been listed on; it was effectively worthless. Akon sold short videos on Cameo—but he would not do requests related to cryptocurrency.

The speculative urbanization pitch rolls on. Actor Idris Elba has recently floated plans for an “environmentally friendly smart city” on Sherbro Island off Sierra Leone.

[haveyouseenthishorrormovie]

SUMMARY: Shot down after fleeing a coup and extracting a drug lord from Guinea-Bissau, a group of mercenaries must lie low at a remote holiday camp, stash their stolen haul, and repair their plane to escape back to Dakar, Senegal. Yet, they don't seem to be safe there either...

[madamlaydebug]

On this day in 2021...

R.I.P.

Go well … you have fulfilled your purpose 💕https://www.patreon.com/RunokoRashidi

RUNOKO RASHIDI

Runoko Rashidi is an anthropologist and historian with a major focus on what he calls the Global African Presence--that is, Africans outside of Africa before and after enslavement. He is the author or editor of twenty-two books, the most recent of which are My Global Journeys in Search of the African Presence, Assata-Garvey and Me: A Global African Journey for Children in 2017 and The Black Image in Antiquityin 2019. His other works include Black Star: The African Presence in Early Europe, published by Books of Africa in London in November 2011 and African Star over Asia: The Black Presence in the East, published by Books of Africa in London in November 2012 and revised and reprinted in April 2013, Uncovering the African Past: The Ivan Van Sertima Papers, published by Books of Africa in 2015. His other works include the African Presence in Early Asia, co-edited by Dr. Ivan Van Sertima. Four of Runoko's works have been published in French.

As a traveler and researcher Dr. Rashidi has visited 124countries. As a lecturer and presenter, he has spoken insixty-sevencountries.

Runoko has worked with and under some of the most distinguished scholars of the past half-century, including Ivan Van Sertima, John Henrik Clarke, Asa G. Hilliard, Edward Scobie, John G. Jackson, Jan Carew and Yosef ben-Jochannan.

In October 1987 Rashidi inaugurated the First All-India Dalit Writer's Conference in Hyderabad, India.

In 1999 he was the major keynote speaker at the International Reunion of the African Family in Latin America in Barlovento, Venezuela.

In 2005 Rashidi was awarded an Honorary Doctorate degree, his first, by the Amen-Ra Theological Seminary in Los Angeles.

In August 2010 he was first keynote speaker at the First Global Black Nationalities Conference in Osogbo, Nigeria.

In December 2010 he was President and first speaker at the Diaspora Forum at the FESMAN Conference in Dakar, Senegal.

In 2018 he was named Traveling Ambassador to the Universal Negro Improvement Association & African Communities League RC 2020.

In 2020 he was named to the Curatorial and Academic boards of the Pan-African Heritage Museum.

He is currently doing major research on the African presence in the museums of the world.

As a tour leader he has taken groups to India, Australia, Fiji, Turkey, Jordan, Brazil, Egypt, Ghana, Togo, Benin, France, Belgium, England, Cote d'Ivoire, Namibia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Peru, Cuba, Luxembourg, Germany, Cameroon, the Netherlands, Spain, Morocco, Senegal, the Gambia,Guinea-Bissau,Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar.

Runoko Rashidi's major mission in life is the uplift of African people, those at home and those abroad.

For more information write to Runoko@hotmail.com or call (323) 803-8663.

His website is www.drrunoko.com

[motorsportverso]

Novidades da Baja 1000 2024

Ford

O modelo  Bronco DR

Tambem terá a participação da Ford Raptor de produção com o piloto Tim Casey

O retorno da nova, Ford Ranger Raptor

Can-am

Can-am

A equipe Polonesa Kamena Rally Team com a dupla Tomasz Białkowskie Dariusz Baśkiewicz com modelo Maverick X3, provavelmente devera ter modelos do Maverick R.

O varias vezes campeão do Dakar Rally nas motos Toby Price vai participar da edição de 2024

Hummer

A marca do Americana  que fabricou por muitos anos veículos blindados  para o exercito dos Estados Unidos acabou fechando até 2020 , quando a GM, decidiu reviver a marca com uma picape elétrica de médio porte , que até a bolha na Extreme E entre 2021-2023 na equipe Chip Ganassi Racing, terá o modelo H3 com Rob Lenda do rally Norte Americano que ganhou em 21 vezes.

Toyota

A Cangura Racing e Mar Van Tassell vão correr com uma Toyota Land Cruiser , suv que seria equivalente a SRX e SW4 na Europa e na America do Norte.

Honda

A marca Japonesa estará com o Ridgeline Trophy Truck e o UTV Talon R 

Uma presença notável que não tem o Rob Gordom na Edição de 2024 , o piloto Americano que já participou várias vezes inclusive em 2013 com o Hummer H3 que competiu no Dakar Rally , que não pode estar presente por causa da etapa de Adelaide da Stadium super trucks.

[beardedmrbean]

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Unidentified assailants killed at least 40 soldiers during an overnight attack on a military base in the country’s west, Chad’s presidency said Monday.

President Mahamat Deby Itno visited the base in Barkaram, an island in Chad's Lake region, early morning and announced the launch of a military operation to track the assailants.

Chad has long battled with an insurgency in the country’s west, near the border with Nigeria.

It was not immediately known who was behind the latest attack, but previous attacks in the region have been blamed by the government on the Boko Haram militant group.

In March, an attack the government blamed on Boko Haram killed seven soldiers, reviving fears of violence in the Lake Chad area, after a period of peace following a successful operation launched in 2020 by the Chadian army to destroy the extremist group’s bases there. Schools, mosques and churches reopened and humanitarian organizations returned.

Boko Haram, which launched an insurgency more than a decade ago against Western education, seeks to establish Islamic law in Nigeria’s northeast. The insurgency has spread to West African neighbors including Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

Chad, a country of nearly 18 million people, has been reeling from political turmoil before and after a controversial presidential election that resulted in Deby Itno’s victory. He had led the country as interim president during the period of military rule that followed the death of his father in 2021.

[crosscountryrally]

Honda se refuerza con todo: Skyler Howes llega al equipo oficial Honda HRC

Honda ha dado el golpe al mercado del Mundial de Rally Raid FIM W2RC y el Dakar 2024 hoy al confirmar al tercer clasificado del último Dakar 2023 como quinto piloto oficial de Honda HRC. Se trata del estadounidense Skyler Howes, que con 31 años viene haciendo ruido en el rally cross country desde su debut en el Dakar 2019.

“Correr para el Honda HRC es un momento destacado de mi vida y mi carrera. Aprendí a conducir una Honda XR75 cuando tenía 3 años y comencé mi carrera en los rallies con una CRF450X, por lo que mis raíces están profundas en Honda. Tener también el apoyo de Monster Energy es enorme para mí y estoy muy emocionado de ver lo que el equipo y yo podemos lograr juntos. Después de un podio en el Dakar mi objetivo sigue siendo el mismo, divertirme lo máximo posible y seguir alcanzando lo más alto del podio” declaró Howes, que además de la P3 de 2023 tiene un noveno lugar en 2020 y un quinto puesto en 2021.

El jefe de equipo Ruben Faria se mostró muy contento con la incorporación de Howes a Honda HRC: “Estamos muy contentos de darle la bienvenida a Skyler. Es un piloto joven, pero con bastante experiencia en los rallies: fue tercero en el último Dakar y ganó en Marruecos. Es bastante completo y rápido fuera de pista. Con él tendremos un súper equipo para el Dakar 24 y estoy seguro de que Skyler nos ayudará a estar en lo más alto de la clasificación”.

Por el momento, Honda contará con cinco riders en Marruecos y el Dakar, con Quintanilla, Cornejo, Brabec, Van Beveren y Howes en la alineación oficial.

[dizzyduck44]

Daniel Ricciardo’s blessing is his curse 🍯🦡🇦🇺

Daniel is in his 14th season of Formula 1. He has had a long career in the highest tier of motorsport. However the questions that surrounded him at McLaren seem to have followed him to Visa CashApp FFS this is seriously what you called the team!

The thing is every driver seems to reach for the F1 seat, but Daniel’s seemingly lack of ability to adapt driving style is being compounded by the grid he currently drives on. You see, either competitively or for fun most of the drivers have had to adapt to a different style of driving. Some at a stupidly young age.

Let’s look into it

Max Verstappen - spends his days off driving any kind of race car Red Bull will let him. Seeing him take his Dad round the Nordschliefe says it all really.

Sergio Perez - drove just about every form of junior open wheel car on his way to F1.

Charles LeClerc - like Daniel seems to be all F1. Do we question he’d be a beast in a Ferrari sportscar though?

Carlos Sainz - again seems to be all F1 but remember Dad has a track on the family farm. He has been driving allsorts, on dirt, since he could sit in a car seat

Lewis Hamilton - never competitively but again over the year Mercedes has given him opportunities to drive all sorts of high powered sports cars for promotion. Even a superbike.

George Russell - says he tested a DTM car, again gets to play with the Merc sports cars

Lando Norris - went from karting to Ginetta then to open wheel. Add a go at the Daytona 500, all competitively. Embarrassed himself at the Race of Champions. Now seems to love ice karting (weirdo).

Oscar Piastri - another one straight through to F1, however only ever driven one F1 car but I don’t worry he wouldn’t adapt

Fernando Alonso - Nando has the full set right? F1, Indycar, WEC, Daytona, Dakar. Won Le Mans. Next!

Lance Stroll - has done a couple of races in IMSA.

Esteban Ocon - drove in DTM prior to F1

Pierre Gasly - drive in Formula E prior to F1

Alex Albon - has done a season of DTM

Logan Sargeant - straight through to F1. Again only driven one F1 car.

Kevin Magnussen - various stints in sportscar series throughout the years inbetween F1.

Nico Hulkenberg - Le Mans champion, Indycar test.

Yuki Tsunoda - straight through to F1. Only ever driven 1 F1 car.

Valtteri Bottas - ice rallying. Need I say more!

Zhou Guanyu - another open wheel all the way to F1. I’m gonna give him the credit of having driven the Renault a number of times before moving to Sauber.

So you see what Daniel is up against.

Not a winter break goes by when you don’t see half the grid in a go kart. Shout out to Lando and Fernando who seem to do it midseason and all the drivers who happily jump in for promotion days. (80% of the grid). One of the biggest shocks for me was when Daniel went karting with Jenson Button in 2021 and admitted he “hasn’t done this is years” 😬

So we are getting to the core of the problem. With a grid of drivers who turn their hand to anything, sometimes for a laugh, Daniel has never really pushed himself out of what he knows. And it’s biting him.

What is of further concern for him, is Liam Lawson is hovering (he should already be in a seat but I digress). A driver who went for F2 to DTM and nearly won the championship in the first season (I’m still bitter). Then into an F1 seat and was up to speed almost immediately.

The trouble is now it’s too late to throw him into a sportscar to give him the experience, because I’m not sure he would get back into F1. If Daniel thinks the Max and Lando’s were a handful to deal with, who needed a bit of maturing to hit their stride, the Oscar Piastri’s and Ollie Bearman’s of the world are terrifying.

Daniel needs to find the solution on his own. Before it eats away at his mental health and confidence. 6 laps in a NASCAR round COTA is not gonna cut it.

I think I know what’s happened and I and he are afraid to admit it. Ask Jenson Button about the point you sit behind the wheel and no longer want to take the risk or push the limit. I worry he has hit the mental block of I can’t learn another way and the idea of taking a high powered sportscar out terrifies him.

And who’s going to let him lose in the Red Bull if that is going on in his head?

Fingers crossed he shows up and shows out in Melbourne

[omarfor-orchestra]

Film italiani in uscita a settembre

Io Capitano (Matteo Garrone): 07/09

Una fiaba omerica che racconta il viaggio avventuroso di due giovani, Seydou e Moussa, che lasciano Dakar per raggiungere l’Europa. Un’Odissea contemporanea attraverso le insidie del deserto, i pericoli del mare e le ambiguità dell’essere umano

Il più bel secolo della mia vita (Alessandro Bardani): 07/09

Un'assurda legge impedisce a Giovanni, figlio non riconosciuto alla nascita, di sapere l'identità dei suoi genitori biologici prima del compimento del suo centesimo anno di età. Per riuscire ad attirare l'opinione pubblica, la sua unica speranza è ottenere la complicità di Gustavo, unico centenario non riconosciuto alla nascita in vita. Il solo che avrebbe il diritto di avvalersi di questa normativa ma che sembra non aver alcun interesse a farlo. Il più bel secolo della mia vita racconta l'incontro tra un centenario proiettato nel futuro e un giovane ancorato al passato e della loro inaspettata amicizia

Uomini da marciapiede (Francesco Albanese): 07/09

Siamo in giugno e i tifosi più appassionati si preparano ai trenta giorni di partite degli Europei di calcio 2021, un manipolo di squattrinati per sbarcare il lunario si mette a fare il mestiere più antico del mondo per mogli e fidanzate annoiate alla ricerca di qualche avventura facile. Ma un piano che sembra facile si trasforma ben presto in una vicenda paradossale e piena di imprevisti divertenti, infatti i nostri "uomini da marciapiede" avranno alle calcagna la polizia e la mala di tutta la città.

L'expérience Zola (Gianluca Matarrese): 13/09

Anne è una regista teatrale. Si è separata dal marito e sta cambiando casa. È spenta, senza desideri. Conosce Ben, vicino di casa servizievole e attore senza scritture. Lui la guarda con occhi appassionati, lei non vuole mai più legarsi a un uomo. Ma quando decide di mettere in scena "L'assommoir" di Zola, è a lui che propone il ruolo di Coupeau, riservandosi quello di Gervaise. Man mano che la storia si sviluppa, il confine tra la vita reale e la rappresentazione teatrale si riduce sempre di più. Tra letture e prove, tra ricerca e studio, la realtà sfuma nella finzione e i due sembrano ripercorrere esattamente tutti i passaggi della storia di Coupeau e Gervaise, fino alla rovina.

Patagonia (Simone Bozzelli): 14/09

Nonostante abbia una ventina d'anni, Yuri viene trattato come un bambino dalle zie con cui vive in un paesino sulla costa adriatica dell'Abruzzo. Sarà l'incontro con Agostino, l'animatore che viene a lavorare a una festa per il cugino piccolo, a far scattare qualcosa in lui. Attrazione, desiderio di libertà, un interesse per lo stile di vita di un ragazzo che vive in camper e sembra non dover sottostare a nessun legame. Scappato di casa, Yuri si stabilirà in una comunità di gente simile ad Agostino, che vive alla giornata tra un rave e l'altro.

L'invenzione della neve (Vittorio Moroni): 14/09

Carmen ha un passato non facile. Da bambina è stata tolta alla madre, insieme alla sorella Sonia, e inserita in una casa famiglia. Ora è a sua volta madre di una bambina, Giada, che ha avuto con il suo compagno Massimo. La bambina è stata affidata dal giudice al padre e Carmen la può vedere solo al sabato ogni 15 giorni. Ma lei non intende accettare questa decisione perché, nonostante gli errori commessi in passato, si sente e vuole essere madre a pieno titolo.

Una sterminata domenica (Alain Parroni): 14/09

Estate. Roma e zone limitrofe. È in quest'area che si muovono tre adolescenti. Kevin, sedicenne, Alex che di anni ne ha appena compiuti diciannove, e Brenda che è incinta. Il loro è un girovagare tra città, campagna e periferia, costantemente insieme e apparentemente uniti fino a quando un'allusione modifica gli equilibri. Il loro processo di crescita privo di bussola passa a una nuova fase.

Mamma qui comando io (Federico Moccia): 14/09

Filippo e Michela sono marito e moglie prossimi alla separazione e genitori di Francesco, che ha nove anni, un carattere vivace ed è molto furbo. Mentre si trovano in tribunale, i due iniziano a litigare riguardo a chi debba spettare la casa i famiglia e su chi sia il genitore più adatto ad avere la custodia del bambino. È così che il giudice inaspettatamente decide di assegnare la casa a Francesco, mentre la madre e il padre dovranno alternarsi ogni inizio settimana nell'abitazione.

Goffredo e l'Italia chiamò (Angelo Antonucci): 15/09

La vita, gli amori, gli ideali di libertà del giovane poeta e patriota Goffredo Mameli, autore dell'inno degli Italiani, morto a soli 21 anni, il 6 luglio del 1849, combattendo per l'indipendenza dell'Italia.

Felicità (Micaela Ramazzotti): 21/09

Roma. Desirè lavora come truccatrice nei set cinematografici e da quando era adolescente ha sempre messo i soldi da parte. È ingenua e disponibile e molti se ne approfittano come il padre che la sottopone a continui ricatti morali o il compagno Bruno, un professore universitario narcisista che la fa sentire spesso inadeguata. Quando il fratello Claudio, per il quale ha firmato dei documenti su pressione dei genitori per poter pagare una Mercedes nera con cui il ragazzo avrebbe dovuto iniziare un lavoro come autista, entra in depressione, Desirè capisce che è l'unica che lo può aiutare e, per riuscirci, deve allontanarlo dalla sua famiglia che ha sempre trascurato i suoi problemi psichiatrici. E per farlo può contare solo su sé stessa

Infiniti (Cristian de Matteis): 21/09

Roberta e Davide stanno felicemente insieme da quattro anni da quando si sono incontrati e innamorati al Museo di Casa Leopardi a Recanati: oggi Davide sta cercando di affermarsi come pittore, mentre Roberta, nonostante la sua passione letteraria, è diventata un agente immobiliare e lavora nell'agenzia di Davide, sposato alla ricca e annoiata Greta ma segretamente innamorato di lei. Quando Roberta scopre che Davide all'inizio della loro relazione l'ha tradita, il rapporto tra i due entra in crisi profonda e la ragazza comincia ad interessarsi a Lorenzo, il commesso del supermercato che ha un tatuaggio "leopardiano" sul polso. Ma anche nelle relazioni non tutto è come sembra e come nel nastro di Moebius due persone possono camminare nello stesso spazio ma ritrovarsi alla fine in punti diametralmente opposti.

Non credo in niente (Alessandro Marzullo): 28/09

Una pianista e un violinista che lavorano in nero per un ristoratore dispotico. Un aspirante attore che alterna i rari provini alle frequenti a scopate senza futuro. Una hostess che disegna, canta, balla da sola e non crede (più) all’amore eterno, considerandolo un sentimento che si possono permettere solo i ricchi. Sono i quattro protagonisti, tutti alle soglie dei trent’anni, di una storia crepuscolare che si svolge in una Roma sporca e ostile, soprattutto ai giovani, cui offre solo umiliazioni della loro dignità e l’invito costante ad accantonare i propri sogni e le proprie aspirazioni artistiche.

Nata per te (Fabio Mollo): 28/09

La storia di Luca e Alba: un uomo e una bambina che hanno disperatamente bisogno l'uno dell'altra, anche se il mondo intorno a loro non sembra ancora pronto a vederli insieme. Il tribunale di Napoli è alla ricerca di una famiglia per Alba, che ha la sindrome di down e, appena nata, è stata abbandonata in ospedale. Luca, single, omosessuale, cattolico, da sempre mosso da un forte desiderio di paternità, lotta per ottenere l'affidamento di Alba. Quante famiglie "tradizionali" devono dire di no prima che Luca possa essere preso in considerazione? Può una bambina rifiutata dal mondo diventare il premio di una vita?

Documentari

Tiziano Terzani: il viaggio della vita (Mario Zanot): 11/09

Enzo Jannacci - vengo anch'io (Giorgio Verdelli): 11/09

Le mie poesie non cambieranno il modo (Annalena Benini, Francesco Piccolo): 14/09

La storia di Patrizia Cavalli è il cammino di una donna totalmente libera, bisognosa di pubblico e di amicizia, bisognosa di giocare seriamente con la vita. Una ragazza che scappa dalla provincia e dalle sue regole ordinarie per diventare, avanti e indietro nel tempo, regina di se stessa. Con grande talento, innocenza e sense of humour. Il documentario restituisce allo spettatore la carnalità, la libertà e il calore delle poesie di Patrizia Cavalli, l'esperienza di un'autentica ispirazione poetica fondata sulla vita quotidiana, e il senso profondo di un'esistenza che rifiuta la banalità delle definizioni. Patrizia Cavalli è morta il 21 giugno 2022, durante la post-produzione di questo film, che custodisce la sua ultima testimonianza.

Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari (Valentina Zanella, Giangiacomo De Stefano): 25/09

The years we have been nowhere (Lucio Cascavilla, Mauro Piacentini): 27/09

Il filo conduttore del film, sono le storie di Sulemain, Fatima Kamakuye e Patrick che hanno lasciato la Sierra Leone in cerca di un futuro migliore, riuscendo a costruirsi delle nuove vite e delle famiglie in Europa e negli Stati Uniti. Ma, a causa di problematiche dal carattere burocratico ed alcune infrazioni amministrative, vengono condannati e strappati alle loro famiglie per essere rispediti nel paese d'origine, dove ormai hanno perso i contatti con amici e familiari di una volta

[africanfashion]

Hello everyone,

A couple of days ago shit went to hell in different cities in Senegal. Before we get into what happened a couple of days ago, we need to go back to March 2021.

Early March 2021, Ousmane Sonko, the opposition leader of Senegal’s current president, Macky Sall was accused of rape by Adji Sarr. As he was on his way to court, he got arrested. In response, the Senegalese population went out to protest. However, the protests were met with violence from police who used tear gas and guns (with real bullets) against protesters and sometimes even innocent people. The Senegalese government blocked access to the internet to prevent the youth from conspiring and inciting violence. Eventually, Sonko was released and things seemed to go back to normal. However, about 21 young Senegalese people have died during the protests in 2021.

Until a couple of days ago. Last week on Sunday May 28th, the opposition leader Ousmane Sonko was arrested and brought to Dakar from his hometown in Ziguinchor. On Wednesday, prosecutors said they demanded 10 years in prison, but the next day (June 2nd) he was sentenced to two years in jail.

Afterwards, hell broke loose. People have been protesting since but the people have been met with a lot of violence and abuse. Just like in 2021, the government has been blocking access to the internet and certain apps and the current death toll is at 15. I would appreciate it if you can reblog this for visibility and awareness.

If you want to stay updated about what is happening in Senegal, I recommend checking the #FreeSenegal hashtag on Twitter. However TRIGGER WARNING ⚠️ because there are unsettling video’s of violence, blood and I don’t want to traumatize anyone.

If you want to know more about what it happening exactly, I created a story highlight on Instagram. Thank you, and if you are in Senegal: STAY SAFE 🇸🇳 or have loved-ones there I HOPE THEY ARE AND WILL STAY SAFE 🇸🇳.

May God help us all.

#FreeSenegal

[felipeandletizia]

Felipe and Letizia retrospective: December 14th

2003: Weekend in London.

2004: Audience to the Junta Directiva del Club de Encuentros “Manuel Broseta” (the alicantin lawyer who was killed by ETA in 1992); Inauguration of the newspaper office of “Las Provincias Multimedia” in Valencia & 16th King Jaime I awards

2005: Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Institute of International and Strategic Studies

2007: Attended the musical “Beauty and the Beast” in benefit the Children’s Oncology Residence of the Spanish Association against Cancer

2009: Lunch offered to the president of Vietnam Nguyen Minh Triet; Meeting with Presidents of Communities and Autonomous Cities attending the 4th Conference of Presidents & Gala dinner offered to the president of Vietnam Nguyen Minh Triet

2011: Prince of Girona Foundation presentation in Barcelona

2012: Audiences at la Zarzuela

2014: Lunch with her team at a restaurant near la Zarzuela

2015: 13th meeting of the patronages of the Princess of Girona Foundation

2016: Meeting of Princess of Girona Foundation at the Royal Palace in Madrid.

2017: Visited Village Pilote initiative for kids of the streets in Dakar, Senegal as part of her four-day cooperation trip to the west African country; Visited Ala 46 (Group 82) of the air force in Las Palmas & Lunch for the 5th International Forum of Tourism, Maspalomas Costa Canaria

2020: Visited military facilities of the Spanish Air Force & Arrived in Honduras for a cooperation trip

2021: Lunch celebrating the 15th anniversary of the newspaper “elEconomista”

2022: Inaugurated the exhibition “De Territorios 5x50”, one of the events in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the UNED & Delivered the 19th edition of the Annual Awards of the Victims of Terrorism Foundation

F&L Through the Years: 1099/??

[fairhairedkings]

Saloum (2021)

Directed by Jean Luc Herbulot

Cast: Yann Gael, Evelyne Ily Juhen, Roger Sallah, Mentor Ba, Bruno Henry

Plot:

Shot down after fleeing a coup and extracting a drug lord from Guinea-Bissau, the legendary mercenaries known as the Bangui Hyenas must stash their stolen gold bounty, lay low long enough to repair and refuel their plane and escape back to Dakar, Senegal. When they take refuge at a holiday camp in the coastal region of Sine-Saloum, they do their best to blend in with their fellow guests; but one Hyena is hiding a dark secret. He has brought them there for a reason and once his past catches up to him, his decisions have devastating consequences, threatening to unleash hell on them all.

[blueiscoool]

Hamedine Kane The School of Mutants 1, 2019

Numbered 3 of an edition of 4+2AP (on accompanying certificate of authenticity), printed 2022. Digital photograph printed on Hahemühle Photorag. 80 by 118cm., 31½ by 46½in. (image size); 89 by 128cm., 35 by 50⅜in. (sheet size). Framed: 92 by 131cm., 36¼ by 51⅝in.

The School of Mutants 1 (2021) is a photograph of the abandoned campus of the African Future University. The work forms part of a broader research project, L’École des Mutants, a collaborative art and research platform co-initiated by Kane and artist Stéphane Verlet-Bottéro in Dakar. The project revolves around the forgotten history of radical educational experiments in Senegal. The futuristic ruins of the University of the African Future, a pan-African academic utopia co-financed by many African states and Taiwan in the 1990s, stand abandoned in Sébikotane, a rural suburb of Dakar. Not far away are the remains of the colonial school William Ponty, where the first West and Central African independence fighters were trained. The resulting image is charged with the convergence of past, present and future possibilities, while the uncompleted campus stands as a monument to dreams deferred.

[f1]

Red Bull completes showrun with Perez in Madrid

Red Bull completes showrun with Perez in Madrid By Balazs Szabo on 16 Jul 2023, 22:29 Red Bull Racing staged a showrun in Madrid, the capital and most populous city of Spain with Sergio Perez completing three demo runs behind the wheel of title-winning Red Bull F1 cars. Reigning world champion team Red Bull used the "free" weekend between the British and the Hungarian Grands Prix to conquer the streets of Madrid to showcase two of their previous title-winning F1 machines. Sergio Perez was behind the wheel of the RB7 and RB8, driving around several of Madrid's famous landmarks. Running two of Sebastian Vettel's championship winning cars, the showrun ended with the Mexican pulling out donuts in front of the famous Cibeles Fountain, as over 85,000 fans attended the event. Madrid is the fifth city in which Perez drove previous Red Bull cars in a showun. In 2021, he burnt rubber in the streets of Mexico City while last year saw the Mexican drive in his hometown of Guadalajara. He’s also taken to the tarmac of Milton Keynes, home to Red Bull and Dallas, Texas. Commenting on his day, Perez said: “It was amazing to see the crowd here today and how passionate the people of Madrid are about Oracle Red Bull Racing and Formula One. People are super happy to see us, we are the only team who can make events like this possible, only Red Bull can shut down the busiest streets of Spain’s capital city on a Saturday night! Not many people know but Madrid is a second home to me, the vibe here is very unique and special, although I am not at home, I really feel like I am here. "This was such a fun evening and now I am looking forward to being back behind the wheel of the RB19 to get my season back on track, I want to get back to winning and score as many points as possible before the summer break, we have some important races coming up.” Alongside the showrun completed by Perez, fans had the opportunity to enjoy an exhibition from Elias Hountondji, a member of the Red Bull Driftbrothers, and Cristina Gutiérrez, the 2021 World Rally Cross Raids champion and the first woman to achieve a victory in the Dakar Rally since Jutta Kleinschmidt. Madrid has served as the first location of the F1 Exhibition which opend its doors back in March. Although the exhibition was set to close in mid-July, it has been extended until 20 August. The Spanish capital has also expressed its will to stage a Formula One race in the near future. Currently, the Spanish Grand Prix takes place in Barcelona with the contract running until 2026. Jose Vicente de los Mozos, President of Madrid’s event committee, has recently stated that he knows "when the agreement for the arrival of F1 in Madrid is going to be signed." It is not known whether Madrid will take over the place of Barcelona or it will run as Madrid GP with Barcelona continuing to host the Spanish Grand Prix. via F1Technical.net . Motorsport news https://www.f1technical.net/news/

[claudehenrion]

L’Afrique et la France : règlement de compte à OK Corral...

 A la veille du match France-Maroc, un ami, le journaliste Charles Villeneuve, me fait parvenir un très long article ''France Afrique : très dur constat'', fort bien écrit par le Général d’armée (2 S) Didier Bolelli, ancien ‘’grand patron’’ de la DGSE et actuellement Président de GEOS. [Sté spécialisée dans la sécurité de nos grandes entreprises à l'étranger]. Compte tenu des contraintes littéraires, structurelles et dimensionnelles de ce Blog, j'ai dû me résoudre à ré-interpréter cet article... ce dont je demande pardon à l'auteur. Mais au moment où France et Maroc vont jouer à la baballe avec toutes les conséquences qui pourraient rendre inoubliable ce rapprochement qatari, en citer quelques ''bonnes lignes'' n'est pas sans intérêt !

La France, ex-puissance coloniale, n’arrive pas à renouveler sa relation avec les jeunesses de l’Afrique dite francophone, qui ne croient plus aux promesses d’une rupture avec les pratiques du passé et la France est de plus en plus contestée ''par la rue'' au profit de la Russie. Par exemple, le 30 septembre dernier, alors que l’issue du coup d’Etat militaire au Burkina Faso était encore incertaine, des ‘‘infox'’��relayées par des ''agents russes'' à en croire des sources françaises– accusaient aussitôt la France de soutenir un chef d’Etat vacillant  contre la volonté supposée de son peuple. Ce putsch a mis en lumière les faiblesses de l’armée burkinabée, incapable d’endiguer la flambée djihadiste qui dévore 40 % du territoire national en attendant pire, mais il a aussi démontré qu’ il suffit de dénoncer d’éventuelles interférences françaises pour faire descendre des milliers de jeunes dans la rue.

Le rejet de la France est devenu un outil de mobilisation, parfois même chez les ''bi-marocains'' qui doivent à un ''jus soli'' absurde d'être des français de papier (ou ''administratifs''), alors même que le Maroc n'a jamais été une colonie. Ce ''retour à l'envoyeur'' de nos leçons à la Russie et de nos cadeaux à l'Ukraine était prévisible : qui sème le vent, récolte la tempête. Qu'on trouve ''ça'' moche... passe encore. Mais qu'on s'en offusque, c'est de la naïveté. Du coup, alors que les offres de partenariat russes, chinoises et turques se multiplient sur le continent, ''A bas la France !'' et ''France dégage !'' animent chaque manifestation contre le pouvoir, dans toute l’Afrique francophone. A Dakar, à Ouagadougou, à N’Djamena, la colère contre Paris se greffe très vite sur toute contestation, alors qu'une forme d’attraction semble se créer en faveur de la Russie qui voit ses 3 couleurs horizontales se multiplier comme par enchantement, brandies en emblèmes d’émancipation.

Parfois, du reste, nul n’est besoin de Russie. La France et ses dirigeants sont le problème de départ, au point que Paris craint de voir son poids politique diminuer et s’inquiète pour ses intérêts économiques dans cette partie du monde. Au Sénégal, la dénonciation des liens unissant Dakar et Paris est un instrument de mobilisation : ''La France doit lever son genou de notre cou !'' L'allusion est claire, alors que la France demeure le premier partenaire commercial avec une part de marché de 15,7 %, loin devant la Chine (9,2 %). A Dakar, nos entreprises les plus visibles (Auchan, TotalEnergies, Eiffage, Orange) redoutent une réédition des pillages de mars 2021. C'est une contradiction dont Paris n’arrive pas à se sortir : à force de promettre la rupture avec les pratiques du passé, la France a fini par susciter la méfiance des dirigeants qui voyaient en elle la garante de leur pouvoir. Mais, à ne jamais finaliser cet engagement, elle s’est imposée dans l’esprit populaire comme un frein direct à toutes les aspirations démocratiques.

C’est au Mali que la charge est la plus virulente. Alors que les soldats français venus combattre les groupes islamistes armés dans le nord du pays avaient été accueillis en libérateurs en janvier 2013, il n’y a même pas dix ans, ils ont préféré plier bagage en catimini. Mieux valait éviter de provoquer des rassemblements, forcément hostiles au vu de la relation exécrable entre Paris et la junte au pouvoir à Bamako, depuis le coup d’Etat d’août 2020.  L’échec des troupes françaises à circonscrire la menace djihadiste, depuis propagée dans d’autres régions du Mali sur fond de tensions entre communautés locales, et les désaccords sur la stratégie d’engager des discussions avec les chefs islamistes ont dégradé les rapports entre les deux pays. Le choix stratégique des colonels maliens de se tourner vers la Russie et les mercenaires du Groupe Wagner a fini par sceller le divorce à un moment où les autorités françaises exprimaient ouvertement leur volonté de retrait.

Les deux pays où la France avait affirmé le plus fortement sa volonté de protéger les populations sont ceux qui lui ont tourné le dos le plus ostensiblement, tout en proclamant leur amitié pour Moscou : le Mali, qui avait accueilli les opérations ''Serval'' en 2013, puis ''Barkhane'' en 2014 (élargie au Sahel), et le Centrafrique avec ''Sangaris'' (2013-2016). L’annonce du départ des soldats français a été vécue, à Bamako et à Bangui, comme une forme d’abandon, alors que le travail de sécurisation était inachevé. La Russie n’a eu qu’à combler le vide et à ré-orienter la colère latente. A la différence des Britanniques, qui étaient ‘’partis sans laisser d’adresse'', les Français, eux, sont partis en disant “Nous sommes toujours là”.

''Depuis, les citoyens de l’Afrique francophone ont toujours l’impression, à tort ou à raison, que les décisions se prennent à Paris'' résume le sociologue et professeur à l’université de Bouaké (Côte d’Ivoire) Francis Akindès. Pour lui, ''la relation franco-africaine est aujourd’hui principalement habitée par le soupçon. Mais s’il y a de bonnes raisons historiques d’en vouloir à la France, précise-t-il, celle-ci paye surtout de ne pas avoir vu l’Afrique francophone se transformer, et d’avoir pensé qu’elle pouvait réfléchir à sa place – comme si elle savait mieux que les Africains ce qui est bon pour leur avenir''. (NDLR : il est difficile de penser qu’il ait tout faux !)

A cette arrogance toute française – caractérisée par chacune des prises de parole d’Emmanuel Macron, dans son besoin masochiste de culpabilité triomphante, de repentance et de faux crimes contre sa version perverse de l'Histoire, et face à l’inévitable désir d’émancipation grandissant au sein d’une relation perçue comme déséquilibrée, s’ajoutent des décisions politiques ressenties comme des offenses. Le drame est que la France ne dispose plus d’acteurs capables de porter cette ambition : en dehors des militaires, il y a un manque d’expertise de terrain sur les dossiers africains –aussi ! On mesure aujourd’hui les conséquences de la stupide disparition du ministère de la Coopération. C'est Lionel Jospin, en 1999,  qui a privé la France d’un outil irremplaçable. L’aide financière est inopérante pour changer les perceptions, et nos fonctionnaires politisés donnent l’impression de vouloir imposer des ''valeurs'' qui ne correspondent pas aux besoins, aux coutumes et à la religion.

Puissance militaire à l’échelle du continent africain, mais n’acceptant plus d’être perçue comme telle en dépit de ses quatre bases permanentes (en Côte d’Ivoire, à Djibouti, au Gabon et au Sénégal), la France est aussi une puissance économique bousculée. Sur les vingt dernières années, si le volume de ses exportations vers l'Afrique a doublé, elle a perdu près de la moitié de ses parts de marché, passant de 12 % à 7,35 % entre 2000 et 2017, les investissements directs français reculant de 18 % sur dix ans, et n’étant plus que 4 % des montants investis à l’étranger.

Entre une rhétorique antifrançaise chauffée à blanc, des signes politiques toxiques et un désir des russes de ''nous faire payer''… nous... payons cher le fait que Hollande ait connu là ''le plus beau jour de sa vie''  (Ah ! Le con !), et que Macron se soit, bien légèrement, allongé derrière Biden dans une cascade de décisions qui n'étaient pas celles qu'il aurait fallu prendre, en Ukraine... Nous sortirons-nous un jour de cette enchevêtrement qui semble aujourd'hui indémerdable, pour employer un mot bien vu à l'Elysée ? On pleure 58 héros morts sur ordre de la France pour un résultat introuvable. Nos irresponsables ont-ils pensé à eux, le 11 novembre ?

H-Cl, avec l'aide irremplaçable du Général Bolelli.