#France Technology Latest

[kybelles]

NOTES FROM PACAT’S LATEST M&G

(FEB 1, 2025, SYDNEY)

Akielos Research: She joked that her main historical research question was "what era had the hottest weather/clothes?" leading her to choose ancient Greece for Akielos. She discovered historians haven’t figured out if ancient Greeks wore underwear—deciding Damen must for practical reasons, like preventing chafing while riding.

Vere’s Setting: She was fascinated by late medieval France and chose "Laurent" for the name, so he had to be French. Akielos and Vere were inspired by various historical settings but don’t strictly adhere to realism. They are pastiches of many different places. She had to avoid certain anachronisms, like naval technology, to keep the world-building consistent.

Capri’s Origins & Writing Journey: She started writing Capri on LiveJournal without expecting it to be published, and wasn’t concerned with being politically correct or censoring herself. Having grown up with a violent childhood, fantasy offered her an escape. The final books are almost identical to what she posted online, except for a few name changes (e.g., Rabat became Vere, Margaret became Jokaste).

Writing for Comics & Paragons: She found writing a hero like Superman much harder than villains, as heroes require deep moral consistency—something harder for her because morality is complex and subjective. She believes paragons are essential in literature because they are aspirational figures who show us what good can look like, something missing in the current trend of grimdark and anti-heroes. Her favorite paragons are Wonder Woman followed by Superman.

Romance & Fantasy: As a kid, she resented love interests in stories because she just wanted to read about horses. Despite writing romantasy, she doesn’t read much of it because a lot feels derivative (like Twilight or ACOTAR). She’s critical of the genre’s lack of evolution beyond common tropes—essentially bodice-ripper romance, but with fantastical elements added, and wonders what will come next once readers have exhausted these clichés.

Queer Representation: She’s excited about the current "golden age" of queer publishing, noting how things have changed since her early career, when publishers wouldn't even depict the content of Capri on the cover. However, she’s frustrated that many queer stories still center on sex. She’d love to see stories where a queer character just exists (e.g., a queer detective), without their sexuality being the plot's main focus.

Capri's Writing Process: Capri was originally meant to be one book, but the characters’ deep hatred and evolving relationship required more time to develop into pure love without feeling forced. She intentionally crafted Laurent and Damen as opposites, with each possessing qualities the other lacked. This made them complementary and drew them together, reflecting the “opposites attract” dynamic, where their differences ultimately made them perfect soulmates for each other.

Romantasy vs. Fantasy: She defines romantasy as a subgenre where the romance is so central that the fantasy plot wouldn’t exist without it, whereas in traditional fantasy, the hero's journey can stand alone. Even though she writes romantasy, she doesn’t fully love the genre because it can lack depth beyond the romance.

Book Recommendations & Influences: She enjoys books like American Psycho (a critique of capitalism), The Alexander Trilogy by Mary Renault, Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, The Bell by Iris Murdoch, The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, and everything by Dorothy Dunnett.

[channeledhistory]

The highly controversial indiscriminate child sexual abuse regulation (so-called chat control) could still be endorsed by EU governments after all, as France could give up its previous veto. This is reported by Euractiv and confirmed by internal documents. France considers the new “upload moderation” proposal in principle as a viable option. According to the latest draft regulation dated 28 May (Council document 9093/24), which is presented as “upload moderation”, users of apps and services with chat functions are to be asked whether they accept the indiscriminate and error-prone scanning and possibly reporting of their privately shared images, photos and videos. Previously unknown images and videos are also to be scrutinised using “artificial intelligence” technology. If a user refuses the scanning, they would be blocked from sending or receiving images, photos, videos and links (Article 10). End-to-end encrypted services such as Whatsapp or Signal would have to implement the automated searches “prior to transmission” of a message (so-called client-side scanning, Article 10a). The initially proposed scanning of text messages for indications of grooming, which is hardly being used to date, is to be scrapped, as is the scanning of voice communication, which has never been done before. Probably as a concession to France, the chats of employees of security authorities and the military are also to be exempted from chat control.

During the last discussion on 24 May, the Council Legal Service made it clear that indiscriminate chat control scanning of non-suspects is still envisioned and remains a violation of fundamental rights. Nevertheless, most EU governments are determined to go ahead. EU governments plan to continue their discussions on June 4th. “The Belgian proposal means that the essence of the EU Commission’s extreme and unprecedented initial chat control proposal would be implemented unchanged,” warns MEP and most prominent opponent of chat control Patrick Breyer (Pirate Party). “Using messenger services purely for texting is not an option in the 21st century. And removing excesses that aren’t being used in practice anyway is a sham. Millions of private chats and private photos of innocent citizens are to be searched using unreliable technology and then leaked without the affected chat users being even remotely connected to child sexual abuse – this would destroy our digital privacy of correspondence. Our nude photos and family photos would end up with strangers in whose hands they do not belong and with whom they are not safe. Despite lip service being paid to encryption, client-side scanning would undermine previously secure end-to-end encryption in order to turn our smartphones into spies – this would destroy secure encryption. [...]

[absolutebl]

Hello! In the latest EP of I Feel You Linger in the Air, Yai addresses Jom as Por Jom. Jom seems surprised but I have no understanding of what Por means so it's significance is lost on me. Perhaps you can help shed some light? Also, how was Yai addressing Jom before?

Por/phor honorific in Thai - I Feel You Linger in the Air

I'm glad you asked it so I don't have to.

I have not encountered it before in BL.

Any of the the Thai language spies still out there wanna weigh in?

I did some poking around - but I could be way off base. Still this what I discovered:

Por is a paternal honorific, luang por is used for respected monks.

So I am assuming this use is relatively old fashioned (the reason we don't hear it often in our normal BL) and either one step more intimate or, more likely, one step more respectful than no honorific. Possibly scholarly?

I'm thinking all this has to do with Jom's demonstration of education. Yai has figured out that one of the reasons Jom doesn't belong and cannot fit in with the servants is that he is more educated than a peasant, which adds up to him being originally from a high status and wealthy family, especially speaking English and having travelled (he has a non-Chang Mai accent).

There is very little Thai middle class at the beginning of the 1920s since trade is being dominated/dictated by the West, or Chinese merchant operations, and Siam is a monarchy. So for a nationalize Thai citizen it's either military, landed gentry with trade operations (like Yai), military, or... none of the above. This changes, especially in the south, throughout this decade (as it did in other parts of the world). So there is a rising bourgeoisie going on in the background but it's not that obvious in Chang Mai at this time.

What this means to Yai is that Jom's family either got wiped out or politically entirely disenfranchised possibly as part of the 1912 attempted coups (or even WWI)? This would be mystifying for Yai because Jom doesn't act like he comes from a military family at all. So his background and status is very confusing for Yai, but Yai does know one thing...

Jom is NOT lower class by the standards of Yai's temporal worldview and existence.

For a young man to be educated and yet entirely alone is very dangerous and suspicious. Also, let's be clear, Jom doesn't look or act like a laborer. He red flags "cultured" all over the place.

Yai is paternalistic and caring towards Jom out the gate because Yai has a big ol'crush but also because he recognizes "his own" is trying to survive while isolated and scared. Yai wants to rescue Jom.

Some Historical Context for I Feel You Linger In The Air

I love history and so here's some quick info that any Thai watcher would likely know, but you might not... ready?

Remember:

Burma (Myanmar) to the west is occupied by the British.

The French hold Vietnam to the east.

Everyone is bickering over what would become Cambodia & Laos.

China occasionally gets involved from the North (also, lots of immigrants from China at this time accounting for a large percentage of the merchant/middle class)

Eventually, Japan would invade during WWII.

In part, The Kingdom of Siam was kept a "neutral" party because none of the surrounding colonial powers wanted to risk offending any of the other players in the area.

Siam re-negotiated sovereignty in 1920 (from USA) and 1925 (France & Britain). But during the time of this show (mid to late 1920s) it was back to it's customary type-rope balancing act of extreme diplomacy with the allied western colonial powers that surrounded it. Recognizing that Thailand was never colonized, it's boarders were constantly nibbled at and it was "ambassador-occupied" off and on by Westerners whose military backing and exploitive business concerns simply outmatched the monarchy, especially in the technology department (as well as by reputation on the global stage at the time).

In other words, the farang in this show (James & Robert) are bound to be both the baddies and the power players of the narrative.

The king of Siam at the time (Vajiravudh AKA Rama VI) was initially somewhat popular but also regarded as overly extravagant since Siam was hit by a major postwar recession in 1919. It should be noted that King Vajiravudh had no son because he was most likely gay (which at the time did not much concern Siamese popular opinion, EXCEPT THAT it undermined the stability of the monarchy).

He "died suddenly" in 1925 (age 44) with the monarchy weakened and succession handed off to his younger brother.

In 1932 a small circle of the rising bourgeoisie (all of whom had studied in Europe, mostly Paris), supported by some military, seized power from the monarchy in a practically nonviolent Siamese Revolution installing a constitutional monarchy.

Siam would then go through: dictatorship, WWII, Japanese invasion, Allied occupation, democratic elections, military junta, the Indochina wars, communist insurgency, more democracy and popularization movements, multiple coups, more junta, more monarchy, eventually leading us to the somewhat chaotic insanity of Thai politics we have today. (Which is, frankly, a mix of monarchy, junta, democracy, egocentric popularism, and bribery.)

(source)

[silicacid]

Dirty secret of Israel’s weapons exports: They’re tested on Palestinians

Weapons tested in each war Israel wages see a spike in global demand. The current Gaza war is the latest laboratory for its arms industry.

India – Israel’s largest military buyer, which operates more than 100 Israeli-made UAVs – purchased 34 Heron drones in this period, followed by France (24), Brazil (14) and Australia (10), according to a 2014 report by Drone Wars UK.

Colombia is one of an estimated 130 countries that have bought weapons, drones and cyberspying technology from Israel, the world’s 10th-largest weapons exporter.

A report from Amnesty International in 2019 noted that the whole process by which Israel sells arms is shrouded in secrecy “with no documentation of sales, one cannot know when [these arms] were sold, by which company, how many and so on”.

Amnesty found that “Israeli companies exported weapons which reached their destination after a series of transactions, thereby skirting international monitoring”.

Israel has not ratified the Arms Trade Treaty, which prohibits the sale of weapons at risk of being used in genocide and crimes against humanity. As such, its weapons exports have influenced the course of history for several nations, many led by controversial regimes.

[eretzyisrael]

Good News From Israel

Israel's Good News Newsletter to 9th Jun 24

In the 9th Jun 24 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:

Two more Israeli breakthroughs in the fight against cancer.

An Israeli exercise system can improve poor eyesight by 25%.

Thousands of Israel’s supporters took to the streets in London and Manhattan.

Intel unveiled its new Israeli-developed microprocessor for powering AI systems.

An Israeli innovation is poised to transform the electric battery industry.

See latest examples of Israeli technology in France and South Africa.

On Jerusalem Day 2024 the population of Jerusalem exceeds one million.

Read More: Good News from Israel

This newsletter was compiled before the latest rescue of four hostages from Gaza.  However, all of Israel is celebrating the good news, despite the loss of another Israeli hero. The photo is from one of the many celebrations that have been taking place in Israel as we depart the traditional period of mourning after Passover and look forward to the Jewish festival of Shavuot (Pentacost) which commemorates the Revelation on Mount Sinai.  We pray that we will have many more opportunities to celebrate in the coming weeks and months.  Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy these latest news items of positive Israeli activities and achievements.

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil joins growing list of countries banning cellphones in schools

A bill that bans students from using cellphones in schools was signed into lawin Brazil on Monday, the latest example oflawmakerslimiting young people’s use of personal technology in the classroom, amid growing concern about its effect on education and well-being.

Brazil’s Education Ministry said in a statement that the law “aims to safeguard the mental, physical and psychological health of children and adolescents.” Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called it an example of “working together for the safety and better learning of our children and young people.”

The law prohibits all students in public and private elementary and secondary schools from using portable electronic devices throughout the school day, the ministry said, though it allows for their educational use and some other exceptions.

Brazil joins several countries that have banned the personal use of cellphones in schools — including the Netherlands, Italy for students up to the third year of middle school, and France for those under 15 — though there are questions as to whether phone bans are effective in achieving their aims.

Continue reading.

[darkmaga-returns]

By John Klar American Thinker

January 9, 2025

Germany’s once-envied efficient economy is in freefall, and the climate change cult and European Green Deal are directly to blame. State policies subsidizing EVs and other products, shutting down coal and nuclear plants, and mandating forced conversion to untested, unimplemented “renewables” resources for energy have decimated industrial efficiency. Industries and blue-collar jobs are fleeing Germany for polluting, profitable operations in China, India, and elsewhere abroad. Will the United States follow suit?

As natural gases skyrocket during a European cold snap, and Russian gas pipelines through Ukraine are shut down for the first time since 1991, Germany has transitioned from Europe’s economic darling to its leading economic anchor. Followed closely by France and the UK, similarly weighted by economically destructive climate fantasies that are crashing to Earth like ideological meteors, the latest blow to gas supplies compounds the crisis occasioned by the mysterious sabotage of Nord Stream 1 and 2.

The results of this disastrous state-controlled economic carbon dioxide experiment continue to be as evident as explosives in a controlled demolition. Germany terminated massive EV subsidies at the end of 2023; EV sales promptly fell 69%. Despite gushing economic promises of “high-paying jobs” in the renewables industry, Germany announces more layoffs almost daily. Chinese companies, unhindered by escalating energy and regulatory costs, are leading in EV and other manufacturing technologies while spewing more chemicals into the ecosystem than German manufacturing industries.

[mariacallous]

In July, the local government of the Italian region of Sardinia suspended the construction of hundreds of new wind turbines, claiming that it would destroy the island’s beautiful landscape. In October, the government then announced its intention to stop the construction of new wind farms altogether, also adding solar panels to the ban.

These decisions followed mounting protests by large groups of activists who opposed these renewable energy developments, advocating instead for the use of natural gas to produce electricity. In August, unknown people set fire to two wind farms that were due to be installed in the north of the island. Similar attacks destroyed solar panels destined to be constructed on local farmland.

Under its new plans, Sardinia is betting instead on developing its natural gas infrastructure while delaying the shutdown of its coal-fired power plants, which now produce more than 60 percent of the electricity needed by the island of 1.6 million people.

The opposition to renewables in Sardinia is a blow not only to other Italian local governments, which are facing tough decisions on how to curb greenhouse gas emissions. It is also a major setback for the central government in Rome and especially for the European Union and its European Green Deal, the ambitious climate plan for the entire continent.

The ongoing battle in Sardinia is the latest example of the struggle European countries are facing in reaching their ambitious decarbonization plans in the continent. Countries such as France, Germany, and Spain have been facing opposition to these projects over the past few years, raising questions about the attainability of a central element of the EU’s green strategy.

The ability and political will of each European country to translate Europe’s plans and goals into actual national laws and policies will be crucial in reaching the continent’s ambitious climate targets. But the risk that a two-speed—or even multispeed—Europe could ultimately derail the overall plans is growing, and it will test the new European Commission’s determination to achieve sufficient progress during its upcoming mandate.

“The commission’s legacy will depend on its ability to push forward vital green policies within a maelstrom of political and domestic discontent,” said Mats Engström, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. “The climate team’s members must also bridge political divides within the commission to deliver on its Green Deal promises. Whether it succeeds in this task will be closely scrutinized over the upcoming five-year term.”

The European Green Deal, a policy framework to achieve climate neutrality—meaning full decarbonization—by 2050, was approved in 2020. Subsequent legislation set a 55 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. EU institutions are currently assessing the feasibility of an intermediate goal of a reduction of 90 percent by 2040, which has also been proposed by the commission.

Replacing fossil fuel energy production with renewables is just one aspect of the bloc’s goals. Others include recovering Europe’s biodiversity, making its food system more sustainable, and creating a well-functioning circular economy, all while making its industries greener.

These policies will affect all sectors of the bloc’s economy—households, industry, services, and agriculture—with the aim of also making it more competitive globally.

Analysts at Brussels-based think tank Bruegel published a report in October that identified four areas of risk that may derail the achievement of the EU’s climate goals, which also appear to be intertwined: geoeconomic instability, technological progress, exacerbated inequality, and policy credibility.

“A global economy with more trade disputes and greater risk of conflict endangers the massive capital investment needed for the transition, while the cost of clean technologies is a primary determinant of the economic viability of decarbonisation,” the analysts wrote. They added: “Climate policies will affect people’s everyday lives in disruptive ways, meaning that regressive outcomes must be guarded against, balanced with a concrete commitment to the established climate policy pillars.”

In a September report, the European Commission—the executive arm of the EU—listed a number of key achievements already reached. EU’s greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by 32.5 percent from the 1990 baseline, while the European economy has grown by 67 percent over the same period, demonstrating the decoupling of growth from emissions.

However, the commission warned that although the installation of renewable power plants has been at a record high over the past few years, the pace toward EU energy efficiency and renewable targets must be further increased to ensure their achievement.

The bloc’s executive also warned about the significant challenge to the continent’s competitiveness due to rising competition with China, high energy price differentials compared to industrial competitors such as the United States, and potential strategic dependencies on clean energy technologies.

At the same time, European citizens still face high energy bills, which—combined with the rising cost of living—further reduce their purchasing power.

“The sectors in which it goes pretty well are the sectors where the economic case is there,” said Linda Kalcher, the executive director at Strategic Perspectives, another Brussels-based think-tank. “For instance, as long as there are schemes that actually support households to buy heat pumps or electric vehicles, we see that there is high uptake on them. The areas where it’s still not economically beneficial, like renovating the building stock, are obviously very slow.”

This September’s Eurobarometer, a survey conducted over the previous few months on behalf of European institutions, found that 81 percent of the sample agree that implementing a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target will contribute to Europe’s fight against climate change and to the protection of the environment.

Yet, 53 percent said the EU should encourage member states to make their first or second energy priority enacting measures to support households in energy poverty, while 50 percent said that member states should prioritize focusing on measures to reduce energy consumption or that help citizens to produce or consume energy from renewable sources.

Conall Heussaff, a research analyst at Bruegel, said the biggest risk that could hamper the achievement of the EU’s 2030 decarbonization targets is what the think tank called the “policy credibility risk.”

“There’s a danger for divisive politics to use the energy transition as a wedge, as a way to divide the public and push against the sort of ‘elite imposition’ on people’s lives,” he said.

Political disputes about climate policy were evident in the run-up to European Parliament elections in June in relation to several policy measures, including the phaseout of internal combustion engines, the so-called nature restoration law, and gas boiler sales bans in Germany. These laid bare the divisive nature of policies with a direct impact on households, businesses, and agriculture.

Experience suggests the European Green Deal policies will likely face postponements and even rollbacks in the coming years, analysts warn. These rollbacks, in turn, could stall planned investments and trigger a rise in cost for businesses and citizens that have already made investments in clean technologies.

Achieving the intermediate 90 percent emission reduction target by 2040 largely relies on replacing the current expenditure on fossil fuel with capital investments in clean technologies. According to the European Commission, the annual investment required would be around 700 billion euros ($760 billion) from 2031 to 2040.

But geoeconomic risk looms large on these plans. The disruption of clean technology supply chains potentially emerging from simmering trade tensions between the major trading blocs could derail the continent’s energy transition. So too could broader economic shocks, which might destabilize the macroeconomic situation by driving up interest rates or limiting fiscal space of European countries.

Trade tensions—particularly with China, which dominates the market for critical raw materials and many green technologies, such as solar panels and batteries—could slow down the energy transition and increase its costs.

At the same time, the initial capital investment for technologies such as wind, solar, and batteries comprises the largest share of the total cost of their implementation. Rising interest rates could therefore slow down such investments.

Increased geopolitical instability—and the possible reelection of former U.S. President Donald Trump, some argue—could also trigger higher defense spending by European countries, limiting their fiscal space to finance the energy transition. The slower development of technologies could also have a negative impact. All pathways to a net-zero economy partially rely on technologies which are so far unproven on a large scale.

In particular, progress on carbon removal technologies will be key, because if it proved to be insufficient, other sectors such as agriculture or industry could be required to reduce emissions more quickly. “To succeed, the 2040 climate and energy policy framework needs to be designed to be resilient to such risks,” Bruegel’s analysts said in their October report.

The green transition envisaged by the EU will need to have the buy-in of all the bloc’s governments as well as its citizens to overcome the risks to its success. It will require European leaders to ensure the timely and thorough implementation of existing EU legislation, while limiting political concessions to the many different groups opposing the changes needed.

[95jezzica]

how do you think sweden is as a parent? any headcanons?

It's canon Sweden kind of spoils his kids quite a lot (with that I mainly mean Sealand and Ladonia, but to a degree this also includes Iceland). Not really spoiled in a bad way though? At any rate Sweden pays a lot of attention to his kids, constantly defends Iceland against Nor's and Den's teasing, and even pretends to lose wars against Ladonia. It's sweet, and I figure it's worth mentioning.

As far as headcanons go, this also means I headcanon Sweden as a pretty chill parent in general. As long as they don't endanger/hurt themselves or others, he allows them to do a pretty much what they want (within reason) - but he's still able to put his foot down if he thinks something is going too far.

With that said, if they want a tree house to hold their micronation meetings in? Then you'll be damn sure he's going to build a gigantic treehouse for them. If they're hungry they can usually just go and eat something from the kitchen - though Sweden likely has some rules about what they eat and when.

(Example: If dinner will be ready in 30 minutes they're probably allowed to eat a quick fruit like a banana, but not stuff themselves full on sandwiches. Sweden would probably also tell them to avoid sugary stuff like candy until after dinner, but as long as they don't overdo stuff he wouldn't be too strict on which days they decide to eat their candy).

For Sealand specifically I reckon Sweden & England have shared custody, and as a result Sealand technically has several rooms. (One in each house). To avoid Sealand having to choose between them on holidays they also make sure to celebrate major stuff together or alternate the days between them.

For an example Sealand's birthday is celebrated with everyone together. Meanwhile Sealand celebrates Christmas with the Nordics on the 23-24/12, then goes to that big party America is said to have (which probably is on the 25th), and then Sealand celebrates "Boxing Day" (26/12) with the "eyebrow family", NA-brothers and France.

They'd also have things they celebrate on their own, such as Sealand being with the "eyebrow family" to celebrate things like St. Patrick's Day, St. George's Day and Bonfire Night (Guy Fawkes). Then Sealand would be with Sweden and the Nordics to celebrate things like the June birthdays (Ladonia/Den/Swe), Midsummer and Lucia. Just to mention a few examples.

I'd say Sweden and England try to keep the days where Sealand spend his time time pretty even, but they also don't stand and count every minute to make it "fair". One year Sealand might spend a few days/weeks more with Sweden, and another year Sealand might be a little more with England. Living costs are similarly divided. For an example I imagine England was the one who bought Sealand a mobile phone when it became more necessary, but Sweden was the one who bought Sealand a tablet.

Sealand strikes me more as a boy longing for adventures. Sure, he enjoys to sit down and play games/watch TV from time to time, but he's also boy with endless energy. I can imagine him and Sweden doing stuff like going on hikes, building rafts to sail on the local lake - etc - as quality time when they're alone together. Sealand strikes me as someone who if they don't get to DO enough stuff in a day to run off some energy he'll have a hard time falling asleep in the evening.

Now, Ladonia spends pretty much all his time living with Sweden unless he's having a sleepover with a friend or one of his many uncles. As a micronation who nowadays mostly functions as an internet nation, Ladonia has a lot of the latest technology available to him (through Sweden) since he's also more dependent on them.

Because of this Sweden obviously also make sure the house their family lives in has excellent internet connection. Though Ladonia mainly uses his own laptop while moving/traveling around, I headcanon Ladonia also has a robust PC inside his bedroom ("home base" in a sense) and a back-up laptop that he SOMETIMES let's Sealand borrow if they want to play games together.

(At some point Sealand got to choose between getting a computer, laptop or a tablet from Sweden. He chose a tablet).

I've mentioned in earlier posts that I headcanon Ladonia as literally having been born looking like a newborn baby, and as a result of that I think Sweden is/was very protective of him. Obviously Sweden is also protective of Sealand, but it's on a much higher level for Ladonia after Sweden spent YEARS not sure if Ladonia would even survive or how much "nation" Ladonia was since he grew at roughly the same speed as a human for the first 3-5 years of his life. It wasn't until Ladonia's aging slowed down a bit that Sweden could start to breathe easier.

Ladonia also has a big canon interest in Pokémon, so it wouldn't surprise me if he has most of the consoles and Pokémon games. Heck, some of the Quality Time stuff Ladonia and Sweden do together alone is likely a lot of video game playing, and they might even go watch tournaments and regionals being played. Sweden likely even ask Japan for favours to get tickets for the World Championships. I reckon Ladonia would enjoy amusement parks too, so that's another one of the few things Sweden can use to "get Ladonia away from the screens" for a few hours if Ladonia isn't having friends over. xD

Originally I also wanted to write about Sweden and Iceland's relationship as a bonus, but this post is getting really long and I've already done a few posts with them before, so I think I will end here for now. xD

Thanks for the ask, and hope you enjoy this!

[awesome-casuallyfamouscollector]

France was right - there, I said it!

Today we dive into the strategic evolution of France's military independence and its profound impact on European defense. Explore how France's historic skepticism toward American dominance in NATO sparked a journey toward self-reliance that is reshaping European military strategies today. From Charles de Gaulle's visionary policies to modern France's role as a global defense leader, this video unpacks the narrative of European defense autonomy. What We'll Cover: Historic Shifts: How France's withdrawal from NATO's integrated command under Charles de Gaulle set the stage for European military self-reliance . Modern Implications: The relevance of France's approach in today's geopolitical climate, particularly against the backdrop of recent challenges posed by global leaders. France's Defense Products: Dassault Rafale Fighter Jet: A cornerstone of French military exports, renowned for its advanced capabilities and recent upgrades. Leclerc XLR Tank: France’s latest innovation in armored warfare, featuring cutting-edge anti-drone technology and a remote-controlled turret. Barracuda Class Submarines: Critical to France's naval strategy, offering enhanced stealth and combat features. CAESAR Self-Propelled Howitzer: A highly mobile artillery system that has seen significant demand due to its proven effectiveness. Economic Impact: Analysis of how France's focus on local defense procurement has bolstered its economy and defense industry. European Defense Collaboration: Insights into how France’s initiatives are influencing other European nations towards a more integrated defense posture. Join us as we delve into how France's strategic autonomy has not only enhanced its own defense capabilities but also encouraged a broader European movement towards self-reliance. Understand the key products and technologies driving France’s defense strategy, their impact on global markets, and what this means for the future of NATO and European defense cooperation.

P.S. Make Europeans dangerous again!!! (MEDA)

[mademoiselle-red]

I now find myself reading letters by French speaking missionaries writing home about the court of Yongzheng, and in particular on Prince Yi’s keen interest in European affairs. One letter mentions how the Prince asked this missionary to keep him up to date on Russia’s invasion of Poland, Turkish interests in the Mediterranean Sea, and the political affairs of all the countries along the sea and land routes between China and continental Europe...

It’s the 1700s. Emperor Kangxi was learning latin for fun and believed drinking hot chocolate (gifted by a Portuguese diplomat) was good for one’s health. The former crown prince’s uncle was a Catholic convert, and often got into heated debates with his nephew, a devout Buddhist. The third prince learned several European languages from his foreign tutors (and spoke them rather well, according to the tutors), but his true passion was in creating and publishing anthologies of old Chinese literature. Emperor Yongzheng’s best subject in school was geometry, also learned from a European tutor. He also dabbled in meteorology and geology, and tasked his foreign advisors with procuring for him the latest measuring devices and inventions from Europe. Prince Yi, who was well informed of European affairs and had an eye on the lucrative potentials of international trade, successfully pushed through measures to open up China’s sea ports for international trade and was interested in sending diplomatic missions to France…

Unfortunately, both Prince Yi and Yongzheng died all too young and all too soon, before they could implement most their foreign policy plans. The new emperor closed the borders, repealed many of Yongzheng’s reforms, and put out the brief spark of interest in exploring, trading, and exchanging knowledge and technologies with distant peoples that had emerged under Yongzheng’s rule. It would be another hundred years until China emerged from its isolation…

[thejollywriter]

I'm goin to bed but i just figured out my next book.

It's a novel that has three smaller novellas inside that all cover the fight against a similar bad guy, but with three different sets of protagonists across time.

The three eras are the late 1940s, the late 2020s, and the near-future cyberpunk setting i created for the Redwood Files.

ALL THREE stories take place in Redwood. Here's a summary.

***

It’s a time of HUGE EXPANSION for the little town of Redwood, as oil is found in them thar hills, and post-war America is famished for that Black Gold.

But not everyone’s excited, and not everyone trying to sink these new wells are what they seem.

Nomadic detectives Sophie and Aretha “Rita” Dubois are WW2 vets. Spies and partisans both, they’re incredibly clever, experienced fighters, and very, very tired. Married in secret during the war, they’re struggling to put down roots and find a place to build a life.

With their latest stop in Redwood, things don’t seem like they’re off to any better of a start, until one night one of the heralds from the Fae Courts visits. Rita recognizes her instantly, and offers to help.

Turns out, not every well being drilled is drilling for oil. Even worse, several of the drillers are Operation Paperclip refugees, plopped down in Redwood to continue Hitler’s occult-related research.

They intend to drill into the magical boundaries of Redwood to harness the power therein, and make portals at-will to alternate worlds where they can siphon material, people, and technology to correct the ending of WW2.

Once again fighting nazis, including American sympathizers who hid their allegiances during the war, Sophie and Rita pull out every trick they learned in occupied France to put a stop to their machinations, once and for all.

***

the next two stories will follow the evolving threat, one with a modern detective i haven't thought of, and the final tale following Delilah Jones as she puts the final nail in the coffin of these nazis.

Every chapter and update will be posted first on Patreon. Sigh up today for a single US dollar to see these stories aS THEY HAPPEN, and even get your name in the credits of the CURRENT book, being published soon.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Chandra sees black hole jet stumble into something in the dark

Even matter ejected by black holes can run into objects in the dark. Using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have found an unusual mark from a giant black hole's powerful jet striking an unidentified object in its path.

The discovery was made in a galaxy called Centaurus A (Cen A), located about 12 million light-years from Earth. Astronomers have long studied Cen A because it has a supermassive black hole in its center sending out spectacular jets that stretch out across the entire galaxy. The black hole launches this jet of high-energy particles not from inside the black hole, but from intense gravitational and magnetic fields around it.

The image shows low-energy X-rays seen by Chandra represented in pink, medium-energy X-rays in purple, and the highest-energy X-rays in blue.

In this latest study, researchers determined that the jet is—at least in certain spots—moving at close to the speed of light. Using the deepest X-ray image ever made of Cen A, they also found a patch of V-shaped emission connected to a bright source of X-rays, something that had not been seen before in this galaxy.

Called C4, this source is located close to the path of the jet from the supermassive black hole and is highlighted in the inset. The arms of the "V" are at least about 700 light-years long. For context, the nearest star to Earth is about 4 light-years away.

While the researchers have ideas about what is happening, the identity of the object being blasted is a mystery because it is too distant for its details to be seen, even in images from the current most powerful telescopes.

The incognito object being rammed may be a massive star, either by itself or with a companion star. The X-rays from C4 could be caused by the collision between the particles in the jet and the gas in a wind blowing away from the star. This collision can generate turbulence, causing a rise in the density of the gas in the jet. This, in turn, ignites the X-ray emission seen with Chandra.

The shape of the "V," however, is not completely understood. The stream of X-rays trailing behind the source in the bottom arm of the "V" is roughly parallel to the jet, matching the picture of turbulence causing enhanced X-ray emission behind an obstacle in the path of the jet. The other arm of the "V" is harder to explain because it has a large angle to the jet, and astronomers are unsure what could explain that.

This is not the first time astronomers have seen a black hole jet running into other objects in Cen A. There are several other examples where a jet appears to be striking objects—possibly massive stars or gas clouds. However, C4 stands out from these by having the V-shape in X-rays, while other obstacles in the jet's path produce elliptical blobs in the X-ray image.

Chandra is the only X-ray observatory capable of seeing this feature. Astronomers are trying to determine why C4 has this different post-contact appearance, but it could be related to the type of object that the jet is striking or how directly the jet is striking it.

A paper describing these results appears in a recent issue of The Astrophysical Journal. The authors of the study are David Bogensberger (University of Michigan), Jon M. Miller (University of Michigan), Richard Mushotsky (University of Maryland), Niel Brandt (Penn State University), Elias Kammoun (University of Toulouse, France), Abderahmen Zogbhi (University of Maryland), and Ehud Behar (Israel Institute of Technology).

[tristan-47]

Project Topic : The Notion of Private Data Protection

For the Project I will be making, I will be talking about the Protection of Data Protection and the Underlying questions of a Data Surveillance plan by the prism of Jean Michel JARRE's and Edward SNOWDEN's collaboration song "Exit" from JARRE's 2015 Album "Electronica 1 : The Time Machine".

They are not just one Question I want to ask but rather two perspectives on this Topic...

The first one, in SNOWDEN's words is, can the Current Technological Developments be used to protect Private Protection in the future ?

The second one, from JARRE's perspective is, can there be, currently, a Resistance against any Data Ownership Abuse that Society generated ?

For this Project, I will be answering this Question with the Press Articles from "Slate" as well as the Daily Newspaper where SNOWDEN actually came from "The Guardian".

Due to the presence of references that SNOWDEN and JARRE quoted that are outside of this particular Track and Album, I will be also be using SNOWDEN's Biography on Wikipedia as well as the Genealogy of the JARRE Family concerning the motherhood side of it, being the French Resistant Fighter France PEJOT.

SOURCES :

[abybweisse]

Reading your quick analyses on the latest chapter made me wonder. Do you think there is any possibility that the facility in which Finny was held is also related to Undertaker?

German drug lab and Undertaker

That's highly unlikely... unless the drug tested on Finny was later used for someone like Polaris. Otherwise, it seems too broad of a scope for his attentions. Mostly, it seems too early for Undertaker to be interested in anything more than cinematic records and how to revive the dead.

Finny's experience seems too far removed from anything Undertaker was doing, and I don't mean physical distance. Undertaker could easily be up to something in Germany, as he definitely has something going on in France, but it's likely not drug testing, and even less likely for strength-enhancing drugs.

It would be interesting if Undertaker turns out to be the main person in the Osiris group... and he was just lying about being interested in drugs. Stoker definitely fell for his lie that all of this revival technology was purely medical science.

Even if Undertaker is with the Osiris group, I don't think they are particularly concerned with strength-enhancing drugs... unless, like I said, he finds use for it with bizarre dolls like Polaris.

It's important to note that none of the bizarre dolls on the ship seem to have much strength. Finny was dosed with whatever for an extended amount of time, and he's the first to join the Phantomhive household after Sebastian. By the time the "animal weapons" are set loose on the ship, Undertaker should have been able to get them all dosed, especially if he told Stoker the drug would help with the revival process. It wouldn't have been administered over a long time for them, but it would be a somewhat fresh dose.

Undertaker comes up with all sorts of ideas, based on various information and his own observations. Even if he later uses strength-enhancing drugs on bizarre dolls, it's probably technology he took... not something he helped develop.

I'd look at the German military. Maybe Diedrich knows something about it, much like he found and pulled the top secret files about the witch project. He might have helped our earl on that drug testing facility, too.

[eretzyisrael]

by Robert Harris

In an example of how far the United States has fallen, Secretary of State Blinken has been turned into a messenger boy, coming to Israel eight times since October 7 to yank hard on the leash carefully placed around Israel’s neck.

Of course, it is impossible not to ask whether Blinken has also been sent because he was born a Jew.

(Do you understand, Mr. Blinken? For all of your years as an insider in Washington, at the end of the day you are just a Jew. Don’t bother to apply for membership at a Washington-area country club.)

And while Jews focus almost exclusively on the diminishing Biden support for Israel, little is said about European leaders who have been so quick to abandon Israel.

Unfortunately, for over 100 years Europe has largely been a continent populated by cowards and appeasers who refuse to fight for their freedoms, while happily hiding behind the American skirt since 1941. After all this time, what Europe says or does is as meaningless as the foreign policy of the Zulu tribe in Africa.

Indeed, we fear that we are watching the end of Europe, as they again refuse to fight for their freedoms as the continent’s Moslems openly call for a European caliphate.

So where does this leave Israel?

During Israel’s War of Independence Joseph Stalin supplied the Jews with arms sold through communist Czechoslovakia.

In the 1950s through 1967, France was Israel’s chief arms supplier. And after 1973, the United States became Israel’s main source for arms.

In the years after 1973, Israel turned to the Americans as a matter of expediency….and it worked for everyone. This gave Israel the arms it needed to survive, and it gave America unprecedented influence in the Middle East.

Also, for years we believed that sophisticated American arms gave Israel a “qualitative edge” over our Moslem enemies.

However, October 7 proved that the only way for Israel to remain safe is by not solely relying on the most sophisticated early warning systems or latest weapons and technologies.

Israel’s true qualitative edge has always been our belief in ourselves as Jews, our will to survive, and our indomitable fighting spirit.

If, in the future, Israeli pilots are flying South Korean fighter jets that shoot Indian missiles to destroy our enemies, if we are placing technology from Taiwan into our tanks and performing military research in Singapore, we will continue to win our wars. And without American arms.

For we Jews must remember that we will not win future conflicts just because of weapons, but rather because of our Jewish heritage, families, faith and belief in the Jewish people’s right to thrive in our ancient land of Israel.

May the Almighty lead our enemies under our soldiers’ sway, and may He grant them salvation and crown them with victory.