#Nicolas Kristof

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Nick Kristof offers twenty points to unraveling the moral tangle over Gaza. Generally pretty good as an approach. If you can't accept most of these points, you're not participating fairly in the discussion.

1. We think of moral issues as involving conflicts between right and wrong, but this is a collision of right versus right. Israelis have built a remarkable economy and society and should have the right to raise their children without fear of terror attacks, while Palestinians should enjoy the same freedoms and be able to raise their children safely in their own state.

2. All lives have equal value, and all children must be presumed innocent. So while there is no moral equivalence between Hamas and Israel, there is a moral equivalence between Israeli civilians and Palestinian civilians. If you champion the human rights of only Israelis or only Palestinians, you don’t actually care about human rights.

3. Good for President Biden for pushing a proposal on Friday for a temporary cease-fire that could lead to a permanent end to the war and a release of hostages; as he said, “It’s time for this war to end.” Let’s hope he uses his leverage to achieve that end. It’s also true that Biden’s failure to apply enough leverage over the last seven months has made the United States complicit in human rights abuses in Gaza, because it has provided weapons used in the mass killing of civilians, and because it has gone too far in protecting Israel at the United Nations.

4. We can identify as pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian, but priority should go to being anti-massacre, anti-starvation and anti-rape.

5. Hamas is an oppressive, misogynistic and homophobic organization whose misrule has hurt Palestinians and Israelis alike. But not all Palestinians are members of Hamas, and civilians should not be subject to collective punishment. In the words of a 16-year-old Gaza girl: “It’s like we are overpaying the price for a sin we didn’t commit.”

6. There was no excuse for Hamas attacking Israel on Oct. 7 and murdering, torturing and raping Israeli civilians. And there is no excuse for Israel’s reckless use of 2,000-pound bombs and other munitions that have destroyed entire city blocks and killed vast numbers of innocent people, including more than 200 aid workers.

7. When Israel began military operations after Oct. 7, it was a just war.

8. What starts as a just war can be waged unjustly.

9. Israel was entitled to strike Gaza after the Oct. 7 attack, but not to do whatever it wanted. In particular, there should be no argument about Israel’s practice of throttling food aid. Using starvation as a weapon of war against civilians, as the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court alleges Israel has done, is a violation of the laws of war.

10. Each side justifies its own brutality by pointing to earlier cruelty by the other side. Israelis see Oct. 7. Palestinians see the “open-air prison” imposed on Gaza before that. This goes all the way back to the displacement of Palestinians at Israel’s founding in 1948, the 1929 massacre of Jews at Hebron, and so on. Enough obsession with the past! Let’s focus instead on saving lives in the coming months and years.

11. Hamas’s brutality toward Israeli hostages, such as credible reports of sexual assault and starvation, is unconscionable. So is Israeli brutality toward Palestinian prisoners, such as CNN accounts that some Palestinians have had limbs amputated because of constant handcuffing.

12. War nurtures dehumanization that produces more war. I’ve heard too many Palestinians dehumanize Jews and too many Jews dehumanize Palestinians. When we dehumanize others, we lose our own humanity.

13. Zionism is not a form of racism. And criticism of Israel is not antisemitism. Both sides are too quick to fire such epithets.

14. Each side sees itself as a victim, which is true — but each side is also a perpetrator.

15. “Apartheid” isn’t the right word for Israel today, where Palestinians are treated like second-class citizens but can still vote, serve in the Knesset and enjoy more political freedoms than in most of the Arab world. But “apartheid” is a rough approximation of Israeli rule in the West Bank, where Arabs have long been oppressed under a system that is separate and unequal.

16. “From the river to the sea” refers to the dream of a single state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, encompassing what is now Israel and the Palestinian territories. The slogan as used by protesters can mean many different things, some peaceful and some the militaristic vision of the Hamas charter, while a parallel vision is in the original platform of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party. Hamas imagines a Palestinian state with no room for Israel, and Netanyahu wants perpetual Israeli sovereignty from the river to the sea to deny a place for a Palestinian state. I think that instead of either version of a one-state solution, a two-state solution is infinitely preferable.

17. Pro-Palestinian demonstrations have too often tolerated strains of antisemitism, which in recent months has shown itself to be stronger than many imagined. How can a movement that claims the moral high ground make excuses for any kind of bigotry?

18. Campus protesters would do more good raising money for suffering Gazans rather than using it to buy tents for themselves.

19. We probably know what an eventual Israeli-Palestinian peace deal would look like. The plan was outlined in the Clinton parameters of 2000 and in the Geneva Accord of 2003. The only question is how many innocent people on both sides will die before we get there.

20. To establish peace, both Israel and the Palestinian Authority will need new leaders with vision and courage. This won’t be achieved tomorrow. But there are peacemakers on each side. To understand how a path toward peace may emerge, consider the words of the Chinese writer Lu Xun more than a century ago: “Hope is like a path in the countryside. Originally, there is nothing — but as people walk this way again and again, a path appears.”

[Nicolas Kristof]

[tomorrowusa]

An absurd question keeps nagging at me: Could an inmate in a federal prison get a leave to attend his own presidential inauguration?

[ ... ]

Even if Trump is convicted and imprisoned, he could continue to run for office and even presumably hold the office of president, if he isn’t too busy in the prison factory making license plates. 

[ ... ] 

I guess accommodations could be made so that prison officials didn’t listen in on phone conversations between federal inmate No. 62953-804 and Chinese and Russian leaders. Perhaps summits could be held in a larger cell? State banquets in the prison dining hall? 

New York Times columnist Nicolas Kristof speculating on what might happen if Trump is convicted but gets elected president anyway.

With late night comedy shows on hiatus because of the writers' strike, it's up to the more creative and talented minds here to envision scenarios of a Trump presidency from prison.

[arlengrossman]

Four Weeks to Go!

On Halitics today, Hal Ginsberg insists on voting for Jill Stein, insisting we need to give up on the Republican and Democratic parties. I say no, insisting that any votes for Stein would hurt Harris, and therefore help Trump. This country would never survive another Trump presidency. I’m hoping Harris would be even better than Biden, but there’s only one way to find out. We discuss Israel and…

[witchofthemidlands]

The Modern Count Draculas'

Keith Lee Castle as Count Dracula ('Young Dracula 2006-2014') Luke Evans as (Count Dracula) Vlad III "The Impaler" ('Dracula Untold 2014') Thomas Doherty as (Count Dracula) Walter De Ville ('The Invitation 2022') Nicolas Cage as Count Dracula ('Renfield 2023') Matthew Goode as (Count Dracula) Kristof Lazaar ('Abigail 2024')

[nofatclips]

Life in Grey by Point Point from the Contrastive Focus Reduplication EP - Short film by Jodeb

[unbounded-cardinality]

We are going to win. Period.

Joe Biden: American Hero.

Will the G.O.P. replace Donald Trump as its nominee in this year's presidential election? Of course not. Why? Because it's inconceivable that Donald Trump would place national interests above selfish ones and withdraw from the campaign just as President Biden has done today.

By contrast, President Biden has reminded the world that America remains a beacon of hope for ordinary citizens. Leaders come and go, but national ideals like freedom and self-rule endure.

Electoral challenges for Democrats persist.

There are two kinds of traders: the quants and -- for lack of a better term -- the punks, the guys who trade on instinct and gut. Despite going through an academic regimen heavy on analysis, quantitative methods, and rational thinking, I am one of the punks -- often relying on my instincts for many important decisions in life. Sometimes I'm right, sometimes I'm wrong. But if my decision concerns markets, I enjoy the benefit of knowing in real-time the quality of my decision. That's one of the reason I love markets -- because they level the playing field in a way that, say, Sand Hill Road most definitely does not.

Rush to back Kamala Harris may be ill-fated.

The rush to back Vice-President Harris may be ill-fated. It might seem rational. It might seem fair or just. It might be cost-efficient. None of that matters.

We are confronting one of the most diabolical challenges in American history: a rank and blatant power-grab at the highest level of public life. Make no mistake. If Trump/Vance win, they will weaken if not destroy the dollar, significantly damage American competitiveness, corrupt the judiciary, perpetrate deeds that would likely bring Americans to The Hague for human rights violations, and leave responsible governance in tatters for a generation.

Vice-President Harris, for all her gifts, is -- as others have written -- a a vestige of the Biden era, which may sell in some quarters, but likely not in others. More concerning, however, is her distinct status as a member of the coastal elites. While that might be a strong selling point in urban and coastal venues, it's not at all clear how that plays out in the swing states of the midwest. If I had to guess, my instinct would be that Trump would do better than Harris in the swing states.

So where does that leave us: Whitmer / Booker 2024.

The most imaginative and daring suggestion I've heard thus far is from Nicolas Kristof of The New York Times: Gretchen Whitmer and Cory Booker. It makes sense. It will roil the status quo. Most importantly, it will energize Democrat constituencies across the country and, I would expect, especially in swing states.

July 21, 2024

[hollywoodgothique]

Dream-casting Abigail's daddy

Idle Musing: I was thinking that Abigail might have been even better if the title character’s father, Kristof Lazar, had been played by Nicolas Cage. Then it occurred to me that casting Thomas Doherty would have taken the meta-humor to a whole new level.

[viktorfredriksson]

Maten och kulturen – du är vad du äter

Jag är besatt av ramen. Det är knappt två år sedan jag sörplade i mig min första skål av denna mustiga japanska nudelsoppa, och numera är det en närmast rituell upplevelse. Varje sup av den heta, umamispetsade buljongen, varje tugga av de perfekt spänstiga nudlarna, tillsammans med det möra, men ändå smakrika fläsket som långsamt smälter i munnen. Och så ägget såklart – sojamarinerat i 48 timmar.

Att ta mat på den här sortens allvar är ett slags beteende som är svårt att komma undan med. Oavsett om man smashar egna burgare, sjuder egen tomatsås eller åker riket runt i jakten på den perfekta semlan. Man riskerar att bli carbonaramannen, som Kristofer Ahlström skrev om i Dagens Nyheter.

Ahlströms kritik mot Den Matlagande Fadern bör tas med en nypa oraffinerat Himalayasalt, men hans text har vissa poänger. Inte minst i påpekandet att »det är allmänt känt att alla sysslor blir prestigefyllda så snart män tar dem i besittning«. För visst har även kvinnor kokt underbart mustiga buljonger i århundraden – utan att för den delen upphöjas till konnässörer. Ahlström fortsätter:

Det är en inställning till matlagning som handlar helt om det performativa och positionerande. Det finns en man som blivit nätkändis enbart för sitt normbrytande sätt att strö salt på maten.

Mat som identitet-, status- och klassmarkör är förvisso inget nytt. Den inflytelserika franska sociologen Pierre Bourdieu formulerade sina teorier om habitus, sociala fält, distinktion och kapital redan för 45 år sedan; om hur kulturellt, ekonomiskt och socialt kapital formar och reproducerar föreställningar om god smak. Hur klassposition, eller viljan att tillhöra en, influerar ens preferenser, konsumtion och val av livsstil.

Men ett drygt decennium av högkonjunktur har gjort fine dining till en förströelse för medelklassen, och sedan »Chef's Table« såg världens ljus i mitten av 10-talet har de passionerade matskildringarna stått som spön i backen. En av förra årets mest omtalade filmer var »The Menu«, i vilken ett ungt par bjuds in till en exklusiv restaurang på en avlägsen ö tillsammans med en grupp främlingar. Den mycket hyllade men något besatte köksmästaren (spelad av en en underbar Ralph Fiennes) har förberett en påkostad avsmakningsmeny, med flera obehagliga överraskningar.

Det är en tacksam skådeplats för satir, och stereotyperna avlöser varandra: foodiesen, restaurangkritikern, köksmästaren – mer eller mindre hela karaktärsgalleriet utmålas som världsfrånvända elitister som ägnar dyrbar tid, energi och pengar på fermenterad tomatjuice och eleganta emulsioner. Plötsligt framstår de »Chef's Table«-inspirerade kameraåkningarna av de sofistikerade maträtterna som ofrivillig komik.

Även en av fjolårets mest hyllade tv-serier, »The Bear«, placerar maten i fokus. Michelinkocken Carmen Beratto återvänder, efter broderns plötsliga bortgång, till den familjeägda smörgåsbutiken i Chicago. Van vid gourmandvärldens strikta struktur och minimalism tvingas Carmen att förhålla sig den nya verkligheten där både stekpannor och skulder staplas på hög. 

Huvudkaraktären andas och lever för maten, och trots att det nya restaurangköket är trångt, oorganiserat, osar och skramlar så fungerar det som ett helande verktyg för att hantera broderns självmord. Denna utmanande men äkta tillvaro kontrasteras genom tillbakablickar mot den själlösa och repressiva fine dining-scenen han kommer från. Liknande poänger görs i underskattade »Pig« där Nicolas Cages (en av hans starkare roller) tryffeljagande Rob gäckas av ett mörkt förflutet och levererar svidande sanningar om kulinarisk förljugenhet:

Paralleller kan även dras till danska Noma, utsedd till världens bästa restaurang fyra gånger, som har beslutat att stänga 2024 på grund av »giftig arbetsmiljö«:

De går så fruktansvärt mycket upp i att allt på tallriken ska behandlas ordentligt, men inte i det som föregår bakom kulisserna. Grönsakerna har det bättre än personalen.

Men mat är såklart mer än en accessoar och livsstil eller krystade restaurangkoncept. Tidigare i år läste jag Karolina Ramqvists hyllade Bröd och mjölk – av DN utsedd till fjolårets bästa roman. I Bröd och mjölk fyller maten en annan, mer existentiell, funktion: mat som minnen, mat som missbruk, mat som vackert och fult, lust och skam, som ständigt närvarande. Mat som formativt snarare än performativt.

Oavsett: maten är och kommer alltid vara en självklar del av vår kultur. Den kan visa vem vi är, vem vi vill vara och var vi kommer från. Men ibland kan den också bara vara jäkligt god.

[posetabuvijeu]

04/10-06/10

varvarin u evropi

04/10-05/10

ponedeljak-utorak

Lavinji-Obona

  Nedeljnik Le matin dimanche u ponudi je i na seoskim autobuskim stajalištima. Pomislim da su novine besplatne a onda vidim nalepnicu „Plati ako si čestit“. Koncept me je podsetio na mioničkog voskara, koji je na svojoj radnji ostavljao širom otvorena vrata, pa su ljudi sami ostavljali novac za sveće.  Teško mi je to danas da zamislim. Zvuči mi kao detinjstvo sveta u koje bi bilo mučno vraćati se. Ali ni Ljuba voskar ne bi napisao „čestit“ crno na belo. Bilo bi ga sramota. A kamoli „Sanduče pod video nadzorom“, kako takođe stoji na ovom samouslužnom kiosku. Iznad ovih upozorenja, sitnim slovima piše: „Lice uhvaćeno na delu dužno je da plati kaznu do 100 franaka, sumu koja će biti uložena u sredstva za nadziranje, i može biti izloženo krivičnom gonjenju“. U šta li će gonjenje biti uloženo? Posle ove izjave, koja, ubeđen sam, čak i Švajcarcu ubija želju za novinama, ispostavlja se da slogan novina, kao za inat, glasi „Tačka gledišta menja sve“. 

  Pisac sedne za sto i kaže: „Evo, sad ću da napišem nešto po svom nahođenju, koristeći svoje životno iskustvo, mimo knjiških izvora.“ Pa dobro. To je, na prvi pogled, plemenita želja: da se ispriča svoja priča, svojim rečima, crpeći uglavnom iz onoga što nam je ostalo u ušima, iz usmene tradicije, iz porodične istorije. Ali takav eksperiment gubi svaki smisao ukoliko se ponovi, ukoliko se i neki naredni put, najesen, tik uoči književnih nagrada, ispostavi u drugačijem pakovanju. Tako autobiografija postaje autofikcija. Handke je briljirao u neprekidnom ponavljanju istih, „spontano“ izabranih detalja, i Ani Erno, i Anri Kale, a o Modijanovoj korporativnoj amneziji da i ne govorim. Tako biva kad prebiranje po svom životu postane unosan posao. Najveća opasnost je pritom izvesna proizvoljnost imaginacije. Pisac se možda oseća tesno u svojoj istoriji, pa traži šupljine u kojima će nešto i da „izmisli“.  Mom sluhu samo Agota Krištof ne zvuči hirovito u izboru detalja iz lične istorije. Ali pre svega zato što je svoju priču ispričala samo jednom. I to sažeto! Ta škrtost budi poštovanje. A ko hoće da živi od pisanja, da zarađuje od prepričavanja svog života, molim da prvo sebi na čelu napiše „Dosadan“. (Ili još bolje: dosadan za pare.)

   Kada bi on imao sto hiljada čitalaca, svet bi bio bolji (Herman Hese o Robertu Valzeru, 1917) Nije li nešto slično Danijel Dragojević rekao za Mišoa? Bilo kako bilo, ne slažem se s njima, ako su iskreni. I jedan i drugi (i treći zapostavljeni pisac) postali bi vulgarna moneta, uprošćene vrednosti za masu, kao što su danas njihove čitane kolege. A da ne spominjem koliko bi, u tom „boljem svetu“, bilo nepodnošljivo čuti lament: „Kad bi Ferante/Vidojković/Knausgor bili čitaniji...“

  Nisam uzeo gutljaj piva otkako sam u Švajcarskoj — šest dana? — a sad sam ga sebi priredio u Oboni, u čast završenog prevoda Nepismene Agote Krištof. Poslednjih šest poglavlja preveo sam za maksimalno dva sata. Kada sam skinuo masku u Café du Commerce, dok sam puštao da konobarica pažljivo razmotri moj sertifikat o vakcinaciji, pogled mi je bio spušten, kao od stida. Tek pet minuta posle odobrenja da ostanem, usudio sam se da se pomaknem, da razgledam salu i plafon. Prijatno su me iznenadili. Do tog trenutka, reklo bi se, nisam smeo da postanem svestan kompletnog ambijenta. Pogruženost drugorazrednih građana! Pravi povod da otvorim Bova. Ali prava nagrada za završenu prvu ruku bilo je pešačenje po kiši: najpre Putem do vinograda, potom Putem do kanala, malom strmom stazom za pešake, jasno odvojenoj od saobraćajnica, pored pašnjaka na kojima su zveckajući pasla neobično čupava goveda, ukopana u strmom terenu, i za nepunih pola sata sporog hoda bio sam u Oboni, gradu mesara i biciklista, za koji insistiram da bude transkribovan u ženskom rodu.

  Naročito se u prevođenju danas treba boriti protiv politički korektnih obrazaca, svih onih parenteza, kopula, sitničavih dopuna, automatskih sufiksa i korekcija, za kojima najčešće posežemo nesvesno — jer kada zatvorimo oči, kad začepimo uši, u glavi spokojno šumi medijski novogovor, ubeđen sam da njega sanjamo. Svaki pisac, a posebno prevodilac, dužan je da postupno i savesno iskorenjuje svaku spontanost, sve što mu dune da uradi “po osećaju”. Jer današnja spontanost normalizuje, kroti i uspavljuje izvornu brutalnost našeg jezika, i ne samo našeg, već i onih autora koji su pisali u nekorektnim, slobodnim vekovima.

   06/10 sreda put za Ženevu 

  Voleo bih da živim u gradu koji se zove Vinograd! 

  Pošto je Ikea u blizini stanice u Alamanu, na njoj je izričito zabranjen ulaz sa kolicima za kupovinu. Zabrana je obeležena na čak četiri mesta, češće od brojeva koloseka. Dizajner se potrudio: stilizovao je kolica na tri različita načina, u slučaju da su neki putnici likovni bukvalisti. 

  Čovek koga bi Handke sigurno nazvao seoski idiot ulazi na stanicu sa kesom u kojoj je prazna boca koka kole, vuče se sa spuštenim pantalonama kao upišan, gledajući bezazleno oko sebe, kao da još nije u svom elementu. Maločas, u autobusu iz Obone, sa bocom u rukama, veoma usredsređeno je svirao vazdušne bubnjeve, prekrštajući ruke, kao bubnjari na svadbama, pevušeći neku hard-rok solažu. Omelo ga je samo to što je morao da ustane. Sada okleva da nastavi sešn sa samim sobom jer ga ometa agent bezbednosti u vagonu, pa tiho prebira po svojoj flaši, guleći etiketu. E taj stid mi pokazuje da uopšte nije lud.

   U Ženevi me nisu primili u dve kafane; u jednoj jesu, onoj pored buvljaka Plenpale, odakle sam dotrčao bežeći od kiše, sa Renarovim Dnevnikom u rukama. Rešio sam da im se odužim tako što ću ručati. Koji sat kasnije, vlasniku bistroa Chez Lili, nedaleko od železničke stanice, bilo je strašno krivo što ne može da me pusti unutra. Najpre me je detaljno uputio kako da zatražim švajcarsku propusnicu, a potom na svakih pet minuta izlazio u baštu da se žali. Našao je kome će! Ako mu dođe inspekcija i vidi nevalidni sertifikat, moraće da plati kaznu od 10.000 franaka (valjda nije rekao 100?). Sertifikat, zatim, mora da ima svako ko prolazi kroz Švajcarsku, makar i kratko. Interesantno je što se na njegovo izdavanje čeka se najviše sedam dana. (Primedba od 13. oktobra: još ga nisam dobio.) Eto kako se strahovlada stvara na zapadu. Primećujem uzgred, bez imalo zlobe, da su oni koji me izvode u baštu uglavnom imigranti. Tako i konobarica iz kafića Les recyclables kod ženevskog Karitasa, Afrikanka koja jedva natuca francuski. Želim, čisto da bih razmrdao stvari, da joj odbrusim : „Smem li, iako sam nevalidan, da dobijem internet?“ Ali ona me ne razume dovoljno da bi se uvredila. Moj protest zbog aparthejda pretvorio se u ljubazni tik. Napuštam baštu upravo kao građanin drugog reda koji zahvaljuje što su se prema njemu, barem na kratko, ponašali kao da je pripadnik prve klase.

 U povratku s buvljaka, sasvim slučajno nabasam na knjižaru Rameau d’or. Tu nailazim na čitav raf posvećen jugoslovenskim književnostima. Međutim, tu nisu samo izdanja L’Age d’homme, glavnog izdavača naših književnosti na frankofonim prostorima. U pozadini, kad se ukloni istaknuti red, nalaze se i knjige na srpskohrvatskom, slovenačkom, makedonskom. Uzimam Izabrane pesme Čarlsa Simića, neotvoreno Nolitovo izdanje iz 1983, prilazim kasi i spuštam je na pult bez reči. Fini mladi kasir uzima knjigu, okreće je sa svih strana. Uzdržavam se. Želim da otkrije sam da njegova knjiga nema zabeleženu cenu. Nema čak ni one na poleđini, one stare, u stotinama dinara. Dopuštam sebi da beknem: — Knjiga je na srpskom. Moja intervencija naglo prekida pretragu po elektronskom katalogu. — Vidim... Nema cene. Moraćemo da se dogovorimo. Računam na vaše poštenje. Knjiga je izuzetno vredna... Već se smeškam. — Znate, moje poštenje možda nije najbolji kriterijum, jer se kalilo na buvljim pijacama. Dovoljno je da vam kažem da se upravo vraćam sa Plenpalea. Tamo sam pazario Dnevnik Žila Renara za 15 franaka. I to usred kiše! Inače bi sigurno koštao 20. Preko puta mene, na najvažnijem mestu u knjižari, stoji čitava polica posvećena dnevnicima, sveskama, memoarima. Prodavac klima, ne čudi se, pa i dalje okrećući knjigu, dodaje kroz masku: — Pa evo izvolite, recite šta mislite... — Pet franaka! — prekidam ga. — Ufff!  Konačno čujem prodavčev pravi glas, kakav mu se otima verovatno i kod kuće, posle dobrog ručka. — Nadao sam se da ćete ponuditi barem deset. Ipak je knjiga stara. I on, dakle, ume da čita brojeve na poslednjoj stranici. Zašto lepo na vreme nismo proterali arapske cifre iz svojih knjiga i osmislili neke čistoslovenske? Možda bismo tad više trgovali nego ratovali. — Ne mogu da dam više od pet. Moram vam usput priznati da je ta cena za mene kao Beograđanina i povisoka. Ali, kako da vam kažem — naprasno shvatam da moram da zaradim tu cenu — za mene je već bilo oduševljenje što sam naišao na toliko knjiga na srpskom. Mislio sam da se samo Vladimir Dimitrijević bavio srpskom knjigom u Švajcarskoj. Moj sagovornik se razvedri. — Pa na pravom ste mestu. Ova knjižara i jeste pripadala Vladimiru Dimitrijeviću.

Noćas sam u Lavinjiju, završivši jedno poglavlje razgovora sa Dimitrijevićem (koje je zabeležio Žan-Luj Kufer) ostavio sebi pribelešku da obavezno potražim njegovu knjižaru u Ženevi ili Lozani. I gle, ulazim pravo u nju. Znao je Dimitrijević gde da je otvori. Na pljuvomet od Plenpalea. — Kad sam je otkupio od njega — nastavlja dakle direktor, ne obični prodavac — nasledio sam skladište puno slovenskih naslova. Iznenađenje za iznenađenjem. Trebalo je, vala, i za sebe, kao što za sve na Zapadu važimo, da ostanemo Slaves. Ali sad je kasno. Nešto drugo me tu mnogo više zanima od nepostignutih bratstava i jedinstava. — Pretpostavljam — dodajem podmuklo — da ste ovde izneli samo jedan deo iz tog skladišta. Direktor me pogleda, otprilike, želeći da mi kaže: „Ej, dripac! Nemoj da očekuješ da ćeš za pet franaka dobiti tu ulaznicu“. Požurim da ga odobrovoljim. — Znate, odseo sam u Lavinjiju, a na nahtkasni mi se nalaze razgovori sa Vladimirom Dimitrijevićem. Štaviše, možda ću se ovih dana sresti i sa njegovim nastavljačem, Markom Despotom iz izdavačke kuće Noir sur blanc, koji vodi „Dimitrijevu biblioteku“, njemu u čast. Direktor klima, i dalje držeći Čarlsa u ruci. Cena pada, ali hoće još neku referencu. — Da ne mislite da sam običan torbar (što uzgred budi rečeno jesam), prošle godine sam objavio knjigu o beogradskim buvljacima, Ništa nije ničije. Trenutno sam na rezidenciji. I veoma bi mi značilo da bacim pogled na ono što je Dimitri čuvao u svom podrumu. Jer znate, te knjige se danas u Beogradu mogu naći samo na buvljacima. Ova egzotična poenta je upalila. Ili je čoveku dozlogrdilo da me sluša? Bilo kako bilo, Frederik, kako mi se ubrzo predstavio, u tom trenutku mi je pružio Čarlsa kroz pult uz reči: „Hajde, neka bude vaša cena!“ Izlazeći, izmamio sam mu obećanje da će mi ovih dana, kada u knjižari ne bude imao mnogo posla, pokazati Dimitrijevo skladište. „Naravno, zanima me samo uvid, iz čiste radoznalosti“, dodajem pucajući od zahvalnosti, želeći da zvučim kao dobroćudni kulturni entuzijasta. Ali obojica već trljamo ruke jer znamo da će pasti trgovina. Ipak, na meni je mala prednost. Fredi iz Zlatne grane je najpogodniji soj za čerupanje: naslednik koji ne zna šta bi sa nasledstvom. Možda, doduše, misli da je konačno dočekao kupca? 

„Videli su da sam kvalitetna, da sam vrlo čista. Brzo sam naučila ono što su mi rekli da uradim. Još nemam ugovor, ali...“ (u vozu iz Ženeve, devojka sa snažnim istočnoevropskim akcentom. Ne, ipak je Španjolka. Kako sam stereotipan u svojim zaključivanjima).

  „Zahvaljujući vam na razumevanju, želimo vam srećan put...“ Automat dodaje „na našim linijama“ (sur nos lignes), a ja čujem „ako stignemo“ (si on arrive).

  Kakva uzvratna poseta Nikoli Buvijeu! On je pedesetih pošao na istok, danas bi se reklo, potpuno nepromišljeno, verujući da će usput zaraditi za hleb, što pisanjem što sviranjem. To danas na svim meridijanima zvuči kao naučna fantastika, a tek u Iranu i Avganistanu, na koje se namerio. Vanevropski dođoš sa Istoka, sedamdesetak godina kasnije, u njegovu postojbinu polazi potpuno zbrinut, pelcovan, odobren, ispeglan. Niko ga ne bi pustio da je planirao nepredviđenost, a da ne govorim o tome da mu usput niko ne bi ni pružio jabuku niti savio cigaretu, ili ga častio na bilo koji simbolični način kao što su maloazijske kamiondžije Buvijea. Od stranca svi traže blagovremenost: na vreme nabavljene kreditne kartice, karte za prevoz, kartice „vernosti“, sertifikate. Današnji varvarin u Evropi, dezorijentisan je u istoj meri kao Buvije na Balkanu. Ali je sluđeniji i otuđeniji od njega. Ovde neće naići ni na kakvu spontanu ljudskost kao ravnotežu, izuzev na buvljim pijacama. I dok mu pođe za rukom da se navikne na opštu neosetljivost, dok nauči da na nju ne obraća pažnju, i dok kucne čas da se vrati u svoju postojbinu, ispostavlja se da je i tamo sve otuđeno. I kod kuće je primljen kao klijent, a ne kao građanin.

  Sva sreća, postoji Sveti Žan Renar: „Kada živimo intenzivno, sasvim sigurno načinjemo i tuđe živote, koji u isti mah neminovno jenjavaju.“ (18. januar 1896).

[graysonclarke96]

Marvel: Young Avengers Protocol to Origins of Grayson Clarke.

Character to Actor:

The Clarke Family:

Grayson Clarke- Chris Wood

Zoey Clarke- Lily Collins

Sally Clarke- Kim Rhodes

Thomas Clarke- Christopher Cousins

The Stacy Family:

Gwen Stacy- Madison Iseman

Simon Stacy- Jacob Tremblay

Phillip and Howard Stacy- Freddie Highmore

Helen Stacy- Susanna Thompson

George Stacy- Mark Harmon

Jill Stacy- Emma Watson

Arthur Stacy- Sean Bean

Paul Stacy- Paul Walker

Miles Warren- Dave Annable

The Parker Family:

Ben Parker- Tom Cavanaugh

Richard Parker- Daniel Gillies

Mary Parker- Rachel Leigh Cook

The Morales Family:

Miles Morales- Jordan Fisher

Rio Morales- Danielle Nicolet

Jefferson Davis- Russell Richardson

Aaron Davis- Donald Glover

Young Avengers:

Rayshaun Lucas- Trevor Jackson

Kate Bishop- Hailee Steinfeld

Daisy Johnson- Shan Dodd

Bobbi Morse- Olivia Holt

The Fantastic Four:

Reed Richards- John Krasinksi

Susan Storm- Hilarie Burton

Johnny Storm- Zach Roerig

Ben Grimm- Conan Stevens

Defenders:

Luke Cage- Michael Jai White

Jessica Jones- Jessica De Gouw

Matt Murdock- Colin Donnell

Danny Rand- Josh Segarra

Marc Spector- Stephen Amell

Elektra Natchios- Julia Voth

X-Men:

Charles Xavier- Patrick Stewart

Logan- Hugh Jackman

Hank McCoy- Ewan McGregor

Ororo Munroe- Sonequa Martin-Green

Scott Summers- Sam Claflin

Jean Grey- Jane Levy

Kurt Wagner- Thomas Doherty

Bobby Drake- Brandon Flynn

Emma Frost- Josephine Langford

Piotr Rasputin- Daniel Cudmore

Warren Worthington- Alex Pettyfer

Alex Summers- Lucas Till

Sean Cassidy- Cameron Monaghan

Kitty Pryde- Danielle Rose Russell

Anna Marie- Elizabeth Gillies

Elizabeth Braddock- Michelle Keegan

Danielle Moonstar- Blu Hunt

Megan Gwynn- Natalie Dormer

Roberto De Costa- Froy Gutierrez

Illyana Rasputin- Anya Taylor-Joy

Tyrone Johnson- Roshon Fegan

Tandy Bowen- Virginia Gardner

Rahne Sinclair- Rose Leslie

Sam Guthrie- Charlie Heaton

(Various other students)

Brotherhood of Mutants:

Eric Lehnsherr- Dacre Montgomery

Raven Darkholme- Pauley Perrette

Cain Marko- Nathan Jones

Victor Creed- Liev Schrieber

Todd Tolenksy- Aramis Knight

Fred Dukes- William Berry

Dominic Petrakis- Toby Kebbell

Karl Lykos- Luke Evans

Jeanne-Marie Beaubier- Kaya Scodelario

Arkady Rossovich- Dolph Lundgren

Laynia Krylova- Tracy Spiridakos

(Various other Mutants)

Villains:

Otto Octavius- Mark Sheppard

Sergei Kravinoff- Manu Bennett

Flint Marko- Dominic Purcell

Max Dillon- Aaron Paul

Curt Connors- Jeffrey Dean Morgan

Morgan Le Fay- Katie McGrath

Martin Li- Stephen Oyoung

Lana Baumgartner- Emily Wickersham

Victor Von Doom- Viggo Mortensen

Carl Creel- Brian Patrick Wade

Wendigo King

Aleksei Sytsevich- Andrey Ivchenko

Tony Masters- Jason Statham

Edward Whelan- Julian Bleach

Zebediah Killgrave- David Tennant

Benjamin Pointdexter- Edgar Ramirez

Melissa Gold- Maika Monroe

Morrie Bench- Ben Foster

Thundra- Rebecca Quin

Sinthea Schmidt- Phoebe Tonkin

Other Characters:

Tim Elwood- Drew Roy

Grace Elwood- Lauren Roy

Ava Ayala- Tristan Mays

Felicia Hardy- Marie Avgeropoulos

Morgan Tyler- Hartley Sawyer

Flash Thompson- Michael Provost

Elena Gold- Nicola Peltz

Riri Williams- Candice Patton

Kamala Khan- Iman Vellani

Dante Pertuz- Jake T. Austin

MJ Watson- Sophie Skelton

Harry Osborn- Liam Hall

Norman Osborn- James Redford

Mendel Stromm- David Dayan Fisher

Cletus Kasady- Jackie Earle Haley

Eddie Brock- Alan Ritchson

J. Jonah Jameson- J.K. Simmons

Jean De Wolfe- Sandra Bullock

Jennifer Walters- Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Yuri Watanabe- Tara Platt

Richard Rider- Liam McIntyre

Sam Alexander- Dylan O'Brien

Eileen Harsaw- Camilla Belle

Mikhail Uriokovitch Ursus- Olivier Richters

Rachel Van Helsing- Katheryn Winnick

Jacob Russoff- Kristofer Hivju

Eric Brooks- Duane Henry

Robbie Reyes- Tyler Posey

Kari Lyngley- Katherine McNamara

Jared Lyngley- Ross Lynch

Bruce Banner- Eric Bana (Re-cast)

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Bagley : Salt Lake Tribune

* * * *

[Kristof: We're less and less a Christian nation, and I blame some blowhards]

Nicolas Kristoff :: Oct 27, 2019

Perhaps for the first time since the United States was established, a majority of young adults here do not identify as Christian.

Only 49% of millennials consider themselves Christian, compared with 84% of Americans in their mid-70s or older, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center (Religion, Oct. 19).

We don’t have good historical data, and the historians I consulted are wary of definitive historical comparisons. But something significant seems to be happening. The share of American adults who regard themselves as Christian has fallen by 12 percentage points in just the past decade.

“The U.S. is steadily becoming less Christian and less religiously observant,” the Pew study concluded.

Some on the religious right will thunder that this as a result of a secular “war on Christianity.”

“Christians and Christianity are mocked, belittled, smeared and attacked,” declared an essay on Fox News’ website, plaintively titled, “How Long Will I Be Allowed to Remain a Christian?”

This mockery of Christians is, as I’ve written many times, both real and wrong. But a far bigger threat to the “brand” of Christianity comes, I think, from religious blowhards who have entangled faith with bigotry, sexism, homophobia and xenophobia. For some young people, Christianity is associated less with love than with hate.

“Pompous right-wing political chest-thumping, and an unwillingness to listen on matters like climate change or racism, has contributed to a perception by millions that Christianity is irrelevant, or worse yet, a threat to progress,” the Rev. Richard Cizik, the leader of a group of self-described “new evangelicals” with moderate views, told me. “That’s a real burden to carry going into the 21st century.”

Cizik, who was fired from the National Association of Evangelicals in 2008 after he expressed support for civil unions for gay people, added that Christianity’s reputation suffers from backward views on women’s issues and from the unwavering support among evangelical hard-liners for President Donald Trump.

“Trump has played them like a fiddle,” he said.

It would be difficult to imagine a president more at odds with Jesus’ message than Trump, a serial philanderer and liar who has persecuted refugees, divided families, exploited the poor and allegedly committed sexual assaults. When Trump in 2016 was asked to name a favorite part of the Bible, he muttered “an eye for an eye” — a reference to an Old Testament passage that Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, specifically renounced.

That is the opposite of the Christianity whose heroic side I’ve often praised: A Catholic doctor in Sudan’s Nuba mountains … a missionary doctor in Angola … nuns everywhere. If they were the face of Christianity, its reputation would be golden. Likewise, Christian organizations like International Justice Mission, Mercy Ships, Catholic Relief Services and World Vision labor to make the world a better place. Across America, a crucial safety net comes from churches organizing food pantries and emergency shelters.

Surveys find that religious Americans donate more to charity than secular Americans and are substantially more likely to volunteer. In a Pew survey in 2016, almost two-thirds of highly religious Americans said they had donated time, money or goods to help the poor in the past week.

There’s nothing about faith that necessarily makes it a bastion of conservatives. Martin Luther King Jr. and many other liberal civil rights leaders were shaped by their Christian beliefs, Jim Wallis is a liberal evangelical writer with a large following, and Jimmy Carter is truly the unTrump, at age 95 still building houses for the needy. But today’s prominent evangelical leaders are mostly conservatives.

Pew’s latest report found that nonbelievers are gaining ground fast. “Nones” — those with no particular religion — now account for more than one-quarter of the American population. There are substantially more nones than Catholics.

The decline in religion is particularly evident among young people. Those born between 1928 and 1945 are only 2 percentage points less likely to identify as Christian than they were a decade ago, while millennials are 16 percentage points less likely to call themselves Christians.

“Adults coming of age today are far less religious than their parents and grandparents before them,” said Gregory Smith of the Pew Research Center.

Smith noted that the data seem consistent with the argument made by leading scholars that young adults have turned away from organized religion because they are repulsed by its entanglements with conservative politics. “Nones,” for example, are solidly Democratic.

The upshot is that a majority of white adults now attend church just a few times a year at most. Blacks and Hispanics are more likely to attend, although their attendance is dropping, too.

The central issue is that faith is supposed to provide moral guidance — and many moralizing figures on the evangelical right don’t impress young people as moral at all. Sen. Jesse Helms said in 1995 that AIDS funding should be cut because gay men get the disease. The Rev. Jerry Falwell and the Rev. Pat Robertson initially suggested that God organized the 9/11 terror attacks to punish feminists, gays and lesbians.

God should have sued Falwell and Robertson for defamation. But, in some sign of karma, a survey found that gays and lesbians have higher public approval than evangelicals do.

[faedawayyy]

where my muses are for the break...

BRETT

brett was going to stay at his own apartment in the springs (even though it’s rundown) but ally was insisting on staying with him and he knows that adrian, holly and haley want her home, so he’s agreed to stay with them..in violet springs presumably? 

PETER

london with his parents. or, wherever kendall is tbh. i feel like he’s more likely to stick to where she decides to go.

FLEUR 

in france/paris wit dixie, pippa and i think gisele and amelia?

JUDAH (& THEA)

in lilac heights with his siblings at their parents house. i feel like their house is so welcoming and busy all of the time so he’s lowkey excited :’) 

ETHAN

in london with nate, imogen, emmett and maeve. they live closer to hyde park. 

KITTY-LEE 

wales with her family, so she hasn’t got far to go. they live somewhere very pretty and rural though so she’ll probably struggle to go anywhere else LOL

ROWAN

violet springs with hensley and evan. 

NICOLAS

I NEED TO TALK TO @papcrhouses about this. he’d probably choose to stay with natalie over ezra, just bc ezra is rarely at home/always working and he doesn’t want to be on his own in LA. 

YASMINE

she technically has nowhere to go. she’s going to go to the canary islands with jay for a couple of days bc the two of them have been talking quite a bit and it saves her having to just rent a room somewhere. and then when he goes to stay with disney in france, she’ll probably reach out to salem or lottie. 

CALLIE & TAMMY 

probably at home in violet springs 

DELILAH

cornwall with eloise. she’s trying to convince her mum to let her stay at zara’s and danny’s with addy but it’s obviously going to be a major no.

AIDEN

his dormitory at st judes. they’re not meant to be staying on campus but he has nowhere else to go and obviously kristofer isn’t going to acknowledge him so that’s his only option.

CHESTER

los angeles with his dad

SABRINA AND MAVERICK 

sabrina and maverick will be in london with danica 

JACE

brielle DOES NOT want to be in the springs bc of her dad. she’s instead opted to go to imogen’s in london, so those two will be staying there bc she doesn’t want to fly out to colorado. 

[antikorg]

Les enfants de Pornhub

Les enfants de Pornhub

Par Nicolas Kristof Chroniqueur d’opinion 4 décembre 2020 阅读 简体 中文 版閱讀 繁體 中文 版 Cet article contient des descriptions d’agression sexuelle. Pornhub se targue d’être le visage joyeux et clignotant de vilain, le site Web qui achète un panneau d’affichage à Times Square et fournit des chasse-neige pour nettoyer les rues de Boston. Il fait un don aux organisations qui luttent pour l’égalité…

[natura-rp]

Minor Houses: Erebus

Playable Minor Houses Located on Erebus

Please keep in mind that the mythos attached to each house describe a general ethnicity for the overall family, though those ethnicities do no actually exist in Athena. Marriages, birth children, and adoption make it easier to bring more ethnicities into the houses, but we are not tolerating the whitewashing of minor houses. If you need help finding a playby, there will be a list of face claim suggestions provided on the canon list.

House Amihan | Sworn to House Sikandar Senate Representative is Minister of Transport Name based on Tagalog mythos 

After marrying into the Amihan family late in the war and quickly being made a widow, the current Matriarch found herself acting as the primary liaison with the Lazarevici over raw building materials. The Amihan family operates a large shipping company that transports materials from Erebus to Corinth through a privately owned jumpgate.

Portrayal Suggestions: Charlene Almarvez, Francis Arriosa, Leyna Bloom, Willy Cartier, Alexander Dominguez, Nathalie Ducheine, Henry Golding, Manny Jacinto, Soraya Jansen, Atikah Karim, Danica Magpantay, Kelsey Merritt, Simonas Pham, Laura Rakhman-Kidd, Paolo Roldan, Charo Ronquillo, Sara Somogyi, Victoria Thørholm, Janine Tugonon, Michelle Yeoh

House Haukim | Sworn to House Lazarevic Senate Representative is Minister of Justice Name based on pre-Islamic mythos

The Haukim family is one of the oldest allies of the Lazarevic House and has been awarded handsomely for their loyalty, both in the past and in the direct aftermath of The Great War. They own 30% of the stone quarries and 10% of the lumber farms on Erebus while hardly getting their hands messy themselves. Instead, the Haukim family is infamous for being seen indulging in a strongly Erebus lifestyle complete with funding winter sports teams, vodka distilleries, and sport hunting competitions.

Portrayal Suggestions: Öykü Baştaş, Doga Bursali, Tuba Büyüküstün, Selle Coskun, Fares Fares, Günce Gözütok, Farnoush Hamidian,Qaher Harhash, Deba Hekmat, Ahmed Kontar, Shlomit Malka, Hari Nef, Dorit Revelis, Amelia Roman, Atesh Salih, Angela Sarafyan, Shanina Shaik, Barak Shamir, Kivanç Tatlitug, Tiana Tolstoi, Shani Zigron

House Lobizón | Sworn to House Ladon Name based on Guaraní mythos

The Lobizón family was able to cash in on the terra victus boom long before The Great War, making them one of the oldest-money noble families. With that success, they were able to carve out lands in the most temperate and lush parts of the moon, Vyraj, in order to import Ladon recreations. The Lobizón family controls many casinos, horse-racing tracks, and resort destinations on the planet. Their riches were also crucial in keeping the Ladons afloat in The Great War and they’re now starting to collect on those loans.

Portrayal Suggestions: Lary Arcanjo, Mica Arganaraz, Morena Baccarin, Ana Barbosa, Alexandre Cunha, Isabeli Fontana, Francisco Lachowski, Magda Laguinge, Rafael Lazzini, Sonoya Mizuno, Pedro Pascal, Kawani Prenter,Lais Ribeiro, Nicolas Ripoll, Angela Ruiz, Karol Santos, Evandro Soldati, Marlon Texeira, Leonor Varela, Amanda Wellsh, Ari Westphal

House Skadi | Sworn to House Lazarevic Senate Representative is Minister of Energy Name based on Norse mythos

The Skadi family gained some notoriety in The Great War for having strong, robust soldiers that thrived in guerilla warfare. After the war, the Skadi family channeled that aggression into sportsmanship activities. They fund a triathlon event twice a year that includes hunting and trapping events, dogsled racing, and feats of strength displays. It has become a popular event for Erebus youth to try to prove their mettle.

Portrayal Suggestions: Hanna Alstrom, Mini Anden, Nadja Bender, Freja Beha Erichsen, Sara Blomqvist, Caroline Brasch Nielsen, MyAnna Buring, Jocelyn Chew, Rebecca Ferguson, Frida Gustavsson, Kristofer Hivju, Elsa Hosk, Michiel Huisman, Mikkel Jensen, Joel Kinnaman, Espen Klouman Hoiner, Suvi Koponen, Rein Langeveld, Erika Linder, Alex Lundqvist, Mads Mikkelsen, Hedvig Palm, Wouter Peelen, Noomi Rapace, The Entire Skarsgard Family, Josephine Skriver, Iselin Steiro, Peter Stormare, Siri Tollerød, Andre Van Noord, Alicia Vikander

[minnesotafollower]

Declining U.S. Rankings in Important International Socio-Political Indices

Declining U.S. Rankings in Important International Socio-Political Indices

There are many international rankings of socio-political characteristics of the countries of the world. Here are at least six in which the U.S. ranking is declining.[1]

Freedom of the Press Index. The U.S. ranking has declined from 41 in 2016 to 48 in 2019in this index by Reporters Without Borders. Despite the importance of freedom of press in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the…

[hongkongfp]

Xi's rise crushes political reform predictions

https://www.hongkongfp.com/2018/03/12/xis-rise-crushes-political-reform-predictions/