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Cocodrilo (Crocodile) (Krokodýl) (Tobe Hooper, US, 2000) - Trailer2

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People around world receive mystery seed parcels

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People around world receive mystery seed parcels

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The most likely explanation, put forward by the USDA, is that the seeds are low-cost collateral in a “brushing scam”, in which people are sent items unsolicited by online sellers to generate a transaction to support fake reviews, boosting their businesses.

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There is not much that Jan Goward does not grow in her small Eastbourne garden. "I grow everything," she says. "I've got the exotics: the aubergines, the chillies ..."

But some mystery seeds she received in the post this week - ostensibly from Singapore, and marked as stud earrings - will not be joining them.

"I haven't got a clue what they are, so there's no way," says Goward firmly. "I wouldn't ever plant something that I didn't know the origins of."

Goward's mystery seeds are among potentially thousands of shipments reported this week in the US, Canada, New Zealand and Europe, including about 100 cases in the UK. The packages have sparked biosecurity concerns and international investigations into their origins.

On Tuesday, US agriculture officials issued warnings about the spate of "suspicious, unsolicited" seeds, reported in more than a dozen states, apparently sent from China.

Florida has recorded more than 630 instances, with one man claiming to have received three shipments in a week. A woman in Texas said she had received seeds in April and planted them, mistaking them for a gift - but with no results.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has asked recipients not to plant the seeds as it works with Customs and Border Protection and federal agencies to uncover their source. In the UK, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (Apha) of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is investigating reports of similar shipments across the country.

An Apha spokesperson said: "Biosecurity is of vital importance and we have robust checks in place to protect our plants and wildlife, including for online plant sales. We are currently investigating packages of seeds marked as 'ear studs' sent to people in the UK. Anyone who has received such seeds should not plant them and instead report them to us."

In New Zealand, a parcel claiming to contain a "toy" arrived in Auckland from Zambia.

After Goward posted a photograph in a Facebook group for UK gardeners, she was contacted by a member who said she had received "exactly the same seeds, the same package, at the same time. And she was in Portugal."

Goward had been intending to burn the seeds, lest they germinate in landfill. "In all honesty, the seeds look like courgette seeds," she says. But an earlier anonymous shipment she received a couple of months ago was of "tiny little black seeds".

Photographs shared by recipients and authorities appear to show many varieties. Some parcels have been marked with Chinese characters or "China Post" and as containing "rose stud" earrings, presumably to elude biosecurity checks or fees.

The most likely explanation, put forward by the USDA, is that the seeds are low-cost collateral in a "brushing scam", in which people are sent items unsolicited by online sellers to generate a transaction to support fake reviews, boosting their businesses.

The Central News Agency in Taiwan reported on Wednesday that seeds apparently sent from there to Canada were in fact trans-shipped via Taiwan on behalf of a client in a third origin. The Taiwanese postal service intends to levy a $3,400 (£2,500) fine against the unidentified logistics company for sending prohibited items.

In a press conference, a spokesman for China's foreign ministry said the address labels from China had been forged and that China Post had asked the US postal service to return packages for investigation.

The seed shipments are addressed by name, indicating a data breach of some sort.

Goward says she only buys her seeds online from one eBay retailer. "Whether [the mystery senders] got my address from somewhere, I don't know. What is the benefit for them? Some are saying it's a scam. That's above me. I've not got a clue."

A more nefarious theory is that the seeds are of an invasive species, such as Japanese knotweed, or an attempt to introduce pathogens or disease, or to otherwise threaten national security.

Gerard Clover, head of plant health at the Royal Horticultural Society, says it is difficult to comment without identifying the seeds' species or origins. "Anything that has the ability to grow has the potential to be a threat."

But he downplayed the suggestion of bioterrorism, the use of plant pests and diseases to disrupt trade and economy.

The USDA has said it "doesn't have any evidence" to indicate this is anything other than a brushing scam. But the Kentucky state agriculture commissioner, Ryan Quarles, took another view: "We don't have enough information to know if this is a hoax, a prank, an internet scam or an act of agricultural bioterrorism."

Goward admits to being unsettled. "It's a little worrying, actually. There's a lot of people receiving these seeds - not just in England, all over the world." She says, half-joking: "That big Triffid thing - it could be one of those, couldn't it?"

* Members of the UK public should report any suspicious seeds to PlantHealth.Info@apha.gov.uk. In the US, report the seed package to the USDA APHIS anti-smuggling hotline at 1-800-877-3835 or SITC.Mail@aphis.usda.gov.
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Sowing doubt: people around world receive mystery seed parcels

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There is not much that Jan Goward does not grow in her small Eastbourne garden. "I grow everything," she says. "I've got the exotics: the aubergines, the chillies ..." But some mystery seeds she received in the post this week - ostensibly from Singapore, and marked as stud earrings - will not be joining them.

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Is pulling US troops from Germany really a “gift to Russia”

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Is pulling US troops from Germany really a “gift to Russia”

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The Trump administration announced Wednesday that the United States is moving forward with plans to pull 12,000 US troops out of Germany.

This would relocate about 5,600 troops to Italy and Belgium, with the rest returning to the United States to conduct rotational deployments to Europe, according to the Washington Post. The Pentagon says the plan is intended to strengthen NATO and deter Russia. But Trump — whose explanation has contradicted his own defense officials — says it’s because Germany is taking advantage of the US by not paying enough for its own defense.

Critics say the plan won’t deter Russia; it’ll do the opposite. The countries where the troops are being immediately relocated, Italy and Belgium, aren’t facing serious threats of Russian aggression. Moreover, Trump’s relations with German Chancellor Angela Merkel are already souring, so critics also fear US-German relations could take a further turn for the worse.

And it could cost US taxpayers billions of dollars, according to Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

Shortly after a similar force realignment, when President Barack Obama withdrew some US combat brigades from Germany in 2012 and 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in 2014.

But there will still be 24,000 troops in Germany after the removal (which could take years),

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In yet another controversial decision, the Trump administration announced Wednesday that the United States is moving forward with plans to pull 12,000 US troops out of Germany.

This would relocate about 5,600 troops to Italy and Belgium, with the rest returning to the United States to conduct rotational deployments to Europe, according to the Washington Post. The Pentagon says the plan is intended to strengthen NATO and deter Russia. But Trump - whose explanation has contradicted his own defense officials - says it's because Germany is taking advantage of the US by not paying enough for its own defense.

On this week's episode of , Vox's weekly international podcast, senior foreign editor Jennifer Williams and international security and defense reporter Alex Ward discuss the merits of the arguments put forth by the Trump administration and what this might mean for the future of the United States' relations with Europe.

The plan has been extensively criticized by politicians and defense experts from all over the political spectrum. Sen. Mitt Romney slammed the plan as a "gift to Russia," and Sen. Bob Menendez said that "champagne must be flowing freely this evening at the Kremlin."

Critics say the plan won't deter Russia; it'll do the opposite. The countries where the troops are being immediately relocated, Italy and Belgium, aren't facing serious threats of Russian aggression. Moreover, Trump's relations with German Chancellor Angela Merkel are already souring, so critics also fear US-German relations could take a further turn for the worse.

And it could cost US taxpayers billions of dollars, according to Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

Shortly after a similar force realignment, when President Barack Obama withdrew some US combat brigades from Germany in 2012 and 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in 2014.

But there will still be 24,000 troops in Germany after the removal (which could take years), and it's unclear if Putin will interpret the move as the "gift" US lawmakers accuse the plan of being.

To hear more about why the Trump administration is pulling troops from Germany and the potential consequences, listen to the full episode of Worldly, which you can stream below.

And subscribe to Worldly on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Support Vox's explanatory journalism
Every day at Vox, we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you, and our audience around the world, with information that has the power to save lives. Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment: to empower you through understanding. Vox's work is reaching more people than ever, but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources - particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn. Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation, but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles, videos, and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires. Please consider making a contribution to Vox today.

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Is pulling US troops from Germany really a "gift to Russia"?

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In yet another controversial decision, the Trump administration announced Wednesday that the United States is moving forward with plans to pull 12,000 US troops out of Germany. This would relocate about 5,600 troops to Italy and Belgium, with the rest returning to the United States to conduct rotational deployments to Europe, according to the Washington Post.

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écouté en text to speech sous la douche
meurtre!meutre!meurtre!meurtre

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Lecteurs, puisque la tenue des débats devant la cour d'assises du Rhône n'a eu que si peu de sens en cette fin du mois de juin 2020, celle qui écrit cette chronique a décidé qu'elle ferait bien ce qu'elle veut du plan d'audience.

Commençons donc par la fin. Il est 21 h 25, à Lyon, ce mardi 23 juin au soir, troisième et avant-dernier jour d'audience. Juste avant les plaidoiries des parties civiles qui se poursuivront jusqu'à 1 h 42 du matin, Laurent Martin, 46 ans, est appelé à la barre, extrait du box, entouré de l'escorte. Il a l'allure bonhomme, le crâne un peu dégarni. Ses gestes semblent incertains, un peu patauds. Il est accusé d'avoir tué sa femme Michelle et sa fille Estelle, presque 18 ans. Il va être interrogé sur les faits.

" Que s'est-il passé le 14 juin 2017, Monsieur ? lui demande la présidente, Marie Salord.
- Je vais vous répondre avec les choses dont je suis sûr. Il y a plein de moments, je ne pourrai pas vous dire. "
Laurent Martin est concentré, il prend le temps de répondre aux questions qui lui sont posées. Juste derrière lui, à quelques mètres de là, son fils écoute. Ils n'ont jamais été aussi proches l'un de l'autre depuis les faits.
" Le matin, il y a bien eu une dispute entre Michelle et Estelle. ça, j'en suis sûr. Je suis bien allé sur le balcon, ça j'en suis sûr. Tous les faits commis avec Michelle dans notre chambre et dans la salle de bains, j'arrive à revenir dessus, à revoir des choses, des gestes. Ce que je n'arrive pas à expliquer dans les faits, parce que les faits sont là, c'est comment je suis allé avant vers Estelle avec un couteau et une cordelette. Ça, je ne le vois pas. Pourquoi je suis rentré du balcon énervé ? Pourquoi j'ai commis ces actes ? Qu'est-ce qui a fait que j'ai été plus loin que d'habitude ? Oui, j'ai été plus loin que d'habitude... "
À l'époque, Laurent Martin sort d'un long arrêt de travail de deux ans, il s'alcoolise quotidiennement, plus que de raison, alors que Michelle travaille comme hôtesse de caisse chez Auchan, avec sourire et assiduité. Avant cet arrêt, Laurent a travaillé, dès l'âge de 20 ans, beaucoup en intérim, dans des entreprises très différentes, et les interruptions ont été peu nombreuses. L'image d'un homme fainéant lui colle pourtant toujours à la peau. " Je pense que c'est l'image de l'intérim lui-même qui ne correspond pas au mode d'emploi de la société ", dit-il à la cour.

Jusqu'au bout, il s'investit aussi dans le bureau du club d'escrime local, où évolue son fils. Mais à la maison l'ivresse ne le rend pas bien aimable, les décibels montent entre les murs de l'appartement de Corbas, dans la métropole de Lyon. En 2010, il donne un coup de pied aux fesses de Michelle, qui porte immédiatement plainte. L'affaire se règle par une conciliation. " Michelle n'a jamais oublié ce souvenir de 2010, il y a toujours eu ensuite cette barrière-là entre nous. Après, il nous est arrivé de nous quereller, oui, il y a eu une certaine dégradation dans notre couple. Mais, mis à part cet épisode de 2010, je n'ai jamais été violent physiquement envers Michelle. "

Le cadeau de sa fille est devenu l'arme du crime

Ce 14 juin 2017, Michelle est dans la chambre parentale. Elle regarde des annonces immobilières sur la tablette familiale, télécharge son planning de la semaine suivante chez Auchan. " Pour moi, c'est à ce moment-là que la dispute entre Estelle et Michelle éclate ", avance Laurent.
" Je les ai entendues recommencer à se disputer.
- À quel sujet ?

- Ça je peux pas vous dire. "

L'accusé tente de préciser : " Ce matin-là, au petit-déjeuner, on était revenu comme toujours sur les mêmes sujets : le maquillage, le lycée parce qu'Estelle n'avait pas envie de s'investir vraiment. Les engueulades des jours précédents reprenaient. "

Estelle avait offert à son père un couteau, avec une lame à double tranchant. Il le portait sur lui ce jour-là, et le cadeau est finalement devenu l'arme du crime. Une dizaine de coups portés sur Estelle, dont le cou a aussi été enserré par surprise avec une cordelette. Puis quatre coups de couteau, dont un mortel, contre Michelle.
" Tout ce qui s'est passé avec Estelle, je ne revois rien du tout. Je me revois pas le faire.
- Pourquoi et la corde et le couteau ? tente la présidente.

- Bah je sais pas.

- Vous pensez que Michelle a assisté à la scène où vous tuez Estelle ?

- Je pense, oui. Je pense que c'est elle qui voulait me désarmer. Mais je l'ai suivie dans la salle de bains et on a continué à en venir aux mains. Il me semble que je lui ai donné deux nouveaux coups et elle est tombée dans la baignoire.

- Après, vous ne retournez pas dans la chambre d'Estelle pour voir si elle est toujours vivante ?

- Je ne me revois pas le faire. ça fait partie des moments confus. "

Dans la salle, son fils respire un grand coup, les larmes aux yeux.
" À ce moment-là, alors que Michelle et Estelle sont mortes, votre fils est rentré à l'appartement et vous lui avez interdit d'aller vers la salle de bains. Mais s'il y était allé ?
- Eh bien il aurait vu sa mère décédée dans la baignoire.

- Et je sais pas... "

Silence dans la salle.
" Comment on passe d'une gifle à sa fille parce qu'elle n'est pas correcte avec sa mère à douze coups de couteau et une corde autour du cou ?
- Je sais pas. Je peux pas vous répondre, Madame la présidente. Ça dégoupille au point de faire des actes pareils... Je me dis que c'est possible que j'étais alcoolisé, oui, mais je sais pas comment j'en suis arrivé là.

- Vous pensez que vous saurez un jour ?

- J'espère. En tous cas, je fais tout pour. ça passe par des soins. Par des écrits aussi. Ça peut être tout et n'importe quoi, mais ça m'aide à penser.

- Comment vous pouvez être sûr d'avoir tué Estelle ?

- Parce que je ne vois pas Michelle faire ça.

- D'accord, alors c'est par déduction ?

Au tout début de l'audience, vendredi 19 juin, Laurent Martin a avoué, distinctement : " Je reconnais les faits qui me sont reprochés ". La présidente a voulu être sûre : " Les deux faits ? - Les deux faits ", a répondu l'accusé. Jusque-là et tout au long de la procédure, il n'avait reconnu qu'avoir tué Michelle, en légitime défense, parce qu'elle venait de tuer Estelle.
Du côté des parties civiles, qui ne s'attendaient pas à ces aveux, on dénonce la " manipulation ", quand l'avocat général évoque un " calcul ".

" Qu'est-ce qu'on se dit après avoir tué sa femme et sa fille ? "

" Sans aucune raison, vous avez donc tué votre femme et votre fille ? questionne à son tour Me Agnès Bouquin, en partie civile.
- Il y en a sûrement une.
- Votre fils a aussi cette question : pourquoi la violence s'est arrêtée avant lui ?

- Je ne peux pas lui dire pourquoi. Il a sonné à l'interphone, je lui ai ouvert, il est monté et est rentré. Juste avant, j'ai fermé la porte de la salle de bains, mis une serviette au sol, quelque chose sur ma main parce que j'avais été blessé dans l'échange de coups. Et il est arrivé. "

Ils ont déjeuné tous les deux, puis Laurent a demandé à son fils d'aller jouer au bas de l'immeuble avec ses copains. Pendant ce temps-là, il a déplacé le corps de Michelle dans la chambre d'Estelle, calfeutré la porte d'entrée. Et la vie a continué, près des deux cadavres envahis de larves, d'insectes, des fluides corporels qui s'en échappaient les semaines passant, odeurs comprises. Son fils s'est installé dans le salon, avec un matelas pour dormir au sol. Laurent a utilisé le portable de Michelle et celui d'Estelle, en déverrouillant celui-là grâce à l'empreinte de doigt de sa fille morte. Il a envoyé des SMS à leurs proches, pour les rassurer. Père et fils ont répondu présents à des invitations à l'extérieur, comme un barbecue. Régulièrement aussi, Laurent a aspergé de l'insecticide dans l'appartement. Tout cela a duré un mois et sept jours, avant son interpellation par les gendarmes.

" Vous avez des blancs très sélectifs, Monsieur, sur les plus odieux des gestes commis, lance Me Bertrand Sayn. Vous savez que dans la pièce d'à-côté, deux corps se décomposent : votre compagne et votre fille, que vous laissez pourrir, que vous maltraitez après la mort. Comment vous avez pu faire ça ?
- J'ai tout fait pour garder mon fils près de moi, le plus longtemps possible, avant mon arrestation.
- Monsieur, je crois que vous manipulez la cour avec ces aveux, en vous servant de votre fils.

- Non, je ne me sers pas de mon fils, je pense que je l'ai déjà assez fait souffrir comme ça. Vous savez, j'ai déjà tout perdu. J'essaie de répondre aux questions, mais malheureusement, y'en a, je ne peux pas. "

Toujours du côté des parties civiles, Me Olivier Forray se lève à son tour.
" Votre fils se souvient que quand il est rentré ce 14 juin 2017, vous sentiez l'alcool. Alors, vous avez fêté les deux meurtres ?
- Non, sûrement pas. J'ai dû boire, vu ses déclarations, mais je sais pas.

- Qu'est-ce qu'on se dit après avoir tué sa femme et sa fille ?

- Je sais pas.

- Comment vous pouvez ne pas regretter à ce moment-là ?
- Je peux pas vous dire. Je suis dans une forme de refus de ce qui s'est passé.

- Mais de refus de quoi ?

- De la réalité, de ce qui s'est passé.

- Monsieur Martin, vous mentez à tout le monde depuis plusieurs années. Mais là, après ces deux meurtres, vous mentez quotidiennement à votre fils. Vous lui dites quoi ? que sa mère va revenir ?

- Oui, je le lui ai sans doute dit.

- Mais vous vous rendez compte de l'horreur ?!

- Non, je ne me rends pas compte à ce moment-là. "

Il est tard, 23 h 30. L'accusé est interrogé depuis deux heures, et l'avocat général, Joël Sollier; demande à reprendre l'interrogatoire le lendemain matin, dernier jour d'audience. Refus de la présidente, alors que la défense ne souhaite pas non plus que la journée s'achève sans contre-interrogatoire de l'accusé. Contrarié, Joël Sollier n'insiste pas et poursuit : " Monsieur, je vais simplement, si vous en êtes d'accord évidemment, soulever quelques éléments qui vous accusent. Comment vous en êtes arrivé là ? Qu'est-ce qui a pu se passer chez vous pour que vous ne soyez pas effondré après le drame ?
- Pour moi, si mon fils n'avait pas été là, ça ne se serait pas du tout passé comme ça. J'ai été embarqué dans le fait de ne pas dire la vérité. J'ai mis le doigt dans cet engrenage de mensonges et j'arrivais pas à en sortir.
- Dans quoi avez-vous mis la main pour vous retrouver dans une situation pareille ?

- Bah j'ai mis la main dans l'alcool.

- Que dans l'alcool ?

- Le fait d'être en accident de travail n'a pas dû aider.

- Il y avait une forme de désoeuvrement ? Parce qu'on le voit...

- Il n'y a pas que votre activité au club d'escrime qui vous occupait jusqu'à 3 h du matin...

- Non, il y avait aussi des sorties avec des relations extra-conjugales et homosexuelles...

- Ce n'est pas commun.

- Non, pas commun.

- Le respect dû aux morts, aux cadavres, c'est quelque chose de connu. Comment vous faites le saut ? N'est-ce pas une descente aux enfers commencée il y a plusieurs années ?

- Oui, c'est possible. Parce que comment on peut en arriver à faire des trucs aussi horribles ?... "

À la barre, Laurent Martin a la gorge serrée, le visage se crispe.
" La question est de savoir si c'est réellement votre volonté de continuer votre processus dans la reconnaissance des faits ? Parce que là, vous êtes en gare terminale...
- Oui, j'ai conscience qu'il faut arrêter de dire des conneries. Il y a des choses que je ne sais pas expliquer. Mais je sais que c'est moi.

- En fait, avant, vous pouviez mais vous ne vouliez pas expliquer, et maintenant vous voulez mais vous ne pouvez pas ?

- Non... Je ne peux pas l'expliquer. "

" Si vous avez quelque chose à dire à votre fils, c'est peut-être maintenant "

En défense, Me Roksana Naserzadeh se lève à son tour pour interroger son client. Mais la présidente est déjà obligée intervenir : " Excusez-moi, est-ce que l'on peut avoir le silence pour les questions de la défense ? " Elle s'adresse là aux trois avocats des parties civiles qui ont, dès le début du procès, pris ostensiblement le parti de bavarder, avec fort sarcasme, à chaque intervention de leurs consoeurs en défense.

Un calme tout relatif revient, l'avocate reprend. " Est-ce que vous pensiez un jour pouvoir vivre avec deux cadavres ?
- Pensiez-vous être capable de passer une corde autour du cou de votre fille ?- Est-ce que votre fils, qui vous aimait, vous pensiez le faire souffrir comme ça ?
*- Est-ce que vous ne pensez pas que pour faire le chemin que vous avez fait jusqu'à vos aveux à l'audience, vous aviez au moins besoin de deux ans ?
- Quel serait votre intérêt d'en savoir plus sur ce qu'il s'est passé et de ne pas le dire ?- Je ne vois pas. "
Me Méléa Ustün poursuit, toujours pour la défense : " Votre fils est présent dans la salle. Qu'est-ce qui diffère entre votre discours constant en garde à vue, et votre incapacité aujourd'hui à vous exprimer ?

- Je ne sais pas comment l'expliquer. C'est peut-être la peur du regard qu'il allait me porter.

- Si vous avez quelque chose à lui dire, c'est peut-être maintenant. Une fois dans votre cellule, il sera trop tard.

- Je regrette tout ce que je lui ai fait subir. Je suis conscient de lui avoir fait beaucoup de mal. Il n'y a pas un seul jour où je ne pense pas à lui, où je ne regrette pas ce que je lui ai fait et que malgré moi je lui fais encore parce que les explications que je donne ne sont pas assez satisfaisantes... Je l'ai regardé plusieurs fois durant le procès. Mais la plupart du temps, j'ai évité de le faire parce que ça me faisait du mal de le voir et parce que j'avais peur du regard des gens si lui me regardait. Il m'a regardé aussi et j'ai senti qu'il surveillait autour de lui en même temps pour voir si les gens le regardaient. C'est pour ça que je n'ai pas fait de déclaration avant.

- Je me trompe si je vous dis que vous ne vous autorisez pas ?

- D'une certaine manière, oui, c'est ça. "

L'avocate se rassoit. Doucement, la présidente reprend la parole : " Vous voulez ajouter quelque chose, Monsieur ?

- J'ai fait mon possible pour expliquer ce qu'il s'est passé. Mais malheureusement, il y a des choses que je ne peux pas expliquer. "

" Vivre avec son fils près de deux cadavres, qu'est-ce que cela veut dire ? " L'expert psychologue Patrick Dessez est à la barre, la présidente l'interroge. " Cela dénote une incapacité à se représenter les choses. C'est le moyen physique de ne pas se représenter. Il garde les corps en mentant, en faisant croire. C'est une manière d'effacer le drame, ce dont il a été l'auteur, le meurtre. Il les efface mais il y a des traces. C'est donc un énorme effort de sa part pour que cet événement n'existe pas dans sa conscience. "

" La manipulation et l'envie de tirer du plaisir du mensonge envers autrui sont absents de votre rapport..., avance Me Roksana Naserzadeh, face à l'expert-psychiatre François Renault.
- Oui, merci de le rappeler. "
L'expert ajoute : " Il n'y a pas de troubles mentaux. Mais la réalité est qu'il y a bien quelque chose qui dysfonctionne chez lui. Il y a une grande précarité psychique dans la construction. Des éléments précoces de carence, de violence, de dysfonctionnement, avec des conflits non traités, des non-dits, des émotions non-dites. Probablement que pendant des années ça fuite un peu, mais ça tient. " Avant l'explosion. Avant les faits, " il se tait, il se tait, abonde l'autre expert-psychiatre, Jean Canterino. Parce qu'il ne sait pas parler. Mais les émotions, ce n'est pas parce qu'on les met sous le tapis que ça disparait. Alors ça s'accumule, et c'est une cocotte-minute qui explose. "

Appelé à la barre plus tôt lors de l'audience, le directeur d'enquête était allé dans le même sens : dans cette affaire, " je ne parlerai pas de mobile, mais plutôt d'un pétage de plomb " de la part de l'accusé le jour des faits.

" Il était tellement choqué avec son hérisson dans les bras... "

" Il était tout le temps en train de faire le cake. " Le septuagénaire a le dos courbé, les mains posées sur la barre. Il en veut à Laurent Martin, à sa mère. Il a un temps été le beau-père du premier, un temps le compagnon de la seconde. Il est las. " C'est Laurent qui commandait tout le monde, il voulait pas travailler. Il était violent avec sa mère, sa grand-mère. Toujours en train de gueuler, de se taper dessus. Des engueulades, des engueulades, tous les soirs. Sa mère venait me chercher avec des coups de pied et moi comme un bête je rentrais. Elle arrêtait pas de gueuler. Quand je rentrais du boulot, y'avait rien de prêt. Elle travaillait pas du tout. Quand je rentrais, y'avais rien, juste une bouteille de pastis. "

Du côté de la défense, Me Ustün intervient : " On parle de Laurent Martin de ses 12 ans jusqu'à ses 18 ans, on est d'accord ?

- Oui, répond le vieil homme.
- Qu'est-ce que sa mère et vous avez fait pour arrêter ces violences ? Est-ce que vous, qui avez la tête sur les épaules, ou sa mère, avez pris la mesure de la situation ?
- Il cassait la gueule des gens de son âge ? poursuit Me Naserzadeh.
- Je peux pas vous dire.
- Je pense pas. Mais y'avait des disputes, ça tapait et hurlait. C'était régulier.

- Il vous a frappé ?

- Oui, une fois.

- Quand vous avez été entendu par les enquêteurs, vous avez dit qu'il ne vous avait jamais frappé... "

La demi-sœur de l'accusé arrive à son tour à la barre. Aujourd'hui, elle a 37 ans, semble à l'aise dans ses baskets. Elle est mère d'une adolescente, mais c'est son passé d'adolescente à elle qu'elle va livrer à la barre. Avec Laurent Martin et un autre frère, ils ont tous les trois eu la même mère. Volage, alcoolique, avec un fort caractère. Mais " ça fait 22 ans en gros que j'ai pas eu de nouvelles " de la famille.

Et pourtant, elle en a des jolis souvenirs avec ses frères, malgré le côté " magouilleur " de Laurent, ses mensonges, sa " capacité à inventer des histoires, un truc de fou ". Dans la maison de vacances de la famille en Ardèche, où il fallait couper du bois soi-même pour se chauffer, elle se souvient : c'était " une maison comme on peut avoir aujourd'hui quand on veut se couper du monde ", et c'était le paradis. Les deux frères emmenaient aussi leur petite sœur à des matchs de hockey, " de très beaux moments ".

La relation entre Laurent et sa mère n'était pourtant pas si simple, " même si c'était son chouchou ". " Elle l'appelait "Nounou". Ils avaient entre eux à la fois un rapport assez fusionnel mais aussi explosif. Ça arrivait que ça se bouscule. Je n'ai jamais vu de coups entre eux, mais ça pouvait être violent. J'entendais les bruits... " Elle poursuit : " Verbalement, notre mère était quelqu'un qui s'énervait vite. Pas avec moi, mais avec ses deux fils. C'était sa façon à elle de gérer. Elle s'énervait, elle criait. " Elle buvait aussi, en cachette, en mettant de l'alcool dans des bouteilles de Badoit. " Je me suis fait avoir une fois en pique-nique ", note la trentenaire.

Mais la relation déraille au moment du décès brutal de leur mère. Le frère de Laurent accueille cette sœur encore adolescente, chez lui. Là-bas, il lui est interdit de se servir dans le frigo, elle est " sous-alimentée ", elle n'a pas les clés de la porte d'entrée, pas le moindre gel douche pour se laver non plus. Elle est frappée, " par [son] frère et sa compagne ". Sa chambre - " enfin, c'est vite dit " - son " placard " plutôt n'a pas de fenêtre.

" Laurent savait que je rêvais de voir un hérisson. " La demi-sœur a le sourire en racontant cette histoire. " Comme tout le temps j'étais enfermée seule dans l'appart, il est venu, un jour, avec un hérisson dans les bras. Il était surpris que je sois seule. "Bah oui, je lui ai dit, c'est toujours pareil et je n'ai rien à manger." Il m'a répondu "Oh, arrête ?!" Il a vérifié et a compris que c'était vrai. Il était tellement choqué avec son hérisson dans les bras... " Il y a comme de la douceur teintée de tristesse dans son récit. " Il a fait un courrier à son frère. Il m'a dit que lui et Michelle réfléchissaient, pour pouvoir me reprendre chez eux. Mais ce que je ne savais pas à l'époque, c'est que les deux frères étaient en contact : ce que je disais à Laurent, il le répétait à son frère. Et vous imaginez bien que lui était en colère quand il apprenait ce que je racontais. Alors j'ai pris derrière. " Elle n'a pas besoin d'en dire plus, tout le monde a compris. Après, elle a été mise à la porte, par ses deux frères, on lui a demandé de partir. Elle avait 15 ans. " C'est ignoble. "

Laurent Martin se lève, à l'invitation de la présidente. Il n'est pas celui qui montre beaucoup d'émotions lorsqu'il est interrogé. Mais là, il a l'air touché. Il regarde sa demi-sœur. " Je n'ai jamais compris pourquoi tu avais voulu partir. Je ne t'ai pas trahi. Ce que je disais à notre frère, je ne savais pas qu'il te le faisait payer derrière. Pardon... " La voix tremble. " Je ne pouvais pas t'accueillir, tu le sais ?

- J'ai appris beaucoup de choses aujourd'hui... "

Un dialogue s'installe calmement entre les deux, il semble rester un peu de tendresse, malgré tout. " Moi, ce que je ne comprends pas, c'est pourquoi vous n'avez pas repris contact avec notre grand-mère après, lance la sœur à son frère. Elle vous a élevés, elle vous a nourris. De 1998 à 2009, je m'en suis occupée seule. T'imagines ? J'étais une gamine ! Je l'ai lavée, je lui ai donné la becquée. Je m'en suis occupée. Elle était tellement en colère contre vous si tu savais, de voir que vous l'abandonniez, que vous m'abandonniez... "

La présidente stoppe l'échange avant la fin. " Bon, vous aurez d'autres occasions pour poursuivre cet échange. "

" En plus, il a récusé les femmes du jury "

" Il ne peut pas être présumé innocent, c'est quoi ça, il a tué sa femme et sa fille. Il doit être présumé coupable ! " L'un des frères de Michelle, partie civile au procès, s'exprime à son tour. Il avait coupé les ponts avec sa sœur, Laurent et les enfants en 2009. Sans pour autant être totalement fâché contre sa sœur, précise-t-il. " Quand j'ai appris la nouvelle, ça m'a scié mais en même temps, j'y pensais. " En revanche, " je ne pensais pas qu'il les tuerait ".
Il n'aime pas bien que son beau-frère soit défendu par deux femmes. " En plus, il a récusé les femmes du jury. " Il en reste quand même deux titulaires, et une jurée supplémentaire.

" Qu'est-ce qui vous gêne dans le fait que Monsieur Martin soit défendu par deux femmes ? cherche à savoir Me Naserzadeh.
- C'est un féminicide et il est défendu par deux femmes. ça m'a paru bizarre...
- Savez-vous ce qu'est un avocat commis d'office ?

L'avocate lui explique. Son associée Me Méléa Ustün est intervenue en garde à vue pour Laurent Martin au tout début de l'affaire, elle lui a ensuite demandé de travailler avec elle sur ce dossier, ce qu'elle a accepté, comme elles le font très souvent, rien de plus.
" Est-ce qu'à l'inverse, des hommes ne pourraient pas défendre des parties civiles, comme le font mes confrères pour vous aujourd'hui, puisque les femmes n'ont pas le droit de défendre un accusé selon vous ? "
Il n'y a pas vraiment de réponse, la question n'était pas attendue.

Me Roksana Naserzadeh poursuit : " Qu'est-ce qu'un féminicide pour vous ? - C'est quand un conjoint ou compagnon est violent avec sa femme et qu'elle décède suite aux violences commises. Quand on écoute les médias, tous les deux jours, une femme décède sous les coups de son conjoint. C'est ce qui est arrivé à ma sœur et à ma nièce. J'ai vaguement entendu parlé d'un décret, qui n'est pas suffisant dans ses mesures. La parole n'est pas assez libérée en France. Quand on appelle la gendarmerie, il faut le prendre en compte. Il faut prendre des mesures ! "

Le problème dans ce procès est que, souvent, les témoignages ne collent pas à la réalité du dossier. Victime à plusieurs reprises de violences physiques, Michelle ? Son frère comme plusieurs de ses collègues à Auchan l'affirment, probablement de bonne foi. Mais rien ne le démontre. Des " violences verbales ", pas de doute ; un alcoolisme ingérable de la part de Laurent, pareil. Mais des violences physiques ? Devant les enquêteurs, l'une des collègues de Michelle dit, à son propos : " Elle n'était pas bien. On sentait bien qu'il avait de l'emprise sur elle. Une fois, on a voulu aller au restaurant toutes les deux, mais il n'a pas voulu. "

" Elle s'effaçait beaucoup, raconte une autre.

- Quand Laurent parle, Michelle s'efface ? insiste Me Forray du côté des parties civiles.
- C'est ça. "
Pourtant, des SMS montrent une femme qui était en mesure de dire les choses à son conjoint, sans retenue. Comme celui-là : " Sois tu réagis, sois tout est fini entre nous. " Ou encore, le 7 juin : " Désolée mais je n'ai pas du tout apprécié ton attitude d'hier à Auchan. Ton alcoolisme quotidien va nous perdre. " Et puis, le 9 juin : " Putain mais t'es con ou quoi ? Tu bouges ton cul ! "

La présidente lit l'audition d'une collègue de Michelle, absente au procès : " Que saviez-vous sur sa vie privée ?

- Rien justement. Il se dit qu'elle avait des problèmes de couple. C'est ce qui se disait au travail. "

Une amie de longue date raconte à son tour : " Il y a des moments où ça allait, d'autres pas ", parce que Laurent ne travaillait pas, à cause également de son alcoolisme. " Michelle m'a parlé une seule fois de violences physiques. " Et puis : " Laurent était agressif envers elle des fois, mais verbalement. "

Dans son casier à Auchan, Michelle conservait quelques documents : la carte d'une association d'aide aux victimes qui était intervenue sur son lieu de travail (elle n'a jamais appelé ce numéro), un certificat médical constatant les traces physiques faisant suite aux faits de 2010. ainsi qu'une copie de son assurance-vie modifiée en 2010 au profit de l'un de ses frères et au détriment de Laurent. Rien de plus. " Si son casier était son jardin secret, est-ce qu'elle n'aurait pas pu y mettre d'autres certificats médicaux ? ", dans le cas où il y aurait eu d'autres violences, interroge Me Ustün.

" Nous savons que Michelle voulait préserver des preuves contre vous dans son casier professionnel... " Me Roksana Naserzadeh s'adresse à son client. " Je vous informe monsieur qu'entre 2001 et 2017, 89 documents de consultations de médecins ont été retrouvés par les enquêteurs. En 2016, Michelle est allée à dix reprises voir son médecin traitant. Vous le saviez ?

- Saviez-vous qu'un seul document fait écho à des violences conjugales ? Et que le médecin n'avait relevé aucune trace de violence ?

- Non, je savais pas, mais je m'en doute.

- Si j'avais été votre compagne ou l'un de vos enfants, je n'aurais pas aimé rentrer le soir à la maison. Vous le comprenez ?

- Dites pourquoi.

- D'un certain point de vue, une personne alcoolisée, ça peut faire peur.

- Je ne vous aurais pas supporté parce qu'à certains moments, vous êtes un super papa, un super époux. Et d'autres fois, vous êtes insupportable. Vous comprenez ?

Après la venue du médecin légiste présentant l'autopsie de deux corps en état de putréfaction avancée, et le malaise d'un jeune garçon dans la salle d'audience ;
après la diffusion sur écran de nombreuses photos du sexe de l'accusé prises par lui-même, et l'intervention agacée de la défense : " Puisqu'on en est à diffuser des photos à caractère pornographique lors de cette audience, il y a aussi dans le dossier de très nombreuses photos prises lors d'événements joyeux dans la famille, que l'on peut montrer " ; après un énième accrochage entre avocats, un moment a fini par faire taire tout le monde : la diffusion d'une audition du fils de Laurent chez les gendarmes. L'adolescent d'aujourd'hui a 11 ans à ce moment-là. Nous sommes le 18 septembre 2017. Il est plus rondelet qu'aujourd'hui. Sa voix est celle d'un petit garçon, douce, plutôt appliquée. Et le résultat est un mélange d'insouciance et de maturité, de naïveté et de tristesse, d'intelligence et de calme. " Du coup, je me pose des questions ", lance-t-il à la gendarme qui l'interroge.
" Mon père, il inventait des trucs. Il me disait que ma mère et ma sœur étaient à l'hôpital, parce que ma sœur s'était blessée au genou, ça s'était infectée et c'est pour ça qu'elles ne rentraient pas. "" Mon père, il voulait pas nettoyer la chambre. Je voulais qu'il nettoie, parce que j'en avais marre de voir les larves partout. J'aime pas ces insectes, j'ai peur de ça. "" Mon père, il était souvent énervé. Il buvait beaucoup d'alcool. "" Estelle, elle voulait pas continuer l'école. Elle faisait n'importe quoi. "
" Mon père m'avait dit de dire que ma sœur était en vacances et ma mère en formation. " Pour que personne ne s'inquiète parmi leurs proches. " Et toi, tu pensais qu'elles étaient où ? ", lui demande la gendarme. " Bah à l'hôpital. "
" Comment ça va, toi ?
- Est-ce que c'est dur ?

- Qu'est-ce qui est difficile ?

- Qu'est-ce que tu fais quand ça va pas ?

- Je crie, je tape dans des coussins, je fais un peu n'importe quoi. "

La conversation se poursuit, toujours avec calme.
" Tu as envie de récupérer des affaires dans l'appartement ?
- C'est important pour toi ?

- Oui. En priorité mes vêtements, ma console, mes vêtements d'escrime, et mon doudou. "

Le silence règne dans la salle, les yeux sont rivés vers la télévision qui retransmet les images.
" C'est quand la dernière fois que tu as vu ton père ?
- Le 21 juillet, quand vous êtes venus le chercher.

- Tu voudrais le revoir ?

- Oui. Au moins une fois. J'ai des questions à lui poser. Des questions toutes bêtes. J'aurais envie de lui demander un mot de passe [informatique], parce que j'arrive pas à faire ce que je veux. Je voudrais lui demander pourquoi il a fait ça aussi. Et combien de temps de prison il va faire. C'est tout. J'aimerais le voir plus. "

À la fin, la gendarme l'interroge sur la peine de prison qui sera prononcée contre son père. " Tu voudrais qu'il se passe quoi, toi ?

- Bah je sais pas, moi. "

Puis : " Je veux qu'il reste longtemps en prison ".

Dans la salle d'audience, le petit garçon de l'écran est devenu un adolescent de 14 ans. Il n'a pas regardé ces images, la tête cachée derrière un banc du public, peut-être pour que personne ne puisse le voir. À ses côtés, comme depuis le début du procès de son père, sa famille d'accueil est là. Un bloc, des repères, pour tenir bon. Envers eux, Laurent Martin a dit, quand il a eu la parole une dernière fois avant que la cour et les jurés se retirent pour délibérer : " Je ne sais pas comment ça va être interprété, mais j'ai une pensée pour la famille d'accueil de mon fils. Malgré le mal que je lui fais, il a beaucoup de chance d'être accueilli là-bas. J'ai compris assez vite que c'étaient des gens honnêtes. Ils participent beaucoup à sa reconstruction. Je suis reconnaissant de ce qu'ils font pour lui. "

Après deux heures de délibéré et alors que l'avocat général avait requis la réclusion criminelle à perpétuité à son encontre, notamment parce que " prononcer la perpétuité, c'est refuser l'indécision ", Laurent Martin a été condamné à trente ans de réclusion, avec une période de sûreté aux deux tiers, ainsi qu'à sept ans de suivi socio-judiciaire à la sortie, avec une obligation de soins. Enfin, la cour a prononcé le retrait de l'autorité parentale.

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" Mais vous vous rendez compte de l'horreur ?! "

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Devant la cour d'assises du Rhône, un homme de 46 ans est accusé des meurtres de sa compagne et de sa fille. Pendant un mois et sept jours, il a vécu près des cadavres, en compagnie de son jeune fils.

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The Particularities of Indian Police Violence

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The Particularities of Indian Police Violence

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According to data collected by the National Human Rights Commission, 1,723 people died in custody in India in 2019 alone. A report released this year by the National Campaign Against Torture found that 125 of those deaths took place in police custody (as opposed to jail), noting, “deaths in police custody occur primarily as a result of torture.
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Most of the victims were very poor, or belonged to socially and politically oppressed groups such as Dalits (members of the lowest-status caste, formerly subjected to the practice of “untouchability”) or Muslims
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Not a single police officer has been convicted for any of the 500 deaths that occurred in police custody between 2005 and 2018, though fifty-four cops were charged

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36% of Indian police personnel preferred to dish out “minor punishments” to perpetrators of minor offences rather than bring them to trial. 75% of police personnel agreed that it was appropriate for the police to “be violent towards criminals” for “the greater good of the society”. A follow-up question asked whether beating up criminals to extract confessions while investigating serious cases was justifiable; more than 80% said yes. One in five cops answered that it was better to kill a dangerous criminal than bring him to trial.

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it is important to note another particularity of Indian policing: across all states, Indian police answer to the political executive in government, a structure which makes the force’s politicisation almost inevitable.

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The direct accountability of the police to political representatives, rather than a government acting on behalf of its citizens, also underlines the development of Indian policing as an outgrowth from a colonial machine.
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The constabulary make up 86% of the national force, and are recruited from poor communities where a career in the police is sold as a rare lifeline to a stable income and professional identity.
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Reports of “excessive force” killings during lockdown came in from various towns around the country, weeks before George Floyd’s death, before his death could act as an amplifying signal.
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On Friday the 19th of June in Sathankulam, a town in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, police arrested two men. P. Jeyaraj, 59, and his son Bennicks, 31, were accused of keeping their small mobile phone accessories shop open past the evening curfew, a restriction imposed in an attempt to stop the spread of coronavirus. Officers took Jeyaraj and Bennicks to the local police station for questioning. The following day, they were transferred to judicial custody. By Tuesday evening, both men were dead.

When the case was reported and discussed outside of India, it was as an accompanying story to the murder of George Floyd by a Minnesota police officer, just under a month earlier. The epithet "India's George Floyds", which many news stories called Jeyaraj and Bennicks, functioned a useful descriptive shorthand for a larger common narrative concerning entrenched cultures of police brutality and impunity, and their energetic repudiation by the public. Elsewhere, the comparison functioned as a bid for a greater share in the online marketplace of attention - custodial deaths in India, suggested some critical tweets, deserve our outrage too. But the comparison also blurs the lines of too many particulars: the brutality of the Indian police forces, and of the Minneapolis PD, are particular. The killing of Jeyaraj and Bennicks are particular. The particulars are terrible and important. [1]

The night of the arrest, Sathankulam station cops assaulted Jeyaraj and Bennicks, beating them through the night and into the early hours of the next morning. Testimony was provided by a single policewoman, the only eyewitness in the case who was willing to speak out. By the end, the officers' lathis (batons wielded by Indian police) were covered with blood, she said, and so was the interview room table. Video evidence should have corroborated her testimony, but according to the investigating magistrate the station's CCTV cameras were programmed to auto-delete daily, "despite enough storage of 1TB."

Friends and relatives of the arrested men, who kept an anxious vigil outside the station that night, reported hearing cries for help. At around 7.30 the following morning, Jeyaraj and Bennicks were brought out of the station and arrangements were made for their transport to hospital for a standard post-arrest physical exam. They were in " bad shape," said family members who saw them. One friend said they could barely speak; several people reported that both men were bleeding from their rectums, injuries understood to have been the result of sexual torture while in custody. At the station, relatives helped Bennicks and Jeyaraj change into clean lungis (wrapped men's garments, worn on the lower half of the body) which reportedly needed changing again before they entered the hospital. An advocate who accompanied the men claimed that nothing was done to ease the bleeding, despite entreaty. Eventually, the necessary medical certificate was issued (noting "abrasions") and t he men were taken to Kovilpatti Sub Jail. According to jail administrators, Bennicks was still bleeding when he arrived.

Bennicks died on Monday night, shortly after being brought to Kovilpatti General Hospital with chest pains. His father Jeyaraj was admitted to the hospital a couple of hours later. He died just before sunrise the following morning.

According to data collected by the National Human Rights Commission, 1,723 people died in custody in India in 2019 alone. A report released this year by the National Campaign Against Torture found that 125 of those deaths took place in police custody (as opposed to jail), noting, "deaths in police custody occur primarily as a result of torture." In fact, the report's tally found that 93 of the 125 deaths in police lockup last year were attributable to alleged torture or "foul play" , while a further 24 "died under suspicious circumstances" explained by the police as suicide, illness, or, in one case, slipping in the bathroom. Most of the victims were very poor, or belonged to socially and politically oppressed groups such as Dalits (members of the lowest-status caste, formerly subjected to the practice of "untouchability") or Muslims. Four of them were children.

Not a single police officer has been convicted for any of the 500 deaths that occurred in police custody between 2005 and 2018, though fifty-four cops were charged. A 2016 Human Rights Watch (HRW) report found that a judicial inquiry was pursued in only 31 of 97 custodial deaths on record for the year 2015. Twenty-six of the dead never even received an autopsy. This neglect may have made little difference to the outcome, however, since "autopsy and forensic reports frequently support the police version of events even when there is no apparent basis," according to HRW.

A report published in 2019, which drew on interviews with 12,000 police officers from twenty-one states, found that 36% of Indian police personnel preferred to dish out "minor punishments" to perpetrators of minor offences rather than bring them to trial. 75% of police personnel agreed that it was appropriate for the police to "be violent towards criminals" for "the greater good of the society". A follow-up question asked whether beating up criminals to extract confessions while investigating serious cases was justifiable; more than 80% said yes. One in five cops answered that it was better to kill a dangerous criminal than bring him to trial.

It's comforting to imagine police excesses as unforeseen but reformable errors, as moments of lethal power slipping its leash, as in the well-rehearsed "bad apple" narrative. The brazenness of the Indian police's sense of entitlement to judge and inflict harm on their fellow citizens, their willingness to ignore their rights and freedoms, points to a much more fundamental rupture of democracy. In this light, it's worth considering the origins of the contemporary Indian police.

The Police Act of 1861, Indian policing's foundational document, was drawn up by the occupying British in the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. It was designed to subdue the people, not to serve them. The commission which drafted the law was instructed to bear in mind that "the line which separates the protective and repressive functions of a civil force from functions purely military, may not always, in India, be very clear." Though the Rebellion had failed, it triggered what David H. Bayley, in his 1969 book Police and Political Development in India, called "a period of agonizing reassessment". Writing more than twenty years after Indian Independence, Bayley examined a system that was still moulded to the colonial prototype. True, an elite cadre of Indian police officers, recruited from across the nation, had stepped into the shoes of the ranking colonial administrators. In the ways that counted most, the structures and ideologies of civilian control, however, Indian policing was a hand-me-down.

In the decades since Bayley's work, successive government-appointed commissions have recommended legislative overhauls which have more or less failed to materialise. In most states, the 1861 Act either remains in force, or is closely imitated by new laws meant to replace it. The police remain, in large part, housed in barracks and therefore physically and socially separated from the communities they police. Here, it is important to note another particularity of Indian policing: across all states, Indian police answer to the political executive in government, a structure which makes the force's politicisation almost inevitable. In 2017, in Uttar Pradesh, shortly after landslide election win for the ruling BJP, a Hindu fundamentalist cleric called Yogi Adityanath with a rap sheet that included hate speech against Muslims and charges of inciting riots, was elevated to the position of Chief Minister, with direct jurisdiction over the police. The impact on policing was immediate. "Before this new government, especially Muslim boys were not afraid," one police Inspector told me, jubilant that this would now change.

The direct accountability of the police to political representatives, rather than a government acting on behalf of its citizens, also underlines the development of Indian policing as an outgrowth from a colonial machine. The persistence of this outdated, anti-democratic organisation of governmental relations with the police is remarkable. Despite a 2006 Supreme Court order demanding state-wise legislative amendment to this effect, several Indian police forces have created no serviceable system for public accountability.

In comparison with its global peers, the Indian police force is organised along particularly brutal hierarchical lines. The constabulary make up 86% of the national force, and are recruited from poor communities where a career in the police is sold as a rare lifeline to a stable income and professional identity. Despite this, a typical constable may only ever hope for one promotion - from constable to head constable - in a long career of low pay and high pressure. Unvarnished class prejudice colours the treatment of constables by the 13% of the forces whose better educational backgrounds make them eligible for service among the "upper subordinates", and by the elite 1% who constitute the officer cadre. Sociologist Beatrice Jauregui has conducted sensitive ethnographic research into the Indian police, and describes a "still strong conception" of constables as "poor specimens of humanity." She writes, "I conducted my field research among all ranks of police, and repeatedly heard senior officers describing the constables they command as, among other things, "lazy, lying cheats... a mob in uniform."

Some particular effects of this class segregation can be seen in the limits on constabulary powers in India. Unlike, for example, police constables in the UK, the lower ranks of the Indian police have fewer powers vis à vis the public than their superiors. They are empowered to act only by explicit command, but still expected to exert control. As such the police rank-and-file are, as Jauregui writes, "structurally disempowered" at the same time as they are "situationally hyper-empowered." Their disempowerment, she writes, encounters quotidian challenge from "a multitude of other forms of authority": their superiors within the police, their 'social betters' in the multiple hierarchies of Indian society. This can explain, but never excuse, the particular violence meted out by low-ranking police officers towards those members of Indian society who are less empowered than themselves. It merits mention that, in the case of the lethal assaults on Jeyaraj and Bennicks, the policewoman who testified against her colleagues at Sathankulam was only a head constable. The pressures against which she made her courageous choice, perhaps even greater than those of her silent male colleagues, were no doubt heavy.

So what happened to the police at Sathankulam? At first, very little. Some twenty-four, or twenty-seven (reports differ) officers were transferred out, a similar number shipped in, as is the three-card-trick familiar in controversial cases of Indian policing. Locally and on social media, the volume of the outrage grew. The hashtag #justiceforjayarajandfenix and its variants began to trend. Celebrities chimed in and were called out for the insufficiency of their responses. Police officers were suspended. At the start of July, Jeyaraj and Bennicks' cases were transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigations. Since then four, then five officers have been arrested for the murders of the father and son. Unusual enough, but not unusual enough. An interim victory, and thin soup.

In the wave of commentary that has flooded social media feeds in the wake of George Floyd's death, James Baldwin's ' A Report from Occupied Territory' has bobbed like a beacon, luminous with insight and cold fury,. "I also know, in my own flesh, and know, which is worse, in the scars borne by many of those dearest to me, the thunder and fire of the billy club, the paralyzing shock of spittle in the face...", writes Baldwin.

In the context of my own anonymity, I should tell you that I don't know any of these things; I don't know what it feels like to encounter a cop who believes it's his job to punish me. My physical appearance and my surname, which registers as Hindu and upper-caste, telegraph the kind of privilege that go a long way towards insulating a person from violent policing. I am lucky, I do not belong to occupied social territory. An example: in late March, when India's quarantine was uniform and among the most stringent in the world, I also violated the lockdown and was caught. I took my dog down to pee on the leafy streets of my bourgeois neighbourhood. The streets were empty of traffic. The coconut-man's cart stood empty under a blue tarp. The only people out were walkers wearing Adidas or trailing Labradors, people a bit like me. Two cops rode up on a motorbike. "Ma'am, it's a lockdown, you have to go home," one said. I said, stupidly, "My dog really needs to pee." He repeated, with polite exasperation, "please ma'am, just go home," and they drove on without waiting to make sure that I did.

But even from my vantage point, the dehumanising injustice of Indian policing is plain. The pandemic's restrictions - part public health measure, part social control kink of the ruling autocrats of the current government, and of all the little social autocrats, uniformed or not, who come out of the woodwork at times like this - have only made it plainer. Prime Minister Modi announced the nationwide lockdown on the 24th of March and whatever (already insufficient) checks existed on public police brutality seemed to give way. Migrant workers, the worst victims of a callous national policy that ignored their citizenship, were suddenly jobless and facing starvation. They fled the cities on foot and found themselves targets of further violence and humiliation. On the 26th of March, a group of migrants were filmed being made to frog-hop along an Uttar Pradesh highway by lathi-wielding khakees. In Delhi, labourers travelling with small kids and bundles of belongings lashed to a bicycle wept as they told a BBC reporter that the cops had beaten them for pausing to rest and eat. There are too many examples.

Reports of "excessive force" killings during lockdown came in from various towns around the country, weeks before George Floyd's death, before his death could act as an amplifying signal. In the first two days of lockdown, a man out buying milk in West Bengal - a permissible "essential activity" - died after being battered by cops in the street. Rumours of similar attacks circulated on WhatsApp. According to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), at least twelve people died between the 25th March and the 30th April after being publicly beaten for alleged lockdown violations. Three of the twelve deaths, the report said, were suicides impelled by public humiliation.

But this kind of policing - which casts an entire population as non-specifically criminal, and under whose eye the label "criminal" invites dehumanisation - doesn't really represent a step-change for India during coronavirus. If the Indian police forces understand the bulk of the population as a dangerous mob to be controlled, that's a feature, not a bug.

There is so much I haven't been able to tell you about what it means when the police answer to politicians, and then, about what happens when the politics are dangerous. How, one Sunday in mid-December last year, as the nation erupted into unprecedented protest against the freshly re-elected Hindu nationalist, right-wing government and its new anti-Muslim citizenship law, the Central Reserve Police Force, India's centrally-controlled riot and counter-insurgency specialists, stormed the library of an eminent university in Delhi. They bloodied students bent over their books; rumours circulated that they broke an early edition of the Indian Constitution in a protective display case.

A month later, at a Peoples' Tribunal across the road from the Supreme Court in Delhi, a jury of distinguished figures - ex-high court Justices, well-known academics and activists - concluded that the best way to describe the deadly response of the Uttar Pradesh police to Muslim citizens after protests was "a complete collapse of rule of law." After the day's testimony, after video of Muslim bodies shot down in streets that looked like warzones, the judgement sounded euphemistic. A month after that, in February, while Donald Trump was in the country, there were pogroms in Delhi. Riots, if you insist - but mostly Muslims died, and the police stood by the sides of the perpetrators. A horrible video shows a group of Muslim men, injured and laid low, being made to sing the national anthem by Delhi police. One of them, a young man called Faizan, died shortly afterwards.

During those months, between December and March, a 24/7 protest took place in the capital against the government and its discriminatory citizenship law, at a place called Shaheen Bagh. It was led by Muslim women from that locality, who sat close and cross-legged on the ground in resolved occupation of a rectangle of the highway, beneath a coloured tent festooned with the pictures of freedom fighters. Early in the mornings their numbers dwindled to just a necessary few, but each night after work, the site became almost a festival, thronged by tens of thousands. There was music, and speeches, and art-making, and articulations of Indian democracy that had almost, almost begun to sound like obsolescent idealism.

Through February, the nights were cold, and the police sat to one side of the barricades, warming their hands over small fires. For a long time, it seemed wonderful that they hadn't yet lined up with sticks and shields to break up Shaheen Bagh. Granted, the optics of lathi-charging the seated Muslim ladies and their cradled kids would have been poor. But that final violence seemed imminent all the time the protest continued. I waited nervously to hear of it. It never came, though, it didn't have to. The virus came instead.

[1] Areas of India with insurgent movements, like Jammu and Kashmir and parts of Northeast India, have spent long stretches of their independent histories under what is functionally an occupation by military-style police and military units. Their situations are sufficiently particular that they will not be addressed here, as they deserve more focused and critical attention.

Anonymous is a writer in South India who is increasingly afraid. She has never written as Anonymous before.

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The Particularities of Indian Police Violence

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On Friday the 19th of June in Sathankulam, a town in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, police arrested two men. P. Jeyaraj, 59, and his son Bennicks, 31, were accused of keeping their small mobile phone accessories shop open past the evening curfew, a restriction imposed in an attempt to stop the spread of coronavirus.

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gershwin-and-fire

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Jean-Michel Pilc / Bastien Dupriez - A short film on "Liza" (Gershwin)

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Tony Hawk breaks down skateboarding’s legendary spots

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<3
expo / outsider art museum, am (nl)

Willem van Genk (Born April 2, 1927 in Voorburg; died May 12, 2005 in The Hague) was a Dutch painter and graphic artist, celebrated as one of the leading masters of Outsider Art. Throughout his life he suffered from severe mental distress, experiencing symptoms related to autism and schizophrenia. On account of his passion for trains, buses, and train stations, he called himself the "King of Stations".

Van Genk’s panoramic cityscapes and fragmented collages express his feelings about modern authority, feelings which were shaped by an abusive father who, in addition to administering his own beatings, left him exposed to a traumatic experience at the hands of the Gestapo during the German occupation of the Netherlands in the Second World War.

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Willem van Genk - 15 artworks - painting

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Willem van Genk lived in the XX - XXI cent., a remarkable figure of Dutch Outsider art (Art brut). Find more works of this artist at Wikiart.org - best visual art database.

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Un collectionneur de saucissons est un salsicophile

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Police : l'impossible réforme ?

(podcast, 32mins)

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En juin 2019, un comité d'experts se réunissait au ministère de l'Intérieur pour réfléchir à une révision du Schéma national du maintien de l'ordre. Au mois de septembre suivant, Christophe Castaner disait n'avoir aucun tabou, être prêt à tout revoir. Nous voilà un an plus tard, toujours pas de nouveau schéma. Il est désormais annoncé pour la rentrée. Pas plus de Livre blanc de la Sécurité intérieure, pourtant en chantier également depuis de longs mois. Christophe Castaner n'est plus ministre. Son successeur, Gérald Darmanin, a dit mardi "s'étouffer" lorsqu'il entend parler de violences policières, mais des manifestations de grande ampleur ont eu lieu pour les dénoncer.

Il y a quelques semaines, Jacques Toubon, avant de quitter ses fonctions de Défenseur des droits, a réitéré ses critiques sur les pratiques du maintien de l'ordre. Dénonciation aussi de comportements et propos racistes dans la police. Lundi encore, avec le témoignage recueilli par StreetPress d'un brigadier chef rapportant les insultes proférées par certains collègues au dépôt du TGI de Paris. Résultat : un mur de défiance entre une partie de la population et des forces de l'ordre qui se sentent injustement, globalement attaquées alors qu'elles travaillent avec des moyens insuffisants et sous une pression folle depuis des années. Police. L'impossible réforme ?

Un déni

Pour le commandant Nassim, qui intervient sous pseudonyme après 37 ans d'expérience au sein de la police nationale, le racisme, loin de concerner quelques cas particuliers, forme plutôt une réalité connue de toutes et tous parmi les forces de l'ordre. "Lorsque l'on parle de brebis galeuses, j'ai envie de parler de troupeau de brebis galeuses parce que c'est une réalité. Si vous demandez à une dizaine de policiers, ont-ils déjà connu des formes de racisme ? Ont-ils déjà assisté à une scène de racisme au sein d'un service de police ? C'est impossible que vous n'ayez pas 90 voire 100% de réponses positives puisque c'est une réalité." Pour autant, cette réalité, quand bien même parfois notifiée auprès de la hiérarchie policière, est rarement admise en-dehors de la "Maison".

Nous sommes confrontés à une sorte de d'omerta. Je dirais même plus que ça : un déni. Un déni qui est lié au fait que si on ouvre cette boîte de Pandore, ça va avoir des répercussions. La structure, l'organisation même de la police sera remise en cause, tout comme la responsabilité de la hiérarchie.

Olivier Cahn, professeur de droit pénal à l'université de Tours et spécialiste de la politique de maintien de l'ordre préfère, lui, parler de "racisme endémique" au sein de la police nationale. Pour lui, les blocages liés à une possible réforme de l'institution sont surtout liés au risque politique qu'elle engendrerait :

La situation avance lentement parce que le gouvernement ne peut pas se permettre de déplaire à la police. La réforme de la police doit être avancée avec une extrême prudence, et on attend donc un moment qu'on estime opportun pour que la police ne réagisse pas violemment. Avec la rentrée qui s'annonce, il faut que la police soit parfaitement loyale à l'Etat.

Pour le chercheur, le macronisme n'a pas de "doctrine politique de la police", une absence qui se fait remarquer depuis plusieurs années. "Je crois que ça fait très longtemps qu'on n'a plus de projet de réforme de la police, de réflexion sur la police. On peut considérer que le dernier projet de fond, c'est la loi sur la police de proximité. Ensuite, on a eu la police de Nicolas Sarkozy : "Vous n'êtes pas des assistantes sociales et il me faut du chiffre" pour montrer à la population que la police travaille. Ensuite, on a Manuel Valls dont l'idée consiste à montrer que la gauche n'est pas laxiste en matière de police. Mais c'est pareil, ce n'est pas un vrai projet de réforme. Ensuite, on a la période du terrorisme, des attentats, et on arrive à l'actuelle présidence. Et là, on peut dire que la sécurité est un impensé du macronisme."

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En juin 2019, un comité d'experts se réunissait au ministère de l'Intérieur pour réfléchir à une révision du Schéma national du maintien de l'ordre. Au mois de septembre suivant, Christophe Castaner disait n'avoir aucun tabou, être prêt à tout revoir. Nous voilà un an plus tard, toujours pas de nouveau schéma.

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Des flammes sortent des carillons de la raffinerie Total à Donges (Loire-Atlantique), le 20 décembre 2019. STEPHANE MAHE / REUTERS

La crise économique consécutive à la pandémie de Covid-19 s'est confirmée, jeudi 30 juillet, dans les résultats semestriels de nombreuses grandes entreprises. Pour la quasi-totalité d'entre elles, les résultats financiers publiés ce jour sont dans le rouge.

Selon les prévisions de l'Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques (OCDE), l'économie française va subir une récession d'environ 11 % en 2020. La Banque mondiale estime que l'économie mondiale va se contracter de 5,2 % sur l'année, " la pire récession depuis des décennies ", selon l'institution. L'économie allemande a chuté, elle, de 10,1 % au deuxième trimestre, son plus important recul depuis l'après-guerre, selon des statistiques publiées jeudi.

Automobile : perte historique pour Renault

Le logo du constructeur automobile Renault, chez un concessionnaire à Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, en Belgique, le 29 mai. YVES HERMAN / REUTERS

Le constructeur automobile français Renault a subi au premier semestre la perte nette la plus lourde de son histoire, à 7,3 milliards d'euros, plombé par son partenaire japonais Nissan et la crise sanitaire, a-t-il annoncé jeudi dans un communiqué. Sur l'ensemble de 2019, il avait déjà accusé une perte, bien plus légère, de 141 millions, sa première en dix ans, pour un chiffre d'affaires groupe de 55 milliards d'euros.

L'incertitude est telle que l'entreprise " estime ne pas être en mesure de fournir une prévision de résultat fiable pour l'exercice ". Renault, déjà en difficulté avant la pandémie, avait annoncé fin mai 15 000 suppressions d'emploi dans le monde.

Lire aussi Renault annonce une perte nette record de 7,3 milliards d'euros au premier semestre

Airbus en chute, moitié moins de livraisons d'avions

Le moteur Rolls Royce du premier avion de ligne Fiji Airways A350 XWB, au siège d'Airbus, près de Toulouse, le 15 novembre 2019. REGIS DUVIGNAU / REUTERS

L'avionneur européen Airbus a subi une perte nette de 1,9 milliard d'euros au premier semestre, a-t-il annoncé jeudi, reflétant la division par deux de ses livraisons d'avions sur la période, marquée par l'impact de la crise due au coronavirus.

Les compagnies aériennes, mises à genoux par l'effondrement du trafic, cherchent à repousser leurs livraisons ou sont dans l'incapacité de les réceptionner en raison des fermetures de frontières. Or, les livraisons sont un indicateur fiable de la rentabilité dans l'aéronautique, principalement parce que les clients paient la majeure partie de la facture au moment où ils prennent possession des avions.

Article réservé à nos abonnés Lire aussi Face à la crise, Airbus choisit la manière forte et envisage de supprimer 15 000 postes

Pétrole : Total et Shell subissent aussi la crise

Total a enregistré au deuxième trimestre sa première perte nette depuis 2015, plombé par de lourdes dépréciations annoncées la veille ainsi que par la chute des cours du brut et des marges de raffinage. La perte nette atteint 8,4 milliards de dollars (7 milliards d'euros), contre un bénéfice de 2,8 milliards de dollars un an plus tôt, a annoncé le groupe pétrolier et gazier français jeudi dans un communiqué.

Le géant des hydrocarbures Royal Dutch Shell a quant à lui annoncé le même jour une perte nette abyssale de 18,1 milliards de dollars au deuxième trimestre, du fait d'énormes dépréciations d'actifs reflétant un marché pétrolier déprimé par la pandémie.

Lire aussi Le secteur pétrolier confronté à une baisse sans précédent des investissements

De nombreux grands groupes touchés par la crise sanitaire

L'entreprise de luxe Hermès a vu son bénéfice net chuter de 55 % au premier semestre en raison de l'épidémie de Covid-19, mais fait état jeudi d'un " contexte d'amélioration progressive amorcée en juin " et se dit " confiant dans l'avenir ".

Le chiffre d'affaires de Danone a reculé de 8,3 % au deuxième trimestre, plombé par la chute des ventes d'eaux en bouteille dans les bars et les restaurants, à l'arrêt en raison de la pandémie.

Le géant de la sidérurgie ArcelorMittal a enregistré une perte nette de 559 millions de dollars au deuxième trimestre, pour des ventes de 11 milliards de dollars, en baisse de 43 % sur un an en raison de la chute de la demande d'acier.

Le groupe automobile allemand Volkswagen a annoncé jeudi avoir enregistré une perte avant impôts de 1,4 milliard d'euros au premier semestre, sous l'effet d'une chute du chiffre d'affaires de 23 %.

L'électricien français EDF, qui a plongé dans le rouge au premier semestre avec une perte nette de 700 millions d'euros, a officialisé jeudi un plan d'économies et de cessions pour compenser les effets de la crise sanitaire sur son activité.

Le motoriste et équipementier aéronautique Safran a enregistré un recul de son chiffre d'affaires de 27,6 % à 8,8 milliards d'euros, et une perte nette de 340 millions d'euros au premier semestre, et prévoit une baisse de son chiffre d'affaires ajusté " d'environ 35 % " sur l'ensemble de l'année.

Air France KLM, qui publiait jeudi ses résultats pour le deuxième trimestre, fait état d'un chiffre d'affaires en baisse de 83 %, à 1,182 milliard d'euros, frappé par les effets de la pandémie. Avec les mesures de confinement et les restrictions de voyage, l'activité du groupe a été quasiment arrêtée en avril. Sur le trimestre, il affiche une perte nette de 2,612 milliards d'euros.

Le groupe de matériaux de construction Saint-Gobain est passé dans le rouge au premier semestre, avec une perte nette de 434 millions d'euros. Malgré un fort impact de la crise sanitaire lors des mois d'avril et mai, l'activité a rebondi en juin, laissant prévoir un " bon troisième trimestre ".

Le spécialiste de l'affichage JCDecaux a vu son chiffre d'affaires plonger de 41,6 % au premier semestre, alors que partout dans le monde les rues, gares et aéroports se vidaient de populations appelées à rester chez elles. Avec une perte nette de 254,9 millions d'euros au premier semestre, le groupe publie " les résultats financiers les plus dégradés de [son] histoire ". Le géant français des Abribus, écrans d'informations électroniques et panneaux d'affichage entrevoit cependant des signes de reprise de son activité, même s'il reste tributaire de l'évolution de la pandémie.

Le groupe Lagardère est tombé dans le rouge au premier semestre, avec une perte nette de 481 millions d'euros, contre un bénéfice net de 52 millions d'euros un an plus tôt. Sur les six premiers mois de l'année, le chiffre d'affaires a reculé de 37,2 %, à un peu plus de 2 milliards d'euros, principalement sous l'effet de l'effondrement de l'activité de distribution dans les gares et aéroports.

Au premier semestre, selon les résultats publiés jeudi, la SNCF, présidée par Jean-Pierre Farandou, a enregistré une perte de 2,4 milliards d'euros, liée en grande partie à la pandémie de Covid-19 mais aussi aux grèves contre la réforme des retraites. Au premier semestre, la dette de l'entreprise s'est gonflée de près de 3 milliards d'euros pour atteindre 38,327 milliards. Elle aurait pu être encore plus importante, mais, en 2019, l'Etat s'est engagé à reprendre 35 milliards d'euros sur les 60,3 milliards d'endettement cumulé à l'époque. Conformément à ses engagements, il a déjà repris une première tranche de 25 milliards en janvier. Il y a un an, à la même période, la SNCF avait dégagé un petit bénéfice de 20 millions d'euros. L'entreprise de transport a vu son chiffre d'affaires semestriel reculer de 21 %, pour s'établir à 14,1 milliards d'euros.

Article réservé à nos abonnés Lire aussi La crise sanitaire gonfle la dette de la SNCF, qui dépasse les 38 milliards d'euros

Le Monde

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Renault, Airbus, Total... Les résultats économiques catastrophiques s'accumulent pendant la crise sanitaire

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La crise économique consécutive à la pandémie de Covid-19 s'est confirmée, jeudi 30 juillet, dans les résultats semestriels de nombreuses grandes entreprises. Pour la quasi-totalité d'entre elles, les résultats financiers publiés ce jour sont dans le rouge. Selon les prévisions de l'Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques (OCDE), l'économie française va subir une récession d'environ 11 % en 2020.

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Access Classic: Donald Trump's Election Day Disaster – A Look Back (2004) | Access Hollywood

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To live alone in the woods and write

dimanche matin, avec un verre de pulco citron.

I built a routine. I got up at 7 am, made a pot of coffee, drank my first cup on the porch with a book as the sun rose above the trees. By 9 I got to work. I wrote and researched and revised; I transcribed interviews and took notes. I made lists and mapped out essays. Sometimes I took breaks—to go for a run or a hike, to drive my trash to the dump. I made sugar water for the humming birds, then watched them hover and buzz. Once, I found a secret beach—a secluded strip of sand found only by foot through the forest—and swam in the lake alone.

But every day I wrote. I worked until 6 pm, then sat on the porch with a beer and watched the birds. Each evening at dusk, a doe emerged from the woods. We watched each other, and soon she started bringing a fawn. It was so quiet I could hear them breathe. I had developed asthma in the city, but here the air was clean. I filled my lungs with it. I felt my mind open up, the world slow down. I began to see more clearly what for so long I had been trying to say. I started sleeping well.

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A little over a year ago, I quit my job, put my student loans in forbearance, applied for state healthcare, and deposited a modest advance. My first book was due in two months, and six weeks of it would be spent in the state where I grew up. I packed two bags-one with clothes, one with books-kissed my partner and pets goodbye, and left New York for Wisconsin.

When I got there, I went first to my hometown-a place known for trolls carved into tree stumps and the country's first mustard museum-and then an even smaller town nearby, once destroyed by an F5 tornado. I went to a cemetery in the county where much of my family is buried. I went to diners and feed mills and dive bars, where I interviewed mothers and queer women, gun owners and storm survivors. Then I drove north.

My rental car was a cherry-red Volkswagen Beetle. I'd hoped for something less conspicuous, something that might help me fit in better where I was going-where everyone drives SUVs and pickups, are loyal to Ford or Chevy (my late grandfather's life-long career at the General Motors plant in Janesville made us a Chevy family; when GM collapsed and he lost his pension, we became less faithful). I would stand out in other ways too: with my short hair and boyish body, a uniform of black t-shirt, black jeans, black leather jacket and boots. Where I was going no one looks like me, and everyone dresses in shades of beige (a law of the land I would soon remember is key in spotting ticks). Only the Harley guys, who stop at the Beer Bar before rumbling back into the woods, wear leather.

It's a strange thing, to find yourself in a place you call home and feel so apart from it. I've lived in New York for more than a decade, but I've been going to the Northwoods since I was a kid. My parents have a cabin there, in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, in a wilderness preserve on a chain of three lakes. I'd been fishing those lakes since I was small, my father and I in a row-boat at dusk, baiting hooks with nightcrawlers. I'd been hiking those trails, jumping off docks into those waters since before I can remember. Still, I was nervous. I would be a woman alone in the woods. I would be unarmed. (I'm pretty firmly anti-gun, but in a place where most men have a gun strapped to their hip, I was keenly aware of my lack of one.) Even though I knew those woods by heart, I was an outsider.

*

Chequamegon-Nicolet is a mostly new-growth forest. In the early 20th century, the logging industry stripped the land of old growth, but the area is still home to some of the oldest trees in the state-more than 1.5 million acres of maple, oak, aspen and beech; miles of spruce, fir, cedar and pine. It is land, of course, that was stolen-the area where my parents' cabin is located was home first to the Chippewa, or Ojibwe, a First Nation tribe of Wisconsin, and in particular the Lac du Flambeau band of Lake Superior Chippewa. When I was a kid, I never heard this part of the Northwoods story. I heard only of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, went to lumberjack festivals and cut slices from trunks, counting rings on dead trees to decipher how long they had lived.

When I left my job to write, it always felt temporary. I always assumed I'd be back in an office, working as an editor, a few months after I left. But now a year has passed.

Today, there's an invasive species threatening the forest. It's called crown vetch, a perennial vine that blooms lovely purple flowers. But its root system is complex and tenacious; it runs deep and takes hold quickly. Without intervention, it could take over completely.

*

I'm a person who thrives on order. I like routines and schedules and deadlines and lists. I like the structure of work, punching in and out, keeping the same hours within sturdy walls. It's a lesson I learned early. I don't come from money, and started working at thirteen, holding jobs like my parents had that kept me on my feet. I was the first in my family to graduate college, and worked my way through two degrees. I wanted to be a writer, but I come from a place where creative pursuits are hobbies, where work could never mean writing. Historically, the two have always been at odds.

So I built a fifteen-year career as an editor-first at two presses, then for nearly eight years at a magazine for writers. I found myself, somewhat miraculously, with an office in a Manhattan high-rise, helping create a publication I'd been reading since college. Between Brooklyn rent and student debt-an unscalable mountain that grows taller each year-I still lived paycheck to paycheck. And it was exhausting, getting up before dawn to write, commuting to the city, getting home after dark. But I liked my job. I felt capable, confident, and stable. I hadn't planned on leaving.

But when I sold my book-after working on it, in fits and starts, for nearly a decade, and still with so much work to do-I realized something: Either my job would come first or writing would. So I traded stability for uncertainty. I closed my eyes and jumped.

It's interesting what happens when we let go of the structures that give shape to our lives. When I got to the cabin, a little place built of hand-laid pine, with a woodstove, sump pump, and freshwater well, I unpacked my books. I found an old wooden whiskey crate and built a little library. I worked at the kitchen table, which looked out into the trees. Over the next several weeks, I would watch the hardwoods bloom.

There was no wifi, and, like some inexplicable horror-movie plotline, the spotty cell service cut out completely at night. I'd lay in bed, the silence thrumming in my ears. Outside my window, I heard crickets, loons, and peepers. I heard the wind, like water, in the leaves. I heard the slow crack of footsteps in the trees, counted Wisconsin serial-killer stories in my head like sheep. The first week, I barely slept.

I worked until 6 pm, then sat on the porch with a beer and watched the birds. Each evening at dusk, a doe emerged from the woods.

But I built a routine. I got up at 7 am, made a pot of coffee, drank my first cup on the porch with a book as the sun rose above the trees. By 9 I got to work. I wrote and researched and revised; I transcribed interviews and took notes. I made lists and mapped out essays. Sometimes I took breaks-to go for a run or a hike, to drive my trash to the dump. I made sugar water for the humming birds, then watched them hover and buzz. Once, I found a secret beach-a secluded strip of sand found only by foot through the forest-and swam in the lake alone.

But every day I wrote. I worked until 6 pm, then sat on the porch with a beer and watched the birds. Each evening at dusk, a doe emerged from the woods. We watched each other, and soon she started bringing a fawn. It was so quiet I could hear them breathe. I had developed asthma in the city, but here the air was clean. I filled my lungs with it. I felt my mind open up, the world slow down. I began to see more clearly what for so long I had been trying to say. I started sleeping well.

*

One day, I met with a local conservationist. She was an older woman, with short hair, hiking boots, and a baseball cap, who spent her working life in Chicago but had retired to the woods full-time. She was heading up an initiative to clear invasive species and plant more native trees, and taught me to identify and eradicate the crown vetch. We spent a morning together, on our hands and knees in a ditch of weeds.

"The trick," she said, "is to go deeper than you think."

Every few days I went out alone to dig up the roots. They were thick, stick-like, and deep, the kind that could take over 500 acres of land in a matter of weeks. Wrist-deep in dirt, flies and mosquitos biting my neck, I wrapped my fingers around the roots. Bracing my body against the earth, I tore them up, sweating in the sun.

*

On Friday nights, I took myself out for fish fry, that hallowed Sconnie ritual more popular than church. I went to a different roadside bar or lodge each week, with names like Gooch's and Angler's. I'd sit at the bar, beneath mounted muskies, northern, and twelve-point bucks, and eat deep-fried walleye or lake perch caught fresh that day. I'd drink Spotted Cow or a brandy old fashioned or both, and talk to the regulars.

"Where you from?" They'd ask, sizing me up. They were always men; Northwoods women don't sit alone at bars.

"Down south," I'd say, "near Madison."

"But not anymore." They'd say. It was never a question. My accent gave me away, the elongated vowels of my Midwestern past long gone.

"New York," I'd say.

"New York!" They'd howl, slapping the bar. "Why would you ever live there?"

I'd shrug and smile, tip back my beer. I never knew what to say.

I was still figuring out was what my book was about, but I knew it had something to do with this: a body in a place that used to be home, that is no longer hers, that was never hers at all. A body neither here nor there, but somewhere in-between.

*

Once a week, I drove to the public library in town. When I say "town" I mean a short stretch of road with a gas station, tackle shop, hardware store, several boarded-up antique shops, and at least three bars. The library was new, with a small collection and semi-reliable wireless. One day, while scanning the stacks, I found a beat-up paperback copy of Woodswoman, a 1976 memoir by writer and ecologist Anne LaBastille. I checked it out, the librarian misgendering me repeatedly as we talked. (To be fair, my own Woodswoman is pretty butch.)

In the book, the first of a four-part series, LaBastille decides, post-divorce, to disappear into the Adirondacks alone, build an off-grid cabin, and live a self-sufficient life in the wilderness. She chronicles her joys and her struggles-having to snow-shoe across a frozen lake to check her mail, surviving winters without electricity or running water, the fear of bears breaking into her cabin-and the particular triumph of not dying. Throughout the book she grapples with one warring question: to return to the city, or stay in the woods.

I'm a person who thrives on order. I like routines and schedules and deadlines and lists. I like the structure of work, punching in and out, keeping the same hours within sturdy walls.

"There is a dynamic and an energy in cities which is diametric to the life-forces of the forest," LaBastille-who spent much of her life juggling writing, teaching, and conservation work-writes. "Still the cabin is the wellspring, the source, the hub of my existence. It gives me tranquility, a closeness of nature and wildlife, good health and fitness, a sense of security, the opportunity for resourcefulness, reflection and creative thinking."

I sat on the porch and read these lines. I stopped on the word wellspring, turned it over on my tongue. My trip to the woods was far easier than LaBastille's (I had running water and electricity, to start), but I knew the feeling. As a writer, I had never been more productive. I had never had this kind of space to think. I felt more awake and alive than I ever had. I looked at the trees, felt the sun on my skin, listened to the wind in the leaves and thought: What if I stayed?

I couldn't, of course. LaBastille ended up staying in the woods for decades. But I had a life, and a partner, back in Brooklyn. I had to go home, and I had to go to work.

When I left my job to write, it always felt temporary. I always assumed I'd be back in an office, working as an editor, a few months after I left. But now a year has passed. I've finished my first book, completed a draft of a second, and begun outlining a third. My life is far less stable, but I've scraped together a living through teaching jobs. This fall I'll start a new one, which carries the title visiting writer. I turn those words over too.

*

These days, I still wake up, make coffee, and read. Then, at this desk in my tiny Brooklyn apartment, I go to work. Outside, there is a towering cement wall, the empty husks of half-finished high-rises; no woods or humming birds or deer. Most of the trees on my block have been cut down. But there is one left, a Basswood, just outside my window.

When the pandemic hit New York, I thought about leaving. I could have packed up again and escaped to the woods. But lately I've been thinking about the privilege of escape. I've been thinking about exile as a choice, and as a forcing out. I've been thinking about the lands that make us, and the lands that people claim. I've been thinking about the word belonging.

I've also been thinking about this thing I keep hearing, about a "return to normal." About grasping at the old structures and systems to which we once held so tight. To return to them, so many of us think, will keep us stable and safe. But maybe those structures and systems, so deeply rooted in us, are exactly what we need to let go, or tear up, to make room for new growth.

What I know for sure is that, at least for now, this city is my home. And as spring turns to summer, I've watched the Basswood bloom. It's gone from budding to bursting, its leaves offering shade from the sun. There have been more birds, too: The other day I saw two cardinals; today I saw a blue jay. At night there's a mockingbird, who sings his songs in the earliest hours of morning. And sometimes, when I close my eyes, I can still hear the woods. I hear the crickets and the peepers, the owl outside my window. I hear the wind in the trees and mistake it for rain.

_______________________________

Melissa Faliveno's Tomboyland is forthcoming from Topple Books.

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A little over a year ago, I quit my job, put my student loans in forbearance, applied for state healthcare, and deposited a modest advance. My first book was due in two months, and six weeks of it would be spent in the state where I grew up.

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Pierre Sidos est un homme politique français né le 6 janvier 1927 à Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron.

Engagé à l'extrême droite, il anime d'abord le mouvement Jeune Nation, puis participe à la création d'Occident, et enfin préside de 1968 à 2012 L'Œuvre française, un mouvement mêlant néofascisme, pétainisme, antisémitisme et une forme de catholicisme social.

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Jean de Brem, journaliste et parachutiste, a adapté sur l’air allemand de J’avais un camarade ("Ich hatt' einen Kameraden") , ces paroles pour rendre hommage à ses compagnons morts pour la France au combat en Algérie et au-delà, aux sentiments de la fraternité au combat.

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The ScoutWiki Network server was upgraded on June 3rd, 2020. We're currently seeing some problems with long page loads on certain pages (for example Recent changes on large wikies). Sorry for the inconvenience!

Sauter à la navigation Sauter à la recherche

Ce chant n'est pas sous licence libre, et appartient à son auteur/éditeur et à ses ayants-droits. Tous droits réservés à ces derniers.

Si vous êtes titulaire des droits sur ce chant et désirez qu'il soit retiré, veuillez nous contacter.

Auteur(s)

Jean de Brem

Écrit en

Licence

Sous copyright de ses ayants-droits.

Écouter

Suivent les paroles d'origine de la chanson, qui remonte au tout début du XIXe siècle (vers 1809 ). Elle a été écrite par Ludwig Ulhand, un poète romantique allemand.

Ich hatt' einen Kameraden,
Einen bessern findst du nit.
Die Trommel schlug zum Streite,
Er ging an meiner Seite
In gleichem Schritt und Tritt. (bis)

Ce texte a d'ailleurs donné en première traduction les paroles ci-dessous:

Liens externes

La partition de La cavalcade sur www.partitionsdechansons.com

Notes et références

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The ScoutWiki Network server was upgraded on June 3rd, 2020. We're currently seeing some problems with long page loads on certain pages (for example Recent changes on large wikies). Sorry for the inconvenience! Sauter à la navigation Sauter à la recherche Ce chant n'est pas sous licence libre, et appartient à son auteur/éditeur et à ses ayants-droits.

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long format

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jeaninerivais site dévolu aux artistes jimdo page!

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FORCE MAJEURE.

Le père de Willem, Joseph-Jean Maria Van Genk (1887-1958) était chocolatier dans une boutique de luxe, à Voorburg, près de La Haye -une origine confortable, dans la bourgeoisie. Vers 1935, il s'engagea comme fonctionnaire au Bureau de placement de la Circonscription, gagnant de ce fait une sécurité financière, et une plus grande liberté de mouvement. Il était catholique pratiquant, comme ses ancêtres qui comptaient de nombreux prêtres et un évêque. Un coup d'œil à ses journaux de voyages illustrés suggère que lui aussi possédait un certain talent artistique.

Le propre père de Joseph Van Genk avait été Gouverneur de Bergen op Zoom. Les membres de la famille actuelle ne connaissent pas d'autres détails sur ses activités professionnelles. Néanmoins, il n'est pas impossible qu'il ait été un membre de cette famille Van Genk à laquelle le musée local Het Markiezenhof consacra une exposition en 1977. Les neuf enfants d'une même famille sur lesquels l'exposition jetait une lumière, avaient tous des professions artistiques. Les filles étaient couturières de mode. Elles montèrent avec succès leur propre affaire, et trouvèrent leur inspiration à Paris et à Anvers. Deux d'entre elles épousèrent des amis de collège de leurs frères qui suivirent des cours d'Art dramatique, en partie à l'Académie Royale Belge des Beaux-arts d'Anvers. Les garçons devinrent sculpteurs, peintres, architectes et décorateurs de meubles. Ils formaient une famille inhabituelle pour la fin du XIXe siècle ; non seulement à cause de leur talent et de leur éducation, mais surtout parce qu'ils fonctionnaient comme un clan incluant leurs épouses et leurs belles-familles. Ils gardaient un contact étroit avec leurs cousins du clergé catholique, qui s'avérèrent une bonne source de commandes. "Dans la période où Piet Van Genk dessine des églises et des presbytères, à Dongen, Begen op Zoom, Groot Zundert, Oostbrug, De Heen et Hengstdijk, il apparaît que l'un ou l'autre des Van Genk est toujours prêtre ou curé". La relation entre cette famille d'artistes et notre Van Genk passe probablement par le décorateur de mobilier Wilhelm Leonard Van Genk (1848-1901). Wilhelm fut assermenté comme Conseiller municipal de Bergen op Zoom le 6 février 1898, et devint plus tard Magistrat municipal -fonction qui a sans doute rejeté dans l'ombre sa première profession. En tant que Conseiller, il a probablement fait office de Gouverneur. Ainsi, un lien entre Willem et "le clan" Van Genk est presque certain.

Willem passa une partie de son enfance avec sa famille à Bergen op Zoom. On ignore s'il était au courant du travail de ses talentueux grands-oncles. L'exposition du Markiezenhof n'incluait pas de meubles de son grand-père, car il a été impossible d'en retrouver aucun. L'affiche de l'exposition, un collage sombre de bâtiments, sculptures et quelques détails de peintures, a été suspendue au mur de l'appartement de Willem, dans la rue Harmelen à La Haye, jusqu'à ce qu'il en parte en 1998.

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Van Genk Willem Un homme marqué et son monde

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FORCE MAJEURE. Le père de Willem, Joseph-Jean Maria Van Genk (1887-1958) était chocolatier dans une boutique de luxe, à Voorburg, près de La Haye -une origine confortable, dans la bourgeoisie. Vers 1935, il s'engagea comme fonctionnaire au Bureau de placement de la Circonscription, gagnant de ce fait une sécurité financière, et une plus grande liberté de mouvement.

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à - l'étude

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Courtesy of Bermuda Tourism Authority

If we're going to be WFH for the foreseeable future, why not WFH with these views?

In a move intended to court digital nomads and remote-learning students, Bermuda's Ministry of Labor in July introduced the One-Year Residential Certificate program, which allows visitors to research, study, or work from the North Atlantic island for up to 12 months. The application process officially kicks off on August 1. There is currently no set end date for the program.

The program is aimed at those "who are location-independent, using technology to perform their job no matter where they are," Bermuda's labor minister, Hon. Jason Hayward, said in a statement about the new residency policy. "The trend towards remote working has been accelerated by COVID-19. These visitors can reside in Bermuda without seeking employment on the island and will promote economic activity for our country without displacing Bermudians in the workforce."

The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on Bermuda's tourism and local economy, resulting in mass unemployment, according to Hayward. The hope is that the program will bring new residents to the island, and with them, new spending.

How to apply for residency

The cost of the certificate is $263. In order to be eligible, applicants must:

be over the age of 18

possess valid health insurance

provide proof of employment and income from a legitimate company that does not operate in Bermuda

provide evidence of enrollment in a research, undergraduate, graduate, or doctorate program (in the case of a student)

not face conviction for an indictable offense (those running from the law need not apply)

Those who are interested can submit the application form online, along with all relevant documentation. The approval process is expected to take up to 14 days.

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Once approved, you can come and go as you please (as long as you adhere to the arrival requirements below). Those traveling with kids will be able to enroll them in private schools on the island if they so choose-at their own expense. The Bermuda government is also considering the possibility of allowing the residency to be renewed after one year on a case-by-case basis.

For those interested in further exploring the work-from-the-island residency option, the Bermuda Tourism Authority has a list of all the hotels and resorts that are currently open or plan to open soon. The list also includes numerous cottages and guest houses.

Additionally, Bermuda has extended the maximum period a visitor may stay in Bermuda from 90 to 180 days.

Traveling to Bermuda requires multiple coronavirus tests

Bermuda's government allowed international commercial flights to the island to resume on July 1. As of July 11, all visitors to the island must provide proof of a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnostic test (also known as the nasal swab test) for COVID-19 procured within 72 hours or no more than seven days prior to arrival. This applies to adults and children ages 10 and up-children who are 9 and younger are exempt.

Upon arrival, visitors will be required to take another PCR test at the Bermuda L.F. Wade International Airport. They can then quarantine at their accommodation until results are ready (turnaround time is typically between 6 to 8 hours but can take longer, according to the Bermuda Tourism Authority). Visitors are then required to take additional COVID-19 tests on the 4 th , 8 th , and the 14 th day of their stay at pop-up rapid-result testing centers around the island (visitors can schedule an appointment for these).

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Prior to traveling to Bermuda, visitors will be required to fill out a travel authorization form online that includes a copy of their predeparture COVID-19 negative test result. The form also includes a $75 fee per traveler that includes the cost of all COVID-19 testing in Bermuda. (For children ages 9 and younger who do not have to be tested at any point, the fee is $30.)

Visitors must also have health insurance that covers any illness or injury while traveling, including those related to a positive COVID-19 diagnosis while in Bermuda. If not, they will be responsible for any and all health and accommodation costs related to a positive COVID-19 diagnosis while in Bermuda.

Bermuda authorities ask that travelers wear a face mask and practice physical distancing and hand hygiene. Also, pack a thermometer, as visitors will be asked to take their temperature twice daily and report the results via an online portal. The Bermuda Tourism Authority did not specify how long after arrival the temperature checks would be required.

As of July 28, Bermuda had a total of 154 confirmed coronavirus cases and 9 deaths.
>> Next: These Caribbean Islands Are Reopening for Tourism This Summer

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This New Program Lets You Live and Work Remotely in Bermuda-For Up to a Year

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Courtesy of Bermuda Tourism Authority If we're going to be WFH for the foreseeable future, why not WFH with these views? In a move intended to court digital nomads and remote-learning students, Bermuda's Ministry of Labor in July introduced the One-Year Residential Certificate program, which allows visitors to research, study, or work from the North Atlantic island for up to 12 months.

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i'm happy for u tho
or sorry that happened

The author of the “i ain’t reading all that” DMs is Jeudy Viquez, @hidethesafe on Twitter, an 18-year-old in Newark, New Jersey. “I’m in an NBA group chat and my friend Will was venting about a girl and sent a large wall of text I was not interested in reading,” Viquez explains to me in a private message. “Truth be told I still have no idea what it said.” In a separate DM to the group chat, his friend Will provides more background: “From what I remember I was venting about this girl from college that I had a thing for but she never picked up on it until before she left the country and it was a long wall about our relationship.”

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An iconic screenshot defines our yearning to know less

It would not be contentious to say that there is too much.

Of what, you ask?

Everything.

But especially words, and especially on our various devices. It would take uncountable lifetimes to read every book in existence, and far more to read the sum of all digital communication. As a literate person, it's hard not to feel this crushing weight every time you fire up your phone or laptop - you can scroll the entire day away, but you'll still see just the tiniest fraction of what people are saying. So you try to guard your time and set appropriate boundaries. There is too much, but virtually none of it is truly worth your attention. You decide when to make the effort.

And when not to. In which case you can pull out this handy screenshot of three masterfully composed DMs:

Now a staple reply of online dialogue, the "i ain't reading all that" image appeared on the Twitter account @NoContextDM in December 2019, according to Know Your Meme. Its unique combination of dismissiveness and deliberately bogus empathy turned out to suit the freakish year that followed.

With the incredible volume and speed of events in 2020 - compounded by the stress and mania of living through them - people need a way to hit the eject button on any subplot or micro-drama that takes up precious, dwindling mental capacity. There is simply no bandwidth for a lot of the bullshit that used to distract and occasionally entertain us. On the other hand, we want the record to reflect that in some alternate dimension, we might care about the content we're ignoring. Therefore, "i'm happy for you tho / or sorry that happened." Done.

As a successor to the now old-fashioned "TL;DR" ("too long; didn't read"), this response at least recognizes that however tedious the post, it's clearly a matter of great importance to the person who wrote it. The inclusion of a Johnny Silverhand avatar - it's a character portrayed by Keanu Reeves in the video game Cyberpunk 2077 - adjusting his sunglasses in a pensive gesture makes it feel like the speaker has carefully considered their options before choosing indifference. And with the follow-up messages, as someone on the original @NoContextDM thread observed, "the man's got all bases covered."

There's a curious effect, however, to the growing prevalence of the "i ain't reading all that" image: We now want to figure out who wrote this accidental poetry, and what kind of text they were reacting to. Was it a detailed confession? A lengthy gripe? Or a complicated proposal? We wish to read what they purposefully did not.

Of course, @NoContextDM was context-free by design, and I say "was" because the account is suspended - meaning there's no way to ask its creator how or from whom they acquired the iconic sequence of phrases.

Luckily, after publishing an earlier version of this piece, those who know the story reached out. The author of the "i ain't reading all that" DMs is Jeudy Viquez, @hidethesafe on Twitter, an 18-year-old in Newark, New Jersey. "I'm in an NBA group chat and my friend Will was venting about a girl and sent a large wall of text I was not interested in reading," Viquez explains to me in a private message. "Truth be told I still have no idea what it said." In a separate DM to the group chat, his friend Will provides more background: "From what I remember I was venting about this girl from college that I had a thing for but she never picked up on it until before she left the country and it was a long wall about our relationship."

"I said it offhandedly and didn't know it would become what it is now," Viquez adds. The comments got a lot of laughs in the group, and Will "is still pretty pissed anytime it's brought up." As for the Keanu avatar, which he agrees "covers all the bases," it was serendipity: "That was when the Cyberpunk trailer had just come out and Keanu Reeves looked badass."

What led to @NoContextDM grabbing the screenshot, Viquez speculates, was another member of his basketball group chat using it to reply to a SportsCenter tweet that included an image of a lengthy statement from Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets. Crucially, this version of the screenshot cropped out Viquez's Twitter display name at the time.

This little mystery happened to arise within a greater profusion of "No Context" and "Out of Context" accounts on Tumblr and Twitter, a genre that dates back to 2010 but has lately become unavoidable. The raw material can derive from any piece of media - weird phrases printed by the New York Times, for example - though most often it's screenshots from TV shows, with captions included. Theoretically, the pleasure of following these feeds is an element of randomness; at any moment, your timeline could serve up an isolated fragment of The Office or Succession that juts up against the regular stream of news and chatter. Except the images aren't actually lacking context; viewers of the series can place the moment in their memory of the entertainment, and these bits and pieces take on the additional background of the environment where they're shared. When @NoContextTrek pins a Star Trek title card that reads "YEAR OF HELL," it's in the context of our hellish year, 2020.

By comparison, "i ain't reading all that," although widely applicable, resists obvious categorization with its pointedly mixed messages. If it conveys anything, it is the explicit rejection of context - a plea for mercy, and to go no further down the rabbit hole. It's like saying uncle. Although we think of brushing aside some comprehensive and earnest appeal as a rude power move, it is more akin to an admission of defeat: No, I am not in the right emotional headspace to receive this information, but best of luck with whatever it may be. There is a finite limit to what we can absorb, and there's no mistaking when you've hit it. We carry in us the impressions of things we'd like to un-see and un-learn. This preempts the assimilation of that stuff.

Viquez, for one, continues to gloss over whatever strikes him as unimportant noise. "Especially with Twitter's new character limit of 280 characters, I've scrolled past a lot and tend to only focus on topics I feel like talking about at the moment," he says. "I think that famous three-message DM was the result of me hitting the tipping point in terms of what I'd engage with."

The rest of us can absolutely relate.

A funny meme for when you don't give a shit and can't be bothered to? Of course. But let's be honest, "i ain't reading all that" is also the answer of a fed-up, bone-tired people who seek distance from the endless, vapid, consuming dramas of our blighted age, and the bliss of a former ignorance. It could be the first, and critical, step toward finally "logging off." But don't count on it. However much we protest, nobody online can stand to be out of the loop for long.

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'I Ain't Reading All That' Is the Meme for Our Blighted Information Age

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An iconic screenshot defines our yearning to know less It would not be contentious to say that there is too much. Of what, you ask? Everything. But especially words, and especially on our various devices. It would take uncountable lifetimes to read every book in existence, and far more to read the sum of all digital communication.

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the particular triumph of not dying

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The rallies are in support of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a reluctant presidential candidate thrust into the race after her husband was arrested, and backed by other opposition candidates disqualified from the 9 August elections.

She is challenging Alexander Lukashenko, the country’s president since 1994, who has jailed key opposition leaders and accused Russia and the west of seeking to destabilise the country by supporting his opponents.

Lukashenko is expected to win the elections, particularly as he exerts immense influence on elections officials. Most independent polling is illegal in Belarus, although a poll ordered by Belarusian state television has projected Lukashenko to win in a landslide.

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Tens of thousands of supporters of a Belarusian opposition candidate crowded into a Minsk square on Thursday evening before upcoming elections for what may have been the largest political rally in the country's modern history.

More than 63,000 people attended the event, according to the human rights organisation Viasna, which has sent monitors to the opposition protests. That number would mark it as the "largest in Belarus since 1991", according to Charter97, a prominent opposition website.

More conservative estimates of the number in attendance would still make the rally in Minsk's Bangalore Square one of the country's largest since the Soviet Union.

Supporters came bearing both the Belarusian state flag and the white-red-white flag favoured by the country's opposition. Others had signs calling for the release of political prisoners or demanding change. As night fell, protestors sang a protest anthem about walls crumbling, a translation of the 1980s song adopted by the Polish Solidarity movement.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, centre, with political allies Valeria Sepkalo, left, and Maria Kolesnikova, right. Photograph: Celestino Arce Lavin/Zuma Wire/Rex/Shutterstock

The rallies are in support of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a reluctant presidential candidate thrust into the race after her husband was arrested, and backed by other opposition candidates disqualified from the 9 August elections.

She is challenging Alexander Lukashenko, the country's president since 1994, who has jailed key opposition leaders and accused Russia and the west of seeking to destabilise the country by supporting his opponents.

Lukashenko is expected to win the elections, particularly as he exerts immense influence on elections officials. Most independent polling is illegal in Belarus, although a poll ordered by Belarusian state television has projected Lukashenko to win in a landslide.

The old Belarus flag, symbol of opposition to Lukashenko government, over the crowd in a meeting in Minsk of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, presidential candidate in Belarus elections 2020. Photograph: Celestino Arce Lavin/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock

Thursday's historic rally came as the Belarus government said it had arrested 33 Russian mercenaries sent to destabilise the country and would impose extra precautions on public rallies, a measure that appeared designed to target Tikhanovskaya's campaign.

The pro-Tikhanovskaya rallies have grown steadily through a week of campaigning in cities and towns across the country, setting up one of the most unpredictable presidential elections in Belarus. She has been joined onstage by two key female allies, a striking image in the normally male-dominated politics in Belarus.

At Thursday's rally, Tikhanovskaya repeated her campaign promises of freeing all political prisoners and organising new elections.

Lower estimates would still put the rally on the level of mass protests in 2010, when tens of thousands gathered to protest disputed elections to re-elect Lukashenko. More than 600 were detained afterwards in a brutal crackdown that led the EU and US to sanction Lukashenko.

Smaller rallies took place after presidential elections in 2006 and as recently as 2017. In both cases, hundreds were arrested.

Supporters came bearing both the white-red-white Belarusian flag favoured by the country's opposition and the official red-and-green state flag, an indication of how the opposition to Lukashenko has expanded even among his base.

Presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya leaves after her campaign rally in the town of Maladzechna Photograph: Sergei Gapon/AFP/Getty Images

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Huge crowds rally for Belarus opposition leader in run-up to presidential election

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Tens of thousands of supporters of a Belarusian opposition candidate crowded into a Minsk square on Thursday evening before upcoming elections for what may have been the largest political rally in the country's modern history. More than 63,000 people attended the event, according to the human rights organisation Viasna, which has sent monitors to the opposition protests.

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Every country's most popular youtuber

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Netflix? Hulu? Pfft! Everybody knows YouTube is where you find the best video content. Disagree? Just ask the millionaire YouTube celebrities who have built their fame on talking about what they love in front of their webcams.

To help you discover the best that YouTube has to offer, we've compiled a definitive list of the most popular individual YouTubers (no brands, bands or shows) in nearly every country in the world.

In order find out the most popular YouTuber in each country, we used statistical websites Social Blade and Vidooly to find out which YouTuber has the most subscribers. To calculate each channels earnings, we used Banner Tag to find the average daily views for each channel and estimated how much it was earning using a site called Noxinfluencer, which estimates earnings based on views and subscribers.

Key Findings

The world's most popular individual YouTuber is PewDiePie, a Swedish influencer based in England with a channel registered in the U.S. He has 105 million subscribers.

The most popular YouTuber actually based in the U.S. is a six-year-old Russian-American named Anastasia Radzinskaya, who has the YouTube handle Like Nastya.

The most popular beauty channel to also be the top YouTube channel in its country is NikkieTutorials in the Netherlands with 13.4 million subscribers.

The most popular gaming YouTuber in the U.S. is Markiplier, who has 26 million subscribers.

Who's the Biggest YouTuber in Your Country?

North America

Anastasia Radzinskaya is younger than Snapchat, but she's the most popular YouTuber in the U.S. and the whole of North America. Like Nastya 's 57 million followers tune in to see the six-year-old vlog about daily life with her dad, sing songs and tell stories.

Nastya even out-earned "Mr. YouTube" PewDiePie last year, and has lucrative deals with Legoland and merchandizing specialists IMG. In case you think it's easy work, consider that Nastya has learned Russian, English, Spanish, and Mandarin and produces content in all four languages.

South America

Chilean YouTuber HolaSoyGerman has 40.8 million subscribers - more than twice the population of Chile! This makes him South America's most popular channel. HolaSoyGerman's real name is Germán Alejandro Garmendia Aranis (hence "Hello, I'm Germán").

Fans faint when they meet Germán, and his high-octane comedic take on ordinary daily life once helped him rival Justin Bieber's subscriber count. "My persona on the internet is an exaggeration of myself," Germán tells Wired. "I'm a pretty normal guy. I have happy days, sad days, high-energy days."

Europe

The name PewDiePie is familiar even with non-YouTubers. Felix Kjellberg has hit the headlines by incorporating controversial content in his videos, but remains the subject of sports world-style bidding wars with rival streaming sites.

PewDiePie started out making gaming videos at a time when there were no super-popular vloggers in that subject. He has since branched out into music videos, skits and other TV-style formats. The England-based Swedish influencer has the most subscribers on YouTube for an individual, and only one channel has more subscribers - the Indian record label T-Series.

Middle East & Central Asia

Shfa is an eight-year-old Emirati girl and the most popular YouTuber in the Middle East & Central Asia. With average daily views of over 30 million, we reckon her earnings have topped $1 million. Shfa has been posting Frozen role plays, skits and product reveals since 2015.

Saudi Arabia's mmoshaya is not far behind. Mohammed Moshaya Al-Ghamdi shares his family diaries with around 17 million subscribers, making stars of himself and his three children in the Arab world.

Rest of Asia & Oceania

With 24 million subscribers, Atta Halilintar claims to be Asia's number one YouTuber (our research shows that UAE's Shfa deserves that title). Halilintar was the first Southeast Asian to reach 10 million subscribers and now boasts over 4 million daily views. The entertainer lists "hard worker" as his primary occupation - he posed in a hospital bed suffering from exhaustion when he hit 10 million subs.

The kids channel Rainbow Learning is number one in New Zealand and Oceania. Mrs Rainbow teaches appropriately colorful lessons to pre-school kids. The channel has over 5 million subscribers and 26,952 daily views.

Africa

Oum Walid is Algeria's biggest YouTube channel and the most-subscribed on the continent. This cooking channel promises easy dishes (with controlled amounts!) for beginners and "every woman." A mysterious pair of hands (the channel's name means "Walid's mother") presents lessons to over 7 million subscribers.

Xavier Hubert-Brierre is a rare nature-themed "influencer," with 114K subscribers. The Frenchman sets up camera traps to catch fascinating animal life in Gabon. However, that doesn't mean production is easy. "Myself and my wife spent many long days at the site, often being attacked by different types of fly and bees," he says of his most popular video.

Beauty Channels Worldwide

The most popular beauty channel to also be the top YouTube channel in its country is NikkieTutorials in the Netherlands. Nikkie de Jager is a makeup artist with 13.4 million YouTube subscribers. She was also set to host the online reportage of Eurovision 2020 before it was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

SaraBeautyCorner is " a regular girl who loves all girly related stuff" - particularly DIY and nail art. She has 10.6 million subscribers, making her Norway's top YouTuber. Sara quit a career in finance and insurance to make her teen-oriented videos, which we believe has earned her around $1,000 per day.

Gaming Channels Worldwide

Gaming videos are a YouTube phenomenon like ASMR or mukbang. Who knew people could make millions narrating gameplay? PewDiePie got big through gaming but moved on, leaving El Salvador's Fernanfloo as the top gamer in our study. Luis Fernando Flores Alvarado's 38 million subscribers earned him a $13K monthly paycheck and the lead zombie role in the trailer for Capcom's Resident Evil 2 remake.

Libya's top YouTube is also a gamer. King GTA - real name Belaid Soleitani - mostly narrates scenes from Grand Theft Auto. He has amassed over 800K subscribers, and our research suggests he earns $706.31 per day thanks to an advertising CPM (cost per 1,000 views) of 2.56.

Kid Channels Worldwide

Shfa and Like Nastya aren't the only child stars on YouTube. Slovenia is home to TimKo Kid, who makes play and educational videos for nearly 4.5 million subscribers, earning what we estimate to be over $150K a year along the way.

Boram is a super-cute 8-year-old South Korean who reviews toys, mostly by playing and role-playing ecstatically with them. She has nearly 14 million subscribers to her toy channel, and over 25 million for her vlog. With an $8 million home in Seoul's celebrity district, Boram is now officially living Gangnam-style.

How Much Money Do YouTubers Make in Every Country?

YouTubers make money from advertisements shown within their content. We used the Noxinfluencer YouTube Money Calculator, which takes the average views and number of subscribers of a YouTube channel to estimate how much money it makes from ads per thousand views. All figures are estimated, as there are many unknown factors that decide earnings, such as the video type and location of the channel.

Methodology & Sources

We used statistical websites Social Blade and Vidooly to find out which YouTuber has the most subscribers in each country. If the most subscribed channel was a band, media channel or company of any kind rather than an individual YouTuber, we looked for the next highest subscribed channel. Next we used Banner Tag to find average daily views and estimated how much each channel was earning using a site called Noxinfluencer.

To find the top beauty, gaming and kids channels, we studied the most subscribed channels, read 'About' pages and watched the videos to see if they fit into these categories. It proved difficult deciding what channels would fit the 'influencer' category for some countries, especially those with obscure content. In these cases, if it looked like it was an individual making the videos, we counted them as a YouTuber. For some countries, we were not able to find any reliable channels. For others, we couldn't find the CPM rate. In many cases, a channel claimed to be from one country when it was obvious from their videos that they lived elsewhere. We did not include any channels that did this.

Main Sources: SocialBlade, Vidooly, BannerTag, and Noxinfluencer. Data collected in May 2020. For the full research behind this map, visit bit.ly/YouTubeMoneymakers

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Every Country's Most Popular YouTuber - Top Dollar

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Netflix? Hulu? Pfft! Everybody knows YouTube is where you find the best video content. Disagree? Just ask the millionaire YouTube celebrities who have built their fame on talking about what they love in front of their webcams. To help you discover the best that YouTube has to offer, we've compiled a definitive list of the ...

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Contrairement à ce que l’on pourrait penser, c’est Churchill (et non Staline)qui renâclait à juger les criminels de guerre. Le Premier ministre britannique pensait qu’il était plus simple de les identifier et de les pendre immédiatement. Mais progressivement, jusqu’à la fin du conflit, l’idée d’un grand procès va prendre corps. Le 13 janvier 1942, des représentants de huit gouvernements, ainsi que le Comité de la France libre, vont signer la déclaration « Saint-James » afin de réclamer que la guerre « ait pour but principal, entre autres, de châtier les coupables de ces crimes contre l’humanité, quel que soit le degré de responsabilité des auteurs ». Le 17 décembre 1942, pour la première fois, une déclaration mentionne le massacre des Juifs. En octobre 1943, les Nations unies créent à Londres une commission des crimes de guerre (à laquelle ne participent pas les Russes). Enfin, le 2 mai 1945, le nouveau président des Etats-Unis, Harry Truman [qui succède à Franklin Roosevelt, mort le 12 avril 1945], farouchement opposé aux exécutions sommaires, charge Robert Jackson, juge à la Cour suprême, de la préparation du procès.
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On pense souvent qu’il s’agit d’un symbole, puisque c’est à Nuremberg que furent adoptées les lois antisémites de 1935, et que le parti nazi y organisait aussi chaque année son congrès. Mais les raisons sont avant tout pratiques : malgré les intenses bombardements de la RAF, la ville, située en zone d’occupation américaine, bénéficiait encore de nombreuses infrastructures, et notamment d’un palais de justice relié à une prison et d’un grand hôtel, qui permit de réunir les personnalités et les nombreux journalistes.
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Les chefs d'accusation etaient au nombre de quatre : « le plan concerté ou complot », les « crimes contre la paix », les « crimes de guerre » et les « crimes contre l’humanité ». Pour les Anglo-Saxons, les deux premiers chefs d’accusation étaient les plus importants : il fallait avant tout mettre hors la loi toute guerre d’agression et éviter ainsi que les boys aient à traverser encore une fois l’Atlantique pour régler un conflit en Europe. Mais les Français et les Soviétiques avaient insisté pour inclure les crimes de guerre,
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On trouve ici la principale faille du procès, puisque, effectivement, on va totalement occulter les crimes des Soviétiques, qui avaient signé le pacte germano-soviétique et qui s’étaient rendus, eux aussi, coupables de guerre d’agression avec l’invasion de la Finlande et d’une partie de la Pologne. On s’est dit que 20 millions de morts côté soviétique et que le rôle décisif de l’URSS dans la victoire méritaient bien quelques concessions… Il ne faut pas oublier qu’au moment du procès, on est toujours dans le cadre de la Grande Alliance et pas encore de la Guerre froide… Mais effectivement, c’est la grande tache du procès, puisque les droits de la défense furent violés, notamment lorsque Göring ou Hess ont voulu évoquer Katyn [le massacre par le NKVD, la police politique soviétique, de 4 000 officiers polonais au printemps 1940] et qu’on leur a refusé
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Contrairement à ce que l’on pense souvent, Nuremberg n’est pas le grand procès de la Shoah. Le mot « génocide » est d’ailleurs très peu employé. Malgré tout, la question de la persécution des Juifs court comme un fil rouge au fil des audience

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Les Alliés ont réussi là où les vainqueurs de 14-18 avaient échoué. Le procès a posé les bases d’une justice internationale capable de s’attaquer aux plus hauts responsables. Et il a fait entrer, certes par la petite porte, l a notion de crime contre l’humanité. Durant un demi-siècle, cette conception de la justice internationale sera pourtant mise entre parenthèses à cause de la Guerre froide, avant de renaître à partir des années 1990.

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Ce n'est pas le comportement d'une agence chargée de faire respecter la loi, qu'elle soit étatique ou fédérale, mais d'une milice paramilitaire anomique –et ce n'est pas par hasard si Trump a choisi le DHS pour lui mâcher le travail. Dans le sillage du 11 septembre 2001, le département a été conçu et structuré comme une agence quasi militaire. Une histoire originelle qui se reflète dans sa mission (comprenant la lutte contre le terrorisme, la sécurité aux frontières et la cybersécurité), son équipement et son armement de type militaire obtenu directement auprès de l'industrie de la défense, et même dans le fait qu'il compte en son sein une branche des forces armées (les garde-côtes).
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Sur un plan strictement juridique, que Trump déploie même dans un recours abusif, les forces de l'ordre fédérales à Portland ne violent pas la loi sur le Posse Comitatus, car les agents ne sont pas membres des forces armées. Mais avec le DHS œuvrant comme une force paramilitaire, ce déploiement enfreint néanmoins le principe fondamental de la loi. Et met en évidence les raisons mêmes de l'existence de ce principe: faire en sorte que le président n'ait pas à sa disposition une armée personnelle pour «prendre le contrôle» de gouvernements locaux ou pour réprimer une dissidence intérieure.
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Il faut que le Congrès et les tribunaux interviennent. Sinon, ayant trouvé son armée, il est certain que Trump s'en servira de nouveau dans les mois à venir. La persécution des maires et des gouverneurs démocrates est du pain bénit pour galvaniser sa base, dont le soutien commençait à vaciller avec sa gestion désastreuse de l'épidémie de Covid-19. Plus effrayant encore, il pourrait déployer ses forces paramilitaires dans des bastions démocrates le jour du scrutin et entraver ainsi la participation électorale.

Ces forces fédérales, Trump les a déjà utilisées pour saper la souveraineté locale et les droits des personnes venues manifester. Ces pratiques doivent cesser, au risque qu'il n'ait recours à ces mêmes tactiq

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Temps de lecture: 5 min

Nul besoin d'être juriste pour comprendre que ce qui se passe à Portland, dans l'Oregon, relève de l'abus de pouvoir caractérisé. Lorsque des forces fédérales, sans identification et avec des uniformes militaires, attrapent des gens dans la rue pour les faire monter dans des fourgons banalisés, quelque chose ne tourne vraiment pas rond.

Mais cet abus est-il dans la droite ligne des efforts déployés par l'administration Trump pour contourner le Posse Comitatus Act -le principe selon lequel le président ne peut recourir à l'armée pour maintenir l'ordre à l'échelle nationale? La chose est moins évidente. Dans tous les cas, ce que ces événements signifient pour l'État de droit -et potentiellement pour le scrutin présidentiel de 2020 - a de quoi sidérer.

Les effectifs du département de la Sécurité intérieure (DHS) déployés à Portland sont des agents fédéraux chargés du maintien de l'ordre, pas des membres des forces armées. Mais il est de plus en plus évident qu'ils ne sont pas là pour faire respecter la loi. Ils se comportent plutôt comme une milice paramilitaire aidant le président à réaliser un de ses objectifs de longue date: "Prendre le contrôle" (selon ses propres termes) des villes américaines dirigées par des Démocrates.

Une promesses tenue

Un objectif remontant au tout début de la présidence de Trump. Cinq jours après son investiture, il avait tweeté: "Si Chicago ne s'occupe pas de l'horrible "carnage" en cours, 228 fusillades en 2017 avec 42 meurtres (hausse de 24% par rapport à 2016), j'enverrai les Fédéraux!" Trois ans et demi plus tard, sa menace n'a jamais été aussi près d'être mise à exécution: le 22 juillet, il annonçait dépêcher 200 agents fédéraux dans la ville, avec 35 supplémentaires à Albuquerque. Tout son mandat est émaillé de menaces similaires.

Mais ce sont les manifestations ayant éclaté dans tout le pays, en réaction à l'assassinat brutal de George Floyd par la police, qui ont finalement donné chance au président. Sur son ordre, les personnes à la tête de onze États (dont dix Républicains) ont envoyé la Garde nationale à Washington, où des manifestations en grande partie pacifiques avaient été entachées de violences et de pillages isolés. Un déploiement effectué malgré les objections de la maire de la ville, Muriel Bowser.

La police asperge avec du spray au poivre des personnes venues manifester à Seattle, dans l'État de Washington, le 25 juillet. | David Ryder / Getty Images North America / Getty Images via AFP

Si le Congrès a adopté la loi sur le Posse Comitatus, c'est précisément pour empêcher ce genre de manœuvre. La loi de 1878 interdit aux troupes fédérales de participer à des activités de maintien de l'ordre intérieur sans autorisation expresse du Congrès. Mais la loi ne s'applique à la Garde nationale que lorsque ses unités sont fédéralisées. Même si les troupes de celle-ci agissaient clairement sous la direction du président et du secrétaire de la Défense, le président ne les a pas officiellement fédéralisées, les laissant ainsi libres de mener des activités de maintien de l'ordre.

Une politique d'intimidation

À Washington, le stratagème aura été avantageux pour Trump. Mais l'astuce pourrait être plus difficile à dérouler dans un État. Bien que la théorie juridique de l'administration l'autorise, l'envoi de la Garde nationale d'un État dans un autre serait probablement plus dérangeant que dans la capitale du pays. En outre, il n'est pas dit que des dirigeant·es acceptent de coopérer si la souveraineté d'un autre État était en jeu. D'où la tentative de l'administration de contourner la loi sur le Posse Comitatus.

Le DHS a ainsi dépêché des dizaines d'agents à Portland afin de rétablir l'ordre, contre la volonté du maire de la ville et de la gouverneure de l'Oregon. Officiellement, ce déploiement est justifié par la protection de la propriété fédérale, ce que peuvent faire les forces de l'ordre fédérales avec ou sans consentement des autorités locales. Mais à des moments moins tirés à quatre épingles, le président a fait voler cette couverture, en déclarant à plusieurs reprises envoyer les fédéraux faire le boulot des responsables démocrates locaux qui s'y prenaient comme des manches. "Vous êtes censé attendre qu'ils appellent, mais ils n'appellent pas", s'est-il ainsi plaint.

Quoiqu'il en soit, il est assez évident que les agents du DHS ne sont pas à Portland simplement pour protéger le personnel ou les biens fédéraux. Ils ont été filmés à rouler dans des zones éloignées de tout bâtiment fédéral et à appréhender des individus qui ne se rendaient visiblement coupables d'aucun crime, encore moins d'un crime fédéral. Dans ces affaires, il n'y a aucune mise en accusation, aucune loi qu'on cherche à faire respecter. Après une brève mais terrifiante période de détention, les agents vous relâchent, sans laisser aucune trace de l'incident. À la place, c'est un message d'intimidation qu'ils envoient.

Ce n'est pas le comportement d'une agence chargée de faire respecter la loi, qu'elle soit étatique ou fédérale, mais d'une milice paramilitaire anomique -et ce n'est pas par hasard si Trump a choisi le DHS pour lui mâcher le travail. Dans le sillage du 11 septembre 2001, le département a été conçu et structuré comme une agence quasi militaire. Une histoire originelle qui se reflète dans sa mission (comprenant la lutte contre le terrorisme, la sécurité aux frontières et la cybersécurité), son équipement et son armement de type militaire obtenu directement auprès de l'industrie de la défense, et même dans le fait qu'il compte en son sein une branche des forces armées (les garde-côtes).

Un président aux bras armés

Cette mentalité militaire est particulièrement forte dans le service des Douanes et de la protection des frontières (CBP). En 2014, l'ancien chef des affaires intérieures du CBP avait averti que l'agence se considérait comme une "force paramilitaire de sécurité des frontières" opérant en dehors des "restrictions constitutionnelles relatives à l'usage de la force". À maintes reprises, le CBP a démontré que sa loyauté envers le président Trump l'emportait sur la fidélité due à l'État de droit. Ce n'est pas un hasard si, à Portland, les agents fédéraux ont été principalement recrutés par le CBP.

Sur un plan strictement juridique, que Trump déploie même dans un recours abusif, les forces de l'ordre fédérales à Portland ne violent pas la loi sur le Posse Comitatus, car les agents ne sont pas membres des forces armées. Mais avec le DHS œuvrant comme une force paramilitaire, ce déploiement enfreint néanmoins le principe fondamental de la loi. Et met en évidence les raisons mêmes de l'existence de ce principe: faire en sorte que le président n'ait pas à sa disposition une armée personnelle pour "prendre le contrôle" de gouvernements locaux ou pour réprimer une dissidence intérieure.

Des agents de l'Immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) et du Customs and border protection (CBP) à la frontière mexicaine. | Herika Martinez / AFP

Il faut que le Congrès et les tribunaux interviennent. Sinon, ayant trouvé son armée, il est certain que Trump s'en servira de nouveau dans les mois à venir. La persécution des maires et des gouverneurs démocrates est du pain bénit pour galvaniser sa base, dont le soutien commençait à vaciller avec sa gestion désastreuse de l'épidémie de Covid-19. Plus effrayant encore, il pourrait déployer ses forces paramilitaires dans des bastions démocrates le jour du scrutin et entraver ainsi la participation électorale.

Ces forces fédérales, Trump les a déjà utilisées pour saper la souveraineté locale et les droits des personnes venues manifester. Ces pratiques doivent cesser, au risque qu'il n'ait recours à ces mêmes tactiques pour saper la démocratie des États-Unis en novembre prochain.

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L'armée privée de Trump est bien plus effrayante que vous ne le pensez

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Temps de lecture: 5 min Nul besoin d'être juriste pour comprendre que ce qui se passe à Portland, dans l'Oregon, relève de l'abus de pouvoir caractérisé. Lorsque des forces fédérales, sans identification et avec des uniformes militaires, attrapent des gens dans la rue pour les faire monter dans des fourgons banalisés, quelque chose ne tourne vraiment pas rond.

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cherché dans 4 dd pour retrouver mon "top 100 ukg " d'il y a quelque temps, sans succès :(

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Parce qu’il fut le seul à faire son autocritique. L’« architecte » du Reich, devenu à partir de 1942 ministre de l’Armement et de la Production de guerre, a surpris l’auditoire et la presse en assumant ses responsabilités sans se dérober et en condamnant le nazisme. Sa stratégie de défense se résumait ainsi : « Je ne savais rien de tout ça, mais je suis criminel, parce que j’étais dans une organisation criminelle. » Cet homme jeune, élégant et intelligent est parvenu à séduire le tribunal et à bénéficier de larges circonstances atténuantes. Les juges insisteront par exemple sur son opposition à la politique de la terre brûlée d’Hitler, omettant au passage que Speer utilisait la main-d’œuvre juive d’Auschwitz pour faire tourner ses usines d’armement à la fin de la guerre, ou qu’il savait pertinemment ce qu’il se passait dans le camp de concentration de Dora puisqu’il l’avait visité. On n’en avait, certes, pas la preuve à l’époque, ce qui lui a permis de mentir sans aucune honte. Il finira sa vie de manière confortable, rédigeant des livres qui se vendront très bien. Baldur von Schirach sera lui aussi condamné à vingt ans. A Nuremberg, certains nazis s’en sont plutôt bien sortis…

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This Woman Inspired One of the First Hit Video Games by Mapping the World’s Longest Cave

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Flint Ridge and Mammoth were connected, in a single contiguous cave spanning 340 miles. The monumental discovery would come to be known as the Everest of speleology.

Adventure’s journey into the earth is now considered a foundational text of computer culture. Hundreds of players took their chances on it, then thousands, each scribbling their own hand-drawn maps of the subterranean world Will described.

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Adventure was a phenomenon. The game was as unforgiving as caving itself. It was maddening to navigate — a “harrowing of Hell,” proposed one writer who tried it — and addictive to play. In Bishop’s lifetime, every landowner in Central Kentucky claimed a cave entrance; if not a natural sinkhole, then a crevice blown open with dynamite. Bishop believed that all these fragments were linked into one larger system, and his instinct was shared by generations of Kentucky cavers.

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The longest cave in the world is in central Kentucky. Its limestone passages stretch 400 miles beneath the earth in twisting patterns as intricate as the roots of the ancient hickory forests above. Within, cavers skirt bottomless pits, pass fountains of orange stone, and discover deep, icy subterranean rivers. Between the sunlit world and the depths below, white mist swirls at ankle height, like the breath of ghosts.

Kentuckians have fought bitterly to control access to the secrets of Mammoth Cave. In the early 20th century, hardscrabble locals conned tourists into the sinkholes on their land, spurring "cave wars" that ceased only when the National Parks Department took control, evicting landowners and installing staircases, subterranean toilets, and even a grand dining room 267 feet below ground, its ceiling encrusted with snowballs of gypsum crystal. Serious cavers now enter Mammoth's wild entrances through locked grates, using keys granted by the Parks Department. They bring with them small carbide headlamps to keep warm and light the darkness.

The earliest people to map Mammoth were enslaved, installed underground by landowners to lead tours. The ﬁrst of these guides, Stephen Bishop, named its features - the River Styx, the Snowball Room, Little Bat Avenue - and discovered the eyeless white ﬁsh that swim in its deepest waters. When Bishop was sold, along with the caves, to a Louisville doctor, he was ordered to draw a map from memory. As cave maps do, his drawing looked like "a bowl of spaghetti dumped on the ﬂoor," but it detailed the nearly 10 miles of passages that Bishop had discovered and remained the most thorough map of Mammoth's reaches for more than 50 years. One nameless noodle, a passage forking off the subterranean Echo River, became important a century after Bishop was buried near the cave's main entrance, his grave marked by only a cedar tree.

In Bishop's lifetime, every landowner in Central Kentucky claimed a cave entrance; if not a natural sinkhole, then a crevice blown open with dynamite. Bishop believed that all these fragments were linked into one larger system, and his instinct was shared by generations of Kentucky cavers. At the bitter end of their remotest passages, the caves breathe: Cold air whispers even miles below the surface, and water siphons deeper and deeper into the Earth.

The Cave Research Foundation headquarters. Image: 'The Longest Cave' by Roger W. Brucker and Richard A. Watson, Ph.D.

Proving Bishop's connection theory became the cause of the Cave Research Foundation, a ragtag group of caving enthusiasts who spent nearly 20 years linking the disparate caves neighboring Mammoth into a single Flint Ridge system. It was a family affair; once they were old enough, children who grew up playing in the woods surrounding the foundation's clapboard lodge pushed past the farthest points surveyed by their mothers and fathers. By 1972, the Cave Research Foundation had surveyed nearly every Flint Ridge lead to its endpoint, sometimes with 10-hour belly crawls through womb-like tunnels. The "ﬁnal connection," as they called it, was imminent.

The cavers believed that Flint Ridge met Mammoth past a choke of sandstone boulders at survey point Q-87, a remote spur miles from the surface, but moving the boulders with lengths of metal pipe was back-breaking work. One expedition tried an alternate route, through a vertical crevice called "the Tight Spot." Caving humor has a nihilistic streak: the Tight Spot is a dark slit so small that only one person in the party dared enter. She was a reedy computer programmer, all of 115 pounds, named Patricia Crowther.

Pat wedged herself into the Tight Spot and came out the other end onto a mud bank. In the cool carbide light, she spotted the calling card of a previous visitor: the initials "P. H.," engraved on the wall. Back at the surface, her party kept the discovery secret. Anyone familiar with the area would know the legend of old Pete Hanson, who had explored Mammoth before the Civil War. Those had to be his initials down there, which could mean only one thing: Flint Ridge and Mammoth were connected, in a single contiguous cave spanning 340 miles. The monumental discovery would come to be known as the Everest of speleology.

Pat returned to broach the juncture 10 days later.

"By the way, Pat - you're leading this one," the other cavers told her. Just beyond the Tight Spot, they waded into muddy water up to their chests, until only a foot of air separated the subterranean river and the dripping cave ceiling. Soaked through and caked with mud "like chocolate frosting," they struggled to keep their headlamps dry. Eyeless crayﬁsh skittered around their waists. When the passage opened, it revealed a wide hall, where they glimpsed the edge of a hand railing: a tourist trail in the heart of Mammoth Cave. The link was complete. Only moments before, they'd been farther aﬁeld than any cavers in history; now, weeping and falling over each other in the water, they were only a few steps away from a public restroom.

Riding to base camp in the back of a park ranger's pickup, they looked up at the stars, bright in the summer sky. Lying "in the open truck bed, with the treetops ﬁling past overhead and falling away behind into the darkness," they contemplated their feat in silence. The long drive reinforced its magnitude: Had they really traveled these seven miles underground? Their ﬁnal passage, through the Tight Spot and beyond what would come to be known as Hanson's Lost River, joined the unmarked line on Stephen Bishop's hand-drawn 1839 map. After hamburgers and champagne at dawn, they slept.

"It's an incredible feeling," Patricia wrote in a journal account of the trip, "being part of the ﬁrst party to enter Mammoth Cave from Flint Ridge. Something like having a baby. You have to keep reminding yourself that it's really real, this new creature you've brought into the world that wasn't here yesterday. Everything else seems new, too. After we wake up on Thursday I listen to a Gordon Lightfoot record. The music is so beautiful, it makes me cry."

The new creature Patricia felt she had brought into the world had always been there, slumbering in the darkness of geologic time. What she'd given birth to that day was not the cave but the map - not the thing, but its description. By wedging herself into the Tight Spot and bringing her lamplight to the darkness, she moved an earthly place into the symbolic Cartesian plane. Or at least that's how she might have seen it, being the party's mapmaker.

Back home in Massachusetts, Pat and her husband Will ran a "map factory," tracking the cartographic data each Cave Research Foundation expedition surfaced. Both being programmers, they brought considerable technical sophistication to mapmaking. As Pat described it, the couple typed raw survey data from "muddy little books" into a Teletype terminal in their living room, which was connected to a PDP-1 mainframe computer at Will's workplace. From this data, they generated "plotting commands on huge rolls of paper tape," using a program Will wrote - Pat contributed a subroutine to add numbers and letters to the ﬁnal map - which they "carried over and plotted using a salvaged Cal-comp drum plotter attached to a Honeywell 316 that was destined to become an ARPANET IMP."

The Cal-comp map plotter. Image: 'The Longest Cave' by Roger W. Brucker and Richard A. Watson, Ph.D.

The Crowthers' maps were simpliﬁed line plots, but they represent some of the earliest efforts to computerize caves, a leap in technical sophistication made possible by the hardware to which they had access: a PDP-1 mainframe and a Honeywell 316, a 16-bit minicomputer, both far beyond consumer-grade. Will Crowther's employer was Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN), a Massachusetts company that specialized in advanced research. In 1969, BBN was contracted by the U.S. government to help build the ARPANET, the military and academic packet-switching network that spawned our present-day internet. A few years after the Crowthers used it to plot their cave maps, the Honeywell 316 minicomputer was repurposed and ruggedized to become an Interface Message Processor, or IMP - what we now call a router. These routers formed a subnetwork of smaller computers within the ARPANET, shuffling data around and translating between primary nodes, a vital component of internet infrastructure then and now.

Will was one of the strongest programmers at BBN, and his tight, frugal code expressed his fastidious manner. A lifelong mountaineer, he taught Patricia to climb the vertical faces of New York's Shawangunk Mountains and was known to hang from his office door frame by his ﬁngertips while deep in thought. Will was a caver, too, and the couple spent all their vacations deep underground. "I get cold when he's not keeping me company," she wrote in one caving diary. "There's quite a draft here; the cave's breathing."

Will didn't come along on the ﬁnal connection trip. He'd been at Patricia's side on earlier surveys, pushed to his limit in the underground wilderness. But the ﬁnal survey fell in early September, right as their daughters, Sandy and Laura - aged eight and six, respectively - were headed back to school. One of the Crowthers had to stay home, buy the girls their books and school clothes, take them to the dentist, and register them for classes. Will knew how much the expedition meant to Patricia. She had, after all, found the lead, what cavers call "going cave," and she was dying to see it through. He told her to go ahead. He'd take care of the girls.

When Pat came home, deeply moved by the experience, Will was waiting for her. They stayed up late, holding each other and talking about the connection. When Will fell asleep, Pat crept to the Teletype terminal in the living room and entered, as quietly as she could, the bearings of the survey they'd made in Kentucky. She ran a coordinate program, and the data spooled into her hands in the form of a long paper tape. In the morning, Pat and Will brought the tape to his office, and she watched the BBN computer plot the link she'd made, beneath the earth, between two vast and lonely places. " Now I can sleep," she wrote.

Caving is unforgiving. Until the late 1960s, anyone entering Mammoth would have passed the glass-topped coffin of Floyd Collins, a country caver who died pinned by a boulder. Cavers become enveloped by the earth, their every move constrained by walls and ceilings of rock.

They eat very little - candy bars and canned meat - and carry their waste with them back to the surface. They have no sense of time. Emerging, they may be surprised to see the moon. As the Crowthers' friends Roger Brucker and Richard Watson wrote in The Longest Cave, their account of the connection trip, "The route is never in view except as you can imagine it in your mind. Nothing unrolls. There is no progress; there is only a progression of places that change as you go along."

Making the route visible is the central pursuit of serious caving. The Cave Research Foundation had a group doctrine: no exploration without survey. A map is the only way to see a cave in its entirety, and making maps is caving's equivalent of summiting mountains. It's also a survival mechanism. To stay safe, cavers map as they go, "working rationally and systematically to locate known passages." It's no wonder the hobby attracts computer programmers. Code is a country populated by the fastidious. Like programmers, cavers may work in groups, but they always face their challenges alone.

Not long after the connection trip, Patricia and Will's marriage deteriorated. They divorced in 1976, after a separation that left Will "pulled apart in various ways." Caving without Patricia in the company of their mutual friends in the small Cave Research Foundation community "had become awkward." Alone and surrounded by their maps, including an extensive survey of the Bedquilt section of Mammoth they'd made together in the summer of 1974, he consoled himself with long Dungeons & Dragons campaigns and late nights coding at home. When Sandy and Laura visited their father, they usually found him hard at work on a long and elegantly structured string of FORTRAN code. He told them it was a computer game, and that when he was done, it would be theirs to play.

The novelist Richard Powers once wrote that "software is the ﬁnal victory of description over things." The painstaking speciﬁcity with which software describes reality approaches, and sometimes even touches, a deeper order. This is perhaps why Will Crowther felt compelled to make one last map. This one wasn't plotted from his wife's muddy notebooks but rather from his own memories. Translated into 700 lines of FORTRAN, they became Colossal Cave Adventure, one of the ﬁrst computer games, modeled faithfully on the sections of Mammoth Cave he had explored with Patricia and mapped alongside her, on a computer that would form the backbone of the internet.

Colossal Cave Adventure - now more commonly known as Adventure - doesn't look like a game in the modern sense. There are no images or animations, no joysticks or controllers. Instead, blocks of text describe sections of a cave in the second person, like so:

You are in a splendid chamber 30 feet high. The walls are frozen rivers of orange stone. An awkward canyon and a good passage exit from the east and west sides of the chamber. A cheerful little bird is sitting here singing.

In order to interact with this cave, players type terse imperative commands, like GO WEST or GET BIRD, which trigger fresh onslaughts of description. Adventure 's puzzles are an endless shuffle of magical inventory: To pass the snake coiled in the Hall of the Mountain King, you must unleash the bird from its cage, but you can't GET BIRD if you're in possession of the black rod, because the bird is afraid of the rod, and in turn, the crystal bridge will not appear without a wave of the rod, and all the while you are in a maze of twisty little passages, all different - or worse, all alike.

This would have been familiar to Will's colleagues from the ongoing Dungeons & Dragons campaign they sometimes played after work. In D&D, a game with no winnable objective, a godlike "Dungeon Master" describes scenes in detail, prompting players at actionable decision points. But Will wrote the game for his young daughters. After the divorce, Sandy and Laura came to expect that they'd play computer games whenever they visited their father. According to a researcher who interviewed members of the Cave Research Foundation, "Another caver who was with the Crowthers on an expedition in the summer of 1975 reports that one glance at 'Adventure' was enough to identify it immediately as a cathartic exercise, an attempt by Will to memorialize a lost experience."

Once he'd ﬁnished coding, Will saved a compiled version of the game on a BBN computer and left for a monthlong vacation. It might have stayed there, untouched and unremembered by anyone save for the Crowther girls, had his computer not been connected to the new computer network his company had helped to build. By the time Will ﬁnished his vacation, Adventure had been discovered by people across the ARPANET. Where Patricia linked caves, Will linked nodes, and Adventure, a mental map of the long expeditions they took together, traveled wherever those links were forged.

Adventure was a phenomenon. The game was as unforgiving as caving itself. It was maddening to navigate - a "harrowing of Hell," proposed one writer who tried it - and addictive to play. Productivity in computer science labs ceased every time Adventure made landfall on a terminal. An Adventure devotee at Stanford, Don Woods, modiﬁed the code further by adding fantasy elements - an underground volcano, a battery-dispensing machine - to Crowther's austere descriptions. Adventure 's journey into the earth is now considered a foundational text of computer culture. Hundreds of players took their chances on it, then thousands, each scribbling their own hand-drawn maps of the subterranean world Will described.

It must have been strange for Pat. By the time she encountered Adventure ﬁrsthand, at a Cave Research Foundation meeting in Boston sometime in 1976 or 1977, she was Patricia Wilcox, having married the leader of the 1972 expedition. Will's computer game proved a delightful oddity for the experienced cavers in their circle, and indeed for anyone who knew Mammoth well. In Boston, the foundation spent much of their meeting playing Adventure. Because they played the more popular version supplemented by Don Woods, who had embellished sections of the game, Patricia didn't immediately recognize the cave it described. She told a researcher in 2002 that it was "completely different from the real cave."

Except it wasn't: Mammoth cavers who tried Adventure found they needed no maps. It was so accurate they could navigate it from memory. As the game spread, Adventure players who made pilgrimages to the real Mammoth Cave could scramble down the twisting passageways secure in their knowledge of the game's virtual map. A former co-worker of Will Crowther's, recalling the topographical data stored on the computers at Bolt, Beranek and Newman, noted in 1985 that "Adventure's Colossal Cave, at least up to a point (or down to a point) is the same as the one in Kentucky, and the description and geology of the ﬁrst few levels are consistent and accurate." That has been proven. In 2005, a group of researchers visiting the "source cave," the Bedquilt section of Mammoth, was able to document clear parallels between the cave's geology and Crowther's descriptions.

The Mammoth Cave canyon is vadose in origin, meaning it has been enlarged and downcut by running water after the initial cave passage formed. Photo: Dave Bunnell/Wikimedia Commons

Like the fluorescent dye with which speleologists trace the course of underground streams, Adventure's version of caving culture stained the entire network. Cavers seek connections, which they discover through systematic survey, collective effort, and a willingness to forge ahead into the darkness, knowing full well that when the end appears, it may be a small place, a crack in the rock so tight only the wind can broach it. The game is a set of instructions for recreating Mammoth; those instructions explode into pencil passageways, antechambers, and pits. Adventure can be won only with a map, just as caves are survived only by those who know the way back out. Steven Levy, in his history of computer culture, compares Adventure to the craft of programming itself, writing that "the deep recesses you explored in the Adventure world were akin to the basic, most obscure levels of the machine that you'd be traveling in when you hacked assembly code. You could get dizzy trying to remember where you were in both activities."

I'm telling you the story of the Mammoth Cave, of Stephen Bishop and Patricia Crowther and her husband Will, heartbroken as he memorialized their adventures in code, as a way of reminding you that every technological object, be it a map or a computer game, is also a human artifact. Its archaeology is always its anthropology. In fact, the most famous archaeologist to study Mammoth, Patty Jo Watson, inferred an entire agricultural economy from the grains digested by the corpses preserved in the cave's constant temperature and humidity. To under-stand a people, we must know how they ate. To understand a program, we must know its makers - not only how they coded but for whom and why.

A half-dozen turns into Adventure, a magic word appears on the cave wall. The real Mammoth Cave contains its share of carved messages - Patricia discovered the most important - but the "word" that shows up in Adventure, "XYZZY," is Will's invention. He added it for his sister, Betty Bloom, who came to stay with him after the divorce. She was one of Adventure 's original playtesters and a famously impatient sort. When typed, the magic word transports the player elsewhere in the game in a quick jump-ﬂash, skipping the tedious steps along the way. According to Bloom, XYZZY, which Will pronounced "zizzy," was a family password. His daughters were told to use it if they ever got lost or needed to identify themselves. It is the original cheat code.

The ﬁrst academic to seriously consider Adventure was a woman, Mary Ann Buckles, who compared the game with folktales, chivalric literature, and the earliest uses of ﬁlm, arguing that the growing cultural importance of computer technology that Adventure represented would lead to a democratization of computer use "analogous to the democratization of reading that characterized the spread of printing." The literary critic Espen Aarseth, writing about the genre of forking digital literature that Adventure catalyzed, called it "a mythological urtext, located everywhere and nowhere." Adventure spawned a genre of adventure games, which mutated from text interfaces to visual ones while retaining Crowther's strange and compelling interplay of second-person description (There is a shiny brass lamp nearby) and imperative command (Get lamp). This developed into a textual physics used in virtual spaces all over the early internet. In time, even people with no knowledge of cave adventures came to talk this talk.

Adventure has been remembered, celebrated, canonized, satirized. Crowther, who never made another game, is now considered interactive ﬁction's J. D. Salinger. But the domestic context from which Adventure emerged bears exploring, too: Will Crowther wrote the code after divorcing the woman with whom he'd mapped the cave Adventure emulates. It was playtested by his sister, for whom he invented the game's "magic word." It was created for the daughters he saw only on weekends and holidays and because he missed Patricia, or at the very least because she had instilled in him a love of the enveloping darkness.

Patricia Crowther had been a FORTRAN programmer at the Haystack Radio Observatory when she graduated from MIT. Like many technical women at the time, she left the computing industry behind to raise her children - and to cave, naturally. When she returned to work in the late 1970s, everything had changed. She went back to school, enrolling in all the undergraduate computer science courses the Indiana University of Pennsylvania had to offer, eventually taking a job as an instructor. In her classes, which were often attended by hundreds, she remembers seeing plenty of female students, but they would be the last generation of women to enter the ﬁeld in substantial numbers. In the generation after the pioneering programmer Grace Hopper and her contemporaries, the professionalization of "software engineering" marked a sea change in the gender demographics of computing. By 1984, the number of women pursuing computer science degrees in the United States began to dive, and it has kept diving to this day, a decline unrivaled in any other professional ﬁeld.

The Honeywell 316, the microcomputer at Will's workplace that would become a router on the early internet, has one more claim to fame. Honeywell made a model for women: With a built-in pedestal and a cutting board, it sold in the Neiman Marcus 1969 Christmas catalog as the Honeywell "Kitchen Computer." It cost ten thousand dollars, came with an apron, and took two weeks of programming classes to learn how to operate, but the catalog picture shows a woman in a long ﬂoral dress unpacking a basket of groceries on top of the computer as though it were an extension of her kitchen counter. "If she can only cook as well as Honeywell can compute," the copy says, implying that the computer has "more authority, power, and intelligence than its female user. " And on her home turf to boot.

As Patricia's ex-husband's game grew in popularity, it was men who congregated around networked terminals to play it late into the night. It was men who scribbled cave maps on notepads lit by the electric glow of the screen. It was men who emerged dizzy in the light of day from each long crawl. And for all that Patricia accomplished, in the many tellings of the Adventure story, she has remained a background ﬁgure. Although she mapped and charted the subterranean world Will popularized with his game and made a physical leap into the unknown that few would even consider, her presence is a spectral outline of what might have been. She has been hidden in plain sight. The same could be said about many women in the early network era.

It's ﬁtting that the networked century's inaugural collective experience would be Adventure. It's a story about how intimately people inﬂuence software, and how wide its impact can be. And caves were always virtual worlds, the ﬁrst places where human beings experienced the ontological disembodiment we now so strongly associate with projecting ourselves on-screen. By ﬂickering ﬁrelight or by the shudder of a CRT monitor, we see beyond the real. Symbols applied to raw granite, to canvas, to code: All of it lights up the darkness.

There's a lamp in the cave. Do you know what to do?

GET LAMP

Good. Now hold it tight, we'll need to take it with us. We'll take it through the twisting passages until they open wide to the other side and we can ﬁnally see the writing on the wall, a scrawl a hundred years old. It's our magic word, our cheat code, our jump cut through the night. You can barely read it in the carbide light: Even when women were invisible, it never means they weren't there.

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This Woman Inspired One of the First Hit Video Games by Mapping the World's Longest Cave

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The longest cave in the world is in central Kentucky. Its limestone passages stretch 400 miles beneath the earth in twisting patterns as intricate as the roots of the ancient hickory forests above. Within, cavers skirt bottomless pits, pass fountains of orange stone, and discover deep, icy subterranean rivers.

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Emily Montes
(album, 5 mins)

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!!!OFFICIALLY APPROVED BY EMILY MONTES!!!

my names emily and im fiiiive i like playing roblox and i like going outsideeeee

the full emily rose montes album with 14 tracks

"Though this is only her debut album and shes only 5, shes already better than most rappers such as Cardi B. She is just waiting under the surface to blow UP and become the next rap girl along with the like of Nicki Minaj, Doja Cat, and Megan Thee Stallion. I'm so excited to hear what she comes out with next, she is literally a prodigy. Anyways my final thoughts are Untitled is the best track, Emily is an up-and-coming rap queen, and stream the album!!!"
-materialqirl

"emily montes may just be one of the most daring, creative, and boundary-pushing artists of our time. a newcomer to the rap game, emily proves she's here to stay. on this album, most songs clock in at around 15 seconds, at some points ending abruptly right before the beat drops, feeling chaotic yet cohesive. it's disorienting and challening; but that's the point. emily makes art, she makes you think. emily experiments and pushes boundaries, constantly innovating and revolutionizing the music industry."
-mayolizard

"There are adults making worse music, tbh."
-Anthony Fantano

released May 27, 2020

Emily Montes - being the rap god

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Emily Montes by Emily Montes, released 27 May 2020 1. EmiLy 2. Emily montes 3. Emily rose 4. Emily montes (Breakup) 5. Emily montes (Corona Is Crazy) 6. Frozen 7. Untitled 8. Emily From The West 9. Untitled 2 10. If you know tou know if you dont you dont 11.

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un scion est la jeune pousse d'un arbre

un dazibao est un journal placardé dans les lieux publics en Chine

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The US anthropologist Erika Bourguignon has written about how being raised in an “environment of belief”, in which spirit possession is taken seriously, primes people to enter a dissociative mental state, where normal consciousness is disabled. People then act according to culturally prescribed ideas of how the possessed should behave. This is what happened in European convents before the early 1700s, when nuns would writhe, convulse, foam at the mouth, make obscene gestures and propositions, climb trees and miaow like cats. Their behaviour seemed strange, but the nuns lived in communities that encouraged them to obsess about sin and were steeped in a mystical supernaturalism. Those who became convinced that demons had entered their souls were prone to fall into dissociative states in which they did exactly what theologians and exorcists said the diabolically possessed do. In such cases, the possession trance also spread to witnesses who shared the same theological fears.

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t started with just a few people dancing outdoors in the summer heat. Arms flailing, bodies swaying and clothes soaked with sweat, they danced through the night and into the next day. Seldom stopping to eat or drink, and seemingly oblivious to mounting fatigue and the pain of bruised feet, they were still going days later. By the time the authorities intervened, hundreds more were dancing in the same frenetic fashion.

But this was not one of those 80s raves that began in a remote layby and ended in a muddy field. Rather, it's one of the oddest epidemics to be recorded in world history. And it happened 500 years ago this summer in the French city of Strasbourg. It was there, over the course of three roasting-hot months in 1518, that several hundred people developed a compulsion to dance. The dancing went on and on until - to the horror of the crowds who gathered to watch - some of them collapsed and perished on the spot. Just what was happening?

According to an account written in the 1530s by the irascible but brilliant physician Paracelsus, the "dancing plague of Strasbourg" began in mid-July 1518, when a lone woman stepped outside her house and jigged for several days on end. Within a week, dozens more had been seized by the same irresistible urge.

The rich burghers who ran the city were not amused. One of them, writer Sebastian Brant, had devoted a chapter of his moralising bestseller, Ship of Fools, to the folly of dance. Mystified by the chaos in the streets, he and his fellow city councillors consulted local doctors who, in keeping with standard medical wisdom, declared the dancing to be the result of "overheated blood" on the brain.

The councillors implemented what they felt was the appropriate treatment - more dancing! They ordered the clearing of an open-air grain market, commandeered guild halls, and erected a stage next to the horse fair. To these locations they escorted the crazed dancers in the belief that by maintaining frantic motion they would shake off the sickness. The burghers even hired pipers and drummers and paid "strong men" to keep the afflicted upright by clutching their bodies as they whirled and swayed. Those in the grain market and horse fair kept dancing under the full glare of the summer sun in a scene as demonically outlandish as anything imagined by Hieronymus Bosch.

A poem in the city archives explains what happened next: "In their madness people kept up their dancing until they fell unconscious and many died." The council sensed it had made a mistake. Deciding the dancers were suffering from holy wrath rather than sizzling brains, they opted for a period of enforced penance and banned music and dancing in public. Finally, the dancers were taken to a shrine dedicated to St Vitus, located in a musty grotto in the hills above the nearby town of Saverne, where their bloodied feet were placed into red shoes and they were led around a wooden figurine of the saint. In the following weeks, say the chronicles, most ceased their wild movements. The epidemic had come to an end.

This weird chapter of human history raises plenty of hard-to-answer questions. Why did the burghers prescribe more dancing as a treatment for cooked brains? Why were the dancers made to wear red shoes? And how many people died? (A writer living close to the city reckoned 15 a day, at least for a while, but this has not been corroborated.)

The claim that the dancers were religious subversives is improbable - it was clear they did not want to be dancing

We can be more confident, I think, in saying what did and did not cause this strange phenomenon. For some time, ergotism looked like a good contender. This results from consuming food contaminated with a species of mould that grows on damp rye and produces a chemical related to LSD. It can induce terrifying hallucinations and violent twitching. But it is very unlikely that sufferers could have danced for days. Just as improbable is the claim that the dancers were religious subversives. It was clear to observers that they did not want to be dancing. The most credible explanation, in my view, is that the people of Strasbourg were the victims of mass psychogenic illness, what used to be called "mass hysteria".

There had been several other outbreaks of dancing in the preceding centuries, involving hundreds or just a few people, nearly all in towns and cities close to the River Rhine. Along with the merchants, pilgrims and soldiers who plied these waters, news and beliefs travelled, too. One particular idea appears to have lodged in the cultural consciousness of the region: that St Vitus could punish sinners by making them dance. A painting in Cologne Cathedral, more than 200 miles downstream from Strasbourg, dramatises the curse: under an image of St Vitus, three men joylessly dance, their faces wearing the divorced-from-reality expressions of the delirious.

Such beliefs in supernatural agency can have dramatic effects on our behaviour. A classic case is "spirit possession", in which people act as if their souls have been taken over by a spirit or deity. The US anthropologist Erika Bourguignon has written about how being raised in an "environment of belief", in which spirit possession is taken seriously, primes people to enter a dissociative mental state, where normal consciousness is disabled. People then act according to culturally prescribed ideas of how the possessed should behave. This is what happened in European convents before the early 1700s, when nuns would writhe, convulse, foam at the mouth, make obscene gestures and propositions, climb trees and miaow like cats. Their behaviour seemed strange, but the nuns lived in communities that encouraged them to obsess about sin and were steeped in a mystical supernaturalism. Those who became convinced that demons had entered their souls were prone to fall into dissociative states in which they did exactly what theologians and exorcists said the diabolically possessed do. In such cases, the possession trance also spread to witnesses who shared the same theological fears.

These observations could certainly apply to what happened in Strasbourg in 1518. The curse of St Vitus is just the kind of supernaturalist belief that can drive the suggestible into dissociative states. The chronicles agree that most people were quick to assume that an enraged St Vitus had caused the affliction. So all it took was for a few of the devout and emotionally frail to believe St Vitus had them in his sights for them to enter a trance state in which they felt impelled to dance for days. If the dancing mania really was a case of mass psychogenic illness, we can also see why it engulfed so many people: few acts could have been more conducive to triggering an all-out psychic epidemic than the councillor's decision to corral the dancers into the most public parts of the city. Their visibility ensured that other cityfolk were rendered susceptible as their minds dwelt on their own sins and the possibility that they might be next.

Life in Strasbourg in the early 1500s satisfied another basic condition for the outbreak of psychogenic illness: the chronicles record plenty of the distress that brings about a heightened level of suggestibility. Social and religious conflicts, terrifying new diseases, harvest failures and spiking wheat prices caused widespread misery. A chronicler described 1517 with poignant brevity as a "bad year". The following summer, orphanages, hospitals and shelters were overflowing with the desperate. These were ideal conditions for some of the city's needy to imagine that God was angry with them and that St Vitus stalked their streets.

Fortunately, the 1518 dance epidemic was the last of its kind in Europe. In all likelihood, the possibility of further outbreaks declined along with the belief systems that had sustained them. In this way, the dancing mania underscores the power of cultural context to shape the way in which psychological suffering is expressed.

The fifth centenary of the dancing epidemic is being remembered this year with an exhibition at Strasbourg's Musée de l'Oeuvre Notre-Dame, a TV documentary in production, the publication of a novel by French author Jean Teulé, even a techno party organised by a group of DJs who have adopted the name "1518". And why not? Few events more vividly reveal the bizarre extremes to which our brains can take us when in the grip of collective fear.

* John Waller is the author of A Time to Dance, A Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518 (Icon Books).

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Keep on moving: the bizarre dance epidemic of summer 1518

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t started with just a few people dancing outdoors in the summer heat. Arms flailing, bodies swaying and clothes soaked with sweat, they danced through the night and into the next day. Seldom stopping to eat or drink, and seemingly oblivious to mounting fatigue and the pain of bruised feet, they were still going days later.

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Should I have a child?
(podcast, 33 min)

Is it okay to bring a child into the world if the world is on fire both literally and figuratively? What are the ethics of having babies given climate change? Should I, personally, have a kid

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Is it okay to bring a child into the world, if the world is on fire both literally and figuratively? What are the ethics of having babies given climate change? Should I, personally, have a kid? This question has become more and more common, and on today's episode Rose talks to Meehan Crist, writer-in-residence in Biological Sciences at Columbia University. Meehan recently wrote an essay about these very questions, which you can read here.

And in the crystal ball coda, we consider babies, dinosaurs, fear and secrets. And if you can't get enough of this question, check out last week's episode of Flash Forward, about a global one-child policy, and what that might look like.

Advice For And From The Future is written, edited and performed by Rose Eveleth. The theme music is by Also, Also, Also. The logo is by Frank Okay. Additional music this episode provided by Blue Dot Sessions. Thanks to Sara Rivera and Kathy Randall Bryant for your thoughts on having children.

To get even more, you can become a Flash Forward Presents Time Traveler for access to behind the scenes exclusive content, early access to new shows, and other surprises & goodies.

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Is it okay to bring a child into the world, if the world is on fire both literally and figuratively? What are the ethics of having babies given climate change? Should I, personally, have a kid? This question has become more and more common, and on today's episode Rose talks to Meehan Crist, writer-in-residence in Biological Sciences at Columbia University.

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Off the air - saisons 1 à 10

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Storyline

Episodes of this show consist of a montage of clips from short films, animations, music videos, stock and archive footage, and other videos found on the Internet. The shorts are usually weird and surreal in nature, and are based around a chosen theme. Written by boonose

Did You Know?

Trivia

Major inspirations for this show include Night Flight, Liquid Television, and the Manhattan Neighborhood Network series Concrete TV. See more "

Crazy Credits

The title of the show never appears onscreen. Instead, the theme of the episode is shown. See more "

Alternate Versions

The Off the Air channel on Adultswim.com features additional short films. See more "

User Reviews

Details

Release Date:

1 January 2011 (USA)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

See full technical specs "

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Episodes of this show consist of a montage of clips from short films, animations, music videos, stock and archive footage, and other videos found on the Internet. The shorts are usually weird and surreal in nature, and are based around a chosen theme.

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"L'Africaine" ou "Le Chinois" : les desserts d'un célèbre glacier jugés racistes

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"L'Africaine" ou "Le Chinois" : les desserts d'un célèbre glacier jugés racistes

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Parmi les glaces proposées, "L'Africaine" ou "Le Chinois". "L'Africaine" est une glace au chocolat garnie de crème chantilly avec une tête en meringue chocolatée, précisent nos confrères de Nice-Matin. La bouche, pulpeuse, est représentée avec de la pâte d'amande rouge. Le visage du dessert "Le Chinois" est quant à lui dessiné sur une tête en meringue jaune.

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l'essentiel Le glacier le "Poussin Bleu", situé à Saint-Raphaël, est la cible de critiques pour certains de ses desserts jugés racistes.

Des glaces jugées racistes : à Saint-Raphaël, dans le Var, le célèbre glacier le "Poussin Bleu" est pointé du doigt pour ses desserts. Parmi les glaces proposées, "L'Africaine" ou "Le Chinois". "L'Africaine" est une glace au chocolat garnie de crème chantilly avec une tête en meringue chocolatée, précisent nos confrères de Nice-Matin. La bouche, pulpeuse, est représentée avec de la pâte d'amande rouge. Le visage du dessert "Le Chinois" est quant à lui dessiné sur une tête en meringue jaune.

Le 20 juillet, une cliente a posté sur Twitter un appel à boycotter le glacier, évoquant "des desserts sous des noms et des dressages parfaitement racistes". Un post "liké" par plus de 15.000 personnes et partagé plus de 14.000 fois. "On verra quand il y aura le "Français" bien blanc à lunettes avec des joues rouges, bien cliché. Non mais c'est quoi cette bouche rouge ?", rétorque une internaute. "C'est dégradant que 'L'Africaine' soit une boule avec des lèvres énormes et rouges tel les dessins racistes. D'autant plus qu'il n'y a aucun ingrédient a priori exotique/africain", lance une autre.

Bjr, jvous demanderai de bien vouloir boycotter le poussin bleu à saint Raphaël qui servent des desserts sous des noms et des dressages parfaitement racistes
(Rt appréciés) pic.twitter.com/gAEWRsWga3
- troubadour (@lejudegoyave) July 20, 2020

D'autres estiment quant à eux que la polémique n'a pas lieu d'être. C'est notamment le cas du maire de Saint-Rapaël, Frédéric Masquelier. "Cela fait sept décennies que ces glaces sont au menu ! (...) Alors oui, aujourd'hui ce n'est plus dans l'air du temps. Mais de la à en faire toute une histoire, appeler au boycott... non!", déclare-t-il auprès de Nice-Matin. Les patrons du "Poussin Bleu" ont finalement décidé de retirer de leur carte les deux desserts en question.

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"L'Africaine" ou "Le Chinois" : les desserts d'un célèbre glacier jugés racistes

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l'essentiel Le glacier le "Poussin Bleu", situé à Saint-Raphaël, est la cible de critiques pour certains de ses desserts jugés racistes. Des glaces jugées racistes : à Saint-Raphaël, dans le Var, le célèbre glacier le "Poussin Bleu" est pointé du doigt pour ses desserts. Parmi les glaces proposées, "L'Africaine" ou "Le Chinois".

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full ytb playlist oooh :)

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On a Saturday morning in July of 1945, Army Air Corps bomber pilot Lt. Colonel William Smith was trying to fly his B-25 bomber through a steadily increasing fog. He was on his way to Newark airport to pick up his commanding officer when he appeared above New York Municipal airport (now La Guardia airport) about 25 miles to the east of his destination. He was requesting a weather report.

Municipal tower reported extremely poor visibility over New York, and urged him to land, but Lt. Colonel Smith requested and received clearance from the military to continue his flight. "From where I'm sitting," the tower operator warned, "I can't see the top of the Empire State Building." Despite the advice from the Municipal tower, Smith plunged into the soupy fog with his two crewmen, bound for Manhattan.

Partway through their flight, the pilot quickly became disoriented because he was unable to see the ground below, and he lost his way. Despite Manhattan regulations that forbade aircraft from flying below 2,000 feet, Smith made the decision to drop below 1,000 feet in an attempt to untangle his bomber from the densest part of the fog. When his plane emerged from the thick, his visibility indeed improved. All around his aircraft, silhouettes of skyscrapers towered above Smith and his crew... and the New York Central Building was directly ahead.

Smith reacted quickly and banked hard, pushing the lumbering bomber to its stress limits to try to avoid the collision. His plane just missed the New York Central Building, flying past its west side with little room to spare. Dozens of skyscrapers lay beyond the first one, leaving a forest of fog-shrouded towers in the plane's path. Smith tried to gain altitude as he weaved between the ghostly shadows of buildings, forcing the bomber to maneuver at its operational extremes.

When the Empire State Building emerged from the fog right ahead of his craft, Smith banked his plane and pulled back as hard as he was able, but the bomber lacked the maneuverability to dodge the large tower looming over it. At 9:49 a.m, in the middle of a desperate, climbing turn, the ten-ton B-25 slammed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building.

Inside, workers for the War Relief Services of the National Catholic Welfare Conference had already started work when their offices were suddenly engulfed an an explosion of flaming, high-octane fuel. The burning gasoline traveled through hallways, stairwells, and elevator shafts, reaching as far as four floors below the point of impact as the building shook. A publicist working in the offices was propelled out of a window from the explosion, and ten others were caught in the inferno.

Fire and debris rained upon the surrounding area, mostly onto nearby structures. One of the bomber's engines completely penetrated the Empire State Building, and fell from the opposite side. The other engine flew into an elevator shaft and severed the cable of an elevator car carrying two women, sending it into free fall.

Catherine O'Connor, who was working in the offices at the time of the crash, later recounted her experience:

"The plane exploded within the building. There were five or six seconds⁠- I was tottering on my feet trying to keep my balance⁠- and three-quarters of the office was instantaneously consumed in this sheet of flame. One man was standing inside the flame. I could see him. It was a co-worker, Joe Fountain. His whole body was on fire. I kept calling to him, 'Come on, Joe; come on, Joe.'" He walked out of it.

Doris Pope, also in the building at the time, initially suspected that World War 2 had been brought to American soil:

"That day, as we were getting ready to take our coffee break, we heard this terrible noise, and the building started to shake. ... As we looked out our third-floor window, we saw debris fall on to the street. We immediately thought New York was being bombed."

Helen J. Hurwitt, who had been working in an office across the street, recounted:

"My husband and I were in a building directly opposite the Empire State Building. ... Large plate-glass windows looked out onto 34th Street. The floor we were on was pretty high. At some point, we heard a horrendous noise and rushed to the windows. We were horrified to see a B-25 half in and half out of the Empire State Building."

The 4-alarm fire brought every available piece of fire-fighting apparatus to the scene. As the building was evacuated, firemen spent about an hour extinguishing the flames. The two women who had been in the free falling elevator were found alive, owing to the elevator's hydraulic emergency braking system which had slowed the car down slightly, and to the cushion of broken, coiled cables which had piled up at the shaft's bottom. Sadly, one of the women was fatally wounded, and died shortly after she was found. The surviving woman, Betty Lou Oliver, currently holds a world record for surviving the 75-story free fall.

All told, fourteen men and women were killed in the accident, including Lt. Colonel William Smith and his two crewmen, nine office workers killed from the fire, and the woman who died in the elevator. Joe Fountain, the man who had been caught in the fire but managed to walk out of it, died of his wounds several days later. In addition, twenty-six people were injured.

The impact left a hole in the north face of the Empire State Building eighteen feet wide by twenty feet high. Photographer Ernie Sisto captured this incredible image from the 90th floor, where he had two other newsmen dangle him out the window by his legs so he could get the shot past the ledge. Later in the day, a news broadcast by Mutual Broadcasting Company included interviews with eyewitnesses, as well as an audio recording of the crash which had been accidentally captured by a nearby recording studio.

Investigation showed that the structural integrity of the Empire State Building was not compromised by this accident, but the cost to repair the damage was on the order of a million dollars.

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On a Saturday morning in July of 1945, Army Air Corps bomber pilot Lt. Colonel William Smith was trying to fly his B-25 bomber through a steadily increasing fog. He was on his way to Newark airport to pick up his commanding officer when he appeared above New York Municipal airport (now La Guardia airport) about 25 miles to the east of his destination.

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FASHIONOLOGIE TRES AGRESSIVE

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AHMED YALA DANS LA FASHIONOLOGIE TRES AGRESSIVE

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La France tente modestement de faire pièce à l’expansionnisme turc, mais reste isolée au sein d’une OTAN qui hésite à modérer les ambitions d’Ankara. Ce faisant, M. Erdogan ne fait que s’adapter à l’absence de stratégie de ses partenaires traditionnels. Le désengagement américain et l’inexistence diplomatique de l’Europe ont créé un vide dans lequel le président turc n’hésite pas à s’engouffrer.

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Le président Erdogan pendant une prière dans la basilique Saint-Sophie, devenue récemment mosquée, à Istanbul, le 24 juillet 2020. MUSTAFA KAMACI / AFP

Editorial du " Monde ". Voilà bien longtemps que Recep Tayyip Erdogan est passé maître dans l'art de la provocation. Encouragé par la mollesse des réactions de l'Occident et galvanisé par ses ambitions nationalistes sur fond de nostalgie de la grandeur ottomane, le président turc avance méthodiquement ses pions en multipliant les coups d'éclat, repoussant chaque fois un peu plus les limites de l'acceptable pour l'Union européenne (UE) et ses alliés de l'OTAN.

Dans ses manœuvres, il n'hésite pas à avoir recours à toute la palette de l'intimidation, des actes les plus symboliques aux agressions délibérées. Il s'agit de tester adversaires et partenaires, qui peinent à prendre la mesure de son jusqu'au-boutisme, tout en cherchant à rehausser sa cote de popularité dans un pays qui s'enfonce dans la crise économique.

La mise en scène organisée vendredi 24 juillet autour de la première grande prière islamique au sein de la célèbre basilique Sainte-Sophie d'Istanbul, transformée en mosquée il y a quelques jours, ne doit rien au hasard. Cette date correspond au 97 e anniversaire de la signature du traité de Lausanne, qui a tracé les frontières de la Turquie actuelle, que M. Erdogan rêve de redessiner.

De " Boukhara à l'Andalousie "

Cet acte est un défi lancé au monde occidental. Le président turc parle d' " une nouvelle conquête ". Ce thème est aujourd'hui ressassé à l'envi dans les médias turcs progouvernementaux. Il s'applique aussi bien à Sainte-Sophie qu'aux visées expansionnistes à travers le monde, en Méditerranée, en Libye, en Syrie, dans le nord de l'Irak, où l'armée turque a lancé récemment une offensive majeure contre les rebelles du Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK).

Le 11 juillet, M. Erdogan a posté une vidéo sur Twitter dans laquelle il affirme que la résurrection de Sainte-Sophie en tant que mosquée a une valeur pour tout le monde musulman, de " Boukhara à l'Andalousie ", ouvrant la voie à la " libération " de la mosquée Al-Aqsa à Jérusalem.

En attendant, le symbole ne fait qu'envenimer les relations avec l'UE, et particulièrement avec la Grèce. A la question de Chypre se sont ajoutés le partage de la manne gazière et le tracé du plateau continental. Le 22 juillet, un navire turc n'a pas hésité à mener des explorations offshore, avec l'appui de navires militaires, dans la zone maritime de la Grèce, faisant monter d'un cran la tension en Méditerranée orientale.

A ce stade, rien ne semble pouvoir arrêter les visées expansionnistes turques. Il est grand temps que les partenaires de la Turquie comprennent à quel point celle-ci s'est métamorphosée. Le pays n'a plus rien à voir avec celui qui frappait à la porte de l'UE, il y a une quinzaine d'années. Plus religieuse et plus agressive sur la scène internationale, la Turquie s'éloigne inexorablement de ses attaches européennes.

La France tente modestement de faire pièce à l'expansionnisme turc, mais reste isolée au sein d'une OTAN qui hésite à modérer les ambitions d'Ankara. Ce faisant, M. Erdogan ne fait que s'adapter à l'absence de stratégie de ses partenaires traditionnels. Le désengagement américain et l'inexistence diplomatique de l'Europe ont créé un vide dans lequel le président turc n'hésite pas à s'engouffrer.

A la barbe des Occidentaux, son armée s'est installée durablement en Libye par la force de ses drones et l'envoi de plusieurs milliers de combattants syriens. Avec l'aval des présidents russe et américain, Vladimir Poutine et Donald Trump, un protectorat turc a été établi dans le nord de la Syrie, où la devise turque, la livre, a cours désormais. Jusqu'où M. Erdogan ira-t-il ?

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ÉDITORIAL. Editorial. Basilique Sainte-Sophie transformée en mosquée, interventions en Syrie et en Libye, manœuvres dans la zone maritime de la Grèce... le président turc multiplie coups d'éclat et actes expansionnistes. La réaction des Occidentaux est à ce jour bien timide.

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Le Trésor de la langue française nous fournit d’intéressantes citations d’auteurs (Maupassant, Feyeau, Sartre) qui montrent que trop est synonyme de très depuis des décennies, que ce soit dans des formules de politesse (vous êtes trop aimable), dans des tours affectueux (il est trop mignon) ou dans des appréciations (c’est tro p drôle ! c’est trop con !).

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N'attendez pas que je fasse chorus avec ceux qui exigent l'abolition de cet usage, souvent présenté par les zélateurs de la bien-pensée linguistique comme un tic de langage d'apparition récente. D'abord, parce que, du point de vue de son origine, cet emploi est bien moins récent qu'on ne le pense ; ensuite, parce que cette chronique a pour ambition de faire mieux comprendre le français d'aujourd'hui et non de fustiger des tours jugés fautifs ou crispants.

L'intérêt du tweet relatif à la meuf aux " trop beaux cheveux " est d'illustrer le cœur du débat : tout indique qu'il y a là un compliment - même si la meuf y est restée insensible - et qu'un certain nombre d'entre nous écriraient plutôt qu'elle a de très beaux cheveux. Je suis sûr que bien d'autres exemples vous viennent à l'esprit, comme l'appréciation enthousiaste de votre ado qui s'exclame : " c'est tro p classe ! " ou l'annonce de la parution du Petit Robert 2020, dans un tweet de Riad Sattouf : " Trop content de vous présenter LE PETIT ROBERT 2020 dont j'ai réalisé la couverture ! "

Trop juste

Au risque de décevoir les personnes par trop rétives à l'emploi de trop pour exprimer un haut degré, je me dois de rappeler que cet usage est aujourd'hui avalisé par les dictionnaires usuels comme le Petit Larousse ou le Petit Robert, ce dernier l'associant explicitement au " langage des jeunes ". On aura beau jeu de m'objecter que les lexicographes ne sont pas des références absolues en matière de norme ; il n'empêche qu'ici les dictionnaires entérinent une évolution qui s'est imposée chez de nombreux francophones - et pas seulement chez les jeunes.

Évolution qui ne date pas d'il y a quelques années, au demeurant. Le Trésor de la langue française nous fournit d'intéressantes citations d'auteurs (Maupassant, Feyeau, Sartre) qui montrent que trop est synonyme de très depuis des décennies, que ce soit dans des formules de politesse ( vous êtes trop aimable), dans des tours affectueux ( il est trop mignon) ou dans des appréciations ( c'est tro p drôle ! c'est trop con !). Vous en trouverez d'autres exemples dans des blogs qui abordent le sujet avec à-propos et humour, comme celui de Franck Doutrery.

Mais, me direz-vous, ce sont des formules que j'utilise au quotidien ; sans pourtant confondre très et trop comme dans " de tro p beaux cheveux ". Sans doute, mais il est incontestable que trop, dans les citations du Trésor de la langue française, exprime un haut degré (comme très), et non un excès. Ce qui est récent est donc plutôt l'emploi intensif de cette acception, dans des contextes où très s'imposait naguère. Les jeunes d'aujourd'hui ont hérité cet usage de leurs aînés et l'ont amplifié, parfois de manière jugée trop systématique.

Mais, pourriez-vous rétorquer, dans ce " vous êtes trop aimable ", trop a bien le sens de " à l'excès ; plus qu'il ne faudrait " ; et c'est une modestie plus ou moins sincère qui fait refuser le compliment jugé excessif. Cette explication est admissible dans le cas d'une parole aimable à l'adresse de quelqu'un, mais elle cesse d'être pertinente dès qu'on émet un jugement ou un constat subjectif : c'est trop bête désigne une situation bête à un (très) haut degré, et non bête à l'excès ; il est trop mignon désigne une personne très mignonne, et non mignonne outre mesure.

Trop ancien

Des tours qui nous paraissent récents peuvent avoir une longue histoire derrière eux. L'emploi de trop pour exprimer un haut degré est attesté, non depuis quelques années, ni même depuis quelques décennies, mais depuis des siècles. Le bon usage (16e édition, 2016, § 993 H8) en répertorie des attestations depuis le 13e siècle, chez Adenet du Roi, et ensuite chez Joinville, Villon, Ronsard et Molière. Plusieurs parlers régionaux l'ont conservé, ce dont témoignent en français des auteurs comme Sand ou Pourrat.

L'emploi de trop au lieu de très dans le français contemporain n'est toutefois pas la simple continuation d'un usage antérieur. Son caractère exponentiel a été souligné par les plus fins observateurs de la langue française, dès 1950 dans le cas de Jacques Pohl. Mais on relèvera que ce dernier l'associe, non aux jeunes générations, mais à un style d'expression : " Dans le langage snob ou affecté de certaines classes sociales, trop n'a parfois qu'une valeur de superlatif absolu. " ( Témoignages sur le lexique des parlers français de Belgique, 1950, vol. 15/2, p. 104).

Quoi qu'il en soit, cet usage se fonde sur des antécédents séculaires, avec une similitude de fonctionnement qui écarte les soupçons sur la pertinence sémantique de cette prétendue " manie ". Pourquoi heurte-t-il nombre de francophones ? Sans doute en raison de son caractère récurrent. Mais aussi parce que, en matière de langue, nous éprouvons parfois des difficultés à accepter les changements que nous voyons à l'œuvre chez nos contemporains, le plus souvent des jeunes générations.

S'il ne nous est pas demandé de modifier nos pratiques linguistiques, n'imposons pas trop vite les nôtres à celles et ceux dont dépend l'avenir du français. C'est vrai, quoi ! Trop is te veel...

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Vous avez de ces mots: "trop", c'est "très"?

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N'attendez pas que je fasse chorus avec ceux qui exigent l'abolition de cet usage, souvent présenté par les zélateurs de la bien-pensée linguistique comme un tic de langage d'apparition récente.

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John William Waterhouse (6 April 1849 – 10 February 1917) was an English painter known for working first in the Academic style and for then embracing the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter. His artworks were known for their depictions of women from both ancient Greek mythology and Arthurian legend.

Born in Rome to English parents who were both painters, Waterhouse later moved to London, where he enrolled in the Royal Academy of Art. He soon began exhibiting at their annual summer exhibitions, focusing on the creation of large canvas works depicting scenes from the daily life and mythology of ancient Greece. Many of his paintings are based on authors such as Homer, Ovid, Shakespeare, Tennyson, or Keats.

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The Lady of Shalott (Waterhouse, 1888)
The Lady of Shalott is a poem by Alfred Tennyson, written 50 years before Waterhouse painted this picture. The Lady of Shalott is cursed and forced to stay in a tower. She is only allowed to look at the world through a reflection in the mirror. One day, she sees a knight, Sir Lancelot, and falls in love with him. She ignores the curse and leaves the tower to find him, which results in her death. Lady of Shalott’s story can be read as a warning about female desire. Victorian society had strict rules and expectations for women that defined ‘acceptable’ behaviour.

The landscape setting is highly naturalistic; the painting was made during Waterhouse’s brief period of plein-air painting. The setting is not identified, although the Waterhouses frequently visited Somerset and Devon. The model is traditionally said to be the artist’s wife. Waterhouse’s sketchbook contains numerous pencil studies for this and the painting of the same title made six years later (1894, Leeds City Art Gallery). This second work shows the Lady at the moment she looks out of the window and the curse is fulfilled. Waterhouse also made sketches of the final scenes in which the boat bearing the Lady floats into Camelot.

(ca m'a rendu heureux hier quand ca a pop up au hasard comme ça dans mon générateur de fond d'écran)

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The picture illustrates the following lines from part IV of Tennyson's 'The Lady of Shalott':

And down the river's dim expanse
Like some bold seer in a trance,
Seeing all his own mischance -
With glassy countenance
Did she look to Camelot.
And at the closing of the day
She loosed the chain, and down she lay;
The broad stream bore her far away,
The Lady of Shalott.

Tennyson's poem, first published in 1832, tells of a woman who suffers under an undisclosed curse. She lives isolated in a tower on an island called Shalott, on a river which flows down from King Arthur's castle at Camelot. Not daring to look upon reality, she is allowed to see the outside world only through its reflection in a mirror. One day she glimpses the reflected image of the handsome knight Lancelot, and cannot resist looking at him directly. The mirror cracks from side to side, and she feels the curse come upon her. The punishment that follows results in her drifting in her boat downstream to Camelot 'singing her last song', but dying before she reaches there. Waterhouse shows her letting go the boat's chain, while staring at a crucifix placed in front of three guttering candles. Tennyson was a popular subject for artists of this period, particularly the Pre-Raphaelites. Waterhouse's biographer Anthony Hobson relates that the artist owned a copy of Tennyson's collected works, and covered every blank page with pencil sketches for paintings.

The landscape setting is highly naturalistic; the painting was made during Waterhouse's brief period of plein-air painting. The setting is not identified, although the Waterhouses frequently visited Somerset and Devon. The model is traditionally said to be the artist's wife. Waterhouse's sketchbook contains numerous pencil studies for this and the painting of the same title made six years later (1894, Leeds City Art Gallery). This second work shows the Lady at the moment she looks out of the window and the curse is fulfilled. Waterhouse also made sketches of the final scenes in which the boat bearing the Lady floats into Camelot.

The Lady of Shalott is one of the original paintings from the gift of Sir Henry Tate.

Further reading
Anthony Hobson, The Art and Life of J W Waterhouse RA 1849-1917, London 1980, pp.51-6, 183, reproduced pp.54-5 in colour.
Anthony Hobson, J W Waterhouse, Oxford 1989, pp.40-1, 53, 77, 109, reproduced p.42 in colour.

Terry Riggs
February 1998
Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? We would like to hear from you.

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'The Lady of Shalott', John William Waterhouse, 1888 | Tate

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'The Lady of Shalott', John William Waterhouse, 1888

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rémunération influenceurs

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Estelle Raffin / Publié le 29 juillet 2020 à 12h54

Le Marketing d'Influence s'impose comme un levier stratégique pour les marques : les budgets pour rémunérer les influenceurs deviennent de plus en plus conséquents.

Les tarifs moyens par post par typologies d'influenceurs sur les réseaux sociaux en 2020. © Kolsquare

Les chiffres clés du marché de l'Influence Marketing en 2020

Les influenceurs sont de plus en plus sollicités par les entreprises car ils possèdent une proximité avec leur audience qui permet de transmettre des messages et de capter plus facilement l'attention des communautés. Le secteur du Marketing d'Influence continue sa croissance selon les chiffres de l'étude Kolsquare :

15 milliards de dollars : c'est ce que devrait représenter le Marketing d'Influence en 2022. En 2019, le marché était déjà estimé à 6,5 milliards de dollars.

6,5 dollars pour 1 dollar investi : c'est le ROI moyen du Marketing d'Influence.

90 % des campagnes d'influence incluent Instagram dans leurs stratégies.

70 % des adolescents accordent plus de confiance aux influenceurs qu'aux célébrités.

De nouvelles tendances apparaissent également :

52,2 millions de visiteurs uniques sur TikTok en mars 2020 : l'émergence de l'application de vidéos courtes est à prendre en compte pour les marques.

+ 300 % d'entreprises font appel aux micro-influenceurs car ils ont un taux d'engagement élevé. Les micro-influenceurs sont de plus en plus reconnus pour produire un contenu plus spécialisé et plus proche des communautés :

80 % du trafic web global en 2021 pourrait être au format vidéo (selon Cisco) car c'est un format interactif très plébiscité par les utilisateurs en 2020, comme le montre le succès de Twitch.

Les critères de rémunération des influenceurs

Les tarifs des influenceurs varient selon plusieurs caractéristiques :

la taille de leur communauté : il existe les macro-influenceurs ou célébrités (plus de 100 000 abonnés), les micro-influenceurs (entre 10 000 et 100 000 abonnés) et les nano-influenceurs (moins de 10 000 abonnés).

l'engagement suscité : le taux d'engagement est le critère le plus utilisé par les marques car il est signe de succès, de viralité et d'interactions.

l'ampleur du dispositif et le type de contenu : cela correspond à la taille et la durée de la campagne ainsi que le nombre de posts. La production d'une vidéo demande plus de ressources qu'un simple post, chaque type de contenu ne requiert pas le même temps et la même implication, ce critère influera aussi sur les tarifs.

La rémunération des influenceurs selon les réseaux sociaux

Les prix varient aussi en fonction des réseaux sociaux. Instagram reste pour le moment le réseau le plus utilisé dans l'Influence Marketing, une plateforme idéale pour les opérations marketing avec des posts esthétiques et des influenceurs au plus près de leur communauté. Les nano-influenceurs (moins de 10 000 abonnés) peuvent gagner jusqu'à 120 € par post tandis que les comptes possédant plus de 500 000 followers peuvent être rémunérés entre 4 000 et 20 000 € par post.

Le coût d'un post Facebook est en moyenne moins élevé que sur Instagram car l'algorithme de Facebook met en avant les conversations personnelles alors qu'Instagram va favoriser l'engagement et la pertinence des publications.

La publication d'un post sur Twitter ou sur Snapchat est en moyenne moins onéreuse que sur YouTube car le processus créatif demande moins de temps et moins d'investissement pour l'influenceur. Ainsi, un post Twitter ou Snapchat d'un nano-influenceur coûtera entre 0 et 100 € tandis qu'une publication d'une vidéo YouTube pourra atteindre jusqu'à 2 000 €.

Les tarifs moyens des influenceurs de TikTok

Avec plus de 2 milliards de téléchargements cette année, l'application de vidéos courtes connaît un succès fulgurant. Les marques commencent à investir de plus en plus sur ce réseau social prometteur, adulé des adolescents et qui possède déjà une communauté non-négligeable d'influenceurs.

Les comptes qui possèdent entre 100 000 et 1 million de followers peuvent obtenir entre 300 et 3 000 € par post. Les comptes de moins de 100 000 abonnés peuvent être aussi rémunérés entre 75 et 300 € par post.

Selon l'étude Kolsquare, la tendance pour les années à venir pour les marques sera de construire des partenariats à long terme avec les influenceurs au détriment des opérations " one shot ". L'objectif sera de créer une réelle synergie entre la marque et les influenceurs afin de développer par la suite plus de proximité avec leurs communautés.
Découvrez des outils pour trouver des influenceurs pour votre marque
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Étude : la rémunération des influenceurs sur les réseaux sociaux en 2020 - BDM

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Estelle Raffin / Publié le 29 juillet 2020 à 12h54 Le Marketing d'Influence s'impose comme un levier stratégique pour les marques : les budgets pour rémunérer les influenceurs deviennent de plus en plus conséquents. Les tarifs moyens par post par typologies d'influenceurs sur les réseaux sociaux en 2020.

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Halimi /avortement

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How motorcyclists think people react when they drive by...

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groooower

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Mr. Flagio - Take a Chance (Italo-disco 1983)

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Minecraft
long format

Minecraft often seems to me to capture the essence of problems in my real life more than other games do. I have all these objects and space and I have to figure out how to usefully organize the objects in the space.
//*
Most of the best courses of action are not physically represented in front of you, and can only be seen at all because of structures in your own mind constructed to keep them available.
//
averting the obstacle is added as another one. //
you go away for months in the real world and then come back to your game, then while you have all of your possessions, you don’t have the memory of what you had done or what you were doing.
//
What I build up in my head is lost when I go away for too long, whereas what is represented in the world is there for me.//

Then it also seemed right to treat my not-far-future self prior to any kind of death in a similar way. To provide for her by making the place better, and leaving her good objects, good salient ideas, good signposting, rather than leaving stuff for her in my head. Because one thing that is annoying about playing Minecraft, and also about life, is that I have some complicated set of unwritten ideas about what is going on that I have to keep alive in my mind, and it effortful and aversive to maintain much of that.
//

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I am on holiday, and yesterday traveled to the land of Minecraft for a number of hours. (Approximately the number where the marginal joy of playing Minecraft is equal to the marginal suffering of...

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To set the stage: to lay the foundation for a future event.
To be center stage: to be the focus of attention.
To upstage (sbdy or sthg): to steal focus or attention.

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Les personnes attirantes sont plutôt de droite

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Les personnes attirantes sont plutôt de droite

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les individus attirants ont un « angle mort » qui les pousse à ne pas voir le besoin pour davantage d’aide gouvernementale dans la société

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" Nos résultats montrent que les individus les plus attirants physiquement sont plus efficaces politiquement ", conclut une analyse de chercheurs américains de l'université d'Etat de l'Illinois et de la Susquehanna University, qui a compilé et croisé plusieurs études. " De plus, nous avons trouvé que les individus attirants ont davantage tendance à se reconnaître dans le parti républicain et à être conservateurs ", ajoute l'article publié dans la revue Politics and The Life Sciences.

" Bien que les effets de la beauté soient moins sensiblement importants que les facteurs traditionnels du parti pris, comme le revenu et l'éducation, les résultats sont cohérents à travers l'ensemble des données et les mesures de beauté, et ils persistent même lorsque l'on tient compte du statut socio-économique et des données démographiques ", précise l'étude.

" Il y a de bonnes raisons de croire que l'attrait physique des individus puisse modifier leur vision du monde et leurs valeurs politiques ", expliquent ainsi les chercheurs, pour qui les personnes attirantes ont de meilleures compétences sociales, sont plus populaires et intelligentes en raison d'un " effet halo ", où la perception des autres est altérée par des stéréotypes positifs.

" Angle mort " et rôle de l'Etat

" En un sens, les individus attirants ont un " angle mort " qui les pousse à ne pas voir le besoin pour davantage d'aide gouvernementale dans la société ", ajoutent-ils. Résultat : ils ont plus tendance à être individualistes, à rejeter l'intervention de l'Etat et l'assistanat défendus par les politiques de gauche, et donc à adopter des opinions plus conservatrices.

Des études précédentes ont déjà montré que les personnes les plus attirantes sont perçues subjectivement comme plus intelligentes et mieux informées politiquement, rappellent les chercheurs. Une récente analyse indiquait également que les politiciens de droite aux Etats-Unis et en Europe sont plus beaux en moyenne que leurs rivaux de gauche.

En revanche, les chercheurs américains ne se prononcent pas sur un possible avantage électoral pour la droite. En outre, ils soulignent, avec prudence, que d'autres études sont à mener pour confirmer ces corrélations. " Cette analyse montre que notre attrait physique peut significativement influencer notre comportement politique ", constatent-ils.

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Les personnes attirantes sont plutôt de droite, selon une étude

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" Nos résultats montrent que les individus les plus attirants physiquement sont plus efficaces politiquement ", conclut une analyse de chercheurs américains de l'université d'Etat de l'Illinois et de la Susquehanna University, qui a compilé et croisé plusieurs études.

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Alors que la communauté internationale critique de plus en plus le traitement brutal des Ouïghours en Chine, le monde islamique reste très discret. Analyse.

Qui ne dit mot consent. Chaque mois, de nouvelles révélations précisent l'horreur des camps ouïghours. Dans l'Ouest de la Chine, ce peuple d'une dizaine de millions de musulmans subit une répression féroce du régime chinois : enfermement massif, lavage de cerveaux et stérilisation des femmes, comme l'affirme le chercheur allemand Adrian Zenz (fondation Jamestown). Toutes les enquêtes évoquent un million de Ouïgours internés dans ce que le régime chinois appelle des... " centres de formation professionnelle".

Dans ce contexte, beaucoup s'étonnent du silence assourdissant du monde musulman. Pire, l'Arabie saoudite, l'Iran, l'Egypte ou encore le Pakistan ont signé début juillet, avec une quarantaine de pays, une déclaration de soutien à la Chine à l'occasion de la 44e session du Conseil des Droits de l'Homme ! Le texte félicite Pékin pour sa lutte contre le "terrorisme" - prétexte à la mise sous verrou des Ouïgours.

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Ouïghours : l'assourdissant silence du monde musulman

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Qui ne dit mot consent. Chaque mois, de nouvelles révélations précisent l'horreur des camps ouïghours. Dans l'Ouest de la Chine, ce peuple d'une dizaine de millions de musulmans subit une répression féroce du régime chinois : enfermement massif, lavage de cerveaux et stérilisation des femmes, comme l'affirme le chercheur allemand Adrian Zenz (fondation Jamestown).

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En contact avec la peau, l'appareil absorbe la chaleur corporelle et vient l'extraire grâce à un mini ventilateur pour ensuite refroidir la zone de contact. Même si la diffusion de la fraîcheur est très localisée sur le haut de la colonne vertébrale, le froid sur cette zone vient leurrer les sens et délivre une sensation de fraîcheur globale au corps. Selon Sony, le Reon Pocket pourrait faire baisser la température corporelle de 12°. L'accessoire peut ainsi permettre d'éviter de mouiller la chemise en cas de canicule.

Sur le même principe, il peut aussi être utilisé comme chaufferette personnelle en hiver et réchauffer le corps de 8°. Le Reon Pocket se pilote par une application dédiée sur smartphone via une connexion Bluetooth. L'appareil se recharge comme un mobile, avec une prise USB de type C. D'après le constructeur, l'autonomie du Reon Pocket serait de deux heures. Pour le moment, l'accessoire et son T-Shirt ne sont vendus qu'au Japon où les étés sont réputés pour être très chauds et humides. Son prix est d'environ 100 euros.

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Is it possible to build a bridge between Spain and Morocco in the Strait of Gibraltar?

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Is it possible to build a bridge between Spain and Morocco in the Strait of Gibraltar?

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The studies showed that a bridge is technically not possible at this moment.

Given the potential for collision, bad weather and heavy maritime traffic in the Strait of Gibraltar area, tectonic activity, a submarine tunnel was chosen. The geographical position of the tunnel was determined on the basis of the parameters of distance and depth which are most favorable to the passage of a submarine tunnel. This tunnel would then pass at the threshold of the Straits of Gibraltar; The distance would be 65 km. The means of transport chosen is the train, because it has fewer risks of failure than a series of vehicles.

//

The shortest distance between Spain and Morocco is under 10 miles. However, the channel is so deep (2600 feet) that if a suspension bridge were tried, it’s central spain would be over 8 miles. That’s over 7 times longer than the longest suspension bridge. A tunnel, which would need to be an electric railroad due to ventilation issues would need to be over 40 miles long to just get the grades down to 3%. Railroads typically like to stay below at least 2 % which would then require a 60 mile long tunnel.

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lire- un- rouleau- de- papyrus

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how to read your papyrus scroll -- 7/21/20

Today's selection -- from The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time by Keith Houston. The danger and ease of reading a papyrus scroll:

"With all the rolling and unrolling demanded while reading a scroll, with no page numbers to guide the reader to their desired location, and with no pages to rifile through in the first place, many book historians claim that finding information in a bookroll must have been frustraring. But then, there is a suspicion among others that we are too far removed from the daily use of scrolls to be entirely sure about this. It is slower to access a particular part of a scroll, but many of the same intangible factors are at work as when flipping through a book: the visual appearance and the physical weight of the scroll's rolled-up ends guide one to the approximate location, and even without page numbers, chapter tides, and the other textual furniture found on the pages of a modern book, an unadorned column of characters does become familiar after a while. The act of scrolling through an electronic document is named by analogy with the ancient experience of shufiling through a bookroll, and we adapted quickly to that particular change in the reading experience.

Terentius Neo and his wife

"Whether a reader was searching for a favorite passage or reading through an unfamiliar work, 'scrolling' through a scroll demanded their full attention. It takes two hands to simultaneously unfurl a bookroll at one end and roll it up at the other; there is no way to casually prop open a scroll in one hand while sipping from a glass of wine held in the other. (I have tried.) Perhaps because of this, the oenophile Romans accessorized some of their scrolls with a pair of sticks, or umbilici, one attached to each end of a scroll to facilitate rolling and unrolling. They made furniture to match too, in the form of reading desks sporting pegs behind which a scroll's umbilici could be lodged to keep it open at a desired location. Shorter scrolls equipped with umbilici could be unrolled and their ends left to dangle off the end of a table; failing that, a pair of stones would serve well enough as paperweights. And the dangers of a springy papyrus bookroll should not be underestimated: in the first century CE, an aging Roman senator named Lucius Verginius Rufus died after trying to retrieve a scroll chat had sprung out of his grasp; he slipped on the marble floor, fracturing his hip, and never recovered.

"In spite of all its shortcomings -- its flammability, unwieldiness, and comparative fragility -- for the denizens of ancient Greece and Rome, the papyrus scroll was the obvious choice for recording texts of any great length."

All delanceyplace profits are donated to charity and support children's literacy projects.

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delanceyplace.com | Governor's Woods Foundation

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how to read your papyrus scroll -- 7/21/20

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Delanceyplace is a brief daily email with an excerpt or quote we view as interesting or noteworthy, offered with commentary to provide context. There is no theme, except that most excerpts will come from a non-fiction work, primarily historical in focus, and will occasionally be controversial.

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Fiche de lecture - saison 1

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Soumission (Michel Houellebecq) | Fiche de Lecture Ep. 9

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POLITIQUE - Le ministre de l'Intérieur Gérald Darmanin estime qu'il "faut stopper l'ensauvagement d'une certaine partie de la société", comme il l'explique dans une interview ce vendredi 24 juillet par lefigaro.fr, dans laquelle il affirme aussi sa volonté de "combattre avec la première énergie" l'islamisme.

"Nous assistons à une crise de l'autorité. Il faut stopper l'ensauvagement d'une certaine partie de la société. Il faut réaffirmer l'autorité de l'État, et ne rien laisser passer", déclare le ministre à la veille d'un déplacement à Nice sur le thème de l'insécurité.

De l'extrême droite à la droite tout court

"Ma vision est celle des Français de bon sens: les policiers et les gendarmes nous protègent, et ils courent derrière les voyous. Le rôle du ministère de l'Intérieur, c'est de protéger ceux qui nous protègent, et de les aider à courir derrière les voyous", ajoute-t-il.

Or ce faisant, Gérald Darmanin reprend un terme cher à l'extrême droite, et que la droite traditionnelle tend à s'approprier, celui "d'ensauvagement".

Employé en son temps par le poète et homme politique martiniquais Aimé Césaire, le terme a été récemment popularisé par l'auteur Laurent Obertone, maître à penser sécuritaire et identitaire d'une frange conservatrice de l'échiquier politique. Il est utilisé depuis des années par les cadres du Rassemblement national, à commencer par sa figure de proue Marine Le Pen ou encore récemment par l'eurodéputé Jordan Bardella.

Quel niveau de barbarie faut-il atteindre pour que le peuple français dise stop à cet ensauvagement de notre société ? Combien de policiers, gendarmes, conducteurs de bus, jeune filles ou jeunes garçons massacrés faut-il ? MLP https://t.co/dnh8uctVV1
- Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) July 20, 2020

Mais comme le rappellent nos confrères de L'Opinion et comme le montre cette sortie du nouveau ministre de l'Intérieur, depuis 2013, le mot s'est répandu plus largement à droite et jusqu'à séduire dans des milieux divers. Ainsi, après la publication de l'interview, le syndicat policier Synergie s'est par exemple félicité de cette "reprise" de sa "sémantique".

Et à voir comment Laurent Wauquiez, Éric Ciotti ou Bruno Retailleau, pour ne citer qu'eux, ont pu utiliser le vocable cher à la droite de la droite, il est aisé de comprendre que Gérald Darmanin s'inscrit dans une tendance bien plus large que son simple cas personnel.

Satisfaits que @GDarmanin reprenne notre sémantique @PoliceSynergie.Il s'agit bel et bien d'un processus d'#Ensauvagement qui affecte tout le territoire national.C'est tout le socle républicain qui est ébranlé et le vivre ensemble compromis a très court terme. #Jesoutienslapolice https://t.co/oXWIKqWxVS
- Synergie-Officiers (@PoliceSynergie) July 24, 2020

Ce samedi 25 juillet, le ministre de l'Intérieur et le ministre de la Justice Eric Dupond-Moretti accompagneront le Premier ministre Jean Castex à Nice, où des tirs ont récemment éclaté en plein jour devant un supermarché.

"L'islamisme, voilà l'ennemi!"

Dans cette interview au Figaro, Gérald Darmanin réaffirme également sa volonté de "combattre avec la première énergie" l'islamisme. "Ce qui est très inquiétant, c'est que nous sommes aujourd'hui face à la radicalité d'une minorité très agissante qui veut manifestement mettre à bas les valeurs fondamentales de notre État et le principe même de la nation française", analyse-t-il.

"Chacun le sait, il ne faut pas être naïf sur une radicalité islamiste qui est un grand danger et gangrène la République. Pour paraphraser une formule célèbre: 'L'islamisme, voilà l'ennemi!'", insiste-t-il. "Je suis inquiet pour la République lorsque je vois des gens qui, très clairement, sur notre sol, souhaitent vivre dans une autre société que la nation française", dit-il.

"Il faut être aveugle pour ne pas voir ce qui se passe", estime encore Gérald Darmanin affirmant qu'"il y a un projet politique affiché de la part de ceux qui veulent mettre fin à notre nation telle qu'on la connaît. Nous devons donc combattre ce que le président de la République a qualifié de 'volonté de séparatisme'".

"On observe un risque très fort d'entrisme dans la vie politique et syndicale. Il y a de l'entrisme associatif et parfois même des essais d'entrisme dans la fonction publique. Donc, il faut lutter contre cette ' taqîya ', cette dissimulation", selon lui.

Sur l'islam, le ministre estime qu'"il faut réaffirmer un principe de laïcité avec une religion parfaitement compatible avec la République, qui souffre parfois d'une multiplicité d'interlocuteurs et d'influences étrangères".
À voir également sur le HuffPost: "Un fait divers, une visite ministérielle": quand Darmanin copie-colle ses prédécesseurs

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En parlant "d'ensauvagement de la société", Darmanin donne des gages à la police et à la droite dure

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POLITIQUE - Le ministre de l'Intérieur Gérald Darmanin estime qu'il "faut stopper l'ensauvagement d'une certaine partie de la société", comme il l'explique dans une interview ce vendredi 24 juillet par lefigaro.fr , dans laquelle il affirme aussi sa volonté de "combattre avec la première énergie" l'islamisme. "Nous assistons à une crise de l'autorité.

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" Commencez par améliorer un plat que vous aimez déjà. " C'est avec ce slogan que Santé publique France a lancé fin octobre 2019 sa campagne de communication sur les habitudes alimentaires. Des messages qui visent à faire connaître ses recommandations nutritionnelles à destination du grand public, dévoilées en janvier 2019.

Fruit d'un travail scientifique mené par l'Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l'alimentation, de l'environnement et du travail (Anses), puis par le Haut Conseil de la santé publique, ces conseils poussent à un " verdissement " des régimes alimentaires. La viande ? Mangez-en moins. La charcuterie ? Réduisez drastiquement les doses. Les produits laitiers ? Deux par jour suffisent pour un adulte, au lieu de trois conseillés jusqu'alors.

Ministères sous influence

" Ces préconisations ont suscité de nombreuses réactions des industriels, notamment de la filière du lait, commente Serge Hercberg, professeur de nutrition à l'université Paris 13 et ex-président du Programme national nutrition santé. Mais les lobbies agroalimentaires n'ont pas réussi à influer sur les décisions. " Une impuissance en aval, mais aussi en amont. Depuis le scandale du Mediator, les autorités sanitaires traquent les éventuels conflits d'intérêts des chercheurs avec beaucoup plus de rigueur, ce qui complique les stratégies d'entrisme des lobbies dans les instances scientifiques.

Tenus à l'écart des travaux scientifiques, les lobbies se sont efforcés de faire entendre leurs voix auprès des ministères de la Santé, de l'Agriculture et des parlementaires. Courriers, invitations, rencontres informelles... Ils ont dépensé des dizaines de milliers d'euros, d'après leurs déclarations d'activités faites auprès de la Haute Autorité pour la transparence de la vie publique (HATVP).

Parmi les organisations les plus actives, le Centre national interprofessionnel de l'économie laitière (Cniel), qui s'est démené pour conserver la référence aux trois produits laitiers journaliers datant de 2002. Mais aussi l'Union nationale interprofessionnelle des jus de fruit (Unijus), qui s'est battue pour que ses produits restent comptabilisés dans les fameux " cinq fruits et légumes " recommandés depuis bientôt vingt ans.

Sourde oreille

" Les produits animaux font vivre énormément d'agriculteurs, ils pèsent très lourd dans le chiffre d'affaires de l'agroalimentaire. Les acteurs ne se sont pas préparés à changer de modèle ", avertit Philippe Pointereau, directeur adjoint de Solagro, structure de recherche et de formation spécialisée dans les transitions énergétique, agroécologique et alimentaire.

Ce que conteste Bruno Dufayet, président de la commission " enjeux sociétaux " de l'Interprofession bétail et viande (Interbev). " Depuis 2013, nous avons changé de posture. Nous ne sommes plus sur la défensive, nous travaillons avec des ONG comme le WWF ou France nature environnement à l'amélioration des pratiques en matière de nutrition, d'environnement, de bien-être animal ", assure cet éleveur du Cantal.

Une évolution qui s'est traduite par un nouveau slogan : " Aimez la viande, mangez-en mieux. " Des mots à traduire en actes : les produits animaux (viande et lait) représenteraient 89 % des émissions de gaz à effet de serre dans l'alimentation dite conventionnelle, selon les calculs de Solagro...

La bagarre la plus saignante, c'est autour du Nutri-Score qu'elle a lieu

Du côté du Cniel, on fait la sourde oreille. Son site grand public continue à recommander trois à quatre produits laitiers par jour. " La filière fait un lobbying très malin. Elle a réussi à construire une image saine et positive du lait, toujours associé à la santé, au bien-être. Et elle la relaie jusque dans les écoles, où elle offre des kits pédagogiques aux enseignants ", décrypte le député (LFI) Loïc Prud'homme, qui a présidé la commission d'enquête sur l'alimentation industrielle.

Les jeunes sont une cible de choix pour les industriels au travers de leurs campagnes de pub et de sponsoring. " Face à MacDo, Ferrero ou Coca-Cola, les pouvoirs publics ne font pas le poids. Qui connaît en détail les recommandations nutritionnelles ? ", interroge le parlementaire.

Nutri-Score dans le viseur

La bagarre la plus saignante, c'est autour du Nutri-Score qu'elle a lieu. Au cours des quatre dernières années, les lobbies agroalimentaires ont ferraillé contre la conception, le lancement puis la généralisation de ce système de notation nutritionnelle des produits alimentaires, conçu par l'Eren-Inserm, une équipe de recherche publique française.

A la pointe du combat, l'Association nationale des industries alimentaires (Ania) a multiplié les arguments philosophiques (" on attente à nos libertés " !), économiques et scientifiques pour contrer la diffusion de l'outil. Avec le soutien de multinationales (Mars, Mondelez, Unilever, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola...) qui, après avoir échoué à faire adopter leur propre système de notation auprès du ministère de la Santé, refusent toujours d'afficher sur leurs paquets ce Nutri-Score très défavorable aux produits gras ou sucrés. Une lutte qui se poursuit à Bruxelles, la réglementation européenne interdisant de rendre l'outil obligatoire dans un pays membre.

Le front des opposants au Nutri-Score s'est vite fissuré cependant. Parmi les toutes premières sociétés à l'adopter, Fleury-Michon. " Le Nutri-Score s'inscrivait complètement dans notre projet d'entreprise. Depuis deux ans déjà, nous affirmions qu'il valait mieux manger moins de charcuterie, mais de meilleure qualité. Et nous poussions toutes nos gammes porteuses de cette promesse ", justifie David Garbous, directeur marketing stratégique.

Une démarche gagnante sur le plan économique, adoptée par de plus en plus d'acteurs. Danone, Bonduelle, Findus, Auchan, Casino... Près de 200 entreprises se sont aujourd'hui engagées à afficher le Nutri-Score sur leurs produits. Parmi lesquelles Nestlé, qui l'avait violemment combattu. Tout un symbole.

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" Commencez par améliorer un plat que vous aimez déjà. " C'est avec ce slogan que Santé publique France a lancé fin octobre 2019 sa campagne de communication sur les habitudes alimentaires. Des messages qui visent à faire connaître ses recommandations nutritionnelles à destination du grand public, dévoilées en janvier 2019.

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In “The Wealthy-Hand-to-Mouth,” authors Greg Kaplan of Princeton University, Giovanni Violante of New York University and Justin Weidner of Princeton University find that both the wealthy hand-to-mouth (those with little or no liquid wealth but substantial holdings of illiquid assets – those that carry a transaction cost to access, such as housing, large durables, or retirement accounts, as opposed to liquid cash, checking, and saving accounts), and the “poor-hand-to-mouth” behave similarly: both groups have “large marginal propensities to consume out of small income changes – a key determinant of the macroeconomic effects of fiscal policy,” they write. The wealthy-hand-to-mouth choose to weather income fluctuations rather than dipping into their assets to smooth shocks , because smoothing shocks would entail holding large balances of cash and foregoing the high return on their illiquid assets.

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Justin Weidner, Greg Kaplan, and Giovanni Violante

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About one-third of American households - around 38 million - live hand-to-mouth, although a majority of them are not technically poor because they have assets, albeit illiquid ones, and they respon...

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Adopté en 2011 par le Conseil de l'Europe, ce texte connu sous le nom de «convention d'Istanbul» est le premier outil supranational à fixer des normes juridiquement contraignantes en vue de prévenir la violence sexiste.

«Nous nous préparons à la dénoncer», a déclaré la semaine dernière la ministre polonaise du Travail, Marlena Maciag, sur la chaîne ultra-catholique Trwam.

Les manifestantes et manifestants, venus à l'appel de diverses organisations féministes, se sont rassemblés devant le siège d'une ONG de recherche et de lobbying en faveur de «l'identité culturelle», accusée souvent de défendre le «fondamentalisme religieux» catholique, avant de marcher vers le siège du ministère du Travail.

L'actuel ministre de la Justice, Zbigniew Ziobro, l'a considérée à l'époque comme «une invention, une création féministe qui vise à justifier l'idéologie gay».

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Après que l'Exécutif polonais eut annoncé son intention de dénoncer un traité européen visant à prévenir les violences domestiques, les femmes sont descendues dans la rue ce vendredi à Varsovie.

Environ deux mille personnes ont manifesté vendredi à Varsovie contre l'intention du gouvernement conservateur nationaliste polonais de dénoncer un traité international visant à mieux protéger les femmes de la violence, ont constaté des journalistes de l'AFP.

Adopté en 2011 par le Conseil de l'Europe, ce texte connu sous le nom de " convention d'Istanbul " est le premier outil supranational à fixer des normes juridiquement contraignantes en vue de prévenir la violence sexiste.

"Nous nous préparons à la dénoncer", a déclaré la semaine dernière la ministre polonaise du Travail, Marlena Maciag, sur la chaîne ultra-catholique Trwam.

Les manifestantes et manifestants, venus à l'appel de diverses organisations féministes, se sont rassemblés devant le siège d'une ONG de recherche et de lobbying en faveur de "l'identité culturelle", accusée souvent de défendre le "fondamentalisme religieux" catholique, avant de marcher vers le siège du ministère du Travail.

"Stop à la violence contre les femmes", ont-ils crié, en brandissant des pancartes "La grève des femmes".

La Pologne a signé en 2012 et ratifié trois ans plus tard la Convention d'Istanbul, à l'époque où ce pays était gouverné par une coalition centriste.

L'actuel ministre de la Justice, Zbigniew Ziobro, l'a considérée à l'époque comme "une invention, une création féministe qui vise à justifier l'idéologie gay".

Rejeté en Hongrie aussi

La Convention d'Istanbul a créé la controverse dans quelques autres pays.

Le parlement hongrois l'a rejetée en mai dernier, le gouvernement de Viktor Orban y voyant la promotion de "l'idéologie destructrice du genre" et de la "migration illégale".

En mars 2019, le Parlement slovaque a rejeté sa ratification, au motif qu'elle serait en contradiction avec la définition du mariage dans la Constitution comme une union hétérosexuelle.

L'opposition conteste le résultat de l'élection présidentielle

La Plateforme civique, dont le candidat Rafal Trzaskowski a perdu le scrutin du 12 juillet, a mis en cause des irrégularités lors du vote. Elle a déposé un recours devant la Cour suprême.

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Pologne - Manifestation contre la dénonciation d'un traité anti-sexiste

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Environ deux mille personnes ont manifesté vendredi à Varsovie contre l'intention du gouvernement conservateur nationaliste polonais de dénoncer un traité international visant à mieux protéger les femmes de la violence, ont constaté des journalistes de l'AFP.

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The phenomenon of wealthy people who lack liquidity and therefore essentially live hand-to-mouth is now so prevalent that economists are studying its macroeconomic effects. Historically, economists have assumed that rich people will spend very little out of any income increase because they can already afford whatever they want. But if the rich are constrained by a lack of cash flow, they may spend a considerable portion of any income increase, which would raise short-run growth. Indeed, there are reports that a sharp slowdown in spending by the rich is a key factor in the recent economic slowdown.
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Gallup data also shows that people’s perceptions of what income puts people in what class vary a lot.
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The issue of wealth versus income is critical to perceptions of social class and general well-being. A 2019 study by Charles Schwab found that it took at least $2.3 million in wealth to be considered reasonably rich. Perceptions of wealth are also self-fueled to no small degree, since the wealthier people become, the more wealth they think they need to be considered rich

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On July 11, MarketWatch published a letter, presumably real, from a reader complaining that she and her husband didn't qualify for a stimulus payment because they make too much money. Said the upset letter writer:

I don't feel that earning $200,000 a year should be too much to qualify under the CARES Act. I believe they need to raise the income threshold to $300,000 or $400,000 a year, or not have any income guidelines. After all, people who are making nothing or very little are receiving this money, so why can't the people who are paying the most taxes receive some of it back? What bothers me the most is that most of these families look a lot like ours, but they chose to not marry or they file separately. I earn less than $50,000, but my spouse earns barely over $150,000 a year.

These kinds of poor-mouth complaints from people who are well-to-do by any reasonable standard are not by any means new. Starting with the rise of Andrew Jackson, practically every presidential contender in the nineteenth century claimed to be born in a log cabin. The New York Times, The Washington Post, Town & Country, and other publications that cater to the rich and upper-middle class have long published articles about the alleged economic struggles of high-earning people in costly urban centers.

For example, in 2009, the Times published a piece that did not appear to be tongue-in-cheek about how tough it was to get by on an income of $500,000 in New York City. (If this article were to run today, the figure would be moved up to $600,000 to adjust for inflation.) The article, appearing in the opening throes of the Great Recession, laid out the many expenses eating away at this lavish-seeming nest egg: This family would probably have a mortgage payment of $96,000 plus an additional co-op maintenance fee of $96,000. There would also be $32,000 in private school tuition per child and $45,000 for a nanny. That comes to $269,000 a year on an after-tax income of just $293,000. Throw in food, clothing, vacations, and other reasonable costs, and it's not hard to see how little half a million dollars of gross income can get you, if you're invested in the high-life amenities that define the lifestyle of the top one percent of Americans.

Several other straight-faced accounts of the high-earner's plight have likewise focused on families making $500,000. One financial adviser posted the budget of a family he knew personally that spent $271,100 on a net income of $278,400. It included $42,000 for childcare, $18,000 for vacations, and $12,000 for sports and music lessons for the children. The family appeared to have just $7,300 for saving at the end of the year.

But the numbers that make up such litanies are more than a little fuzzy. For example, any economist looking at this budget would immediately notice that the adviser subtracted the $36,000 contributed to 401(k) accounts as an expense, rather than saving. Nor is there any mention of investment income or home equity. On the other hand, the family apparently was putting away nothing for their children's college education, and the parents were still paying $32,000 on their own student loans. Perhaps they simply assumed that loans would cover their children's education as well.

The phenomenon of wealthy people who lack liquidity and therefore essentially live hand-to-mouth is now so prevalent that economists are studying its macroeconomic effects. Historically, economists have assumed that rich people will spend very little out of any income increase because they can already afford whatever they want. But if the rich are constrained by a lack of cash flow, they may spend a considerable portion of any income increase, which would raise short-run growth. Indeed, there are reports that a sharp slowdown in spending by the rich is a key factor in the recent economic slowdown.

Pollsters periodically ask people about who they think belongs in various social classes, based on income. According to Gallup, only 2 percent of Americans historically have put themselves in the upper class, with 16 percent in the upper-middle class, 43 percent in the middle class, 30 percent in the working class, and just 9 percent calling themselves poor. Gallup data also shows that people's perceptions of what income puts people in what class vary a lot. As the first chart demonstrates, practically every income group includes people who consider themselves as belonging to every other social class. The Gallup findings are confirmed by YouGov data.

There are many reasons why someone who appears to be poor or middle class, objectively, might nevertheless put themselves in a higher social class. They could be children of the well-to-do who are temporarily making little income or expect an inheritance to pull them up at some point. They may be people with degrees from good schools whose perception of their social class is based on their prospects rather than their current circumstances. Or they may hold high-status jobs in fields like journalism or book publishing that don't necessarily pay very much. They may also be retirees, whose income is relatively low but who have considerable wealth they can draw upon. Indeed, retirees are generally better off financially than nonretirees, elderly homeowners tend to have substantial home equity, and about half don't even have a mortgage.

The issue of wealth versus income is critical to perceptions of social class and general well-being. A 2019 study by Charles Schwab found that it took at least $2.3 million in wealth to be considered reasonably rich. Perceptions of wealth are also self-fueled to no small degree, since the wealthier people become, the more wealth they think they need to be considered rich. A 2011 survey of millionaires by Fidelity Investments found that they thought they needed at least $7.5 million to feel rich. Yet there are those with very considerably more wealth than that who will nevertheless insist that they are just ordinary middle-class people.

In 2012, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's wife, Ann, said she didn't consider herself to be wealthy despite a net worth of $250 million and $22 million of income the previous year. In 2015, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, then running for the GOP presidential nomination, also denied being wealthy, even though his investment banker wife made more than $700,000 on top of his salary as governor.

Absurdly, there are even billionaires who refuse to admit that they are rich. Tom Steyer is one. Of course, he was running for the Democratic presidential nomination and probably felt that it was politically expedient to downplay his wealth. But Republican billionaires also push back against any suggestion that they might be deemed ultrawealthy. Billionaire Florida auto dealer Norman Braman, a big supporter of Senator Marco Rubio, insisted in a 2015 interview that he was not especially wealthy or important. "I don't consider myself a fat cat," he said. "Don't make me out to be a fat cat."

The question of who is wealthy and who isn't has political implications that go well beyond electoral politics; it is important for tax policy, among other things. Republicans are always keen to stretch the definition of "middle class" to include as many rich people as possible, because it's easier to sell tax cuts for the middle class than for the wealthy. Democrats, on the other hand, are always looking to lower the threshold for being rich when proposing tax increases-since, conversely, it's easier to enact higher taxes on the rich than on the actually existing middle class. If the income cutoff at the lower end of the well-to-do rung is set too high, there is less revenue available.

Social scientists are also exploring what might be called the existential facets of wealth. One such researcher is Rachel Sherman of the New School for Social Research, who has written a book on the subject, Uneasy Street: The Anxieties of Affluence. She conducted intensive interviews with 50 very affluent New Yorkers to see how their wealth affected their lives beyond the obvious ability to own lots of stuff. Many were very concerned about the depiction of them as unworthy of their wealth; to dispute that notion, they tended to emphasize how hard they worked for it. And most went to great lengths to keep their children grounded and not see themselves as excessively privileged. As Sherman writes:

In this climate, it is hard to feel that being wealthy is compatible with being morally worthy, and the wealthy themselves are well aware of the problem. The parents I talked with struggle over how to raise kids who deserve their privilege, encouraging them to become hard workers and disciplined consumers. They often talked about keeping kids "normal," using language that invoked broad "middle-class" American values. At the same time, they wanted to make sure that their children could prevail in increasingly competitive education and labour markets. This dilemma led to a profound tension between limiting and fostering privilege.

In Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville noted the propensity of wealthy people to see themselves as part of the broad middle class, rather than as aristocrats like those in Europe. He thought that the mobility of wealth in America, both up and down, was the reason. "The rich daily rise out of the crowd and constantly return thither," he said. Unfortunately, the growth of economic inequality increasingly calls that assumption into question.

Poor-mouthing by the wealthy may be a matter of interest to researchers, but no one should lose sight of the fact that rich people's problems are trivial compared to those facing the poor and working class. In an increasingly class-segmented America, facing the prospect of a long economic downturn, the complaints to take seriously come from our fellow citizens who lack jobs, health insurance, decent housing, quality educations, and many, many other things that the wealthy simply take for granted.

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The Whiners Who Earn $200,000 and Complain They're Broke

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On July 11, MarketWatch published a letter, presumably real, from a reader complaining that she and her husband didn't qualify for a stimulus payment because they make too much money. Said the upset letter writer: I don't feel that earning $200,000 a year should be too much to qualify under the CARES Act.

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chanson la plus streamée de tous les temps : espagne, colombie, équateur, mexique, chili
(en france, pnl au dd)

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Danny Ocean - Me Rehúso (Official Audio)

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All Experiments - Experiments with Google

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Since 2009, coders have created thousands of amazing experiments using Chrome, Android, AI, WebVR, AR and more. We’re showcasing projects here, along with helpful tools and resources, to inspire others to create new experiments.

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Timbrées, projet de 2 jours pour vivre, site de micro-aventures
(6,5€ par lettre)

 Timbrées c'est une relation épistolaire. Elle dure 1 an, comporte 6 lettres d'aventure qui viendront tenir compagnie aux factures et prospectus de ta boite aux lettres.
Pourquoi s’abonner à ces lettres ?

Parce qu'on y découvre des nouveaux coins de France.

Parce qu'on y découvre une autre manière de voyager (spontanée, joyeuse, simple et accessible financièrement) et des nouvelles activités (pêche à la mouche, via ferrata, van trip...).

Parce que c'est de la joie, rien que de la joie, à l'intérieur.

Parce que c'est bien écrit, parfois drôle, paraît-il.

Parce que ça motive terriblement.

Parce que vos week-ends en seront à jamais changés.

Parce que ça va vous donner envie de réécrire des lettres à tout-va

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j'ai reçu la première lettre de Timbrées.
Amélie et ses potes se sont baladés dans le Jura en vélo pendant 2-3 jours pour bivouaquer et manger du fromage - ce qui comme ça, paraît chouette. dans l'enveloppe:   un petit parcours de leur balade ,  2 mini polaroid randoms,, 1 autocollant, 2 cartes postales branchées avec des jeux de mots sur le Jura. :/ heureusement, je me dis que j vais être emballé par la lettre manuscrite jointe, - écrite à la règle et au crayon à papier pour que ça fasse des lignes bien propres.  . 'cest ttttttout crispé. ( même la forêt de Massacre ) c'esr tout  naze, svp arrêtez de m'écrire et de me prélever*  faites votre truc ok de votre côté
@chakrasbouchés

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Le pari un peu fou d'aller à rebours.

En 2020, on explore d'autres voies que celle toute tracée du digital : la voie postale. Il s'agirait d'être en cohérence parfaite avec nos messages : la déconnexion & l'authenticité en tête de liste. Timbrées c'est une relation épistolaire. Elle dure 1 an, comporte 6 lettres d'aventure qui viendront tenir compagnie aux factures et prospectus de ta boite aux lettres.

Un acte de résistance. Une reconquête.

Avec Timbrées, on compte bien faire triompher
- le courrier postal sur les mails & notif'
- l'authenticité sur la publicité
- l'attente sur l'immédiateté
- la poésie sur les selfies
- l'artisanal sur le scalable
- l'écriture manuscrite, tout court.

Pourquoi s'abonner à ces lettres ?

Parce qu'on y découvre des nouveaux coins de France.

Parce qu'on y découvre une autre manière de voyager (spontanée, joyeuse, simple et accessible financièrement) et des nouvelles activités (pêche à la mouche, via ferrata, van trip...).

Parce que c'est de la joie, rien que de la joie, à l'intérieur.

Parce que c'est bien écrit, parfois drôle, paraît-il.

Parce que ça motive terriblement.

Parce que vos week-ends en seront à jamais changés.

Parce que ça va vous donner envie de réécrire des lettres à tout-va.

Y'a quoi dans ces lettres ?

On garde la même formule depuis 3 ans : des micro-aventures, des histoires authentiques, des conseils et informations pour se lancer. Concrètement :

La fine équipe qui envoie tout ça :

Amélie ; Fabio ; Mathildo, Camille et Mathias :

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En 2020, on explore d'autres voies que celle toute tracée du digital : la voie postale. Il s'agirait d'être en cohérence parfaite avec nos messages : la déconnexion & l'authenticité en tête de liste. Timbrées c'est une relation épistolaire. Elle dure 1 an, comporte 6 lettres d'aventure qui viendront tenir compagnie aux factures et prospectus de ta boite aux lettres.

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This list contains the top 100 songs with the most streams on the audio streaming platform Spotify. As of July 2020, Ed Sheeran's " Shape of You" is ranked in the top position, as the only song with more than 2 billion streams. As many as 98 songs have exceeded 1 billion streams.

Prior to February 2014, Spotify's most-streamed song was " Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons; it was overtaken by Avicii's " Wake Me Up", which became the first song to hit 200 million streams on 27 February 2014. "Wake Me Up" held the streaming record for over a year before being surpassed on 22 May 2015 by Sheeran's " Thinking Out Loud", which became the first song to hit 500 million streams on 12 October 2015. A month later, however, it was surpassed by Major Lazer and DJ Snake's " Lean On", featuring MØ, which held the streaming record for 11 months until Drake's " One Dance", featuring Wizkid and Kyla, overtook it on 18 October 2016. " One Dance" became the first song to hit 1 billion streams 12 December 2016, and held the streaming record for almost a year before being surpassed by "Shape of You" on 21 September 2017.

The artists with the most singles in the top 100 are Justin Bieber with a total of 7 (4 as a lead artist and 3 as a featured artist) and Post Malone with 7 (all lead). The albums with the most songs in the top 100 are Bieber's , Post Malone's Beerbongs & Bentleys and Dua Lipa's with 3 entries each.

The following table lists the top 100 most-streamed songs on Spotify, with streams rounded to the nearest million, as well as the artist(s), the album it is currently published to Spotify on, and the date it was originally published on Spotify.

This is a list of artists with the most songs in the top 100. It includes an artist's solo and featured songs (where the artist is officially credited).

The following table lists the last six songs to become Spotify's most-streamed song, from 2013 to the present.

The following table lists the songs that reached the No. 1 position on Spotify's weekly most-played chart. The table only records No. 1 songs from late September 2013, as the data from before that is not available. " Rockstar" by DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch is the current number-one song on the Spotify Global Top 200 for the week ending 23 July 2020.

The following table lists the 20 songs with the most days at the No. 1 position on Spotify's daily most-played chart.

The following table lists the 20 songs to get the most streams in a single day.

The following table lists the 20 songs to get the most streams in a single week.

The table below lists the most streamed song on Spotify by country, as well as the artist(s), the album it is currently published to Spotify on, and the date it was originally published to Spotify.

This list calculates the number of streams all songs on one album, mixtape or extended play have collectively acquired.

Includes song(s) with over 1 billion streams

The following table lists records to become Spotify's most streamed album in its opening day globally, from 2016 to the present.

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This list contains the top 100 songs with the most streams on the audio streaming platform Spotify.

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In Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville noted the propensity of wealthy people to see themselves as part of the broad middle class, rather than as aristocrats like those in Europe. He thought that the mobility of wealth in America, both up and down, was the reason. “The rich daily rise out of the crowd and constantly return thither,” he said. Unfortunately, the growth of economic inequality increasingly calls that assumption into question.

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VOUS AIMEZ NOUS LIRE...
... vous pouvez nous épauler. Depuis sa création en 1999, forumopera.com est un magazine en ligne gratuit et tient à le rester. L'information que nous délivrons quotidiennement a pour objectif premier de promouvoir l'opéra auprès du plus grand nombre. La rendre payante en limiterait l'accès, a contrario de cet objectif. Nous nous y refusons. Aujourd'hui, nous tenons à réserver nos rares espaces publicitaires à des opérateurs culturels qualitatifs. Notre taux d'audience, lui, est en hausse régulière avoisinant les 160.000 lecteurs par mois. Pour nous permettre de nouveaux développements, de nouvelles audaces - bref, un site encore plus axé vers les désirs de ses lecteurs - votre soutien est nécessaire. Si vous aimez Forumopera.com, n'hésitez pas à faire un don, même modeste.

Auteur

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Offenbach et l'opérette, ou la confusion des genres | Forum Opéra

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De Pascal et Chambord, vaudeville représenté la première fois le 2 mars 1839 au Théâtre du Palais-Royal à Mamzelle Moucheron, opérette-bouffe dont la création, posthume, eut lieu le 10 mai 1881 au Théâtre de La Renaissance, la désignation des ouvrages composés par Jacques Offenbach s'apparente à une..

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Une salle de sport du 3e arrondissement de Lyon a modifié son règlement afin d'autoriser le hijab suite aux manifestations début juillet d'Alliances Citoyenne.

Victoire pour l'Alliance Citoyenne, suite aux manifestations devant une salle de sport du 3e arrondissement de Lyon, début juillet, d'une quarantaine de femmes réclamant le droit de porter le hijab (foulard islamique) pour faire du sport.

Soutenues par des syndicalistes et membres de mouvements féministes, elles ont finalement obtenu gain de cause. La salle de sport a fait modifier son règlement intérieur, selon le Progrès.

"Félicitations à la direction de cette enseigne qui, suite à notre action, a respecté ses engagements et nous a transmis sa réponse aujourd'hui, certifiant que désormais les hijabs de sport seraient autorisés dans leurs salles", se réjouissent-elles sur leur page Facebook.

"Les droits civiques des femmes musulmanes"

Selon Loubna, elle-même portant un hijab de sport, "cette victoire s'inscrit dans notre combat pour les droits civiques des femmes musulmanes". Selon nos confrères du Progrès, elle ajoute : "C'est un combat que l'on mène au nom de toutes les femmes pour dire : ''Arrêtez de nous dicter ce que l'on doit porter'' " s'exclame Loubna.

Cette décision rappelle les événements de l'été dernier, lorsque le collectif grenoblois Alliance Citoyenne, s'était battu pour obtenir de se baigner en "burkini" dans les piscines municipales de Grenoble.

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Lyon : Alliance Citoyenne fait accepter le hijab de sport

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Victoire pour l'Alliance Citoyenne, suite aux manifestations devant une salle de sport du 3e arrondissement de Lyon, début juillet, d'une quarantaine de femmes réclamant le droit de porter le hijab (foulard islamique) pour faire du sport. Soutenues par des syndicalistes et membres de mouvements féministes, elles ont finalement obtenu gain de cause.

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Olver spent the next 16 years single-handedly building the Food Timeline during her free time. She learned HTML on the family’s then-new Gateway computer while amassing hundreds, and then thousands, of books on food. With her arsenal of texts, she spent 30 hours a week parsing and organizing the English-speaking world’s knowledge of all things edible into one sprawling yet bare-bones website, free of advertisements and sponsors. The exhaustive archive features recipes, cookbooks, and historical tidbits from primary sources, which range from “How did the Vikings preserve their food?” to “Debunking the popular history of cotton candy.” To deem each entry a granular examination would be an understatement: The page on ice cream alone runs for more than 32,000 words.

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In 2015, New Jersey librarian Lynne Olver passed away at the age of 57 after a months-long battle with a rare form of leukemia. She left behind a husband, two children, several cats, and the internet's largest repository of chronologized food history. The cats are taken care of, but the Food Timeline needs a steward.

What the website lacks in pomp and flash is made up for in its legendary breadth. True to its name, Olver's Food Timeline begins with entries on ice, water, and salt in prehistory and ends with cronuts and test-tube burgers in 2013, making every stop along the way, from "blood as food" to turtle soup to Pop Tarts. The archive has garnered 35 million readers and counting, and during her 16-year tenure, Olver has answered more than 25,000 questions from those readers. Her lifelong, unpaid passion project is the most comprehensive and interactive food-history resource the world has ever known.

Today, Olver's magnum opus is riddled with broken links and 404 errors. It needs updating, it needs maintenance, it needs new entries, and you, fair reader, could be exactly the curator the Olver family needs to carry on their late wife and mother's quiet legacy. The job is unpaid, but it does come with a few thousand books, for reference.

Olver called the website the "perfect marriage" of her interests: "I'm a professional reference librarian and I'm a foodie," she told Heritage Radio Network. In 1999, while working at the Morris County Public Library in North Jersey, she was tasked with writing the library's monthly newsletter, answering member questions about local events and holidays, and penning a deep dive on a monthly "hot topic" of Olver's choosing. The role soon consumed her, and at around the same time that she selected "Food History" as the month's hot topic (coinciding with the library's acquisition of James Trager's Food Chronology), the library grew concerned with her fixation. "When the library realized it was taking so much of her time, they asked her to stop," her husband Gordon told Eater. Needless to say, she did not.

Olver spent the next 16 years single-handedly building the Food Timeline during her free time. She learned HTML on the family's then-new Gateway computer while amassing hundreds, and then thousands, of books on food. With her arsenal of texts, she spent 30 hours a week parsing and organizing the English-speaking world's knowledge of all things edible into one sprawling yet bare-bones website, free of advertisements and sponsors. The exhaustive archive features recipes, cookbooks, and historical tidbits from primary sources, which range from "How did the Vikings preserve their food?" to "Debunking the popular history of cotton candy." To deem each entry a granular examination would be an understatement: The page on ice cream alone runs for more than 32,000 words. (For reference, this article will barely nudge 800.)

Just as impressive as the sheer scale of her work was her dedication to reader engagement. "If you invite customers to ask questions, you better respond!" Olver wrote in the Market Strategy section of the website. As such, she maintained a turnaround time of 48 hours to any and all questions, which she upheld by bringing her desktop computer on family vacations. Fourth graders in need of help with schoolwork, novelists looking to feed their characters period-correct meals, chefs in need of historic recipes, and food brands looking for their own company histories all called on Olver for help, which she lent freely and punctually. "We also settle bar bets," she told the Restaurant Guys podcast in 2004. "And I can always tell by the way the question is phrased whether or not the person is going to be happy with the answer I provide."

As the timeline was a labor of love for Olver, so it would be for whoever claims her mantle. The role comes with ownership of the website's domain, which Olver renewed for 10 years shortly before her passing in 2015, as well as her personal library of more than 2,300 books. Several individuals and institutions have come forward to offer their services, but the family is understandably choosy about who inherits Lynne's lifework.

Even devoted readers and users may be surprised to learn that Olver was the Food Timeline's sole caretaker: According to an extensive profile published in Eater, this selfless steward of culinary knowledge habitually wrote in the royal "we" to give the impression that there was a team of volunteers at her back. In reality, it was just Olver, moonlighting as a champion of food-obsessives the world over, night after night, enveloped by walls of cookbooks, textbooks, and encyclopedias. Perhaps you are the "we" that Lynne Olver has been waiting for all along.
Serious applicants for taking on the role of managing the Food Timeline can send their inquiries to foodtimeline@aol.com. You can join the conversation about this and other stories in the Atlas Obscura Community Forums. Gastro Obscura covers the world's most wondrous food and drink.
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The Internet's Greatest Archive of Food History Needs a New Curator

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In 2015, New Jersey librarian Lynne Olver passed away at the age of 57 after a months-long battle with a rare form of leukemia. She left behind a husband, two children, several cats, and the internet's largest repository of chronologized food history. The cats are taken care of, but the Food Timeline needs a steward.

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un machaon est un grand papillon diurne de couleur noir et jaune

un zoïle est un critique injuste et envieux

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If a mouse fell down a 1,000-foot mine shaft, the renowned evolutionary biologist JBS Haldane once proposed, the mouse would rise, shake the dust off itself, and scurry away. Maybe even right back up to do it again.

If a rat fell from the same height, however, it would die.

A human would break, Haldane writes, and a horse would splash.

Haldane does not provide a colorful verb in his 1926 essay On Being the Right Size for what would occur if a 9-ton Tyrannosaurus rex fell into that mine. But the giant predator would scream down the shaft at 172 mph, hit the ground with 120 tons of force and ... shatter? Dismember? Detonate? Erupt?

Regardless, the purpose of Haldane's gruesome thought experiment is to demonstrate the dramatically different relationship large animals have with gravity compared to smaller ones. This relationship, and the differing fates of the mouse and rat, are explained by the "square-cube" law, which is the simple idea that as an object expands, its volume cubes while its surface area merely squares. Because an animal's surface area provides the brakes when falling, and its mass determines the force of its impact, the falls of various species can be either thrilling, tragic, or messy, depending on seemingly small differences in their size. It may be a simple concept-but because the law involves such rapid growth, it's exceedingly difficult to intuit its occasionally dramatic effects. That's particularly true with regards to the largest land animals to have ever walked the earth, and particularly important if you had to outrun them.

For example, if you traveled back to the dinosaur age, or it traveled to you in some kind of scientific disaster, you might find yourself running from a duplex-sized reptile. But don't panic. You have the disproportionate effects of size on your side. The T. rex's eruptive demise at the bottom of the mine shaft illustrates the most important factor to consider when facing the giant saurian's pursuit. In the run for your life, its awe-inspiring, terrifying, stupefying size would be, in fact, your greatest advantage.

A full-grown Tyrannosaurus rex was absurdly huge and absurdly powerful. It had rows of teeth it could push through Triceratops bone, could toss human-sized chunks of meat 16 feet into the air with its jaws, was as tall as a giraffe, and, at nine tons, was as heavy as an elephant. And yet if you see one, you should be only mildly concerned. Tyrannosaurus rex had proportionally more muscles devoted to its movement than nearly any animal that's ever lived, Eric Snively, a biologist at Oklahoma State who studies the biomechanics of dinosaurs tells me. And yet you could likely escape it, because a Tyrannosaur couldn't run.

I asked John R. Hutchinson, lead author of a paper in Nature titled " Tyrannosaurus Was Not a Fast Runner, " what a Tyrannosaurus' performance in a race would look like. "A short-distance jog is about the best we'd expect," he said. "And not with a fast start, either."

The incredibly powerful, long-legged Tyrannosaurus was slow for the same mathematical reason its demise in the mine shaft was so eruptive. Like surface area, bone strength only squares in strength as volume cubes. The result is that as an animal increases in size, it requires proportionally more muscle and leg bone to stand, move, and run. Beyond a certain size, the latter becomes physically impossible. For all its muscular bulk, the Tyrannosaurus rex's leg bones would have shattered under anything more than the stress of a brisk jog. Judging by its mass, muscle, and bones, Snively doesn't believe an adult Tyrannosaurus rex could have moved faster than 12 or 13 miles per hour. (Though 12 miles per hour approaches the top speed of a typical human, depending on conditioning-it equates to a 20-second 100 meter dash or a 5-minute mile-the T. rex's slow acceleration and inspiring teeth would give the average runner a reasonable chance of outsprinting or outmaneuvering the lumbering predator.) ¹

¹ Admittedly, there is some concerning speculation that T. rex hunted in packs, which would complicate your escape. Thankfully, the best current evidence suggests that, though they may have killed in packs like crocodiles, they did not coordinate their pursuits like wolves.

Of course, the Tyrannosaurus rex would hardly be your only concern. Numerous meat-eating dinosaurs of various sizes might take an interest in snacking on you, and whether you could outrun them again depends on their weight.

Three years ago the biologist Myriam Hirt, who studies animal movement at the German Centre for Biodiversity Research, asked a seemingly simple question: Why is it that the biggest, most powerful animals-the whales, elephants, and rhinoceroses-are not the fastest, while the smallest-the mice, minnows, and millipedes-are some of the slowest? Is the implication that there is an optimum size for speed?

The answer, Hirt found, is yes. If you were designing an animal for speed, that animal should weigh approximately 200 pounds. A bit heavier for a swimmer, and a bit lighter for a flyer.

Hirt found a precise parabolic relationship between size and speed that not only suggests you need to fear the midsize dinosaurs most but also that you shouldn't fear the largest at all. The reason, she tells me, is a result of the interplay between power, acceleration, and the metabolism that fuels both.

An animal's top speed, Hirt found, is the meeting point of two factors. The first is an animal's total muscle power, which scales proportionally to its mass. But the second is its ability to accelerate that mass, which does not scale. Acceleration is reliant on the anaerobic muscle power or stored ATP energy in the muscle fibers. These so-called fast-twitch muscles produce the rapid, powerful contractions needed for acceleration, but they quickly deplete. And their capacity is determined by metabolism.

For reasons that aren't totally understood, an animal's energy production (metabolism) decreases proportional to its mass (more precisely, it decreases to the power of 0.75). If we had the metabolism proportional to that of a mouse, we'd have to eat around 25 pounds of food per day. Instead, we eat only around four. Larger animals are thus stronger and more efficient but produce proportionally less energy to accelerate and overcome their inertia.

By creating a simple formula that represents this balance, Hirt predicted the speeds of animals based upon nothing but their weight. When she placed it on a graph alongside the measured speeds of modern animals, the result looked something like this:

Most intriguingly (at least for our purposes), Hirt's discovery enabled her to predict the speeds of the largest dinosaurs. When she plugged dinosaur weights onto her formula, this is what she found:

Thanks to the limits of metabolism and mass, we can eliminate every dinosaur over roughly 6,000 pounds as a predatory threat. There is likely no animal of that size or larger, neither today nor at any point in history, that a young, well-conditioned human couldn't outrun.

Unfortunately, there are numerous predatory threats that weigh substantially less. Hirt's discovery reveals a speed limit on the largest dinosaurs, but beneath that limit an animal's size is not the only determinate for its speed. Clearly, two species of roughly the same weight-such as, say, the human and the cheetah-can run at dramatically different speeds depending on their body design. Before you lace up your running shoes, you need to know the precise speed of your foe. You need to know if you can outrun the dinosaur in the distance or whether you're betting your life on a race against a reptilian roadrunner.

But how does one determine the precise speed of an extinct species based upon nothing but bones and a few fossilized footprints?

Fortunately, in a study published in May in PLOS One, a group of scientists led by the paleontologist Alexander Dececchi managed to estimate the speeds of 71 different dinosaurs by combining Hirt's data with an equation developed by a British zoologist named Robert Alexander. (In 1976, Alexander made the remarkable observation that every animal from ferrets to rhinos runs with a dynamically similar gait, which is an engineering term used when motions can be made the same simply by changing their scale-like swinging pendulums of different sizes. Just as you can solve for the swinging frequency of a pendulum if you know its length and angle, Alexander's discovery enabled scientists to estimate a dinosaur's running speed based on nothing but its hip height and stride length.)

Unfortunately, it's no more than a rough formula with the possibility of serious error, Hutchinson tells me. For example, Dececchi's calculations suggest that the carnivorous Albertosaurus ran 22 mph. That would give you some possibility of escape. But there's a chance it runs more like a cheetah. In which case ... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Nevertheless, Alexander's and Hirt's findings have provided intriguing insights into dinosaur behavior, athleticism, and evolution. By comparing a Tyrannosaurus' stride length, weight, and running speed, Dececchi's study revealed that the Tyrannosaurus did not evolve its long legs to increase its velocity. Its speed, they found, was already capped by its ability to accelerate. Instead, the Tyrannosaurus evolved its leggy stature to improve its walking efficiency and endurance. Their results suggest that if you traveled through time to the dinosaur age, the T. rex couldn't outsprint you, but it might stalk you like a late-Cretaceous Jason Voorhees. (Though Snively tells me it probably wouldn't, simply because a full grown Tyrannosaurus rex hunted much larger prey, like the Edmontosaurus or Triceratops.)

Dececchi's estimates make it clear, however, that other carnivorous threats would be more difficult to elude. There are too many medium-size, fast, and dangerous carnivores to make a complete compendium. However, we can use a few species as examples. If the dinosaur you see has similar body dimensions to one listed below, expect a similar athletic performance.

Dromaeosauridae (aka raptors) | Mildly concerning. ²

Albertosaurus | Concerning.

Deltadromeus | Very concerning.

² I have measured my top speed at a dead sprint (about 15 mph) and input what my level of concern would be for the corresponding dinosaurs using the formula I discuss below. I would suggest you do the same, but as a rough guide to human speed a gold medal contender in the 100-meter dash can run 27 mph, a good high school sprinter might run 22, an average person like myself could hope to reach 15 given proper motivation, and a brisk jog is around 7.

Unless you're in contention for a gold medal or are, at the very least, a fast amateur sprinter, all of these dinosaurs athletically outclass you. Yet all is not lost if one should attack. Studies of the chases between cheetah and impalas, and lions and zebras, prove a prey animal like you has a few significant advantages.

Alan Wilson, a professor at the Royal Veterinary College at the University of London who studies locomotor biomechanics, attached accelerometers to these predators and their prey to calculate their exact speed, agility, and tactics in a chase-and came away with encouraging results. His measurements suggest the cheetah is capable of running at least 53 miles per hour, while its prey the impala tops out at a mere 40. Likewise the lion can reach 46 miles per hour, while the zebra runs only 31. But despite their significant speed deficit, both the impala and the zebra successfully escape their pursuers in two out of every three pursuits. And even though the lion is faster than the impala, its capture rate is low enough that it won't even attempt to chase one in an open field. Wilson's findings suggest a pursuing dinosaur cannot catch you unless it's significantly faster.

But that's only if you know how to run. If you merely flee at top speed from these reptiles, you will exit the Mesozoic era as a coprolite. Instead, to successfully escape a more athletic pursuer, you have to run smart. You have to use tactics. And above all, you must be unpredictable.

When Wilson's accelerometer measured the speeds of impalas fleeing from cheetahs, he found that, while they are capable of a blistering 40 miles per hour, in a race for their life they almost never ran faster than 31. The explanation for this surprising result, his study concludes, is that at top speed an animal sacrifices maneuverability. Their turning angles widen at higher speeds, and thus their trajectory is far more predictable. To successfully escape a pursuing cheetah, or in this case a dinosaur, you must ensure that your pursuer cannot predict your course. That necessitates the sharp, sudden turns that you can only perform at reduced speeds.

When Wilson plugged in the athletic parameters of predator and prey into a computer model and ran simulations, he found two simple tactics those being chased must employ. First, when the dinosaur begins chasing you, change course frequently but do not decelerate. The predator's high rate of closing speed will cause late reactions and result in inefficient routes. Second, when the predator draws within two or three strides, rapidly decelerate, turn sharply, and accelerate. Time this maneuver correctly and your pursuer's faster speed will result in a wider turn and a loss of a stride or two off the pace. When it catches up, do it again.

Your goal is the same as the impala's: To buy time. You will have the endurance advantage. Recent studies like Dececchi's suggest some dinosaur species may have possessed remarkable endurance for their size-but your springy hips, stretchy Achilles tendons, and efficient cooling systems make you one of the greatest endurance runners nature has ever created. The longer the race, the greater your chances.

At some unfortunate point however, the athletic disparity breaches a certain threshold, and no amount of correctly timed turns will be enough. That will likely be the case should you find yourself against what Snively tells me would be your most dangerous purser-the same Tyrannosaurus rex we've discussed, but with one significant difference. It's not the biggest, full-grown T. rexes you should fear, says Snively. It's the juveniles.

A 14 year-old Tyrannosaurus rex. | Terrifying.

Unlike most animals, a T. rex is not at its fastest as an adult. Instead, it reaches its peak speed in its youth before being slowed by its immense bulk. At 14 it is relatively lithe at 2,000 pounds, has an estimated speed of 33 miles per hour, and already has jaws strong enough to tear through your bones. The young T. rex is more likely to attack as well, because unlike an adult, which hunted 7,000-pound duckbill dinosaurs and five-ton Triceratops, a teenage Tyrannosaurus probably ate animals of your size.

Unless you're an Olympic sprinter-in which case you may stand an impala-like chance-you may have to resort to other means of escape. You may need the luck of a small cave to squeeze into or a thick bramble in which you can dive headlong. Or you can make your own luck by running the Tyrannosaurus into a trap. Try laying a blanket of brush over a watering hole, a pit lined with stakes or, if you'd prefer an eruptive result, over a very deep mine shaft.
Illustrations by Cody Cassidy. Charts by Myriam Hirt, Cody Cassidy, Wired Staff If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more.

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If a mouse fell down a 1,000-foot mine shaft, the renowned evolutionary biologist JBS Haldane once proposed, the mouse would rise, shake the dust off itself, and scurry away. Maybe even right back up to do it again. If a rat fell from the same height, however, it would die.

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Pictures of Sun Ra often suggest chaotic hybridity: priestly futuristic costumes and sets, ancient Egypt and the planet Saturn forming a palimpsest of past and future utopias. His sound synthesized big band, swing, hard bop, reggae, Afropop, electronic music, and Walt Disney musicals. His references—expressed in his lyrics, poetry, and pamphlets—showcased this eclecticism too: Kabbalah, gnosticism, freemasonry, pan-Africanism, Zen. When he taught a course at the University of California, Berkeley in 1971, his syllabus included The Egyptian Book of the Dead; the theosophical works of Madame Blavatsky, the nineteenth-century Russian medium; Henry Dumas, a brilliant poet gunned down by New York City Transit Police in 1968. He often cited George G.M. James’s Stolen Legacy (1954), which claimed that Greek philosophy had filched its ideas from Egyptian mythology.

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Literature was born not the day when a boy crying wolf, wolf came running out of the Neanderthal valley with a big gray wolf at his heels: literature was born on the day when a boy came crying wolf, wolf and there was no wolf behind him. That the poor little fellow because he lied too often was finally eaten up by a real beast is quite incidental. But here is what is important. Between the wolf in the tall grass and the wolf in the tall story there is a shimmering go-between. That go-between, that prism, is the art of literature.

-Vladimir Nabokov

Let me tell you a story about a boy. He was born on May 22, 1914, in Birmingham, Alabama. His mother, Ida Blount, was a waitress. Her favorite performer was a vaudeville stage magician named Black Herman, who did all manner of tricks: levitation, rabbit conjure, escape. The highlight of his act was a ghastly, blasphemous miracle: he would get buried alive in "Black Herman's Private Graveyard," then be exhumed three days later to make a triumphant return to the stage. Ida admired Black Herman so much that she named her son after him.

With such a bold, phantasmagoric performer for a namesake, it's perhaps no surprise that young Herman Poole Blount became a musical prodigy. By age twelve, he was sight-reading piano music and composing his own. As a teenager, he could reproduce from memory the big-band concerts that came through Birmingham, led by greats like Duke Ellington and Fats Waller. While attending the segregated Industrial High School, Herman joined a handful of jazz and R&B bands, including one led by his biology teacher, Ethel Harper. When Harper left the group, Herman took it over and renamed it with his nickname-the Sonny Blount Orchestra-for the rest of the tour. An honor-roll student, Sonny got a scholarship in 1936 to study music education at the Alabama State Agricultural and Mechanical Institute for Negroes.

Sonny was on his way to becoming a professional musician. Then something intervened:

These space men contacted me. They wanted me to go to outer space with them.... I'd have to go up with no part of my body touching outside of the beam.... It looked like a giant spotlight shining down on me, and I call it transmolecularization, my whole body changed into something else. I could see through myself. And I went up. Now, I call that an energy transformation because I wasn't in human form. I thought I was there, but I could see through myself.

Then I landed on a planet that I identified as Saturn.... They teleported me, and I was down there on that stage with them. They wanted to talk with me. They had one little antenna on each ear. A little antenna over each eye. They talked to me. They told me to stop [attending college] because there was going to be great trouble in schools.... The world was going into complete chaos.... I would speak [through music], and the world would listen.

After this visionary experience, Sonny dropped out of college. He became obsessed with space travel and every manner of esoterica. He transformed the first floor of his family home in Alabama into a salon, where he would write, transcribe, record, and rehearse songs with local musicians and drifters passing through. A collective, a galaxy-Sonny at the center as others revolved around him-suited him well.

When he was twenty-eight, Herman Blount was drafted to serve in World War II. He declared himself a conscientious objector on medical and moral grounds. When he failed to show up for the alternate service assigned to him, he got arrested. In court, Blount, representing himself, debated the judge on points of legal and biblical interpretation. When the judge remarked that he ought to be conscripted anyhow, Blount said he'd kill the first high-ranking military officer he met. The judge put him in Walker County Jail until further disposition of his case. "I've never seen a nigger like you before," the judge said. "No," Blount replied, "and you never will again."

After thirty-nine "unhappy and bewildered...almost crazed" days in jail, Sonny appealed to be sent to a Civilian Public Service camp. He ended up in Pennsylvania, where he practiced forestry during the day and played piano at night. Psychiatrists there described him as "a psychopathic personality," prone to neurotic depression and sexual perversion, and as "a well-educated colored intellectual." After a month or so he was designated unfit for military service (he was given a "4-F" for his hernia) and sent back to Birmingham.

Two years later, Sonny headed to Chicago to reignite his musical career. He drank the Windy City down, its vibrant jazz and cabaret scenes, its Art Deco buildings and monuments, its convoluted history of Black Nationalism. Skipping from band to band, he finally formed his own. He called it the Arkestra. And on October 20, 1952, riffing on Egyptian mythology, Sonny renamed himself once more. He became Le Sony'r Ra, or Sun Ra for short. Herman Blount, he said, was a slave name.

Pictures of Sun Ra often suggest chaotic hybridity: priestly futuristic costumes and sets, ancient Egypt and the planet Saturn forming a palimpsest of past and future utopias. His sound synthesized big band, swing, hard bop, reggae, Afropop, electronic music, and Walt Disney musicals. His references-expressed in his lyrics, poetry, and pamphlets-showcased this eclecticism too: Kabbalah, gnosticism, freemasonry, pan-Africanism, Zen. When he taught a course at the University of California, Berkeley in 1971, his syllabus included The Egyptian Book of the Dead; the theosophical works of Madame Blavatsky, the nineteenth-century Russian medium; Henry Dumas, a brilliant poet gunned down by New York City Transit Police in 1968. He often cited George G.M. James's Stolen Legacy (1954), which claimed that Greek philosophy had filched its ideas from Egyptian mythology.

In Sun Ra's various writings and interviews, he always maintained that there was a metaphysical basis for what he called his "equations": non sequitur chains of koans and runes, of numerology and etymology. He had a bit of the guru's antiphony of the individual and the collective to him. Sun Ra was always gathering disciples, yet set himself apart from them. His biographer, John F. Szwed, quotes Sun Ra as saying, "I know what they're talking about, but they don't know what I'm talking about. I'm in the midst of what they're doing but they've never been in the midst of what has been impressed upon my mind." He was lone wolf and lupine leader, Anubis presiding over the vast nothing of the black world, the underworld, and outer space.

In 1974 Sun Ra cowrote, produced, and starred in a film that's often considered the origin text of what we now call Afrofuturism. The premise of Space Is the Place returns us to his interplanetary vision: Sun Ra wants to "set up a colony for black people.... We'll bring them here througheitherisotope teleportation, transmolecularization, or better still, teleport the whole planet here through music."

At one point, he sets up an Outer Space Employment Agency in Oakland, California, where he interviews Bay Area residents for the trip. Sun Ra sits behind a counter, wearing a silver helmet and a robe speckled with stars, trimmed in sparkle. A middle-aged black man approaches, wearing a trilby, a plaid jacket over a pointy collared shirt, and a necklace of beads and bones:

Drunk: My man, what's happenin?

Sun Ra: Everything is happenin.

Drunk: What is this? I mean, wh-like, uh, where am I? You know, uh, who is you?

Sun Ra: I'm everythin and nothin.

Drunk: Nothing?! Well, you better tell me about this nothin stuff cuz, uh (chuckle), I need a job. And I-and I 'on't know what to do.

Sun Ra: What have you been doing lately?

Drunk: Uh, huh, huh, huh, nothin really, nothin.

Sun Ra: How long have you been doin nothin?

Drunk: Quite some time, quite some time.

Sun Ra: You must be an expert at it.

Sun Ra: We'll hire you to do that.

Drunk: How much I get paid, man?

Drunk: Nothin?! Nothin?! But I got to have somethin so I can get me another bottle. I can't go for that shit...

The applicant's slang-"wh-like, uh, where am I? You know, uh, who is you?"-and Sun Ra's Zen-"I'm everythin and nothin"-constitute a jazzy, contrapuntal metaphysics of blackness. Twenty-six years earlier, in his essay "Harlem Is Nowhere," Ralph Ellison had found black people speaking the same richly metaphorical language: "In Harlem the reply to the greeting, 'How are you?' is very often, 'Oh man, I'm nowhere ...'"

Negro Americans are in desperate search for an identity. Rejecting the second-class status assigned them, they feel alienated and their whole lives have become a search for answers to the questions: Who am I, What am I, Why am I, and Where?

This is by now a familiar negative theology of black identity. It also lies like a vacuum, a gyre, at the core of Afrofuturism. When the scholar Mark Dery first coined that term in 1992, he grounded it in absence, wondering at the seeming lack of an Afrofuturist tradition:

Why do so few African Americans write science fiction, a genre whose close encounters with the Other-the stranger in a strange land-would seem uniquely suited to the concerns of African-American novelists?... The notion of Afrofuturism gives rise to a troubling antinomy: Can a community whose past has been deliberately rubbed out, and whose energies have subsequently been consumed by the search for legible traces of its history, imagine possible futures?

But there is a counterstrain to this nihilism in the black tradition as well: nothing can become everything, nowhere can become elsewhere. For Frantz Fanon in Black Skin, White Masks,

as soon as I desire ...I am not merely here-and-now, sealed into thingness. I am for somewhere else and for something else. I demand that notice be taken of my negating activity insofar as I pursue something other than life; insofar as I do battle for the creation of a human world.

In Space Is the Place, Sun Ra recruits black humans to accompany him to the elsewhere that is Saturn by appealing precisely to this shared ground of nonbeing. "I'm not real," he says to a group of skeptical young men and women:

I'm just like you. You don't exist in this society. If you did, your people wouldn't be seeking equal rights. You're not real. If you were, you'd have some status among the nations of the world. So, we're both myths. I do not come to you as a reality. I come to you as the myth. Because that's what black people are, myths.

Black matter itself-outer space, with all its velvety richness of the nil-becomes the source of black energy, black futures. On the one hand, Sun Ra says, "the darkness. Nobody made that. It just happens. Light and all that-someone made that; it's written that they did. But nobody made the darkness. My music is about dark tradition. Dark tradition means a lot more than black tradition." On the other, Sun Ra named himself for the sun itself, that roiling source of a light that glows and splatters and bolts out of that universal darkness.

In his poetry, he writes:

Out of nowhere they come like
embers suddenly aflame
With living reach
Spiral infinity
Being.

Yes, Out of nowhere they come
from the no point

He rocks us gently in:

A beautiful golden nest
Soft and shimmering with many
colors...
Radiant like the sun.
Yes, I have a nest;
Out in outer space on the tip of
the worlds.

He conjures with double negatives, like "Never is not," and presses upon deictics like "this":

Behold the pre-prophetic symbols of the planes of Never.
Behold, behold this thisness!
This isness.

He multiplies the negative-"doubly no"-and flips it to "on":

The on-ness reach demands it be
...rays to envelope them like a net
of kindly prisms...
They will be, they will come forward to the two-wardness of the
Intuition of the On

His jazz, too, oscillates wildly, swerving from muddle to melody, riding dissonance into harmonics, skittering between sparkling notes and abrupt silence-the syncope that makes a rhythm a rhythm. Sun Ra's art in all forms offers this challenge to black people: If we're nothing, if we're just myths, why not make that literal, why not make it material? Why not create, why not become, glittering black matter?

The photographer Ming Smith's pictures of Sun Ra from 1978 beautifully capture this energy, this philosophy. Smith started her career in the Seventies as a model, which brought her in contact with many important black cultural figures of the era, including Alvin Ailey, James Baldwin, Grace Jones, Nina Simone, and Sun Ra. In 1973 Smith became the first woman to join Kamoinge, the Harlem-based photography collective; she was the first black woman photographer ever to have works acquired by Mo MA. Smith's photography is best known for its virtuosic blurring, for a vibrational quality that the music writer Greg Tate calls a "visual trill," and for leveling foreground and background, yet delineating them through precise textural juxtaposition. She sometimes paints her photos with swirls and speckles that surface the prismatic colors within blackness, a kind of precursor to Toyin Ojih Odutola's drawings.

What we might call Smith's luxuriant, deconstructive chiaroscuro also arises from her technical innovations in lighting, shutter speed, and the relative movements of camera and subject-all of which derive from immersion, an insistence on taking pictures of black people in black spaces. As the artist Arthur Jafa puts it in a conversation that will appear with this essay in an Aperture volume on Smith's work, "the technical parameters of what she's doing are, in fact, structured by a commitment to being in those spaces that Black people occupy. The spaces that are underlit...secret spaces." The jazz club milieu amps up this aesthetic of secret spaces, jostling bodies, and high contrast. Smith was married to the jazz musician David Murray for a time and accompanied him on tour; their son Mingus is also a musician.

In Smith's many photographs of black musicians with brass instruments in underlit spaces, chiaroscuro is abstracted and intensified. This isn't black and white, but dark and shine; we're not just blending and bleeding and blurring, but shifting and shaking and shuddering. Shine stammers through degrees across the dark, leaving prismatic trails, flame-like scribbles and warps. The result is less of a glissando across absence and presence and more of a rhythm-a syncopated scatting of them. This is how Ming Smith evokes the precision, uncanniness, and joy of Sun Ra's metaphysics of bright blackness.

In her photograph Sun Ra Space II, light doesn't just outline him, it constitutes him. Sun Ra is the spotlight, a shape-shifting shimmer, yet also a monument. His suit has turned to imbricated stone, topped by the swinging shine of cape, headdress, and sunglasses-which seem literal, glasses made of sun. Their shape is echoed by the electric bulb above and inverted by the player to the right, who wears shades limned with light. A reflection casts a third eye on Sun Ra's forehead, bright and twisty-a wonky antenna or the keys of the brass instruments being played by the members of his Arkestra. They are a pale clutter of lines and shapes behind him, their round hats counterpoints to the dark circles on the wall on the left-again like an instrument, like the keyholes of a giant flute. The light is metallic, the shadows articulated-jolted, jarred. The scene is skew, backed by the grid of a ceiling glimpsed mid-fall, reminding us that Smith is there, moving. Sun Ra, too, is moving, mugging for us-semiserious, deadly dignified-as he turns, his cape the flung arm of a galaxy. But he's also somehow perfectly still, the eye of the storm, the center of the spiral.

In Sun Ra Space I, he's facing away, pure surface. We see the wingspan of his cape, the back of his head framed with textures: a scratched floor on one side, a machine-like honeycomb on the other, and a white oblong with dark windows-like a train or a façade-above. In the center of the photo, from the coarse bright orb of his headdress, Sun Ra's back rays out and down, grains of light strewn like stars, tumbling down pleated dunes. Light and dark are atomized, adrift: the moonlit sands of Egypt, a murky constellation. Seen together, the two-wardness of the photos suggests a gestalt shift, Sun Ra mid-turn, Sun Ra turned away, sheer flight, sheer energy-sheerness itself: "I could see through myself. And I went up." Smith's dyad thus conveys the lightness of Sun Ra's wit, his wonder: the trickster spins and vanishes, scatters into the air.

Jafa observes that, in many of Smith's photos, "you can't identify anybody" because she embraces "techniques that in a sense void the ability of the photograph to function as evidence." There's no doubt this is Sun Ra, though, with all the lapidary aura that beams off filmic footage of him-"the stones speak...through vibrations of beauty," Sun Ra says of Egyptian hieroglyphs in the 1980 documentary Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise. Here, Smith's vanishing quality doesn't disguise or erase him, but rather inheres in his manifest presence. We feel it in the spin, the lapping layers, the granular sheerness, the constellatory cape and spectral community. Sun Ra is there and not there, just as Smith is there and not there: "I'm everythin and nothin." Rather than relegating the negation of blackness to incoherence or pessimism, these two artists dare us to reimagine black identity-that is, human identity-from the groundless ground up, as an order of being that stutters in and out of nonbeing, that dissolves and gathers itself and others, in turn, in time.

Did Sun Ra truly believe he had once been transmolecularized to Saturn? Did he really want to save black people by sending them to outer space? Was he some kind of intergalactic Marcus Garvey, who sold tickets back to Africa but never set sail? Was he pulling an elaborate prank? Does it matter? Sun Ra never broke character, never said "it was all a joke" or "it was just a scam" or "this world has made me mad." With his strategic omissions, he turned a "nigger" into "a colored intellectual" into a god; alchemized gold out of thin air; became a tall story, a living myth, a human among humans, a kindly prism. This is what Ming Smith's dazzling dark photographs of Herman Blount, Sonny, Le Sony'r Ra, Sun Ra, disclose. He's the boy who cried wolf, he's the wolf itself, he's the shimmering go-between.

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His jazz oscillates wildly, swerving from muddle to melody, riding dissonance into harmonics, skittering between sparkling notes and abrupt silence-the syncope that makes a rhythm a rhythm. Sun Ra's art in all forms offers this challenge to black people: If we're nothing, if we're just myths, why not make that literal, why not make it material?

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These space men contacted me. They wanted me to go to outer space with them…. I’d have to go up with no part of my body touching outside of the beam…. It looked like a giant spotlight shining down on me, and I call it transmolecularization, my whole body changed into something else. I could see through myself. And I went up. Now, I call that an energy transformation because I wasn’t in human form. I thought I was there, but I could see through myself.

Then I landed on a planet that I identified as Saturn…. They teleported me, and I was down there on that stage with them. They wanted to talk with me. They had one little antenna on each ear. A little antenna over each eye. They talked to me. They told me to stop [attending college] because there was going to be great trouble in schools…. The world was going into complete chaos…. I would speak [through music], and the world would listen.

Sun Ra

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How an AI graphic designer convinced clients it was human

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How an AI graphic designer convinced clients it was human

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The AI was trained on a hand-drawn dataset of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) icons covering different themes. The system then analyzes input text about a company, such as its brand name and a description of its work, and picks out words to turn into images. The results are then modified by a range of algorithms that scale, smooth, and simplify the design, and generate different color schemes and fonts. The final output is an endless range of logo options for the client.

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Nikolay Ironov had been working as a graphic designer for more than a year before he revealed his secret.

As an employee of Art. Lebedev Studio - Russia's largest design company - Ironov had already worked on more than 20 commercial projects, creating everything from beer bottle labels to startup logos.

Credit: Art. Lebedev Studio

But Ironov was not the person he claimed to be. In fact, the designer was not a person at all.

Last month, Art. Lebedev Studio revealed the truth to its clients: their logos had been created by an AI system.

"Many of our clients were extremely happy with all this buzz in the media around the project... But what is even more interesting, is that many of them were happy with the result before they knew about Nikolay," Sergey Kulinkovich, the studio's art director, told TNW.

"And this is what this project is about. We proved that synthetic design, built by machine, can be used and loved by the client. And not only by the client but by the end brand consumers. This means that this design just works."

How Ironov works

Art. Lebedev Studio built Ironov to cover every stage of the design process, from understanding the context to creating a final logo and exporting the files for media use.

The AI was trained on a hand-drawn dataset of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) icons covering different themes. The system then analyzes input text about a company, such as its brand name and a description of its work, and picks out words to turn into images. The results are then modified by a range of algorithms that scale, smooth, and simplify the design, and generate different color schemes and fonts. The final output is an endless range of logo options for the client.

"Basically, Nikolay Ironov's brain is a combination of different design automation systems that serve different stages of the design process," said Kulinkovich. "And all these systems combined together provide users with the experience of instantly converting a client's text brief into a corporate identity design pack archive. Within seconds."
[Read: Confetti, koalas, and candles of love: Backstage at Eurovision's AI song contest]
Kulinkovich gave TNW a quick demo of the system. He first pasted "The Next Web" into one text field of the system, and our website's "About" page into another, and then set the Ironov to work. Seconds later, the AI spat out a stream of logo ideas. Here's a chunk of them:

Credit: Art. Lebedev Studio

We then told Ironov our favorite design and picked a color scheme. The system responded a complete design pack of logos splashed across business cards and signs.

Credit: Art. Lebedev Studio

Credit: Art. Lebedev Studio

Not all of its creations are masterpieces, as Kulinkovich freely admits:

We teach Nikolay how to 'draw' new things constantly and develop new visual styles, but we keep it relatively free, and we try not to limit it too much. That is why some of his works might look relatively crazy - or even ugly. It is not a problem to teach Nikolay how to create 'good-looking' logos, but we are not here for that. Our challenge is to find new things in graphic design and create really contrasting works that are really unique.

Computing creativity

Unlike its human coworkers, Ironov can work 24 hours a day, doesn't get sick, and never suffers from artistic blocks. But Kulinkovich is more interested in overcoming the limitations of human designers:

One of the main problems of design education is that with all this knowledge about how good design should look like there are also some walls that are built inside the designer's head during this education process. So the grown-up and experienced designers know how to produce good work but somewhere deep inside they are often afraid of creating something extremely new, extremely bold.

Kulinkovich doesn't want to entirely remove humans from the creative process. But he envisions them transitioning from designers to art director that choose the best option from Ironov's millions of crreations.

We asked one of TNW's own designers - the supremely talented Saïna Seedorf - what she thought of the implications. She wasn't convinced that AI could create meaningful designs for a company, as those aesthetic decisions are based on research and discussions with the client. But she did think it could play a useful role in the process.

I wouldn't say AI should be the sole creator of design - especially branding. But I do think it could be used by creatives as a tool to spark ideas and think of original solutions. You could easily create a large amount of options to choose from and refine. If anything, it will save us a lot of time and energy, while also boosting the imagination and possibilities.

Art. Lebedev Studio has more faith in its potential. The company will continue using Ironov in its everyday work, and is may develop a software as a service (SaaS) version of the system.

"But we won't stop there," said Kulinkovich. "There are tons of exciting design automation challenges in various fields. This is only a question of time when the world will see more and more real applications of automation solutions in creative industries. All this Ironov development and launch process not only provided us with precious experience and insights but also proved that we are on the right track."

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How an AI graphic designer convinced clients it was human

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Nikolay Ironov had been working as a graphic designer for more than a year before he revealed his secret. As an employee of Art. Lebedev Studio - Russia's largest design company - Ironov had already worked on more than 20 commercial projects, creating everything from beer bottle labels to startup logos.

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Le mensonge idéologique du «jour de libération fiscale»

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Le mensonge idéologique du «jour de libération fiscale»

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Temps de lecture: 3 min

Le 23 juillet, l'association Contribuables associés a célébré le " jour de libération fiscale" -autrement dit, le moment où vous commencez véritablement à travailler pour vous et non pour financer les dépenses publiques. L'Institut économique Molinari, quant à lui, le fixe cette année au 27 juillet, soit deux jours plus tôt qu'en 2017.

Avant cette date, l'État français vous prendrait l'intégralité de votre salaire. L'idée est simple, et profondément poujadiste: puisque les dépenses publiques correspondent à 56% ou 57% du PIB, il ne reste que 43% ou 44% pour nous. Étalé sur notre calendrier grégorien, ce raisonnement revient à dire que ce nous gagnons dès la fin du mois de juillet nous revient de droit, et que le reste n'est que vol de l'État.

Contribuables associés va plus loin dans son analyse anti-taxes et anti-impôts et précise que la France est en décalage par rapport à la journée moyenne de libération fiscale des autres pays de la zone euro, établie au 19 juin.

Raisonnement réducteur

Nous vivrions dans un pays où le poids de l'impôt serait extrêmement lourd et où le dictat de l'État serait inique. Mais heureusement, dès l'été, nous retrouverions notre liberté et pourrions enfin profiter pleinement de ce que nous avons gagné.

L'association Contribuables associés est connue pour ses publications libérales et teintées d'une idéologie droitière. Pourtant, ses résultats font les gros titres chaque année et certains médias n'oublient pas de mettre en avant le caractère libérateur de la fameuse date.

Le prix Nobel d'économie Milton Friedman a même appelé à faire de ce moment un jour férié, à célébrer et à fêter, au même titre que la fête nationale ou le Nouvel an. " Nous avons proposé [...] d'instituer une nouvelle fête nationale, le Jour de l'Indépendance personnelle -le jour de l'année où nous cesserions de travailler pour payer les dépenses du gouvernement et où nous commencerions à payer pour les biens que nous choisissons (individuellement ou à plusieurs) à la lumière de nos besoins et de nos désirs", avance-t-il dans La liberté du choix, paru en 1980.

Seulement, ce raisonnement est particulièrement réducteur et il oublie le rôle essentiel et primordial de l'État, garant de l'équilibre macroéconomique et producteur de capitaux indispensables à notre compétitivité, à notre renommée et à notre fraternité.

Trop souvent, la dépense publique, comme son nom l'indique, est vue comme une simple dépense, une perte qui viendrait grever les autres strates de l'économie et constituerait un coût attentatoire, dommageable à l'essor économique -une charge presque illégitime.

On ne perçoit l'intervention de l'État qu'en tant qu'opération nuisible, au service des intérêts de quelques-uns et incapable de soutenir l'ensemble des acteurs. Contribuables associés s'amuse d'ailleurs à rappeler les actions jugées peu crédibles de l'État: les rémunérations abusives d'un certain corps politique, les aides sociales absurdes, la politique de la ville...

L'impôt, un échange plutôt qu'un vol

Laissons faire le champ économique pour aboutir au meilleur des mondes possibles, concluent les tenants d'une telle doctrine. Vive le marché libre et non-faussé, bénissons la concurrence pure et parfaite, applaudissons l'ordre spontané et les intérêts particuliers.

Mais l'économie, ce n'est pas ça -et même les plus libéraux des spécialistes l'ont très bien compris. L'action de l'État est indispensable pour corriger les défaillances et trouver des solutions aux externalités négatives. Des institutions comme le FMI, l'OCDE ou la Banque mondiale, que l'on ne peut pas considérer comme les plus à gauche de l'échiquier idéologique, jugent obligatoire la présence des autorités publiques.

Il faut comprendre que le prélèvement n'est pas un vol: il s'agit d'un transfert, d'un échange, d'une source de financement. Mettre en place un impôt ne revient pas à s'accaparer l'argent des foyers français, mais tout simplement à faire payer, à un juste prix, les services et les investissements publics et les activités régaliennes.

Vous payez votre impôt sur le revenu, vos cotisations ou vos taxes, mais vous profitez gratuitement des routes, de l'école républicaine, des services de santé, des réseaux de communication, de la distribution de l'eau et de l'électricité, des organisations judiciaires, de la sécurité intérieure (police, gendarmerie, pompiers) et extérieure (armée)...

Action étatique profitable à tous

Les dépenses publiques, mécaniquement et intuitivement prises comme un coup porté à votre portefeuille, représentent aussi et surtout des investissements dans le capital humain, technologique, social, culturel et économique de notre société.

Grâce à l'impôt et à la présence d'un État fort, la France garantit un haut niveau de redistribution, un indice de développement humain très élevé et une cohésion collective viable et pérenne -et ces facteurs soutiennent considérablement la croissance et la force économique.

Dans son livre L'État Social, l'économiste Christophe Ramaux affirme que l'action de l'État est même profitable. " En comptabilisant l'ensemble des aides, des redistributions, des services publics, directs ou indirects, des investissements publics, des transferts et autres versements, le tout déduit de la dette structurelle nationale, on en arrive à un surplus de plus de 5.000€ par an et par personne. "

L'État nous rapporterait 5.000€ net chaque année, alors ne parlons pas d'une journée de libération fiscale et célébrons plutôt une année d'aide, de soutien et de solidarité.

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Le mensonge idéologique du "jour de libération fiscale"

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Temps de lecture: 3 min Le 23 juillet, l'association Contribuables associés a célébré le " jour de libération fiscale" -autrement dit, le moment où vous commencez véritablement à travailler pour vous et non pour financer les dépenses publiques. L'Institut économique Molinari, quant à lui, le fixe cette année au 27 juillet, soit deux jours plus tôt qu'en 2017.

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Tristan Tzara, de son vrai nom Samuel Rosenstock, né le 16 avril 1896 à Moinești en Roumanie, et mort le 24 décembre 1963 dans le 7e arrondissement de Paris, est un écrivain, poète et essayiste de langues roumaine et française et l'un des fondateurs du mouvement Dada dont il sera par la suite le chef de file.

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Il a participé à la naissance du mot « Dada » à Zurich et a été le plus actif propagandiste du mouvement. La légende veut que Tzara et Huelsenbeck aient glissé un papier au hasard dans un dictionnaire Larousse, qui serait tombé sur le mot Dada, donc choisi comme nom du mouvement. Huelsenbeck, autre fondateur du mouvement dada, prétend en 1922, dans son histoire du dadaïsme, que Tzara n'a jamais été dadaïste (ce qui s'explique par la rivalité qui régulièrement les opposera), tandis que certains poètes contemporains voient en Tzara le chef de file de l'art nouveau.

S'ouvre une galerie Dada, où Tzara prononce des conférences sur l'art nouveau, et notamment l'art abstrait. Il publie également quatre livraisons de la revue Dada, qui obtient rapidement une audience internationale¹⁰.

Il a écrit lui-même les premiers textes « Dada » :

La Première Aventure céleste de Mr Antipyrine (1916),

Vingt-cinq poèmes (1918),

et Sept manifestes Dada (1924), recueil de manifestes lus ou écrits entre 1916 et 1924.

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Tristan Tzara en 1932.

Œuvres principales

Tristan Tzara, de son vrai nom Samuel Rosenstock, né le à Moinești en Roumanie, et mort le dans le arrondissement de Paris, est un écrivain, poète et essayiste de langues roumaine et française et l'un des fondateurs du mouvement Dada dont il sera par la suite le chef de file.

Biographie

Jeunesse et adolescence à Bucarest

La famille Rosenstock fait partie des 800 000 personnes juives recensées à qui le code civil en vigueur à l'époque refuse la citoyenneté roumaine. Élevé dans une certaine aisance matérielle grâce à son père qui est cadre dans une société d'exploitation pétrolière, Samuel connaît une enfance et une adolescence sans histoires. Il suit un cours sur la culture française dans un institut privé, s'éveille à la littérature au lycée Saint-Sava et s'inscrit en section scientifique pour le certificat de fin d'études au lycée Mihai-Viteazul. C'est un bon élève et ses professeurs notent son ouverture d'esprit et sa curiosité intellectuelle infatigable.

La littérature roumaine du début du siècle est fortement influencée par le symbolisme français. La revue Literatorul d' Alexandru Macedonski, tout en proposant des poèmes de Charles Baudelaire, René Ghil, Maurice Maeterlinck ou Stéphane Mallarmé, n'en combat pas moins la tradition romantique. Avec son camarade de lycée Marcel Janco, Samuel crée, en 1912, sa première revue, Simbolul, qui transpose en roumain les acquis du symbolisme, notamment de Maeterlinck, Laforgue et Verhaeren. Il s'imagine en " ange noir du symbolisme triomphant ". Il y publie l'un de ses premiers poèmes, Sur la rivière de la vie.

En 1915, il adopte le pseudonyme de Tristan Tzara : Tristan en référence au héros de l'opéra de Richard Wagner, Tristan et Isolde, et Tzara parce que cela se prononce comme le mot roumain ţara qui signifie " terre " ou " pays ". Le nom entier se lit comme le roumain "trist în ţara", "triste dans le pays [natal]"

Tristan Tzara ne déteste pas " choquer le bourgeois ". Il fait paraître dans diverses revues des poèmes comme Les Faubourgs, où il évoque l'" ouragan dévastateur de la folie ", ou bien Doute, qui insiste sur le rôle du hasard dans la création poétique : " J'ai sorti mon vieux rêve de sa boîte, comme tu prends un chapeau / Le sommeil est un jardin entouré de doutes / On en distingue pas la vérité du mensonge. "

Il se passionne pour l'œuvre d'" une sorte de Arthur Rimbaud, fait des Galgenlieder ( Les Chants du gibet) de Christian Morgenstern son livre de chevet, tandis que le Bucarest intellectuel résonne des " pages bizarres " d'un certain Urmuz ( alias Demetru Demetrescu Buzau), dont Eugène Ionesco dira qu'il était Kafka plus mécanique, plus grotesque, précurseur de la révolte littéraire universelle, un des prophètes de la dislocation des formes sociales de pensée et de langage ".

Ayant obtenu son certificat de fin d'études, Tzara s'inscrit à l' université de Bucarest en mathématiques et philosophie (). Son ami Janco s'inscrit en polytechnique.

Arrivée à Zurich

L'atmosphère provinciale de Bucarest ennuie Tzara qui rêve de partir. Contre l'avis de son père, mais encouragé par Janco qui le presse de le rejoindre à Zurich, il quitte la Roumanie pour la Suisse, pays neutre accueillant la jeunesse d'Europe refusant la guerre. Il s'inscrit à l'université en classe de philosophie. Mais l'ennui le gagne à nouveau : " les sensations de bien-être devinrent rares et tous les plaisirs étaient catalogués : les excursions, les cafés, les amis... " Il faut l'enthousiasme contagieux de Janco pour l'empêcher de retourner à Bucarest.

Tzara rencontre l'Allemand Hugo Ball accompagné de sa femme Emmy Hennings, danseuse et chanteuse. Il se présente comme un révolutionnaire professionnel, disciple de Mikhaïl Bakounine, ayant quitté l'Allemagne pour cause d'incitations à l'émeute. Convaincu qu'en Suisse il trouverait quelques jeunes gens comme lui avec la volonté de " jouir de leur indépendance ", Ball confie à Tzara son projet d'ouvrir un lieu où se rassembleraient toutes les dissidences. Le , paraît dans la presse zurichoise un communiqué annonçant la création d'un " centre de divertissement artistique " qui s'adresse à tout le monde sauf aux " petites mondanités de l'avant-garde ". Le rendez-vous est fixé dans une taverne de la Spiegelstrasse pour des soirées quotidiennes.

Le Cabaret Voltaire

Le , Ball, Hennings, Richard Huelsenbeck, Tzara et les peintres Jean Arp, Janco et Sophie Taeuber inaugurent le Cabaret Voltaire situé dans la Spielgasse et transforment l'endroit en café littéraire et artistique dont les murs sont couverts de tableaux créant une ambiance à la fois intime et oppressante. Le succès est immédiat.

Tzara : " Chaque soir, on chante, on récite - le peuple - l'art nouveau le plus grand au peuple - [...] balalaïka, soirée russe, soirée française - des personnages édition unique apparaissent récitent ou se suicident, va et vient, la joie du peuple, cris ; le mélange cosmopolite de dire et de BORDEL, le cristal et la plus grosse femme "sous les ponts de Paris". "

" Jean Arp : Janco a évoqué et fixé Le Cabaret sur la toile de l'un de ses tableaux. Dans un local bariolé et surpeuplé se tiennent sur une estrade quelques personnages fantastiques qui sont censés représenter Tzara, Janco, Ball, Huelsenbeck, Hennings et votre serviteur. Nous sommes en train de mener un grand sabbat. Les gens autour de nous crient, rient et gesticulent. "

Hugo Ball : " Nous sommes tellement pris de vitesse par les attentes du public que toutes nos forces créatives et intellectuelles sont mobilisées. [...] Aussi longtemps que toute la ville ne sera pas soulevée par le ravissement, Le Cabaret n'aura pas atteint son but. " ,

Naissance du mouvement Dada

Il a participé à la naissance du mot " Dada " à Zurich et a été le plus actif propagandiste du mouvement. La légende veut que Tzara et Huelsenbeck aient glissé un papier au hasard dans un dictionnaire Larousse, qui serait tombé sur le mot Dada, donc choisi comme nom du mouvement. Huelsenbeck, autre fondateur du mouvement dada, prétend en 1922, dans son histoire du dadaïsme, que Tzara n'a jamais été dadaïste (ce qui s'explique par la rivalité qui régulièrement les opposera), tandis que certains poètes contemporains voient en Tzara le chef de file de l'art nouveau.

S'ouvre une galerie Dada, où Tzara prononce des conférences sur l'art nouveau, et notamment l' art abstrait. Il publie également quatre livraisons de la revue Dada, qui obtient rapidement une audience internationale.

Il a écrit lui-même les premiers textes " Dada " :

La Première Aventure céleste de Mr Antipyrine (1916),

et Sept manifestes Dada (1924), recueil de manifestes lus ou écrits entre 1916 et 1924.

André Breton, Philippe Soupault et Louis Aragon sont enchantés par les poèmes de Tzara, qu'ils ont lus à Paris dans les revues et Nord-Sud, mais aussi dans les revues Dada. Ils entrent en correspondance. En 1915, le peintre Francis Picabia vient en Suisse pour soigner une dépression nerveuse : Tzara et lui se lient d'amitié et entrent également en correspondance. Durant ce séjour, il rencontre également Émile Malespine avec lequel il correspond et Tzara participe à la rédaction de la revue lyonnaise Manomètre. C'est en 1920 que Tzara débarque inopinément à Paris, dans l'appartement de Picabia, dont la maîtresse vient d'accoucher. La légende veut que Tzara ait calmé le nouveau-né en lui faisant répéter " Dada, dada, dada ". André Breton et ses deux acolytes ne tardent pas à venir sonner à la maison, et sont surpris de voir, à la place du nouveau Rimbaud qu'ils avaient escompté, un petit bonhomme frêle roulant encore les r, mais ils s'habituent vite à son rire sonore et éclatant.

Par la suite, ils se lancent tous ensemble dans une grande variété d'activités destinées à choquer le public et à détruire les structures traditionnelles du langage. Tzara ne participera pas aux débuts du surréalisme, restant dans les premières années sur ses acquis dadaïstes, mais rejoindra le groupe plus tard.

Tristan Tzara a été marié à l'artiste et poète suédoise Greta Knutson (1899-1983) de 1925 à 1942. Le couple a eu un fils, Christophe, né le .

Par la suite, Tzara a longtemps tenté de réconcilier surréalisme et communisme (il a même adhéré au parti communiste en 1936, avant de rejoindre la Résistance pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale).

C'est de cette période que date son intérêt pour la langue d'oc et, après la guerre, Tristan Tzara participera aux côtés de Jean Cassou et de Max Rouquette à la fondation de l' Institut d'études occitanes

Il meurt le à son domicile du arrondissement de Paris et est inhumé au cimetière du Montparnasse ( division).

Correspondance avec André Breton et Francis Picabia 1919-1924, présentée et éditée par Henri Béhar, Paris, Gallimard, 2017.

Claude Ballif : 1951-1977 Minuit pour les géants op. 4 (revue en 1977), pour mezzo-soprano (ou baryton) & piano ; poème de Tristan Tzara.

Notes et références

Sur les autres projets Wikimedia :

René Lacôte, Tristan Tzara, coll. Poètes d'aujourd'hui no 32, Éditions Seghers, 1952

Robert Lafont et Cristian Anatole, Nouvelle histoire de la littérature occitane, Paris, P.U.F., .

Marc Dachy , Journal du mouvement dada, Genève, Skira, .

Marc Dachy , Tristan Tzara, dompteur des acrobates, Paris, L'Échoppe, .

Henri Béhar, Introduction au recueil Dada est tatou. Tout est dada., Paris, Flammarion, .

François Buot , Tristan Tzara, Paris, Grasset, .

Henri Béhar, Tristan Tzara, Paris, Oxus, coll. " Les Roumains de Paris ", 2005 (isbn 2-84898-048-6 ).

Christian Nicaise, Tristan Tzara : les livres, Rouen, L'Instant perpétuel, 2005 (isbn 2-905598-90-5 ).

Laurent Lebon, Dada, catalogue de l'exposition présentée au centre Pompidou du 5 octobre 2005 au 9 janvier 2006, Paris, éditions du Centre Georges Pompidou, .

Petre Răileanu, Les avant-gardes en Roumanie. La charrette et le cheval-vapeur, Paris, éditions Non Lieu, 2018, 220 p., 200 illustrations couleurs.

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Tristan Tzara en 1932. Œuvres principales Tristan Tzara, de son vrai nom Samuel Rosenstock, né le à Moinești en Roumanie, et mort le dans le arrondissement de Paris, est un écrivain, poète et essayiste de langues roumaine et française et l'un des fondateurs du mouvement Dada dont il sera par la suite le chef de file.

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Le jour de libération fiscale est le premier jour de l'année à partir duquel les contribuables d'un pays ont accumulé suffisamment d'argent pour pouvoir payer les prélèvements obligatoires dont ils sont débiteurs. C'est une illustration simplifiée du taux moyen d'imposition

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Le jour de libération fiscale est le premier jour de l'année à partir duquel les contribuables d'un pays ont accumulé suffisamment d'argent pour pouvoir payer les prélèvements obligatoires dont ils sont débiteurs. C'est une illustration simplifiée du taux moyen d'imposition.

Historique

Ce concept a été développé par l' homme d'affaires américain Dallas Hostetler en 1948. Il l'a d'ailleurs protégé par copyright. Dallas Hostetler a calculé le jour de libération fiscale (en anglais américain Tax Freedom Day) des États-Unis d'Amérique durant les 2 décennies suivantes. En 1971, Hostetler a transféré le bénéfice de son copyright de son concept à la Tax Foundation, qui le calcule depuis chaque année en ce qui concerne les États-Unis, l'utilisant comme un outil permettant de mettre en relief la proportion du produit national brut utilisée pour financer les programmes du gouvernement.

L'économiste Milton Friedman l'a repris en 1980 dans Free to Choose, ouvrage dans lequel il déclare : " Nous avons proposé ailleurs d'instituer une nouvelle fête nationale, le Jour de l'Indépendance personnelle - le jour de l'année où nous cesserions de travailler pour payer les dépenses du gouvernement et où nous commencerions à payer pour les biens que nous choisissons (individuellement ou à plusieurs) à la lumière de nos besoins et de nos désirs. "

Depuis 1990, la Tax Foundation calcule le jour de libération fiscale pour chaque pays. Cet outil s'est de différentes façons répandu et d'autres organismes, qui se proposent généralement de lutter contre l'accroissement de la pression fiscale des ménages, le déterminent.

Ce concept fait l'objet de critiques, notamment sur la rigueur de la méthodologie utilisée pour le déterminer.

Jour de libération fiscale dans le monde

En ce qui concerne le Canada, l' Institut Fraser a aussi intégré un " calculateur de jour de libération fiscale personnel " qui estime de façon personnalisée le jour de libération fiscale basée sur des variables additionnelles, comme l'âge ou le sexe du chef de famille, son statut matrimonial et le nombre d'enfants. Cependant, les calculs de l'Institut Fraser ont fait l'objet d'une controverse. Par exemple, une étude en 2002 par le professeur Neil Brooks de l'Osgoode Hall Law School désapprouve l'analyse de l'institut canadien, qui aurait des failles, notamment l'exclusion de plusieurs formes de revenus des particuliers et en rendant supérieure les taux d'imposition. Finalement, le jour de libération fiscale aurait été retardé de presque deux mois.

En France, le jour de libération fiscale a été introduit par l'association libérale Contribuables associés. Selon cette association, cette date correspond au jour " à partir duquel les Français cessent de travailler uniquement pour financer les dépenses de la sphère publique et commencent enfin à profiter du fruit de leurs efforts ". Pour aboutir à ce résultat l'association se base sur les chiffres de l'OCDE de l'importance de la dépense publique dans le PIB. C'est donc un indicateur du niveau de dépenses publiques plutôt que du niveau de prélèvements obligatoires.

Selon l' administration fédérale des contributions, le jour de libération fiscale est calculé en divisant par 365 l'ensemble des impôts directs des personnes physiques. Les impôts sont déterminés à partir de la statistique 2011. Selon Avenir Suisse, pour l'année 2015 il se situerait au et au commencement des années 1990 il se serait situé au début avril.

Union européenne

L' Institut économique Molinari publie chaque année depuis 2010 un jour construit sur des bases différentes dans chaque pays d'Europe. Le calcul intègre les cotisations sociales, l'impôt sur le revenu et la TVA pour un salarié moyen célibataire de chacun des pays de l'Union européenne. Il mesure le jour à partir duquel les salariés moyens sont libres d'utiliser, comme ils veulent, leur salaire net de charges et d'impôts.

Une mesure du niveau de liberté des individus par rapport aux pouvoirs publics

Le jour de libération fiscale est un élément de comparaison objectif et simple du poids fiscal sur les ménages et vise par là-même à mesurer le niveau de liberté des individus par rapport aux pouvoirs publics. Dans sa conception, il pose comme axiome que les dépenses publiques sont par nature non-librement consenties alors que les dépenses privées, dans un état libéral, le sont. Cependant, même dans cette optique, la mesure souffre de différents problèmes:

Les dépenses contraintes ordonnées par la loi mais effectuées auprès d'organismes privés dans le cadre d'un marché libéral ne sont pas prises en compte. Elles ne peuvent pourtant être qualifiées de librement consenties. On pourra citer par exemple: Le Contrôle technique des véhicules automobiles en France, l'assurance maladie obligatoire en Suisse LAMal, etc.

Les transferts monétaires (allocations familiales, allocations chômages, etc.) ne sont pas non plus pris en compte. Ils constituent certes une redistribution non consentie, mais la dépense est ensuite effectuée de manière librement consentie par l'individu receveur et ne constitue donc pas pleinement une dépense publique d'un point de vue libéral. Par exemple, en France, en 2003, le quintile le plus pauvre de la population a vu son revenu disponible passer de 7 510 euros à 10 080 euros après transferts sociaux monétaires et paiements des taxes et des impôts (http://www.insee.fr/fr/themes/document.asp?ref_id=ip1264).

Point de vue critique sur la mesure

Par ailleurs, la mesure ne distinguant pas les dépenses sous forme de transfert monétaire, même des mesures portées par certains libéraux, tels que les chèques éducation ou l'impôt négatif, seraient négatives du point de vue du jour de " libération fiscale ".

De plus, la mesure ne tient aucun compte du niveau de services fournis par les pouvoirs publics avec le produit des impôts ni de l'efficience du service rendu, services que l'individu devrait demander à des prestataires privés s'ils n'étaient pas financés par l'impôt. Ceci n'est pas un problème pour le concepteur de la mesure qui était simplement intéressé par l'opposition dépense privée - dépense publique, mais le serait dans l'interprétation populaire. Une étude de l' INSEE montre qu'après transferts sociaux en nature et monétaires, le revenu disponible brut ajusté (RDBA) est majoré pour les 3 premiers quintiles, stables pour le quintile 4 et minoré pour le quintile 5 uniquement. Dans cette optique, une baisse des prélèvements constituerait de facto une augmentation du poids des dépenses contraintes pour au moins 60 % de la population. Les libéraux opposent à cette interprétation l'inefficience des dépenses publiques dans des marchés non-concurrentiels (écoles, hôpitaux publics, etc.).

Notes et références

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Le jour de libération fiscale est le premier jour de l'année à partir duquel les contribuables d'un pays ont accumulé suffisamment d'argent pour pouvoir payer les prélèvements obligatoires dont ils sont débiteurs. C'est une illustration simplifiée du taux moyen d'imposition. Ce concept a été développé par l' homme d'affaires américain Dallas Hostetler en 1948.

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The Adventures of Willy Beamish (Sega CD) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

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Handwriting specialists claim fellas who sign a lowercase 'y' with long, wide loops have strong sex drives and a lot of imagination and creativity.

And the same can be said for men who sign off their 'ys' with a flourish...

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«  Les Huit  » (en hongrois Nyolcak) est un groupe d'artistes d’avant-garde hongrois fondé à Budapest en 1909 et regroupant les peintres Róbert Berény, Dezső Czigány, Béla Czóbel (1883-1976), Károly Kernstok, Ödön Márffy (1878-1959), Dezső Orbán, Bertalan Pór et Lajos Tihanyi. Il n'a adopté définitivement ce nom qu'en 1911.

Inspiré par l'œuvre de Paul Cézanne et le Fauvisme, ce groupe d'artistes est le premier, en Hongrie, à se démarquer de tout académisme. En 1911, les « Huit » ont été rejoints par les sculpteurs Vilmos Fémes Beck et Márk Vedres et l'écrivaine et graphiste Anna Lesznai.

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" Les Huit " (en hongrois Nyolcak) est un groupe d'artistes d' avant-garde hongrois fondé à Budapest en 1909 et regroupant les peintres Róbert Berény, Dezső Czigány, Béla Czóbel (1883-1976), Károly Kernstok, Ödön Márffy (1878-1959), Dezső Orbán, Bertalan Pór et Lajos Tihanyi. Il n'a adopté définitivement ce nom qu'en 1911.

Inspiré par l'œuvre de Paul Cézanne et le Fauvisme, ce groupe d'artistes est le premier, en Hongrie, à se démarquer de tout académisme. En 1911, les " Huit " ont été rejoints par les sculpteurs Vilmos Fémes Beck et Márk Vedres et l'écrivaine et graphiste Anna Lesznai.

Préhistoire du groupe et itinéraires biographiques

La première école de dessin de Budapest s'ouvre en 1871. Auparavant, les jeunes artistes devaient quitter la Hongrie pour étudier. Tandis qu'en France les Nabis accueillent parmi eux le peintre hongrois József Rippl-Rónai, en Hongrie naît l'idée de créer une académie qui encouragerait l'art national. On confie l'idée de ce projet au peintre Simon Hollósy (1857-1918) qui anime un atelier à Munich. Souhaitant créer un art moderne national par une peinture de plein air, il ouvre la colonie de peintres de Nagybánya (aujourd'hui Baia Mare, en Roumanie). S'inspirant des impressionnistes, Hollósy axe son enseignement sur la représentation objective des impressions de la nature, l'usage des couleurs claires et intenses, sans abandonner la tradition de la peinture de plein air dans le rendu des tons et des reflets.

Au début des années 1900, les salles d'exposition de Budapest présentent, avec succès, les peintres français contemporains Edgar Degas, Édouard Manet, Paul Signac... Si bien que l'un des premiers professeurs de l'école de Nagybánya, István Réti, inventera un programme à l'attention des jeunes artistes : " ... aller chaque hiver à Paris, même si on doit vivre dans la misère, étudier et voir là-bas, puis en été peindre à Nagybánya, en automne exposer à Budapest et vendre aussi. "

Berény, Czobel et d'autres jeunes peintres hongrois fréquentent ainsi les académies parisiennes Julian, Colarossi et Matisse (dans les années 1908-1910 pour cette dernière). Ils visitent les musées, celui du Luxembourg, où sont exposés les impressionnistes et les galeries, notamment Durand-Ruel et Vollard où ils découvrent les œuvres de Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat ou encore Vincent van Gogh. Leurs œuvres apparaissent une toute première fois au Salon d'automne de 1905, à côté de la salle que l'on a réservée à des tableaux aux couleurs vives et que le journaliste Louis Vauxcelles appelle par dérision les " Fauves ".

Une première exposition nationale intitulée " Œuvres nouvelles ( Uj képek) " est inaugurée à Budapest le au Salon " Könyves Kálmán ". Une deuxième exposition est organisée en au Salon National. Intitulée " Les Huit " (" Nyolcak "), elle donne le nom définitif au groupe. Une troisième exposition, qui sera la dernière, a lieu en . Ces expositions sont accompagnées de conférences et d'événements culturels intégrant la nouvelle littérature hongroise et la musique contemporaine.

Le déclenchement de la Première Guerre mondiale interrompt les activités du groupe. Au cours de celle-ci, Ödön Márffy, ayant le grade d'officier, dirige l'école des plasticiens militaires autonomes où servent notamment, en tant que peintres militaires, deux autres membres des "Huit" : Róbert Berény et Bertalan Pór.

Dans la période éphémère de la République des conseils de Hongrie, la plupart de membres du groupe sont politiquement actifs mais après la chute du régime communiste de Béla Kun, ils doivent émigrer. Après quelques années Berény, Czigány, Kernstok, Márffy se retrouvent au sein du " " (Acronyme de " Képzőművészek Új Társasága ", littéralement " Nouvelle société des artistes "), fondé à Budapest en 1924 et dont Márffy devient le président en 1927.

De son côté, Czóbel, qui vivait continuellement à l'étranger, travaille pendant la guerre aux Pays-Bas puis il part pour Berlin, où il se lie au groupe " ". En 1925, il retourne à Paris, avant de s'installer à Szentendre (Hongrie) en 1940.

Tihanyi, travaillant lui aussi à Berlin, Paris et New York, rejoint le groupe " Abstraction-Création " en 1933Tandis qu'Orbán quitte l'Europe pour l'Australie où il dirige l'École libre des Beaux Arts à Sydney.

Après la Seconde Guerre mondiale, Márffy et Czóbel rejoignent le groupe l'Ecole européenne formée en 1945 par des artistes de la nouvelle génération avant-gardiste hongroise.

Héritage et influence

À un siècle de distance, le groupe apparaît comme l'un des plus novateurs dans différents domaines de la vie culturelle hongroise de l'époque et si, en tant que groupe indépendant, les Huit n'organisèrent pas plus que trois expositions, l'influence de l'activité de ces artistes reste cependant remarquable sur l'art hongrois moderne.

Tout au long de sa vie, Márffy était fier de se revendiquer de cette parenté spirituelle. Un an avant sa mort, il déclarait encore dans un entretien :

" Je me réjouis à la pensée que ma jeunesse était contemporaine de l'époque du dynamisme spirituel durant lequel non seulement dans le reste de l'Europe, mais aussi chez nous, nombre de ceux en quête de modernité étaient portés par le courant révolutionnaire présent dans les domaines de la littérature, de la musique, de la peinture, de la science, de la politique ainsi que dans la vie sociale. Ce n'est pas le fruit du hasard si le poète Endre Ady écrit à cette époque ses " nouvelles chansons des nouveaux temps ", si Béla Bartók compose ses premiers accords, si les intellectuels progressistes hongrois se rassemblent autour des revues Nyugat (" Occident ") et et qu'apparaît le groupe artistique des Nyolcak.

Bibliographie

Krisztina Passuth " Les Avant-Gardes de l'Europe Centrale 1907-1927 ", Paris, 1988 .

Sophie Barthélemy, Joséphine Matamoros, Dominique Szymusiak et Krisztina Passuth " Fauves Hongrois. (1904-1914) ", Éd. Adam Biro, Paris 2008, .

Suzanne Pagé (sous la direction de) " Le Fauvisme ou l'épreuve du feu ", Éditions des musées de la Ville de Paris, 1999, chapitre " Budapest : 1906-1911 " par Mariann Gergely, pages 326-335, .

István Réti " A Nagyányai mûvésztelep (La Colonie d'artistes de Nagybánya) ", Budapest, 1954.

(de) Gergely Barki, Evelyn Benesch, Zoltán Rockenbauer: Die Acht. Ungarns Highway in die Moderne. Wien, Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2012.

(de) Gergely Barki, Zoltán Rockenbauer: Die Acht - Der Akt." Ausstellungskatalog. Budapest, Balassi Institut, 2012. p. 112.

(en) S. A. Mansbach : Confrontation and Accommodation in the Hungarian Avant-Garde in From Leningrad to Ljubljana: The Suppressed Avant-Gardes of East-Central and Eastern Europe during the Early Twentieth Century, Art Journal, Vol. 49, No. 1, pp 9-20, Printemps 1990.

(en) Collectif (sous la direction de S. A. Mansbach, éditeur) : Standing in the Tempest: Painters of the Hungarian Avant-Garde 1908-1930, The MIT Press, 1991 .

Notes et références

Liens externes

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" Les Huit " (en hongrois Nyolcak) est un groupe d'artistes d' avant-garde hongrois fondé à Budapest en 1909 et regroupant les peintres Róbert Berény, Dezső Czigány, Béla Czóbel (1883-1976), Károly Kernstok, Ödön Márffy (1878-1959), Dezső Orbán, Bertalan Pór et Lajos Tihanyi. Il n'a adopté définitivement ce nom qu'en 1911.

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Tihanyi / Tzara

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Portrait of Tristan Tzara

In this raw and graceful testimony of intersectional womanhood, a trans girl has to care for her Italian grandmother. She assumes that her Nonna disapproves of her - but instead discovers a tender bond in their shared vulnerability.

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Portrait of Tristan Tzara, 1927 - Lajos Tihanyi - WikiArt.org

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Portrait of Tristan Tzara In this raw and graceful testimony of intersectional womanhood, a trans girl has to care for her Italian grandmother. She assumes that her Nonna disapproves of her - but instead discovers a tender bond in their shared vulnerability.

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•Si T'es MOCHE:
"Théorie de l'Association Positive Implicite"
(implicit-association test abrégé IAT)

•Si T'es NORMAL:
"Effet Freezing" (arrêt sur image dans
nouvelle technologie montre micromouv)

•Si t'es BEAU:
"Dysmorphophobie" ou Mécontentement Normatif

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La non-photogénie | Tu mourras moins bête | ARTE