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Celerity
Celerity's Journal
Celerity's Journal
December 6, 2022
Politicians are unable to connect with most Americans because they don’t experience economic anxiety on a regular basis.
https://theliberalpatriot.substack.com/p/more-emotions-fewer-statistics
The federal government publishes a wondrous array of economic statistics on everything from manufacturing and construction starts to international trade and foreign investment to residential sales and retail purchases. The business and financial worlds pump out reams of fascinating tables and charts highlighting trends in income, spending, energy consumption, commodities, and global trade flows. Individual companies present their own rigorous data on employment, sales, investments, and market share. All this information helps businesses make better decisions about where to invest their money, how many people to hire, and how to take advantage of emerging market trends and watch out for new threats on the horizon.
But to average Americans, few if any of these economic indicators matter much in their daily lives. Economic statistics are the domain of the well-to-do and economically secure. For the bulk of Americans, only two questions really count: “Will I have a job next month and can I pay my bills today?” If you want to understand why the public mood is so sour on the economy—despite America’s relatively strong overall economy post-pandemic—answers to these two questions provide an explanation.
Americans may not have advanced statistical knowledge, but they aren’t dumb about the economy. At least one-third of Americans are experiencing the painful pinch of 40-year high inflation and rising interest rates to combat it. Now they are hearing talk about a coming recession that may lead to job losses and reduced income. Understandably, people are nervous—for themselves, for their families, for their friends. Middle-class life in America is not very stable. It’s massively expensive for individuals and families to stay afloat. Personal assets are not that deep and personal debt remains quite high for many people. Only those with relatively high incomes can handle rising living costs without serious discomfort and expect to have some money left over for savings, a new venture, or something fun.
“Will I have a job next month? Don’t really know. Hope so. But it’s out of my control. Can I pay my bills today? No. Barely. Maybe, if I cut way back.” Economic anxiety is the predominant emotion in American life today. But the government has no real understanding of its dimensions and how it affects larger economic activity and decisions. Public officials need a better way to assess these sentiments in the day-to-day running of the government and its economic policy. To start, political leaders should drop the speeches and press releases based on monthly economic statistics and empathize a little more with people’s genuine fears and desires about the economy as experienced by actual workers in different parts of the country. No, this doesn’t mean another White House gathering of “regular Americans” (i.e: people handpicked by activists) backing up another boring speech on its economic plans.
snip
More Emotions, Fewer Statistics
Politicians are unable to connect with most Americans because they don’t experience economic anxiety on a regular basis.
https://theliberalpatriot.substack.com/p/more-emotions-fewer-statistics
The federal government publishes a wondrous array of economic statistics on everything from manufacturing and construction starts to international trade and foreign investment to residential sales and retail purchases. The business and financial worlds pump out reams of fascinating tables and charts highlighting trends in income, spending, energy consumption, commodities, and global trade flows. Individual companies present their own rigorous data on employment, sales, investments, and market share. All this information helps businesses make better decisions about where to invest their money, how many people to hire, and how to take advantage of emerging market trends and watch out for new threats on the horizon.
But to average Americans, few if any of these economic indicators matter much in their daily lives. Economic statistics are the domain of the well-to-do and economically secure. For the bulk of Americans, only two questions really count: “Will I have a job next month and can I pay my bills today?” If you want to understand why the public mood is so sour on the economy—despite America’s relatively strong overall economy post-pandemic—answers to these two questions provide an explanation.
Americans may not have advanced statistical knowledge, but they aren’t dumb about the economy. At least one-third of Americans are experiencing the painful pinch of 40-year high inflation and rising interest rates to combat it. Now they are hearing talk about a coming recession that may lead to job losses and reduced income. Understandably, people are nervous—for themselves, for their families, for their friends. Middle-class life in America is not very stable. It’s massively expensive for individuals and families to stay afloat. Personal assets are not that deep and personal debt remains quite high for many people. Only those with relatively high incomes can handle rising living costs without serious discomfort and expect to have some money left over for savings, a new venture, or something fun.
“Will I have a job next month? Don’t really know. Hope so. But it’s out of my control. Can I pay my bills today? No. Barely. Maybe, if I cut way back.” Economic anxiety is the predominant emotion in American life today. But the government has no real understanding of its dimensions and how it affects larger economic activity and decisions. Public officials need a better way to assess these sentiments in the day-to-day running of the government and its economic policy. To start, political leaders should drop the speeches and press releases based on monthly economic statistics and empathize a little more with people’s genuine fears and desires about the economy as experienced by actual workers in different parts of the country. No, this doesn’t mean another White House gathering of “regular Americans” (i.e: people handpicked by activists) backing up another boring speech on its economic plans.
snip
December 5, 2022
Label: Boxed – GU013CDX
Series: Global Underground Series – 013
Format:
2 x CD, Limited Edition, Mixed
Country: UK
Released: 28 Sept 1999
Genre: Electronic
Style: Progressive House, Progressive Trance, Breaks
Sasha - Global Underground 013: Ibiza (CD 1 & 2) Released 28 September 1999
Global Underground 013: Sasha, Ibiza is a DJ mix album in the Global Underground series, compiled and mixed by Sasha. In a 2019 poll conducted on Global Underground’s website, the album was voted the best in the series.Label: Boxed – GU013CDX
Series: Global Underground Series – 013
Format:
2 x CD, Limited Edition, Mixed
Country: UK
Released: 28 Sept 1999
Genre: Electronic
Style: Progressive House, Progressive Trance, Breaks
December 4, 2022
https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2022/1129/Cities-are-killing-birds.-Activists-and-architects-have-solutions
The bird lies on its side, a clump of feathers no bigger than a crumpled leaf. It’s just a dark speck on the concrete, with massive glass and steel skyscrapers rising above it in the pre-dawn light. Annette Prince sees it at once. She hurries over and lifts it gently in her right hand. It has a slender bill, a tuft of yellow on its rump, and dark eyes that show no glimmer of life. A yellow-rumped warbler, bound for the warmth of the Caribbean or the American South, has met its end in Chicago’s Loop. She stuffs it into a plastic bag and writes down the date and address. Then she moves on.
“Sometimes, you come downtown and there are birds everywhere,” says Ms. Prince, a volunteer who has monitored bird collisions for two decades. “It’s not quite like that yet.” In the contest between birds and cities, the cities are winning. Scientists estimate that, on average, at least a million birds die in collisions with buildings each day in the United States – and as many as a billion a year. Most perish during the spring and fall migrations in which vast numbers journey up and down the continent, flying mainly at night. City lights attract and disorient them, and many end up crashing into windows, not just the sides of gleaming office towers but suburban patio doors as well.
As director of the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, Annette Prince is intimately familiar with the toll taken on migratory birds in her city. She has been monitoring bird collisions with Chicago's glass buildings for two decades. "Sometimes you come downtown and there are birds everywhere," she says.
The problem, then, is twofold: lights and glass. The light from ever-expanding cities is disrupting the movement of creatures that evolved to migrate in the dark, using the stars and the Earth’s magnetism as their guides. And the modern architectural penchant for glass has proved deadly for them.
Most glass is invisible to birds, appearing either as clear air to fly through or as a reflection of the trees and sky behind them. There are growing efforts to make cities safer for birds. The National Audubon Society’s Lights Out programs, in which owners and managers agree to switch off exterior lights during migration, have spread to 45 U.S. cities. Architects and developers are learning how to make buildings bird-friendly by using specially treated glass that birds can see. Grassroots activists like Ms. Prince are monitoring collisions, pressuring businesses and local officials to take bird safety seriously, and in some places asking homeowners to consider their own windows. Scientists say more birds die by hitting houses – urban and rural – than by striking downtown skyscrapers.
snip
A million birds die after colliding with buildings in the United States every day.
https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2022/1129/Cities-are-killing-birds.-Activists-and-architects-have-solutions
The bird lies on its side, a clump of feathers no bigger than a crumpled leaf. It’s just a dark speck on the concrete, with massive glass and steel skyscrapers rising above it in the pre-dawn light. Annette Prince sees it at once. She hurries over and lifts it gently in her right hand. It has a slender bill, a tuft of yellow on its rump, and dark eyes that show no glimmer of life. A yellow-rumped warbler, bound for the warmth of the Caribbean or the American South, has met its end in Chicago’s Loop. She stuffs it into a plastic bag and writes down the date and address. Then she moves on.
“Sometimes, you come downtown and there are birds everywhere,” says Ms. Prince, a volunteer who has monitored bird collisions for two decades. “It’s not quite like that yet.” In the contest between birds and cities, the cities are winning. Scientists estimate that, on average, at least a million birds die in collisions with buildings each day in the United States – and as many as a billion a year. Most perish during the spring and fall migrations in which vast numbers journey up and down the continent, flying mainly at night. City lights attract and disorient them, and many end up crashing into windows, not just the sides of gleaming office towers but suburban patio doors as well.
As director of the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, Annette Prince is intimately familiar with the toll taken on migratory birds in her city. She has been monitoring bird collisions with Chicago's glass buildings for two decades. "Sometimes you come downtown and there are birds everywhere," she says.
The problem, then, is twofold: lights and glass. The light from ever-expanding cities is disrupting the movement of creatures that evolved to migrate in the dark, using the stars and the Earth’s magnetism as their guides. And the modern architectural penchant for glass has proved deadly for them.
Most glass is invisible to birds, appearing either as clear air to fly through or as a reflection of the trees and sky behind them. There are growing efforts to make cities safer for birds. The National Audubon Society’s Lights Out programs, in which owners and managers agree to switch off exterior lights during migration, have spread to 45 U.S. cities. Architects and developers are learning how to make buildings bird-friendly by using specially treated glass that birds can see. Grassroots activists like Ms. Prince are monitoring collisions, pressuring businesses and local officials to take bird safety seriously, and in some places asking homeowners to consider their own windows. Scientists say more birds die by hitting houses – urban and rural – than by striking downtown skyscrapers.
snip
December 4, 2022
Sustainable investments are booming. In Europe alone, investors are currently investing 4.2 trillion euros in funds that promise a sustainable world in one way or another. Many investors find the promise of green growth – where financial returns and a sustainable economy go hand in hand – irresistible.
Making money while creating a better world: who wouldn’t want that?
But what is this promise worth? Does the money of the European investor with green intentions actually end up in companies developing a sustainable society? To answer these questions, Follow the Money and Investico initiated a cross-border data project.
This is The Great Green Investment Investigation.
snip
European investors are pouring trillions into promises of green growth. Where does the money end up?
https://www.ftm.eu/green-investments?campaign_id=54Sustainable investments are booming. In Europe alone, investors are currently investing 4.2 trillion euros in funds that promise a sustainable world in one way or another. Many investors find the promise of green growth – where financial returns and a sustainable economy go hand in hand – irresistible.
Making money while creating a better world: who wouldn’t want that?
But what is this promise worth? Does the money of the European investor with green intentions actually end up in companies developing a sustainable society? To answer these questions, Follow the Money and Investico initiated a cross-border data project.
This is The Great Green Investment Investigation.
snip
December 3, 2022
https://www.thedailybeast.com/russia-is-poaching-american-tech-for-drones-in-the-war-on-ukraine
Vladimir Putin’s brutal bombing campaign against Ukraine’s civilian population does not seem to be letting up. With the help of Iranian drones, relentless Russian attacks have killed scores of innocent civilians in recent months. They’ve also threatened power plants and other critical civilian infrastructure across the country, putting millions at risk of freezing this winter.
While Russia’s campaign to attack civilians with Iranian drones is well-known, new evidence shows that the drones themselves are heavily reliant on parts made by U.S. manufacturers, calling into question the effectiveness of international sanctions as well as what actions the U.S. and others can take to curb the flow of Iranian weapons into Russian hands.
A new report from Conflict Armaments Research (CAR), an organization that works with the European Union and other partners to trace international arms flows, found a shockingly high level of American and European parts in Iranian drones. CAR researchers had access to the now infamous Shahed-136 as well as a Mohajer-6, two kinds of Iranian drones used in Ukraine against military and civilian targets. Their analysis found that the drones are “almost exclusively made of components based in Asia, Europe, and the United States.”
The U.S. is last but not least on that list; a whopping 82 percent of components were made by U.S.-based companies. Of the parts where researchers could find the date of manufacture, half were from the last two years. NAKO, a Ukrainian civil society organization involved in tracing drone components and anti-corruption efforts, noted that Shahed components come from well-known companies like Texas Instruments and Panasonic.
snip
The Shocking American Links to Putin's Deadly War Machines
A closer look at Russia’s killer drones in Ukraine has come with some unsettling revelations.https://www.thedailybeast.com/russia-is-poaching-american-tech-for-drones-in-the-war-on-ukraine
Vladimir Putin’s brutal bombing campaign against Ukraine’s civilian population does not seem to be letting up. With the help of Iranian drones, relentless Russian attacks have killed scores of innocent civilians in recent months. They’ve also threatened power plants and other critical civilian infrastructure across the country, putting millions at risk of freezing this winter.
While Russia’s campaign to attack civilians with Iranian drones is well-known, new evidence shows that the drones themselves are heavily reliant on parts made by U.S. manufacturers, calling into question the effectiveness of international sanctions as well as what actions the U.S. and others can take to curb the flow of Iranian weapons into Russian hands.
A new report from Conflict Armaments Research (CAR), an organization that works with the European Union and other partners to trace international arms flows, found a shockingly high level of American and European parts in Iranian drones. CAR researchers had access to the now infamous Shahed-136 as well as a Mohajer-6, two kinds of Iranian drones used in Ukraine against military and civilian targets. Their analysis found that the drones are “almost exclusively made of components based in Asia, Europe, and the United States.”
The U.S. is last but not least on that list; a whopping 82 percent of components were made by U.S.-based companies. Of the parts where researchers could find the date of manufacture, half were from the last two years. NAKO, a Ukrainian civil society organization involved in tracing drone components and anti-corruption efforts, noted that Shahed components come from well-known companies like Texas Instruments and Panasonic.
snip
December 3, 2022
https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/the-kingdom-exodus-review-lars-von-triers-trippy-bizarro-masterpiece
Lars von Trier’s The Kingdom—whose first two seasons aired in 1994 and 1997—was an absolutely bonkers Danish blend of hospital drama and otherworldly thriller that gave David Lynch’s Twin Peaks a run for its money in auteur eccentricity. It also had a delightfully demented sense of humor. That—along with its mind-boggling madness—remains firmly intact in the series’ long-awaited and grand return, The Kingdom Exodus, a five-part follow-up helmed by von Trier and Morten Arnfred that (along with its prior two runs) premieres on Nov. 27 on Mubi. Fans of deranged delirium won’t want to miss it.
As befitting a work by the Antichrist and The House That Jack Built director, The Kingdom Exodus is a provocative piece of batshit showmanship, and one that immediately begins in self-reflexive fashion, with elderly Karen (Bodil Jørgensen) watching the conclusion to season two of The Kingdom on TV, ejecting her DVD, and proclaiming, “How can they peddle such half-baked hooey. That’s no ending.”
She’s right—the show’s sophomore outing concluded on a potentially apocalyptic cliffhanger that, for the past 25 years, remained unresolved. Ever the prankster, von Trier has no interest in definitive outcomes, nor in fashioning his long-running saga in logical terms—notions that he cops to in one of his trademark jibber-jabber credit-sequence monologues (now delivered behind a curtain, so that only his shoes are visible), when he states, “There’s no end to the nonsense, and where does it all lead?”
The Kingdom Exodus dispenses a host of answers to its mysteries, but, like the questions themselves, they’re wholly irrational. Von Trier’s series is a go-with-the-flow affair that’s exhilarating for its inimitable blend of wackadoo medical-profession comedy, culture-clash warfare, and quasi-biblical paranormal pandemonium. With its former protagonist, hypochondriac sleuth Drusse (Kirsten Rolffes), having perished in an elevator accident, von Trier turns his attention to Karen, a new meta-Miss Marple who—after bingeing The Kingdom—sleepwalks from her apartment to the actual, newly renovated Kingdom hospital.
snip
'The Kingdom Exodus' Is Lars von Trier's Trippy, Bizarro Masterpiece
A bonkers, riveting, and utterly unusual trilogy nearly 25 years in the making, the auteur finally completes his “Kingdom” trilogy with a new season that is out of this world.https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/the-kingdom-exodus-review-lars-von-triers-trippy-bizarro-masterpiece
Lars von Trier’s The Kingdom—whose first two seasons aired in 1994 and 1997—was an absolutely bonkers Danish blend of hospital drama and otherworldly thriller that gave David Lynch’s Twin Peaks a run for its money in auteur eccentricity. It also had a delightfully demented sense of humor. That—along with its mind-boggling madness—remains firmly intact in the series’ long-awaited and grand return, The Kingdom Exodus, a five-part follow-up helmed by von Trier and Morten Arnfred that (along with its prior two runs) premieres on Nov. 27 on Mubi. Fans of deranged delirium won’t want to miss it.
As befitting a work by the Antichrist and The House That Jack Built director, The Kingdom Exodus is a provocative piece of batshit showmanship, and one that immediately begins in self-reflexive fashion, with elderly Karen (Bodil Jørgensen) watching the conclusion to season two of The Kingdom on TV, ejecting her DVD, and proclaiming, “How can they peddle such half-baked hooey. That’s no ending.”
She’s right—the show’s sophomore outing concluded on a potentially apocalyptic cliffhanger that, for the past 25 years, remained unresolved. Ever the prankster, von Trier has no interest in definitive outcomes, nor in fashioning his long-running saga in logical terms—notions that he cops to in one of his trademark jibber-jabber credit-sequence monologues (now delivered behind a curtain, so that only his shoes are visible), when he states, “There’s no end to the nonsense, and where does it all lead?”
The Kingdom Exodus dispenses a host of answers to its mysteries, but, like the questions themselves, they’re wholly irrational. Von Trier’s series is a go-with-the-flow affair that’s exhilarating for its inimitable blend of wackadoo medical-profession comedy, culture-clash warfare, and quasi-biblical paranormal pandemonium. With its former protagonist, hypochondriac sleuth Drusse (Kirsten Rolffes), having perished in an elevator accident, von Trier turns his attention to Karen, a new meta-Miss Marple who—after bingeing The Kingdom—sleepwalks from her apartment to the actual, newly renovated Kingdom hospital.
snip
December 3, 2022
https://www.thedailybeast.com/gun-toting-west-virginia-judge-david-hummel-was-an-even-bigger-asshole-than-we-knew
The same West Virginia judge who was exposed by The Daily Beast for pulling a gun on lawyers in his courtroom resigned in disgrace last week—and now it’s clear why. In a formal admonishment issued Friday, state investigators claim that David W. Hummel Jr. abused his power on the bench by diverting money meant for a drug program into a slush fund he oversaw and later tapped for “improper purposes.”
The report also recounts how Hummel brazenly violated judicial ethics rules when he grilled two little girls—who were in court because of allegations that their father had sexually abused them—and questioned them so aggressively that he made them cry. Hummel “should have known better,” according to the report written by the state’s Judicial Investigation Commission, which polices the conduct of state judges.
“He is a longtime lawyer and former assistant prosecutor,” the report says. “He had absolutely no business calling a child of tender years a liar or suggesting to an impressionable six-year-old that she had engaged in some ‘sinister plan’ regarding her father.”
The commission wasn’t done ripping into Hummel, reminding him that “when dealing with young children, judges should remember at all times that they are not wooden toys that can be repaired with ease. They are living beings with thoughts and feelings who are coming into a huge unknown called ‘court’ to talk to what a child may perceive as a scary individual called ‘judge’ and must be treated with charity, understanding, and patience.”
snip
Gun-Toting WV Judge Was an Even Bigger Asshole Than We Knew
Judge David Hummel pulled a gun while presiding in court. A new report by West Virginia officials reveals he also made little girls cry and improperly spent taxpayer cash.https://www.thedailybeast.com/gun-toting-west-virginia-judge-david-hummel-was-an-even-bigger-asshole-than-we-knew
The same West Virginia judge who was exposed by The Daily Beast for pulling a gun on lawyers in his courtroom resigned in disgrace last week—and now it’s clear why. In a formal admonishment issued Friday, state investigators claim that David W. Hummel Jr. abused his power on the bench by diverting money meant for a drug program into a slush fund he oversaw and later tapped for “improper purposes.”
The report also recounts how Hummel brazenly violated judicial ethics rules when he grilled two little girls—who were in court because of allegations that their father had sexually abused them—and questioned them so aggressively that he made them cry. Hummel “should have known better,” according to the report written by the state’s Judicial Investigation Commission, which polices the conduct of state judges.
“He is a longtime lawyer and former assistant prosecutor,” the report says. “He had absolutely no business calling a child of tender years a liar or suggesting to an impressionable six-year-old that she had engaged in some ‘sinister plan’ regarding her father.”
The commission wasn’t done ripping into Hummel, reminding him that “when dealing with young children, judges should remember at all times that they are not wooden toys that can be repaired with ease. They are living beings with thoughts and feelings who are coming into a huge unknown called ‘court’ to talk to what a child may perceive as a scary individual called ‘judge’ and must be treated with charity, understanding, and patience.”
snip
December 3, 2022
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2022/12/hln-network-layoffs-cnn/672332/
https://archive.ph/1Vn2j
Media Winter is here once more, and it is getting ugly. It seems as though every news giant is shrinking toward 2023 through end-of-year layoffs, hiring freezes, or otherwise Dickensian austerity. Text chains and Slack channels are bursting with farewells and expressions of uncertainty about the future.
Industry veterans will tell you they’ve come to expect these Christmas-time cutbacks. The Gannett newspaper chain is laying off scores of local and national journalists. NPR is looking for ways to save at least $10 million. The Washington Post is ending its Sunday magazine. CNN, where I was an anchor until August, is cutting several hundred jobs.
As usual, explanations vary. The advertising marketplace is softening. Economic headwinds are worsening. Shareholder demands are unforgiving. But the effect is always the same: contraction, lost livelihoods, diminished brands, fewer outlets for both reporters and consumers.
Yet there’s something different this time around. Job losses in journalism have been rolling across the industry for decades now. But it’s not every day that a fixture of cable television goes belly up. The demise of HLN, CNN’s 40-year-old sister station, which will stop airing original newscasts next week, deserves attention not just because it marks the end of an era but because it’s a reminder of how eras in media actually end. Before death comes obsolescence.
snip
Brian Stelter - The End of Companion Television
CNN’s Headline News may seem thoroughly old-fashioned now that it’s dead. But its demise is a reminder of the creeping nature of media obsolescence.https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2022/12/hln-network-layoffs-cnn/672332/
https://archive.ph/1Vn2j
Media Winter is here once more, and it is getting ugly. It seems as though every news giant is shrinking toward 2023 through end-of-year layoffs, hiring freezes, or otherwise Dickensian austerity. Text chains and Slack channels are bursting with farewells and expressions of uncertainty about the future.
Industry veterans will tell you they’ve come to expect these Christmas-time cutbacks. The Gannett newspaper chain is laying off scores of local and national journalists. NPR is looking for ways to save at least $10 million. The Washington Post is ending its Sunday magazine. CNN, where I was an anchor until August, is cutting several hundred jobs.
As usual, explanations vary. The advertising marketplace is softening. Economic headwinds are worsening. Shareholder demands are unforgiving. But the effect is always the same: contraction, lost livelihoods, diminished brands, fewer outlets for both reporters and consumers.
Yet there’s something different this time around. Job losses in journalism have been rolling across the industry for decades now. But it’s not every day that a fixture of cable television goes belly up. The demise of HLN, CNN’s 40-year-old sister station, which will stop airing original newscasts next week, deserves attention not just because it marks the end of an era but because it’s a reminder of how eras in media actually end. Before death comes obsolescence.
snip
December 3, 2022
For the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, the European Union is the enemy, not Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
https://socialeurope.eu/time-to-confront-europes-rogue-state-hungary
Russia’s unprovoked and brutal war of aggression against its western neighbour has prompted almost every European government to demonstrate its solidarity with Ukraine and its continuing commitment to the international rule of law. Since February, when Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion, numerous European leaders—including the presidents of Germany, France, Poland, Romania and the Baltic republics—have journeyed to Kyiv to hold talks with the beleaguered president, Volodymyr Zelenskii. So too have the premiers of Germany, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Boris Johnson visited the Ukrainian capital no fewer than three times as UK prime minister.
In marked contrast, Hungary’s premier, Viktor Orbán, has declined to make the symbolic journey. Instead, in July, Orbán paid an official visit to Serbia, the European country that—apart from Belarus—is most closely aligned with Russia. And in September his combative and serially undiplomatic foreign minister, Péter Szíjjártó, held amicable talks with his counterpart in Moscow, Sergey Lavrov. Very belatedly, on Saturday Hungary’s president, Katalin Novák, appeared in Kyiv, accompanied by the prime ministers of Belgium, Poland and Lithuania.
Political trajectory
For anyone who has followed Orbán’s political trajectory, his reluctance to visit Kyiv or to engage in talks with Zelenskii is unsurprising. So too have been his refusal to permit ‘lethal weapons’ to be sent to Ukraine through Hungarian territory, his attempts to impede efforts by the European Union to widen the scope of sanctions targeting Russia and his criticism of EU sanctions as ineffective and self-harming. Since returning to power in 2010, Orbán has fostered close economic and political ties with Moscow, prompting one commentator to label him a ‘Trojan horse’ for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, inside the EU.
Orbán has sought to justify his opposition to wider sanctions and his refusal to support military aid to Ukraine—leaving him almost totally isolated in Europe—as principled and rational. ‘Hungary stands on the side of peace,’ he told the country’s parliament in late September. ‘Instead of continuing and deepening the war, we demand an immediate ceasefire and peace talks.’ Speaking in Băile Tuşnad in western Romania, in July, Orbán emphasised: ‘We Hungarians see this war as a war between two Slavic peoples, and as one which we want to stay out of.’
snip
Time to confront Europe's rogue state--Hungary
For the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, the European Union is the enemy, not Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
https://socialeurope.eu/time-to-confront-europes-rogue-state-hungary
Russia’s unprovoked and brutal war of aggression against its western neighbour has prompted almost every European government to demonstrate its solidarity with Ukraine and its continuing commitment to the international rule of law. Since February, when Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion, numerous European leaders—including the presidents of Germany, France, Poland, Romania and the Baltic republics—have journeyed to Kyiv to hold talks with the beleaguered president, Volodymyr Zelenskii. So too have the premiers of Germany, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Boris Johnson visited the Ukrainian capital no fewer than three times as UK prime minister.
In marked contrast, Hungary’s premier, Viktor Orbán, has declined to make the symbolic journey. Instead, in July, Orbán paid an official visit to Serbia, the European country that—apart from Belarus—is most closely aligned with Russia. And in September his combative and serially undiplomatic foreign minister, Péter Szíjjártó, held amicable talks with his counterpart in Moscow, Sergey Lavrov. Very belatedly, on Saturday Hungary’s president, Katalin Novák, appeared in Kyiv, accompanied by the prime ministers of Belgium, Poland and Lithuania.
Political trajectory
For anyone who has followed Orbán’s political trajectory, his reluctance to visit Kyiv or to engage in talks with Zelenskii is unsurprising. So too have been his refusal to permit ‘lethal weapons’ to be sent to Ukraine through Hungarian territory, his attempts to impede efforts by the European Union to widen the scope of sanctions targeting Russia and his criticism of EU sanctions as ineffective and self-harming. Since returning to power in 2010, Orbán has fostered close economic and political ties with Moscow, prompting one commentator to label him a ‘Trojan horse’ for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, inside the EU.
Orbán has sought to justify his opposition to wider sanctions and his refusal to support military aid to Ukraine—leaving him almost totally isolated in Europe—as principled and rational. ‘Hungary stands on the side of peace,’ he told the country’s parliament in late September. ‘Instead of continuing and deepening the war, we demand an immediate ceasefire and peace talks.’ Speaking in Băile Tuşnad in western Romania, in July, Orbán emphasised: ‘We Hungarians see this war as a war between two Slavic peoples, and as one which we want to stay out of.’
snip
December 3, 2022
Brazilian icon Pele has been transferred to palliative care after doctors discovered that he was no longer responding to chemotherapy.
Pele has been receiving treatment for bowel cancer and was recently diagnoses with a respiratory infection during his latest spell in hospital, although he was soon stabilised in relation to the infection and could continue treatment on the cancer.
According to Folha de Sao Paulo, chemotherapy was no longer having any positive effects on Pele and the decision was made to transfer the 82-year-old to palliative care, where he is receiving comforting measures for his shortness of breath and pain.
He remains in hospital while he undergoes treatment for the respiratory infection.
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https://twitter.com/KMbappe/status/1599031061907787778
Pele transferred to palliative care after no longer responding to chemotherapy
https://www.90min.com/posts/pele-transferred-to-palliative-care-after-no-longer-responding-to-chemotherapy-01gkbz4mpy3bBrazilian icon Pele has been transferred to palliative care after doctors discovered that he was no longer responding to chemotherapy.
Pele has been receiving treatment for bowel cancer and was recently diagnoses with a respiratory infection during his latest spell in hospital, although he was soon stabilised in relation to the infection and could continue treatment on the cancer.
According to Folha de Sao Paulo, chemotherapy was no longer having any positive effects on Pele and the decision was made to transfer the 82-year-old to palliative care, where he is receiving comforting measures for his shortness of breath and pain.
He remains in hospital while he undergoes treatment for the respiratory infection.
snip
https://twitter.com/KMbappe/status/1599031061907787778
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