CNSA

The temperature on the hidden face of the moon was
recorded at - 190C, colder than that on the other. Probably
because the soil composition is different, according to the
Chinese Space Agency (CNSA).

http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2019/01/31/97001-20190131FILWWW00146-les-nuits-lunaires-plus-froides-que-prevu-selon-la-sonde-chinoise.php

                                          *     *     *

Nathalie Loiseau claims France is prepared for a no-deal Brexit. There
would be spot-checks on trucks at Calais, and large parking areas have
been set up. Nothing excessive…

https://www.liberation.fr/france/2019/01/30/nathalie-loiseau-c-est-aux-britanniques-de-dire-ou-ils-veulent-aller_1706482

No Harm

How could you possibly gain 50 pounds in a year?
In point of fact, the smart-ass asking probably put on
that much his/herself. Difference being smartA might
be loosing it right back. Anybody who 'does doughnuts'
will soon store fat - anything over 2000 calories, which
is short-term muscle storage capacity. But not every day
starts clean; someone who has gone over needn't sink in
the slough of despair (I'm sooo nil etc...). It's time to eat clean,
and at the very least one will feel better before too long. And
 when one deals with it  day 2, there is an end in sight. A day or
two, no harm done. 💦

Salad

Overnight tariffs work through the economy in insidious ways.
The small can of crushed pineapple I could usually pick up for 1$
now costs 2$; I am assuming because cans are now more expensive
to produce in North America. So I picked up a larger can imported from
Thailand at 1.69$. Statistically, nothing has changed in my food
basket, but the taste is different.

I have also stopped buying fresh strawberries in favour of frozen. Here,
I am actually winning on taste because the strawberries are smaller,
if a bit mushy as they thaw. A change in texture, then.

Overall,  prices are wild at this time of year,and lettuce skips to 4$ only to
come down to 2$ the week after in some chain's Specials offerings. Compound
that with the difficulties of getting produce home in good shape when the
temperatures go below -10°C, and salad's a job!👵

Morbid

Are the morbidly obese malnourished? I googled it to
find out. The tone was a little stiff, but the answer is:
in terms of calorie deprivation, of course not; with respect
to protein malnourishment, it would be very hard to achieve
because the body synthesizes protein from other foods;
micronutrient malnourished: might well be true. Because
people who have had bariatric surgery often are and digging
deeper, researchers have found they were before the surgery.
Well, thanks for digging, guys...

The various micronutients help the body perform different functions.
The B vitamins, for instance, are either precursors - building blocks for
proteins - or enablers for enzymes (which metabolize foods).

Bottom line, it's not just brocoli tonight, it's sweet potatoes tomorrow
and spinach day after. And don't even get me going on almonds... and
pine nuts...and chia seeds! Don't starve, eat different foods!!

The Dress

On the Bebe Rexa issue.

The happy Bebe, recently nominated for a Grammy, has
complained that designers have refused to dress her for
the ceremony because she is a size 6 - 8. (Models tend to
run a 4).

I doubt very much if anyone refused to sell her a dress. One
needs to understand that designers often just send a dress to
performers who best exemplify their brand for such events. It is
publicity for them.

Frankly, Bebe has nothing to worry about in the looks department.
I wouldn't take the current situation as an insult either. The one designer
dreaming her way might be Kanye West.

The fact that Bleta has been working as Bebe first made me think she
was claiming filiation from Brigitte Bardot, France's 'BB nationale/bébé national'. I
ead on Wikipedia she identified as 'fluid'. As my daughter's friends might
say, "That's fucked up", (but in a good way).

Origins

It is widely admitted that the French language emerged from
the vulgar Latin of the time. It is complicated to express the actual
truth of the relationship, because language is what we communicate
with. Who is to say how Latin itself came to be formed.
This is also all the more enigmatic because the first written
document in actual French is the transcrition of an
oath of mutual defense between two brothers against a too
ambitious third. Each recites an oath in the language of the
other, and to make sure everything is clear, there is a separate
oath for the men of each brother, in their own language. Now,
that's a deal!

All three brothers are grandsons of Charlemagne, 'roi des Francs...'

For linguists, the Serments de Strasbourg are a rich find because we have
the same general idea/thing expressed in two different languages, one 'romane'
and the other 'germanique'(from germanus, of the same germ). 'Latin' comes
from 'Latium', and the ancient goddess Lati (liquor, or lust!?).

source: Wikipedia

                              *     *     *

Below, the city of Strasbourg (and my current wallpaper. A very charming place,

and the whole region has wonderful pastries...):

                                    *     *     *

By medieval times, there is a distinction made for le français ou françois

between langue d'oïl in the North and the langue d'oc in the South. The first

to use this distinction is believed to be the Italian poet Dante (1265-1321), who had

a third langue di si for nascent Italian.

Oil  itself is what later became oui (yes), and brings together the latin hoc (this) and

sic (thus).

The langue d'oil came to predominate over the French territory over time,

while the langue d'oc retreated to Spain. The first is more Germanic than the 

second and has Celtic elements.

Leaving

Legal experts in Brussels are wrestling with something
of a problem. What if the UK wants an extension on the
Brexit departure date, currently set for the end of March.
27 of Britain's 73 seats have been allocated to other countries,
to take demographic developements into account, and
elections for a renewed Parliament are end of May. Could
the UK stay in without representation? A - in legal terms - difficult
question!


https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2019/01/23/un-brexit-repousse-le-casse-tete-institutionnel-avant-les-elections-europeennes_5413335_4355770.html




                                               *     *     *

source: Le Monde; Les Décodeurs

author: Pierre Breteau

translation: doxa-louise

A postponed Brexit? The institutional puzzle looking to the EU elections

Having already reassigned Brtitain’s Parliamentary seats, what should be done if Brexit is re-scheduled? Will Brussels be obligated to accept leaving elected officials from across the Channel?

The view from London is that Brexit is on ice:  Prime Minister Theresa May has not succeeded in having her accord for leaving the European Union (EU) endorsed by the House of Commons. Nor has she managed to present a ‘Plan B’ as the British Representatives have demanded of her.  All that while the departure of the United Kingdom from the EU is slated for March 29, thus in less than ten weeks.

On May 26, the 340 million citizens of voting age in the EU must elect 705 Representatives. The latter numbered 751 including those from the United Kingdom at the last European elections in 2014, but 27 of the 73 British seats have been given to other member States to better reflect the demographic evolution within the 27 member States. Let us see how this is important.

On Tuesday January 15, Emmanuel Macron suggested that perhaps the British could ‘take more time’ and ‘maybe leap over the European election’. In other words, in the context of a delicate political situation, the United Kingdom could ask to remain in the EU a bit longer after the elections of May 26, and even beyond the opening of the new Parliamentary session scheduled for July 2. But this poses something of a difficulty: can one even be a member of the EU - even a departing one - without having Representatives in Brussels?

On this question, ‘ work from a judicial point of view(...)is currently underway’, Tells us Michel Barnier, chief negotiator on Brexit for the European Union. But a few threads might help us see more clearly.

No more than 750 representatives in Brussels

The number of Parliamentarians in Brussels and Strasburg cannot go beyond 750 elected officials plus the President (article 14-2 of the Treaty on the European Union).

Moreover, no member can claim more then 96 Representatives - Germany, the most populous country, gets 96 in the next Assembly. The floor number is six, as is the case for Malta or Cyprus.

In point of fact, in 2019, 705 Representatives will be elected, and not 750 (+ a President) as was the case for the 2014-2019 legislature; 705 because 27 of Britain’s 73 seats have been reassigned (+5 to France or Spain, +3 to Italy or the Netherlands, etc), and the others are being held in reserve pending the arrival of new members (there are five official candidates including Serbia, Albania or Montenegro).

Demographic rebalancing and departure of the United Kingdom

The departure of 73 British representatives has thus made possible for the European Council - made up of the Chiefs of State of the Twenty-eight - to rebalance the

number of European Representatives to follow europe’s demographic evolution, country by country.

This is no different than the situation in 2013,  with the arrival of Croatia.  The number of Parliamentarians had gone up to 766 before the election of 2014. In order to make this possible, ther had to be enacted a derogating measure to the Treaty on the European Union.

Idem in 2007 with the arrival of Romania and Bulgaria. The Parliament went up to 788 members until the following election, in 2009, with a new breakdown coming in under 751 elected members, at 736.

From 410 to 788 European Representatives

This graph shows the number of European Representatives sitting in Parliament since its inception in 1979 to 2018 (see original for interactive numbers).

No clear guideline in European Law

No European law-maker or Brussels jurist had foreseen the present situation until now

within which a Member State wants to leave the EU but changes its mind at the last moment just before an election to postpone the moment of departure. In this context,

and awaiting a decision from London on a postponement and on Brussels on how this might be done, all the hypothesis are mere interpretations of law.

• Postpone, yes, but only for a few weeks

The first option, the simplest from a legal point of view, would be to postpone Brexit 

to no later than the end of June, thus after the election, but before the new session of the European Parliament. It follows automatically that London would not need to organize new elections, nor send elected Representatives to Brussels.

• Prolong but without British Members

It would also be possible, according to Legal Services to the Parliament, as we have had access to, that Parliament be legally constituted even if London cannot manage to run elections within prescribed time limits. In this case, the United Kingdom would be derelict in meeting its obligations, from the perspective of European treaties which impose elections of Members so as to ‘participate in the democratic life of the Union’.

In this scenario, each Member State would keep its current number of Members, and the United Kingdom would have...unoccupied seats. We would thus find ourselves with a Parliament of 678 Members. Here, there is no redistribution of British seats.

• Prolongation with derogation

This procedure has, at the moment, not been considered: a scenario which inverses the last new membership, that of Croatia. Instead of adding seats before an election to later

redistribute them between Member States, would it not be possible to temporarily assign seats to the United Kingdom, going through a derogatory measure ‘to the maximum number of seats as per article 14, paragraph 2, first subsection’, these seats becoming vacant on the day of the effective departure of the United Kingdom?              

Convergence

Signed today, a new convergence treaty between France
and Germany, Aix-la-Chapelle 2019.

Lunar E

source: Le Figaro

author: Véronique Guillermard

translation: doxa-louise

Europe is taking up Lunar Exploration

The European Space Agency has mandated ArianeGroup foran exploration mission before 2025. Lunar settlement will follow.

Something of a symbol. It is on the day of a total Lunar eclipse, Monday January 21 at dawn, that Europe is announcing its intention to launch a proper Lunar mission. Certainly, well after the United States which will celebrate in July 2019 the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission and the first man on the Moon. But with the hope of participating in the new rush toward Earth’s satellite and to signal its desire to act in a sovereign manner in exploitation and space exploration.

First step in this grand project, starting a feasibility study, with a 1 million Euro budget. 

This will be the work of ArianeGroup, the constructor of the European rocket Ariane, by the European Space Agency (ESA). This industrial concern will be working within the framework set by an ‘innovative consortium’ alongside PT Scientists, a German start-up, who will work on the future lander, and Space Application Services, a Belgian SME (Small and Medium-sized enterprises) who will look at ground, communication, and sundry services.

ArianeGroup is expected to come up with the transport solution. ‘We already have the rocket to reach the Moon, Ariane 6 and to be precise version 64, capable of moving 8.5 tons to cislunar orbit ( the space between Earth and Lunar orbit). We will need to adapt the forward part of Ariane 6 to the mission and the discharge of the little Lunar robot’, tells us André-Hubert Roussel, executive president of ArianeGroup. The decision on when to send out this first European robotic mission should be made in 2022 for a launch in 2025.

ArianeGroup and its partners should present their conclusions in one year’s time.

‘ESA is not building a space vessel but wishes to buy tickets to the Moon. It is up to industry to meet the technological challenge with solutions for logistical transport  and exploitation of  the Lunar surface. It is working on a commercial challenge because we wish to buy a service from them’, explains  David Parker, director of Human and Robotic Exploration at ESA.

Sending European Astronauts

‘The study is expected to tell us under what conditions exploiting the resources on the Moon could serve to provision in water, oxygen, fuel, etc space exploration missions to other planets. Which would save us from transporting these resources from Earth and reduce costs’, adds David Parker. Moving one kilo between Earth and the International Space Station (ISS), on low orbit at 400 kilometers, costs between 250 and 300 Euros.

The next stage will be to send European astronauts to the Moon - on board an Ariane 6 which will be ‘adaptable’, - in order to explore and exploit the surface over long periods. To this end, a lunar village - a long-standing idea dear to  Jan Woermer, director-general at ESA - will be built in order to maintain a permanent human presence.

2019 is thus a crucial year for Europe which must decide if it wants to be a credible and sovereign actor in Space for decades to come. Certainly, Europe is already part of the Lunar adventure, and tomorrow Martian one, by cooperating with others. ESA will be a partner in the construction, starting in 2019, of the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, a space station in orbit around the Moon, brain-child of NASA. Europe has already delivered, at the end of 2018, Orion, the service module for the manned NASA capsules. But Europe must be present in an autonomous fashion in Space whose exploitation, surveillance, protection and exploration are (and will continue to be) crucial for its economy and also for the security and future of its citizens.

http://www.lefigaro.fr/societes/2019/01/21/20005-20190121ARTFIG00317-l-europe-se-lance-a-la-conquete-de-la-lune.php

Gurls

January is well advanced, and many 'gurls' young and old may be feeling
discouraged with their diet efforts. I am no health expert, but I have seen
many Januaries. Below, a compendium of strategies that I have found helpful
over the years to loose a few.

1- The GOLDEN RULE OF DIETING: Keep it out of the house. If it is in the house,
and it can be anything apparently innocent like a package of tea biscuits, and you
are dieting, you will eventually crack and eat some at the wrong time, and in
quantities that are a disgrace to humanity. It's a brain thing, keep it out.

2 - corollary to 1 EAT IT OUT: it's nice to go shopping, stop  in at the food bar.
Make a date with yourself for a treat on an outing. With a black coffee, have a
donut, or a reasonable-sized cookie. Never more than once a day. Buy it at the
donut place, and eat it there. You are a social animal, dress up, meet up, flirt.
Whatever.

3- DECONSTRUCT : You are having dinner at Mcdonalds with your Significant Other.
Order a hamburger and a salad. Eat the patty and the salad. Put that precious bun
in a plastic bag in your purse, and place it in the freezer when you get home. On
a rainy morning later in the week, put the bun in the toaster and have it with peanut
butter for breakfast. That's your out treat for the day.

4 - SPREAD IT OUT: It's the end of the month and cash is sparse! Order a hamburger
meal at a FastFJ. Have the diet drink with fruit for breakfast, the hamburger for lunch,
the fries with a salad for dinner. You are happy!

5 - EXERCISE YOUR SENSE OF TASTE:You are a burger fiend, how do you like it? With
 mustard and relish? Next time you are up for a slice of bread, spread a bit of m & r on it.
Is this what you actually enjoy? Or have a slice of tomatoe with oil and vinegar and salt.
This is the portal to gourmet dining.

January will come to an end. It is easier to eat lightly in the Spring. Never have
more than one diet drink a day. Have sparkling water or water for the rest.
And don't get me started on booze. 👧

Ephemeris

source: Le Figaro, Sciences & Environnement

author: Tristan Vey

translation: doxa-louise

Why does the Moon turn red instead of disappearing

during an eclipse?

When passing into the the cone of shadow from the Earth, as will be the case Monday morning, the Moon looses some of its shine, but does not disappear. It does, however, take on a characteristic red hue responsible for the name ‘blood moon’.

During a total lunar eclipse, our satellite goes into the shadow cone made by the Earth to the point of being totally immersed. As a logical consequence, one might assume that our satellite should disappear. Yet this is not what happens. On the contrary, it takes on a lovely orange tint.

As an eclipse begins, the Moon does give the impression of being ‘eaten up’ by the invading shadow. But if one looks carefully, our satellite continues to reflect a bit of light from its dark side. This is not overwhelming so long as there is still a crescent exposed to the direct light of the Sun, because this aspect is dominant. But one is forced to admit that having been totally eclipsed, the Moon has not disappeared. It is certainly less bright, 20 000 to 100 000 times less so than the standard full moon, but one can still make it out perfectly. Its more or less dark color can range from greyish-maroon to bright orange, including intermediate colors from dark red to brick red.

The French astronomer André Danjon, who died in 1967, had devised an empirical scale going from 0 (quasi invisible Moon) to 4 (copper colored eclipse with a very shiny border) to qualify this tint and shine ( the two are linked).

How to explain this phenomenon? It is linked to a number of fundamental properties of light. As a ray of light changes environment, it becomes more or less somewhat deviated. This is called refraction. One can observe this easily enough by plunging a stalk in the bath water. The latter gives the impression of being bent from where it enters the water.

When the sun’s rays going to the sides of the Earth ( at the level of the limit between night and day) penetrate the atmosphere, they are thus slightly deviated. It is not by much but enough to go around the Earth and thus create a light beam that hits the Moon. And this light will be red because it goes through a very thick layer of atmosphere. And the atmosphere will absorb blue light and diffuse it ( which is the reason why the sky is blue). When the rays of the Sun go through a thick layer of air, the rays that reach us are left bereft of their colder colors. this is the reason why the Sun goes red when it goes down! The adjacent drawing summarizes well enough the situation.

Blood Moon

It is very difficult to predict exactly the color an eclipsed Moon will take on. This

depends on different parameters of the atmosphere ( temperature, level of humidity, composition, etc). ‘Under certain conditions, after a large volcanic eruption for example, there can be particles in the Upper Atmosphere that will block all light’, points out Pascal Descamps, astronomer at the IMCCE (Institut de mécanique céleste et de calcul des éphémérides). In that extreme case, the Moon could in fact disappear in the shadow of the Earth.

http://www.lefigaro.fr/sciences/2019/01/18/01008-20190118ARTFIG00128-pourquoi-la-lune-devient-rouge-mais-ne-disparait-pas-lors-d-une-eclipse.php

Snow

Below, a useful observation by French-language Weather
Network: when the temperature is very cold and it snows,
the same amount of liquid can create up to twice the snow
cover. This is because the snow is lighter and won't compact
down. We thus have blizzard - and white-out - conditions.

source: Meteo Media

                               *     *     *
I've been haunted by the Westboro bus crash in Ottawa. What
was a double-decker bus doing servicing rapid transit to the suburbs?
Here in St-Jean, the city buses are different from the commuter
buses to and from Montreal. One gets shuffled around on the city
buses, which make frequent stops. The true commuter buses - while
not having seat belts - do force everyone in a face forward-position,
and one doesn't move around much in the seat.

Seat belts have made a great difference for automobile safety. Driving
a vehicle at high speed should not be done with moving cargo!

Fun Time

Matthew (from Toronto) is one of my finds on YouTube.
His travel adventures are always fun, and he LOVES Las Vegas.

Keeping Up

This is going to add to the chaos, but there is one bit
of information I did not translate from the French yesterday,
to the effect that a German carmaker who exports quite
a bit to the UK was complaining of not being told what to
expect on March 29. Yes, decisions on Brexit affect the planning
environment on the Continent as well.

Well, today he is surely being told to plan for a Hard Brexit;
that is what all national governments are advising.

The French CBC Radio-Canada does keep a running he said,
she said on Brexit, for the benefit of Fracophones trying to keep
up with it all.

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1147003/brexit-vote-parlement-britannique-incertitude-economique-accord?depuisRecherche=true

Reporting In

Before going on a diet of dandelion greens to save the
planet, one might wanr to consider the following picture
of the situation:

If we are to believe these numbers, the EU has been working hard

on the emissions problem. The US has had good years, only to

start emitting again in years of economic recovery. It is China that

has yet to make the big change-over from emitting technologies.

The UN sees us currently on the grey trajectory:

https://www.liberation.fr/planete/2019/01/13/les-emissions-de-gaz-a-effet-de-serre-continuent-d-augmenter_1701910

Alright, I'm being facetious on the eating for the planet issue - which is about

sustainability - but one has to choose one's battles. For the diet problem:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/16/new-plant-focused-diet-would-transform-planets-future-say-scientists

                                          *     *     *

Libération has also run a piece on how the Euro has enabled France

to weather the Yellow Vests crisis, with no effect on their currency.

France is still borrowing on favorable terms.

https://www.liberation.fr/planete/2019/01/13/l-euro-bouclier-de-la-crise-des-gilets-jaunes_1702644

Colder

After a day when the temperature soared to 1°C, it is
zipping down tonight to -20°C and should be at -15°C
tomorrow morning... for my walk. To spruce up my courage,
I baked a cake, a 'magic' cake with a range of texture, from
dry to moist. These cakes are currently a thing, and I am including
the Pinterest  recipe below.

The cake rises solely on whipped egg whites, and because there
is more milk than one would expect and a scant amount of
flour, things stay soggy on the bottom.

There is also a LOT of butter, and real vanilla. Should taste
fine!

(Tastes like a really good pancake.)

Problem for me: I am now out of milk and will HAVE to venture out
to the store.

                                         *     *     *

                                                         *     *     *
My breakfast at 10 am. (Yes, that is a radish with my Egg-O). I like to
keep serious carbs for after dark; I might need brain alertness during the
day.😗

Worried

European business is very worried about what rules will
govern trade with Britain come March 29.

https://www.msn.com/fr-ca/actualites/monde/inquiétude-des-poids-lourds-de-léconomie-européenne-au-lendemain-du-rejet-de-laccord-sur-le-brexit/ar-BBSknl5?ocid=spartandhp

Balmy

After days of -17°C in the mornings, today, at -5°C, is actually warmish.
... Well, seasonal! We are also going into 30-cm snowfall conditions
for Friday. So, today I'm going to Walmart for the cottage cheese
special and a bit of a walk.

My balmy weather breakfast. Avocado is actually rather nice in fruit
salad:

Cotton Chang'e-4

Hurrah! Cotton is growing on the moon!

None of the others have started, yet. (potato, arabidopsis, fly eggs,
yeast)

Sweden and Germany have collaborated on scientific
instruments.

                                           Arabidopsis

                                           source: Wikipeda

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2019/01/15/chine-une-graine-de-coton-a-germe-sur-la-lune-une-premiere

Impasse

Here's the rub of it: the UK cannot, in all conscience,
proceed to further integration with the EU even where
it seems to make sense given the size and needs of this
country. Turns out that the English Monarchy is Head of
State in a number of former colonies with ceremonial
duties but - in Canada, for example - with reserve powers that come
into play in difficult times: dissolving Parliament, declaring war
or signing treaties. Something of a parental role, if you wish.
The rest of the EU is at the point where it needs to get on
with it and integrate immigration, social policy, things that don't
make much sense  without common Defense as well. Angela  Merkel
made a European decision when she allowed all those migrants into
Germany. Thus, the current Brexit impasse.

This reading of the situation is true enough but it is also superficial, and
I might add, part of the problem. The EU has been silent and patient,
perhaps dangerously so. Territory and power have been the stuff of
European history. Looking to the future, Europe does indeed need to
get on a schedule of agreements on its issues. Perhaps not precisely the
ones in the current Brexit, but a wider set. You've got this, Europe!

Chippers

Twenty-eight

A day on the Moon is 28 Earth days. Makes sense!

http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/mar97/849679535.As.r.html

                                         *     *     *

Got interested in the notion of the sidereal ie with respect to
the fixed stars (as opposed to the planets, which move around).

In Latin, the word for a star or constellation is sidus. Latin speakers used that word to form desiderare ("from a heavenly body") and considerare ("to think about a heavenly body"), which were adopted into English as desire and consider. Sidereal, another sidus creation, was first documented in English in 1642. Thirty-four years later, an astronomer coined the phrase "sidereal year" for the time in which the earth completes one revolution in its orbit around the sun, measured with respect to the fixed stars.
Merriam-Webster

Because the sun itself is moving, the sidereal year is some 20 minutes longer than
the tropical year (from one equinox to the next).

When using the term sideral month with respect to the Moon, the sideral month
is shorter than the synodic (gr synodos, conjunction of two bodies). This is because
the earth is moving around the sun, and the moon needs to catch up.

The sidereal month is 27 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes.

The synodic month is 29.5 days.

T Wall

Been reading on the 'Trump's Wall' issue.

There currently over 19 000 border control agents in the US,
of whom half are minorities (mostly Latinos). Most work on the
Southern border.

They are now part of Homeland security.

Some of the patches of wall that are up were put up out of makeshift
surplus materials by border security themselves, to make their lives easier.

source: Wikipedia

Hidden Face

from: Le Figaro

Panoramic image of the hidden face of the moon (use mouse):




Things had to be shut down for a few days because temperatures got very hot due to solar
iluumination !?

                                                    *     *     *

China's Chang'e-4; the actual landing:




                                                    *     *     *

Force

source: Libération, January 10,2019.

author: Denis Merklen, professor of Sociology,  Sorbonne Nouvelle University 

translation: doxa-louise

Using force to counter violence, the bad medecine on the gilets jaunes crisis

The forms taken by current mobilization can be seen as the consequence of social defeats suffered in recent years, after strikes and demonstrations that brought out millions of people, on retirement incomes, labor laws or the  train service (SNCF).

Opinion. The rule of law and democracy go together, and include social movements, without doubt. Yet, at the very moment when the government is getting ready to up repressive measures to counter certain effects of social mobilization, we are experiencing an important form of confusion which stops us from seeing things clearly.

A social movement is more than the expression of a simple idea. That movement must act on a double front. On the one hand, there is a demonstration in public space in order to convince other citizens, the press, the government, other collective actors such as associations, parties, unions, employer associations. On the other hand, it goes into the arena to defend its interests, must thus establish a show of strength against another agent with which it enters into conflict, the government, another social group, another more or less institutionalized actor.  In this manner, the ecology movement acts at the same time on public opinion in order to raise consciousness as to the cause they defend, and at the same time, hinder industrial, agricultural governmental projects. Farmers sometimes block roads and ask for aid with respect to activities under threat. Students occupy their institutions and demonstrate in the street in opposition to a proposed reform.

The strike, a major element of contemporary democracy

The workers’ movement formed itself while mastering these two arcs and has succeeded in integrating these  aspects of mobilization into law: the demonstration and the strike. Very early on, workers realized that changing opinion only would not be enough. The strike recognized by law is one of the major achievements of contemporary democracy. It allows workers to cut off their contribution to social life, or in other terms the production of the common good. By putting production and services in breakdown mode when not working, the worker can as a consequence demand a remuneration considered more just. But the strike rests on the possibility of overcoming the will of the boss or the government, of opposing these.

The forms being adopted today by social mobilizations are for the most part the consequence of the stunning defeats met in recent years by social movements. Demonstrations and strikes have not succeeded in stopping the reform of the retirement system or of the Labor Code, the status of the SNCF or the universities, even where millions of people got involved. The fiasco of social movements can be understood from economic and political factors. Among the most prominent, change in the value of capital thanks to technological evolution while the mobility coming out of the liberalization of economic exchanges have made capital difficult to reach. And in second place, the willfulness of governments, the transfer of decision-making to supra-governmental organizations such as the European Community, the impossibility of responding to electoral abstentions and the growing importance of technocratic reasoning at the expense of political discourse. And where strike action did become effective as in the case of strikes in the transportation sector, we were served a direct political attack accusing the social movement of ‘taking the user hostage’.

The yellow vests succeed where the suburbs have failed

There have been laws adopted to limit the usefulness of strikes, such as law °2007-1224 from 2007 ‘with respect to social dialogue and the continuity of public service in the regular terrestrial transport of commuters’. Where economic conditions were not enough to weaken a strike, such as in industry, governments have sought to weaken the impact of collective action. Democracy looses out when one of the two wings of a social movement is cut off. It is increasingly difficult to establish a power struggle by collective mobilization. And for anything other than a strike, any action seeking to establish a power relationship has been rendered illegal. The space for social movement has been reduced to nothing. Only the demonstration of opinion in public space appears to be allowed. But there are many who share the feeling of not having been heard.

One of the reasons why violence is erupting in front of us comes from this quasi-impossibility of standing up to an identified adversary. It is not the exclusive mark of the yellow vests but has been found in the ‘suburbs’ and elsewhere. If the former have had some success it is because they have succeeded in re-establishing the two components of mobilization: power relationship and public demonstration. A strike being no longer useful, they occupy the territory and cut off the roundabouts. The roadblock is saying, ‘not until we have secured a place that is just and respected for the future will we free-up the road’. They are making themselves visible by their vests and demonstrate violently in areas that symbolize luxury and power. Thus, as was the case in the suburbs, violence here has a function that is notably expressive although not totally disconnected from an actual power struggle. This is why it is happening on the Champs-Élysées and not on roundabouts. From everywhere in the national territory they have found a symbol which gives them an identity, have clearly designated an enemy (the government, the technocrats and the rich), have invented a form of action which gives back to mobilization the two lines of action which are indispensable. They give off the feeling that French democracy is inhabited by a people who will not be ignored.

The government is in danger of weakening the legitimacy of the Law

Unable to come up with a political response without abandoning its project of liberalizing society and the State, the government is readying to double the strength of its repressive arsenal. But the common man classes which are now integrated into contemporary democracy thanks to an institutionalized Social State will not bow down to defeat and the pure and simple acceptation of an economic, social and political order imposed from the top. The government praises the rule of law and representative democracy. All the while narrowing right as it extends the space of what is illegal. The risk here is that of compromising the legitimacy of the law, eroding the legitimacy of exercising public force, of turning the police into a body dedicated to defending public order.

It wishes to reduce social opposition to a mere demonstration of opinion and make impossible all form of power struggle. It might well win this battle. But while it thus condemns once and for all the loosers of globalization to defeat, by the same token, it puts democracy in jeopardy and creates the conditions for increasingly violent confrontations from which it will be difficult to extricate ourselves. Democratic space is shrinking before our eyes.

                                                                                                                  

Grief

So what woud happen if we were to takes this Trump vs
Pelosi standoff to couple's therapy, and try to untangle
communications rather than advance make-it-worse judgements?
Let's have a try.

I am constantly amazed by how much grief President Trump
is expected to take. And does, with great stength of character.
He is the President, and is making proposals out of his campaign
commitments, and personnal experience. He is a military school graduate
and a builder.  That nasty rusting half-done wall needs work. Good for him.

Mrs Pelosi and the Democrats might not like the idea of a wall, but at this
point, they are in charge of the budget and not the Presidency. 'You're not
getting your wall' just sounds peevish.

Taking the other side: 5 billon for a fence? When medical care for all - largely
agreed to - is being sacrificed. That is preposterous. It would also make America
look foolish to not have a solid plan for border security, and rely on Hadrian's
Wall when we are the planet's technological standard...

Voilà the debate, as I see it!

Amazing

OMG! I cannot begin to imagine how tired this woman
must be. She and her husband have 9 children, with the
eldest 14. Mother-in-law on a 6 month visit. He is on Keto,
and she is on Trim Mama (includes carbs, but not at the
same time as fats). I think she might be breastfeeding.

Interestingly, this is the situation where plastic-wrapped fresh
produce is helpful. Like planning meals in the army! And that
is the beauty of it all. There are healthy eating rules for the children
that are enforced.

Amazing!

Demonstrate

There is currently a very serious discussion in France
about the possibly abusive nature of a proposed law
that would deprive certain people of the right to demonstrate,
and this for life. Is this not a serious attack on democracy?

Trying to make sense of all this - and specifically
of the large numbers involved - and frankly, it's all starting
to look silly to me.

Demonstrate; are you kidding me? It is so windy in the Montreal
region this morning that I don't think I can leave the house. And
we're in for three straight days of rain/snow.

That's your problem, Paris. 13°C and overcast; too cold to sit at a
terrace, but okay for walking. And all that grey weather... Let's
demonstrate!

I am not being facetious; I think this is a big part of it. Truckers could use
the fresh air. France just happens to be in the climatic ribbon that invites
this kind of thing. 💁

Security

Matignon (the French Prime Minister's official residence, hence the PM himself)
due to announce new security measures.




source: Le Figaro

                        *     *     *
https://www.nouvelobs.com/politique/20190107.OBS8103/edouard-philippe-annonce-une-nouvelle-loi-contre-les-casseurs.html

C Work

I have to come clean on this: I have a new YouTube
person I am following, and whose little talks I've been
enjoying. She is a cosmetic physician - who practices in
London - and likes to dish on celebrities and evaluate the
work they had done.

In effect, she is using celebrity pics to 'explain' Botox and fillers.
Still a fun watch, though.



Very much something one does for professionnal ends, in my view,
because the results are constantly settling and shifting, or need to
be maintained.

Was I the only one to notice? No one at the Golden Globe awards
seemed to be wearing make-up. Showing off their 'work'?

                                                      Kaley Cuoco
source: MSN

Bella Ciao!

According to French police, 50 000 people demonstrated
in France today. The Italian Resistance song Bella Ciao was heard on
the streets of Paris. A version with popular lyrics, below:

Marauding

As the bi-partisan quibble over funding the American government extends

to fourteen days, an outside observer to the situation might wish for an adult in 

the room. And that adult will have to be public opinion. The sticking point about 

funding for the border wall actually gets us into a rather complicated issue. We 

need to go back to the beginnings of construction of a wall - and remote sensing 

for unwalled areas - to appreciate what might be going on.

It was a Republican idea that started it all, but it had nothing to do with immigration

The issue was drug smuggling, and how to stop it. The wall, then, was a prison wall

in reverse, meant to keep criminal elements out. And, one might add, a challenge to 

the ingenuity of those lads from South America. The aspect of refugee status for those 

fleeing dangerous situations belongs to another universe of discourse. Canada, for instance, 

has often accepted such refugees, but none of them ever swam over to Canada. They 

were refugees processed on arrival. Put those two aspects together, and you have the 

current American border problematique. Gangs making a business of helping individuals 

smuggle themselves over that border!!

The Democrats are having none of it. But what are the alternatives? The US need an 

enforceable immigration policy, and an end to that marauding.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico%E2%80%93United_States_barrier

China Bomb

China just announced it has tested a highly destructive
bomb, second only to a nuclear weapon. This could rival
the large American bomb dropped in Afghanistan in 2017;
one that troops could follow soon after.

If China only currently spends 170 billion dollars per year on its
military, in contrast to 700 billion for the US, European experts
estimate that China will be the US' main competition by 2050.

https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/1080765714187866112

source: Le Figaro

China Moment

Remembered watching this little YouTube video a while
back, and dug it out of my YouTube history. (Turns out
that these are browser-specific…) In any event, this might
provide some insight into consumer behavior in China.



                                                    *     *     *

Landing on the far side of the moon is awesome. Ich gratuliere!

source: The Guardian