Archive for pro-democracy protesters

mirror of the warmongers

Posted in Books, Kids, pictures with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 11, 2026 by xi'an

The New York Times reporter Anton Troianovski drew a ghastly parallel between the declarations of Russian officials on the invasion of Ukraine and of US officials on the attacks on Iran.  As a background for the lack to a long term strategy behind these attacks and the highly unlikely emergence of an Iranian democracy…

“[the United States] didn’t start this war, but under President Trump, we are finishing it.” — US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth

“We didn’t start the so-called war in Ukraine. Rather, we are trying to finish it.” — President Vladimir V. Putin

“This is a special military operation. If Russia had started a full-scale war, it would have been over long ago.” Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin

 “I think it’s an operation.” — Speaker of the US Congress Mike Johnson

“We haven’t even yet started anything in earnest.” — President Vladimir V. Putin

“We haven’t even started hitting them hard.” — President Donald Trump

“I am appealing to the military of the armed forces of Ukraine. Do not allow neo-Nazis and Banderites to use your children, wives and elders as a live shield. Take power into your own hands.” — President Vladimir V. Putin

“I call upon all Iranian patriots who yearn for freedom to seize this moment to be brave, be bold, be heroic, and take back your country” — President Donald Trump

“the leaders of France, Germany and the UK (…) are the ones that are wrong by refusing to come to the Iranian people’s aid and adding insult to injury, you’re suggesting we should continue to negotiate with religious Nazis.” — US Senator Lindsay Graham


While the NYT article does not get into a similar mirroring with Israel official statements on their attacks on Iran and Lebanon, they also follow the very same warlike rhetoric…

免費黎智英

Posted in Books, Travel with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on February 11, 2026 by xi'an

“We’ve been told that the killing in Iran is stopping”

Posted in Kids, Travel with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on January 16, 2026 by xi'an

a journal of the plague, sword, and famine year

Posted in Books, Kids, Mountains, pictures, Running, Travel, University life with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 9, 2022 by xi'an

Read two successive books about seeking lost sisters, The Last House on Needless Street and Second Sister, after finishing the third book in a row involving a dead god, aptly named Three parts dead. This third one was rather enjoyable, thanks to the world construction, except for a blah ending. The first one, by Catriona Ward, is perplexing, complex and frankly a bit stretched in its gradual exposition of a multiple personality (disorder) patient. The “horror” side never really set for me, which is fine as it never does. Furthermore, this is the very first book I ever read where I saw a few words (correctly) written in Breton, as well as a thread with the Breton myth of ar Ankou, the local Death personification. Kudos for that! The second one, a physical book that I picked rather instinctively / hurriedly in a Barnes & Noble in Philadelphia is a thriller set in Hong Kong. Despite a bit too much of infodump on internet (in)security and hacking, and some caricaturesque sides, incl. the final coup de théâtre!, I enjoyed it as a page-turner. (But I now wonder if I am not getting prejudiced against Kindle books..!) Except for the anti-protest paragraph. Also read a nice BD, Les Animaux Dénaturés, borrowed from Andrew, which is an adaptation the 1952 book by Vercors, that I saw eons ago as a theatre play. The interrogation on what constitutes humanity (vs. simianity) is the driving force of the story, but it is somewhat marred by the killing of a newborn child that seems to negate the whole fight of the main characters.

Thanks to a short (train) visit to Coventry, I stayed overnight in the center of the city and enjoyed a fabulous dinner with friends at Jinseon Korean BBQ Restaurant, recently reviewed by Jay Rayner in The Guardian. Marinated thin slices of beef, pork, and lamb almost immediately cooked on the white hot (ring) coals, along rice and plenty of kimchi and hot sauce. And a sip of soju. Not an everyday fare, for sure, but quite delightful (and even more as my single true meal over two days!)

Watched a fraction of Swedish Black Crab, with Naomi Rapace playing the central character, but despite potential connections with the current survival war of Ukraine against the Russian terror, I quickly lost interest in the very shallow plot and in the accumulation of unrealistic scenes and heavily programmed eliminations of the characters (sorry for the spoiler!). For one thing, expert skaters skating 100km should not take days to cover the distance. For another, a military commando operating in the far North should wear appropriate clothes, not a sweater and a loose scarf!  Luckily enough, I have had no screen nearby [me] to distract me on my round trip flight to NYC from reviewing Biometrika submissions. (The flight back to Paris amazingly took less than 6 hours, thanks to extremely strong tail winds.)

one year under students’ tyranny

Posted in pictures with tags , , , , , , , on August 15, 2022 by xi'an