Archive for Ukraine invasion

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Nature tidbits [18 June]

Posted in Books, Kids, pictures, Travel with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 13, 2026 by xi'an


A personal tribune (by a Vatican advisor) on why scientists should learn from the Pope’s AI message, not the first time Nature caters to religious views! Not that his (Leon’s) concerns about unregulated AI and the abdication of States in that matter are misplaced. But it seems unlikely (as the author concedes in his conclusion) that the Catholic Church or his leader will manage to make a dent on the spiraling impact of AIs. As suggested in the next tribune, a coordinated approach at a massive increase of taxes on tech companies (unsurprisingly resisted by the Orange Menace) is more likely to happen. And yet another tribune on AI and math(ematician)s, related to the recent Leiden Declaration on Artificial Intelligence and Mathematics, following several entries in the previous issue.

An introductory (general public) article as to why cancer occurrences in young people is rising so quickly in the US, with no single explanation. Environmental factors are certainly to blame, like the consumption of ultra–processed foods, but the article does not say much, adding to the uncertainty.

A rather unhelpful representation of human migration in 2023, appart from showing a majority of migrations are local (to the continental scale). Connected to an article of 10 June I missed. Partly based on a deep learning model to achieve a country-level granularity.

A research article (and the cover) on a plague outbreak near Lake Baikal—over which I could have flown when reading this issue, except that flights to Japan now contour the territories of the invader of Ukraine—that occurred about 5,500 years ago and impacted a community of hunter-gatherers, In a sparsely populated area, marmots being the likely primary vectors, and a close phylogenetic proximity to current strains.

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our closest enemy [verbatim]

Posted in Books, Travel with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 17, 2025 by xi'an

It was clear from day #1 of the Trump -2.0 presidency (or day #25 if waiting for JB Vance’s attacks  at the 61st Munich Security Conference) that it no longer considered Europe as a de facto ally, that the European Union should be terminated for being “set up to take advantage of” the USA, and  that that its regulations and institutions were attacking freedom of opinion—for far-right parties—and of conducting business—for American companies. The November National Security Strategy published by the White House makes this even clearer and shows how deeply it is aligned with the “great replacement” conspiracy theory of these white supremacy parties, as well as downsizing the Russian menace. Ghastly.

Continental Europe has been losing share of global GDP (…) partly owing to national and transnational regulations that undermine creativity and industriousness. But this economic decline is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure. The larger issues facing Europe include activities of the European Union and other transnational bodies that undermine political liberty and sovereignty, migration policies that are transforming the continent and creating strife, censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-confidence. Should present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economies and militaries strong enough to remain reliable allies. Many of these nations are currently doubling down on their present path. We want Europe to remain European, to regain its civilizational self-confidence, and to abandon its failed focus on regulatory suffocation.

This lack of self-confidence is most evident in Europe’s relationship with Russia. European allies enjoy a significant hard power advantage over Russia by almost every measure, save nuclear weapons. As a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine, European relations with Russia are now deeply attenuated, and many Europeans regard Russia as an existential threat. Managing European relations with Russia will require significant U.S. diplomatic engagement, both to reestablish conditions of strategic stability across the Eurasian landmass, and to mitigate the risk of conflict between Russia and European states. It is a core interest of the United States to negotiate an expeditious cessation of hostilities in Ukraine, in order to stabilize European economies, prevent unintended escalation or expansion of the war, and reestablish strategic stability with Russia, as well as to enable the post-hostilities reconstruction of Ukraine to enable its survival as a viable state.

The Ukraine War has had the perverse effect of increasing Europe’s, especially Germany’s, external dependencies. (…) The Trump Administration finds itself at odds with European officials who hold unrealistic expectations for the war perched in unstable minority governments, many of which trample on basic principles of democracy to suppress opposition. A large European majority wants peace, yet that desire is not translated into policy, in large measure because of those governments’ subversion of democratic processes. This is strategically important to the United States precisely because European states cannot reform themselves if they are trapped in political crisis. Yet Europe remains strategically and culturally vital to the United States (…) Not only can we not afford to write Europe off—doing so would be self-defeating for what this strategy aims to achieve.

American diplomacy should continue to stand up for genuine democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ individual character and history. America encourages its political allies in Europe to promote this revival of spirit, and the growing influence of patriotic European parties indeed gives cause for great optimism. Our goal should be to help Europe correct its current trajectory. We will need a strong Europe to help us successfully compete, and to work in concert with us to prevent any adversary from dominating Europe. America is, understandably, sentimentally attached to the European continent (…) The character of these countries is also strategically important because we count upon creative, capable, confident, democratic allies to establish conditions of stability and security. We want to work with aligned countries that want to restore their former greatness.

Our broad policy for Europe should prioritize:
• Reestablishing conditions of stability within Europe and strategic stability with Russia;
• Enabling Europe to stand on its own feet and operate as a group of aligned sovereign nations, including by taking primary responsibility for its own defense, without being dominated by any adversarial power;
• Cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations;
• Opening European markets to U.S. goods and services and ensuring fair treatment of U.S. workers and businesses;
• Building up the healthy nations of Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe through commercial ties, weapons sales, political collaboration, and cultural and educational exchanges;
• Ending the perception, and preventing the reality, of NATO as a perpetually expanding alliance; and
• Encouraging Europe to take action to combat mercantilist overcapacity, technological theft, cyber espionage, and other hostile economic practices.

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з днем незалежності україно

Posted in Kids, pictures, Travel with tags , , , , , , , , on August 24, 2025 by xi'an

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Ukraine was invaded three years ago…

Posted in Kids, pictures, Travel, University life with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 20, 2025 by xi'an

It has been three years since Russia invaded Ukraine with the purpose of recovering USSR territories and resources, and putting in place a puppet government, under the pretexts that the current Ukraine’s government was dominated by neo-Nazis (!) and perpetuating a genocide in Donbas. With further arguments that the “West” (or NATO) was preparing a war on Russia. Ukraine’s resistance was unexpected by the invaders and put a stop to the notion that a few day Blitzkrieg would topple the Ukrainian government. Forward three years and the difference in numbers and resources has made Ukraine’s resistance stretched and desperate. The return of the Orange Menace and his pretence at achieving deals on every matter is making the outcome of the war even bleaker as the Trump administration shows no empathy for Ukranians (among many others!). Especially if Trump pulls the USA out of NATO altogether. In this case, it is alas hard to imagine EU sending (enough) peacekeepers to Ukraine, and even harder to imagine they could oppose further Russian attacks and crimes, as shown by the failures of UNPROFOR in ex-Yougoslavia, in particular Bosnia…

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A passage to India & to 2025

Posted in Kids, pictures, Running, Travel with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 16, 2025 by xi'an

Another great trip to India in association with the bi-yearly Winter IISA (International Indian Statistical Association) conference, including the opportunity to visit Kerala since the conference was taking place in Kochi (formerly Cochin). And a relatively smooth and relaxing trip as well! (And involuntarily repeating the Forsterite title of the earlier post.)

We left (as earlier) Paris on Xmath day, with de Gaulle airport busier than expected, including by the staff there, since a shortage of both border police officers and of luggage handlers caused a one-hour delay, with a full airplane to Bengaluru. Our flight took a rather circuitous route to avoid less secure air spaces, namely Ukraine, Israël, Syria, Iraq, and Iran, but also staying away from Houtis, hence turning sharply over the Sinaï to fly over Saudi Arabia. Massala chai onboard! My next seat neighbours sounded busy rescheduling their vacations (or others’?) to a visa-free country as some members of their party had apparently been denied boarding for that reason. (And I indeed had to frantically search through emails to recover the confirmation message from the Indian e-visa service provider at the boarding gate. But I had a great time reviewing grant proposals for most the flight!)

We were hoping for a smoother e-visa processing in Bengaluru than at our earlier visit for IISA 2022, and were indeed rewarded by no wait at all, leaving us more than five hours to switch between terminals for the leg to Kochi (and only too late realising too late there was an hotel inside the airport)! Single checked-in luggage was there at arrival in Kochi and prebooked taxi as well, to take sleep-deprived-us to a remote lodge in Mamalakkandam, at the foothill of the Western Ghats. Had some horrendous drives in this area, with small roads ill-equipped for crossing tourist buses, requiring several minutes and people directing vehicle choreographies from the pavement at times.Very relaxing stay, with tolerable temperatures, although we missed the elephants if not their multiple and fresh tracks and droppings! And managed to see a couple of Sri Lanka frogmouths, who really look like ChatGPT rendering of a chimera between a frog and a starling! And visited a small rubber farm thanks to the half-taxi-half-farming owner (with cocoa, cardamom and pepper parting gifts!).

This passage was also a foodie’s dream trip, as we discovered many new dishes, like a spicy chicken cooked in bamboo stick in an open fire and many local breads, e.g., illyappams, parathas, idlis, vellayapams, puttus, challas, and orottis, plus plenty of local dishes. Bought all kinds of spices. Celebrated New Year’s eve in Kochi by a light dinner with friends, at a local Saravana Bhavan branch that actually differed much from the one around the corner from Gare du Nord, Paris! I could not recognise most items in the menu, besides their landmark dosas and chaats, and some orders proved quite unexpected if pleasant surprises (albeit too spicy for my companions!) and was awaken a wee bit later by fireworks all over Kochi that seemed to get on forever. I could not reach a tea plantation near Munnar and further found it impossible to buy local tea, until reaching Kochi where some shops had green teas of unclear origin. It proved equally impossible to spot Munnar tea sold by reliable online tea companies.

The last station was Kuramakom, on the shores of the huge Vembanad Lake—longer than the Finger lakes surrounding Ithaca, New York—, where we saw plenty of birds as we were ferried through the backwaters at dusk. Visited the local bird sanctuary, at dawn to optimize our chances, but they remained low enough to only see a … tortoise crossing the path and a large fruit bat flying away. Day temperatures were such as making reading in the shade almost compulsory, which helped cleaning the pile of books I had taken with me.

The trip back was uneventful and reasonably delayed, considering that Delhi airport was shrouded in heavy fog and pollution, and as cold as Paris. With the incredible coïncidence of Didier Fraix-Burnet (IPAG) travelling the same flight Delhi-Paris as me, him returning from visiting Asis Chattopadhyay at the University of Calcutta—whom I visited over New Year’s Eve almost a decade ago And made it back to Paris, with our bags of groceries, with a -23⁰ temperature drop, instead of the -38⁰ drop we would have experienced a day earlier.

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