Ce carnet fait relâche: pause de Noël!

"Rencontre à l'église du village", Normand Boisvert

Une autre belle année d'activités dans les médias et sur le carnet web. Un grand merci à ceux et celles qui continuent à soutenir l'ensemble de ces projets et une très joyeuses période des fêtes!

Caricature Donald Claus

Caricature de Paresh Nath, The Khaleej Times, UAE

Caricature Ruth Baderginsburg pour Noël

Caricature d'Ed Wexler, PoliticalCartoons.com

Caricature Donald Trump et la tradition du premier bébé de l'année

Caricature de Bill Day, Tallahassee, FL

Caricature Trump cherche un remplaçant pour Mattis

Caricature de Bruce Plante, Tulsa World

Caricature la Sainte Famille

Caricature de Pat Bagley, The Salt Lake Tribune, UT

Caricature message du président Trump pour Noël

Caricature de Joep Bertrams, The Netherlands

Caricature les Démocrates responsables du "shutdown"?

Caricature de Pat Bagley, The Salt Lake Tribune, UT

Caricature Jim Mattis déjà remplacé

Caricature de Christo Komarnitski, Bulgaria

Caricature Noël dans le temps

Caricature de Jeff Koterba, Omaha World Herald, NE

Caricature le Père Noël n'est pas le congrès!

Caricature de John Cole, The Scranton Times-Tribune, PA

Caricature Mark Zuckerberg le nouveau Père Noël?

Caricature de Bob Englehart, Middletown, CT

Chronique dans "Dutrizac de 6 à 9": une autre année surréaliste en 2018 aux États-Unis

Un rapide retour sur une 2018 particulièrement chargée aux États-Unis. À 6h45 sur l'audio fil du 21 décembre:
  https://www.qub.radio/#/balado?id=b0c8fd61-64ef-4a06-9781-a96e000052de

Caricature Trump comme Obama?

Caricature de Rick McKee, The Augusta Chronicle, GA

Au tour de Jim Mattis de quitter l'administration Trump

Il semble qu'en ordonnant le retrait des troupes américaines en Irak Donald Trump ait atteint les limites de la patience du général à la retraite. Donald Trump aura intérêt à bien choisir son successeur puisque Jim Mattis était un de ses conseillers les plus expérimentés et compétents. Dans sa lettre de démission Mattis a insisté sur le respect des alliés.

 "Mattis pointed to some of those differences in a resignation letter he submitted to the White House on Thursday. The retired general emphasized that the United States derives its strength from its relationships with allies and should treat them with respect. He said the country must also be “clear-eyed” about threats including from groups such as the Islamic State.

“My views on treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues,” Mattis wrote. “We must do everything possible to advance an international order that is most conducive to our security, prosperity and values, and we are strengthened in this effort by the solidarity of our alliances.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-announces-mattis-will-leave-as-defense-secretary-at-the-end-of-february/2018/12/20/e1a846ee-e147-11e8-ab2c-b31dcd53ca6b_story.html?utm_term=.032b1b9e63bd

Chronique dans "Trudeau le midi" sur Qub radio

Une dernière chronique avant la pauses des fêtes. Vers 12h30 dans l'émission du 20 décembre:
  https://www.qub.radio/#/balado?id=0666b10f-5b4f-4863-8833-a96f00044eef

Chronique dans "Dutrizac de 6 à 9": retrait des troupes américaines en Syrie, réforme de la justice et Hakuna matata

La chronique à 6h45 dans l'émission du 20 décembre: https://www.qub.radio/#/balado?id=b0c8fd61-64ef-4a06-9781-a96e000052de

Caricature vapoter meilleur pour la santé?

Caricature de John Cole, The Scranton Times-Tribune, PA

They Shall Not Grow Old: documentaire saisissant de Peter Jackson sur la Première Guerre Mondiale

Le célèbre réalisateur aurait déployé des moyens technologiques extraordinaires pour nous permettre une expérience d'un réalisme jamais vu. La guerre comme si vous y étiez? Certains historiens hésitent à souligner le mérite du travail de Jackson et se demandent même s'il s'agit plus d'une fiction que d'un documentaire puisque le réalisateur modifie sa source, le matériel d'origine. Comme enseignant je considère plutôt que le recours à une technologie moderne pour redonner un peu d'humanité à ces hommes qu'on voyait auparavant défiler à toute vitesse en noir et blanc constitue une belle façon de sensibiliser nos étudiants aux dures réalités de la Première Guerre Mondiale. Au plan pédagogique, rien ne nous empêche de compléter en leur expliquant le travail de Jackson tout en le comparant à ce que font les historiens.

 "When the Imperial War Museums first contacted Jackson and handed him 100 hours of raw footage, it asked only that the video be presented to audiences in a “fresh and original way,” without any new material from the modern era. Unsure at first how to translate those instructions into a full-fledged documentary, Jackson began by tackling the restoration. During World War I, footage was shot on hand-cranked, black-and-white cameras, usually at 10 to 12 frames per second, which creates an “over-cranked” (or sped-up) visual when the film is played at the 24-frames-per-second standard of modern cinema.

 “I set about doing four or five months of testing with a little piece of film that [the Imperial War Museums] sent, and I was amazed at the results,” Jackson said. “It was so sharp and so clear, it looked like it was shot now. It was way better than I ever dreamt it could be.” The director and his team carefully filled in the frame gaps, removed damage from the footage, and hired lip-readers to discern what people were saying so that dialogue could be dubbed in along with sound effects. “To me, the colorizing is the icing on the cake,” Jackson said. “But the transformation happens when you take away all that damage and get [the soldiers] moving at a normal human speed. They become real people again.”

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/12/peter-jackson-they-shall-not-grow-old-world-war-i-documentary/578542/

Faceboook a échoué à régler ses problèmes

Mark Zuckerberg promettait en janvier 2018 de régler les problèmes du géant qu'il a créé. Comme le démontre un récent article du New York Times, il a clairement échoué.

 "This year, though, Facebook kept getting stuck at "apologize," with the next disaster blowing up before the previous one had time to subside. To the engineers who run Facebook, this is known as a "cascading failure."

What's next: When Uber faced a crisis pileup in 2017, the company responded by switching CEOs. That's almost certainly not going to happen at Facebook, where Zuckerberg still owns a controlling share of the company's voting stock.

Instead, Facebook is likely to accelerate new experiments in governance as it recognizes that algorithms can't always solve human problems.

In November, Zuckerberg announced a plan for a kind of Facebook "Supreme Court" to deal with complex content moderation choices.

 The bottom line: If advertisers or users ever flee en masse, we may finally hear more than apologies from Facebook."

https://www.axios.com/facebook-mark-zuckerberg-user-data-privacy-967e835e-0803-49ef-8074-c322db6733da.html

Caricature Trump retire les troupes de Syrie

Caricature de Bruce Plante, Tulsa World

Caricature le Père Noël et Facebook

Caricature de Christopher Weyant, The Boston Globe, MA

Caricature la Chine célèbre 40 ans de réforme

Caricature de Paresh Nath, The Khaleej Times, UAE

Le baseball majeur et la Fédération cubaine de baseball parviennent à une entente malgré l'embargo

Malgré des relations tièdes entre les deux pays les joueurs cubains n'auront désormais plus besoin de fuir le pays pour évoluer aux États-Unis. Trop souvent ceux qui fuyaient le régime étaient des victimes de contrebandiers et de trafiquants.

 "In MLB’s view, the move was motivated by humanitarian concerns to halt the influence of smugglers and traffickers who have preyed upon Cuban defectors in the past. Many top Cuban professionals, such as Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig — who left the island to come to the U.S. under the previous MLB rules requiring players to establish residency in another country — have endured harrowing episodes involving smugglers and human traffickers.

In Puig’s case, smugglers affiliated with the notorious Mexican crime syndicate Los Zetas allegedly facilitated his escape from Cuba, then held Puig and others with him on a small island off the Yucatán Peninsula until his representatives produced $250,000 for his freedom. He signed a seven-year contract with the Dodgers for $42 million in June 2012, but was still allegedly pursued by smugglers seeking payment.

“Cuban players coming to MLB have been smuggled out by human trafficking organizations that are often tied to other criminal organizations, and often they lose a big chunk of their bonus to pay for their passage out of Cuba,” Dan Halem, MLB’s deputy commissioner and chief legal officer, said in a telephone interview. “And often, some unsavory characters continue to harass the player or their family if they believe they weren’t given the full amount.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2018/12/19/mlb-cuban-baseball-federation-reach-agreement-that-will-eliminate-need-players-defect/?utm_term=.ea0d9bfcd74c

Caricature Brexit open!

Caricature de Paresh Nath, The Khaleej Times, UAE

Caricature brève histoire des communications

Caricature de Dave Whamond, Canada, PoliticalCartoons.com

La mission américaine en Syrie n'est pas terminée

Les deux auteurs du texte ont été conseillers sous Obama et Trump. Pour eux la sécurité du monde occidental est menacée si les troupes américaines ne complètent pas le travail.

 "There’s been remarkable progress against the Islamic State in those three years, but perhaps the hardest part is yet to come: addressing the remnants of the group’s core in Iraq and Syria. Indeed, for all of the counterterrorism successes the United States has achieved since Sept. 11 — and there have been many — we’ve yet to figure out fully how to turn the corner from degrading groups like Al Qaeda and the Islamic State to actually defeating them.

 Failing to do so can prove deadly: It was, after all, the seemingly dying embers of Al Qaeda in Iraq that rose from the ashes to become the Islamic State and control a territory the size of Britain. Ultimately, it’s vital to remember that groups like the Islamic State and Al Qaeda think of themselves as sublime movements, and thus their ideologues are convinced that they went to war to fulfill divine obligations, making setbacks merely temporary — with remnants sure to carry on the fight."

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/19/opinion/trump-syria-islamic-state.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

Syrie et rappel des troupes américaines: les généraux émettent des réserves

Considérant que l'État islamique est défait en Syrie le président Trump a ordonné le rappel des troupes. Plusieurs généraux considèrent qu'il s'agit d'une mauvaise décision et des meneurs du sénat dont Lindsey Graham affirment que c'est une décision qui démontre la faiblesse de Donald Trump. Qu'aurait-on dit si Obama avait procédé à ce retrait?

 "In a series of meetings and conference calls over the past several days, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and other senior national security officials have tried to dissuade Mr. Trump from a wholesale troop withdrawal, arguing that the significant national security policy shift would essentially cede foreign influence in Syria to Russia and Iran at a time when American policy calls for challenging both countries.

Abandoning the American-backed Kurdish allies, Pentagon officials have argued, will hamper future efforts by the United States to gain the trust of local fighters, from Afghanistan to Yemen to Somalia.

In addition, the Islamic State has not been fully vanquished from the small territory it controls on the Syrian-Iraqi border. The Islamic State has held that territory for more than a year in the face of attacks by American-allied forces, and has used it as a launching pad to carry out attacks in Iraq and Syria."

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/19/us/politics/trump-syria-turkey-troop-withdrawal.html

Caricature les troupes américaines quitteront la Syrie

Caricature de Dave Granlund, PoliticalCartoons.com

Caricature à Downingstreet

Caricature de Joep Bertrams, The Netherlands

Caricature Michael Cohen un rat?

Caricature de Nate Beeler, The Columbus Dispatch, OH

Chronique dans "Dutrizac de 6 à 9"`sentence de Flynn reportée, QAnon au Canada et Trump Foundation devant les tribunaux

Nos échanges à 6h45 dans l'émission du 19 décembre: https://www.qub.radio/#/balado?id=b0c8fd61-64ef-4a06-9781-a96e000052de

Disney doit-elle abandonné "Hakuna Matata"?

Une pétition circule actuellement pour forcer Disney a abandonné ses droits sur la célèbre phrase du film "Le Roi lion". Empruntée au swahili la phrase pourrait être traduite par "sans tracas, sans souci". Lancée par l'activiste Shelton Mpala la pétition atteint déjà la barre des 50 000 signatures. Si on y on réfère à un cas d'appropriation culturelle, il est loin d'etre certain qu'un tribunal s'opposerait à Disney puisqu'il n'y a ici aucun vol et qu'on ne pénalise personne.

 "Mpala told CNN he started the petition "to draw attention to the appropriation of African culture and the importance of protecting our heritage, identity and culture from being exploited for financial gain by third parties."

"This plundered artwork serves to enrich or benefit these museums and corporations and not the creators or people it's derived from," Mpala said."

https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/19/africa/africans-petition-disney-over-hakuna-matata-trademark-intl/index.html

La Cour suprême trop discrète?

Depuis la nomination hautement médiatisée de Brett Kavanaugh la Cour suprême a été relativement silencieuse et il semble que cela corresponde à la volonté et à l'influence de son juge en chef John Roberts.

 "With Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement this summer, Roberts is more in control of the court’s direction than he has ever been.

That doesn’t just mean the rulings will be more conservative. It also means the court’s work will reflect Roberts’ institutionalism. He sincerely believes the judiciary is unique and wants to leave a light footprint in politics — or at least to maintain the appearance of leaving a light footprint in politics. This is the new normal."

https://www.axios.com/supreme-court-john-roberts-conservative-c8dc708e-e0c2-44f5-b279-122567ac253e.html

Caricature plus d'un mur pour Donald Trump?

Caricature de John Darkow, Columbia Missourian

Caricature Donald Trump a un plan B pour le mur

Caricature de Dave Granlund, PoliticalCartoons.com

Paul Ryan "le futur du Parti républicain" fait ses adieux

Je me souviens encore très bien de la période de grâce de Paul Ryan. On le voyait partout, de la présidence américaine à speaker de la chambre des représentants. Jadis adulé par bien des partisans, il n'en prépare pas moins son départ sans avoir atteint les sommets qu'on lui prédisait. Que ce soit chez les Démocrates ou chez les Républicains, ce n'est jamais une sinécure de naviguer entre les factions, encore moins pendant une présidence aussi chaotique que celle de Donald Trump.

 "Ryan often spoke of the imperative of fiscal discipline, especially during the eight years of the Obama administration. But the nation’s red ink has grown since Ryan became speaker, soaring from $438 billion in 2015 to $779 billion this year. And many economists blame the tax cut as a culprit as next year’s deficit is projected to hit nearly $1 trillion.

Politically, the picture is just as bleak, according to a bloc of Ryan’s former fellow-travelers in the conservative intellectual sphere. His brand of aspirational conservatism has shown little currency in the face of President Trump’s brash populism, and November’s midterms put an exclamation point on Ryan’s efforts to insulate the GOP from Trump: Republicans lost 40 seats, their worst showing in 44 years, and relinquished the House majority.

The ensuing lame-duck session has offered only small succor: likely passage of a criminal justice overhaul that Ryan has championed, alongside another spending showdown — and potential government shutdown — emblematic of Congress’s rolling dysfunction. Big issues dear to Ryan such as immigration and poverty will remain for future lawmakers to solve."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/he-was-the-future-of-the-party-ryans-farewell-triggers-debate-about-his-legacy/2018/12/18/f4f145fc-02df-11e9-9122-82e98f91ee6f_story.html?utm_term=.b14eaadd455b

La Trump Foundation un modèle choquant d'illégalité

Depuis la victoire de Donald Trump bien des observateurs avancent que pour coincer le président il suffit de s'intéresser à la gestion de ses affaires.  "Fllow the money" disent-ils. Difficile de les contredire quand on lit les mots très durs utilisés pour décrire la Trump Foundation qui est attaquée en justice.


 "The foundation was accused by the attorney general, Barbara Underwood, of “functioning as little more than a checkbook to serve Mr. Trump’s business and political interests,” and of engaging in “a shocking pattern of illegality” that included unlawfully coordinating with Mr. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

In addition to shuttering the charity, her office has pursued a lawsuit that could bar President Trump and his three oldest children from the boards of other New York charities, as well as force the payment of millions in restitution and penalties.

“This is an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set of rules for everyone,” Ms. Underwood said in announcing the agreement."

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/18/nyregion/ny-ag-underwood-trump-foundation.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

Caricature Brexit: nouvelle version de "House of cards"?

Caricature de Luojie, China Daily, China

La fin de l'Union européenne?

Thomas L. Friedman croit que la situation actuelle en France est un point tournant de l'évolution de l'Union européenne. Son analyse ne se limite pas qu'à l'Europe.

 "Ever since World War II, the liberal global order that has spread more freedom and prosperity around the world than at any other time in history has been held up by two pillars: the United States of America and the United Nations of Europe, now known as the European Union.

Both of these centers of free markets, free people and free ideas are being shaken today by rural and beyond-the-suburbs insurgencies of largely white working-poor and anxious middle classes, which have not generally benefited from the surges in globalization, immigration and technology that have lifted superstar cities like London, Paris and San Francisco and their multicultural populations.

Having just seen the shocking sight of Parisian stores boarded up right before Christmas to protect against rioting along the Champs-Élysées by some of France’s yellow-vested protesters; after being told in Rome a few days earlier that Italy, a founding member of the E.U., could conceivably shuck off both the E.U. and the euro one day under its new bizarre far-left/far-right governing coalition; after watching Britain become paralyzed over how to commit economic suicide by leaving the E.U.; and after watching President Trump actually cheer for the breakup of the E.U. rather than for its good health, it is obvious to me that we’re at a critical hinge of history."

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/18/opinion/europe-france-economy.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

L'éviscération de Michael Flynn

En reportant la sentence de Michael Flynn hier le juge Emmet Sullivan a eu des mots très durs.

 "Prosecutors had asked U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan for leniency. But in the courtroom today, Sullivan lashed into Flynn, suggested leniency wasn't coming and told the retired general he should consider delaying the sentencing.&& "I'm not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offense," Sullivan told Flynn.

“This is a very serious offense — a high-ranking senior official of the government, making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation while on the physical premises of the White House."

"Arguably, this undermines everything this flag over here stands for. Arguably, you sold your country out," Sullivan said, referencing Flynn's undisclosed lobbying for Turkey.

Between the lines: Sullivan also pressed Flynn on statements made by his defenders and lawyers in recent weeks, which suggested he was a victim of the FBI.

https://www.axios.com/michael-flynn-sentencing-delay-mueller-investigation-d317d81f-6828-4255-80b5-0f7ea5f35f39.html

Réforme du système de justice: une rare collaboration bipartisane

Il faut souligner ici la contribution de tous les joueurs impliqués dans cette réforme, autant chez les Républicains que les Démocrates. Accordons également à Donald Trump le crédit qui doit lui revenir, ce type de réforme ne plait assurément pas à sa base. Cette réforme était souhaitée depuis longtemps dans un pays qui a un des plus fort taux d'incarcération dans le monde, particulièrement au sein de la communauté noire.

 Details: The bill would...

-Send up to 4,000 prisoners home by increasing the amount of time inmates can cut off of their sentences due to good behavior.
-Allow more male and female inmates to serve time in house arrest or halfway homes instead of prison cells, with exceptions for high-risk inmates.
-Require that prisoners be placed within 500 miles of family. -Outlaw shackling during child birth. -Mandate the provision of sanitary napkins and tampons to female inmates.
-Reduce the mandatory penalty from life to 25 years for a third conviction of certain drug offenses, and from 25 to 15 years for a second conviction. Prohibit the doubling up, or "stacking," of mandatory sentences for certain gun and drug offenses.
-Give judges more discretion in giving less than the mandatory minimum for certain low-level crimes.
-Make the 2010 Fair Sentencing Act retroactive, which changed sentencing guidelines to treat offenses involving crack and powder cocaine equally. This could impact nearly 2,600 federal inmates, according to the Marshall Project.

  https://www.axios.com/senate-passes-bipartisan-trump-criminal-justice-reform-bill-9ac9618e-d0c3-4644-8169-a5cb771b0177.html

Caricature Theresa May la fin d'un long périple

Caricature de Patrick Chappatte, The New York Times

Chronique dans "Dutrizac de 6 à 9":James Comey fait la leçon, Trump menace encore et histoire secrète des Musulmans aux États-Unis

Toujours à 6h45 dans l'émission du 18 décembre: https://www.qub.radio/#/balado?id=b0c8fd61-64ef-4a06-9781-a96e000052de

Caricature Theresa May coincée?

Caricature de Jeff Koterba, Omaha World Herald, NE

Critique du film "Vice" dans le New York Times: la vie de Dick Cheney portée à l'écran

Un beau défi que celui de présenter à l'écran la vie d'un homme considéré comme un "méchant" de la politique américaine. Dick Cheney a eu une longue carrière avant de devenir le vice=président de George W. Bush. La sortie du film "Vice" est prévue le 25 décembre aux États-Unis.

 "The way “Vice” tells it, Dick Cheney, who would go on to become the most powerful vice president in American history, started out as a young man in a hurry to nowhere in particular. After washing out of Yale, he retreated to his home state of Wyoming, pursuing his interests in booze and cigarettes and working as a utility-company lineman on the side. Dick was saved from ruin — or at least from the kind of drab destiny unlikely to result in a biopic — by the stern intervention of his fiancée, Lynne Vincent, who told her wayward beau that they were finished unless he pulled himself together.

Her reading of the romantic riot act would have far-reaching consequences. In that pivotal moment, Dick (Christian Bale) looks Lynne (Amy Adams) in the eye and swears he’ll never disappoint her again. The thesis of this film, written and directed by Adam McKay, is that Dick kept his promise. And that everyone else — including his daughter Mary (Alison Pill), thousands of American soldiers, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians and just about everyone on the planet with a care for justice, democracy or simple human decency — paid the price."

 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/17/movies/vice-review.html?action=click&module=Editors%20Picks&pgtype=Homepage

La confiance dans les médias à la hausse

Des chiffres bien intéressants relayés sur le site "Axios". Il semble qu'en misant sur la transparence les médias regagnent lentement la confiance des Américains. 

"Over two-thirds (69%) of U.S. adults who say they have lost trust in the news media over the past decade say their trust can be restored, according to Gallup's latest Indicators of News Media Trust study. Still, 30% of those who have lost trust — equivalent to 21% of all U.S. adults — say their trust in the media cannot be restored."

  https://www.axios.com/trust-in-american-media-still-low-but-improving-bf7842ca-9ddb-4334-a865-6e98f5334db2.html

Caricature Noël à la frontière

Caricature de David Fitzsimmons, The Arizona Star, Tucson, AZ

Le Tibet s'emballe pour le basket!

Bien sympathique d'imaginer des moines tibétains s'exerçant au basket, mais il semble qu'il y ait maintenant un engouement monstre pour le sport inventé par le prof James Naismith et cette passion a des origines lointaines.

 "Along the northeastern edge of the Tibetan plateau, a treacherous landscape where yaks graze above the clouds, basketball hoops are everywhere: at the bases of cliffs; in the courtyards of centuries-old, golden-roofed monasteries; in nomadic villages tucked into the hills.

It was within such a village, Zorge Ritoma, that Dugya Bum, a sheep and yak herder from the Golden Stone Clan, took up the sport. He’d played in school, but after dropping out at 16 he became a full-time nomad, the livelihood of his ancestors. During winter, his family lived in a mud-walled house about four miles from Zorge Ritoma’s center, grazing yaks and sheep at the foot of the mountains. In the summer, when the weather improved, they took the herds up to rich, high-altitude pastures and resided in temporary tents. In the fall, they would gradually make the journey back down."

  https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/01/tibet-basketball/576421/

L'histoire secrète des Musulmans aux États-Unis

Je vous suggère cette petite vidéo de trois minutes qui pourrait vous réserver quelques surprises: https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000006252817/muslim-united-states-history-islam.html