Spreading their violent ideology and recruiting new members…
In March 2020, the Western world finally took the measure of the Covid-19 pandemic and applied the first restrictions to contain its spread.
Quarantines implemented all around the globe are, for many, a source of anxiety or even depression. Isolation, fear for loved ones, time spent behind screens, or worrying about restricted freedoms… According to the sociologist Cynthia Miller Idriss, the climate was perfect for growing conspiracy theories, and extremists didn’t wait to use them for propaganda and recruiting purposes.
« This dynamic creates a perfect storm for extremist recruitment and radicalization. Extreme isolation and increased online presence on gaming platforms, social media, and more, creates growing possibilities for exposure to extremist content and expands the gateways that can lead to extremist radicalizations ». …
A middle school teacher beheaded after a course on freedom of speech.
Samuel Paty was a beloved father and respected teacher at a middle school in Conflans-Saint-Honorine, a Paris suburb. He taught history, geography, and “moral and civic education,” a subsidiary course in French schools. According to his students, “Mr. Paty” was a good teacher, committed to his work.
On October 16, 2020, a radicalized 18-year-old, Abdouallakh Abouyezidovich Anzorov, violently attacked and beheaded the teacher.
The reason for this attack? Samuel Paty had given a lesson on freedom of speech within the framework of the course “civic and moral education,” whose aim is to think about the elements of a Democraty: freedoms and rights, social issues, and other subjects on which it’s common to have French students debate to practice critical thinking. …
Why fake news will be the challenge of the 21st century
Fake news: a new and scary phenomenon
“Fake news,” Buzzfeed started to use those words in late 2016. The term went viral within a year. We could finally describe a phenomenon we saw emerging around the globe. History has its fair share of lies, deception, and propaganda, but the birth of fake news was due to the democratization of social media.
Why is the phenomenon unprecedented?
The 20th century was rich in fantasized plots. We wondered about or government’s dirty secrets. We speculated on their involvement in historical events, like Man’s first steps on the moon, Kennedy’s death, or September 11. …
I wasn’t prepared for it
Episode 01: The Pain I Didn’t Invite in My Life
Four years ago, I left my student apartment for a ten-minute walk to meet friends at a pub. Just after I started walking, a sharp pain passed through my urethra, and I felt the urge to run to the bathroom. As I was used to cystitis, I expected to feel a burn once on the toilet. I was quite surprised not to, so I took back the direction of the pub as if nothing had ever happened.
I was stopped halfway. A vivid burning sensation struck me again. I went home and canceled the party, thinking a urinary tract infection was definitely happening. …
Journalists denounce police violence while a new security bill threatens public freedoms
Police brutality denounced on Twitter during the evacuation of a refugee camp
On the night of November 23 to 24, 2020, about 450 migrants were evacuated from “Place de la République” in Paris, where humanitarian associations had organized the distribution of tents. As the refugees were expelled from another camp a week earlier, they wanted them to rest overnight before finding a new place for establishing the camp. Activists decided to spend the night between the tents, in the hope of protecting refugees from violence.
Throughout the evening, shocking images were posted on social media by journalists and associations covering the distribution, mostly with the hashtag #République. They showed the use of tear gas and anti-riot grenades, along with migrants harshly forced to come out of their tents. …
I was just a newborn when my mum had a recurrent nightmare. She was swimming in the ocean, holding me in her arms. Suddenly, I started slipping and she couldn’t catch me back. I sank to the bottom of the water as if I had been dragged from the surface by mysterious forces.
When she was pregnant with me, she almost miscarried. The midwife urged her to consult a therapist.
“Madam, I don’t know what the source of stress in your life is, but if it goes on you will lose your child.”
At 40, driven by a strong desire to have a second and last child, she decided to consult a psychiatrist to pull herself together. After only a few sessions, the psychiatrist, a specialist of the infamous “cluster b”, which includes narcissistic, histrionic, sociopathic, and borderline personality disorders, asked her the following…
The dos and the don’ts to avoid spreading fake news.
Nothing spreads faster than fake news, especially nowadays, when creating and sharing content that resembles scientific knowledge has become accessible to the masses.
I hear people here and there complaining about family members arguing over the news at the dinner table. This is not a new phenomenon, but doesn’t it feel more irritating when politicians in high responsibility positions participate in creating and disseminating deceptive content?
No, this isn’t the Dunning Krüger effect parasitizing our society, which also appears overrated and largely misunderstood. It’s the core of our fallible human nature to mistake our internal reflections for logical facts. …
I have a Wix website for blogging. Yes, I do.
And you know what, I actually really like this platform. Prices are highly competitive, with only a couple of options to host your website on an annual basis.
It offers the possibility to create and design your website easily, without any coding knowledge, simply by dragging and dropping elements. Compared to premium WordPress themes, Wix theme-builder is, I must concede, less performant. …
“La Curée,” in the French hunting vocabulary, is the moment when remains of a freshly hunted venison are thrown to the dogs as a reward. This is what Europe is risking if it can’t overcome the challenges of the 2020s: being torn apart for the world to feast on.
I. Europe, the Most Open Market in the World, Vulnerable During the Covid-19 Pandemic
II. What Will Be Europe’s Plan After the Covid-19 Crisis?
Europe, the Most Open Market in the World, Vulnerable During the Covid-19 Pandemic
The European Union tries to hold itself together in these times of pandemic and economic hardship. Yet, Europe is not in a position of power right now, as the second wave of coronavirus threatens its citizens' lives, the trust they have in their governments, and Member States economies. …
Things couldn’t be worse for winegrowers.
When I lived in Bordeaux, there were castles and vineyards everywhere, even in town. I noticed how dynamic was the area, one of the most charming in France. It was, without a doubt, on the way to be the new heart of France’s economy. I ignored, however, that the wine industry would be the scene of the next global crisis.
Protecting a French Heritage
There is no equivalent for the French word “Terroir” in other languages. Le Terroir is the relationship between men and the lands they fiercely protect. It is the vineyard characteristics that make a bottle of good wine: the geographic area, the climate, the soil, and the topography. A wine of Saint-Emilion doesn’t have the same properties as a Pessac. …
