NuseReal
Updates to Global Geneva Insights
J.D. Vance
'Hillbilly Elegy' director Ron Howard 'disappointed' by JD Vance — 10 September 2024 (LINK)
— Howard and the future Ohio senator "didn't talk a lot of politics when we were making the movie because I was interested in his upbringing and that survival tale. That's what we mostly focused on. However, based on the conversations that we had during that time, I just have to say I'm very surprised and disappointed by much of the rhetoric that I'm reading and hearing," Howard, 70, continued. "People do change, and I assume that's the case."
Understanding the hysteria over Hillbilly Elegy (LINK)
US, Afghanistan
High-ranking military leaders blame Trump for 'chaotic' Afghanistan withdrawal — 9 September 2024 (LINK)
— In a letter, a group calling itself National Security Leaders for America — which includes Adm. Steve Abbott, Major Gen. Peter S. Cooke, and others — argues: Trump "repeatedly fails to take responsibility for his own role in putting service members in harm's way. Without involving the Afghan government, he and his Administration negotiated a deal with the Taliban that freed 5000 Taliban fighters and allowed them to return to the battlefield. Then, he left President Biden and Vice President Harris with no plans to execute a withdrawal, and with little time to do so."
— The letter continues, "This chaotic approach severely hindered the Biden-Harris Administration's ability to execute the most orderly withdrawal possible and put our service members and our allies at risk. Nevertheless, President Biden with the support of Vice President Harris ended America's longest war, oversaw the largest airlift in U.S. history, and brought our troops home."
Afghanistan: The Trump-Biden Debacle — Three years on (LINK)
Culture
Swiss website design style explained — simple, minimalist and efficient — 8 September 2024 (LINK)
HELVETICA: Swiss Style and 60 years of font war (LINK)
Nuclear fusion
Is the dream of nuclear fusion dead? Why the international experimental reactor is in 'big trouble' — 3 August 2024 (LINK)
Climate change is NOT our main problem, says TV science star (LINK)
Trump, J.D. Vance
Catchup: JD Vance's Ohio hometown defied his expectations — 26 July 2024 (LINK)
— JD Vance questioned whether rural, white Americans, like those in his native Middletown, Ohio, had the drive to reverse their economic decline. But as Vance was writing, his hometown was in the thick of the grassroots revitalization he envisioned. He urged his struggling cohort to take more responsibility for its problems, stop looking to government or big companies for solutions, and work harder to improve its lot.
— In the southwestern Ohio city's downtown, a brewery, wine bar, art collective, and even an opera house surround intersections bridged by sleek brick crosswalks and walls brightened by murals. Rainbow flags, left over from last month's LGBTQ Pride celebrations, hang in several windows.
— It's part of a revitalization that, while far from complete, conflicts with the 2016 book's portrayal of a community that is a "hub of misery," and whose people react "to bad circumstances in the worst way possible".
Understanding the hysteria over Hillbilly Elegy (LINK)
Töbel, Ostrom
Announcing a new paradigm for economics and beyond: — 14 April 2024 (LINK)
The Swiss commune that changed ecology (LINK)
Rilke, Valais
Rilke's voyages: Europe, North Africa, discovery of the Rhone, and his reflections: Museum auf der Burg, Salle Rilke, Raron: 1 June 2024 onwards — fondationrilke — 7 June 2024 (LINK in French)
Rilke's Valais: 'I have this country in the blood' (LINK)
Switzerland, environment
Sheep acccount for only 11% of Swiss wolves' prey (1 in 9 of animals killed), according to a Kora Foundations study (French) — lenouvelliste — 1 June 2024 (LINK)
Switzerland’s Dark Side: how to read all about it (LINK)
International Geneva
Keeping Geneva relevant as a global hub: Interview with Achim Wennmann, Director for Strategic Partnerships at the Geneva Graduate Institute and Professor of Practice in the Interdisciplinary Programme: He directs the Geneva Policy Outlook, which is a community-building and analysis initiative aimed to stimulate reflection on and provide practical impulses for international cooperation and global governance — graduateinstitute.ch — 21 May 2024 (LINK)
How can International Geneva make a bigger impact online? (LINK)
Cinema: Sundance Sierre
1–2 June 2024: Award-winning playwright Christopher Hampton and My Beautiful Launderette director Sir Stephen Frears are due to be in Sierre on 1 June for the 20th edition of Switzerland's equivalent of the Sundance Film Festival, Plume et Pellicule, for meetings at the Chateau Mercier. — (LINK)
— Other cinematic stars present for the weeklong festival are Yvan Attal (14:00 at the Cinema du Bourg in town), and a showing of Frears' Dirty Pretty Things (19:00) at the Bourg. Sunday 2 June brings Claus Drexel for a 9am showing of his Les Vieux. At 14:00 FrÉdÉric Mermoud presents La Voie Royale along with his star Suzanne Jouannet. The actor Damien Bonnard will be present at 19:00 for Le Sixième Enfant. And on Monday 3 June at the Bourg Florence Vignon will present her film l'Homme Debout along with the actors Tatiana Gousseff and Jacques Gamblin. The festival closes on 4 June with a series of short films and their creators at the Bourg (with cocktails).
Switzerland's Sundance equivalent (LINK)
Grand Bahama
Carnival’s new cruise port is revitalizing Grand Bahama’s economy — cruisehive.com — 8 May 2024 (LINK)
— Celebration Key, a private port 20 miles east of Freeport, Grand Bahama, involves more than 180 local workers and 29 Bahamian-owned construction companies. With a recent $100 million investment to extend the pier to accommodate two additional ships by 2026, the port is expected to create over 700 permanent jobs across various sectors, such as retail, food and beverage, and shore excursions. Carnival promises that at least 75% of the businesses operating within the port will be owned by Bahamians.
Reviving the Bahamas island of perpetual hope (LINK)
Geneva in international affairs
Netflix's '3 Body Problem' is the best show of 2024 so far — graduateinstitute.ch — 9 March 2024 (LINK)
'Soon your planet will be punished' (LINK)
How will Geneva remain relevant? — graduateinstitute.ch — 27 February 2024 (LINK)
— The Geneva Graduate Institute is pleased to invite you to the launch event of the 2024 edition of the Geneva Policy Outlook, a publication produced in partnership with the Republic and State of Geneva, the City of Geneva and the Fondation pour Genève.
How can International Geneva make a bigger impact online? (LINK)
The 17 most expensive Caribbean islands: includes Grand Bahama — luxurycolumnist.com — 18 February 2024 (LINK)
Reviving the Bahamas island of perpetual hope (LINK)
Water crisis and the Alps
"Valais is an ideal laboratory to study climate change impacts": Exploring the climate crisis with Jérôme Chappellaz, environmental scientist and academic director of ALPOLE at EPFL — epfl — 26 January 2024 (LINK)
— Couldn't we simply build more dams? "We could, but we may already have reached a limit in terms of suitable valleys. Remember: the changing climate isn't just affecting the cryosphere; it's also changing rainfall patterns. In western Switzerland, we're likely to see a decrease in summer precipitation, more extreme rainfall events and longer, more intense droughts."
Mountain Water Towers and Rivers: Crucial for Mediterranean Survival (LINK)
Switzerland
Rye: the once-maligned grain now flourishing — salon — 18 January 2024 (LINK)
Swiss Journeys: Erschmatt's Scientific Catcher in the Rye (LINK)
Bahamas, exploration
New deep-sea crustacean discovered in Bahamas: "underscores how little we know about deep-sea ecosystems in The Bahamas" — phys.org — 18 January 2024 (LINK)
Coral Vita: Making reef rescue fun — and a business (LINK)
