Category: COMMENTARY

Facebook’s ‘Two Minutes Hate’

Facebook gives itself the luxury of offering its “two minutes of hate” to its subscribers, telling them, in its great wisdom, which enemies are allowed.

A Battle Between Narratives: Ukrainian Biolabs Controversy Divides UN

The WHO said it had advised Ukraine to destroy high-threat pathogens housed in the country’s public health laboratories to prevent “any potential spills” and worried that continued fighting raised the risk of damage to those facilities. It would not say when it had made the recommendation, nor did it specify what kinds of pathogens or toxins were housed there.

Golden Parachute: The Rise and Soft Landing of Sebastian Kurz

After a series of scandals, former conservative shooting-star Sebastian Kurz has fallen from grace. But instead of showing personal accountability, he became the latest example of an ex-politician landing softly in advisory boards of multinational companies and NGOs.

Five Lessons for Europe from the Ukraine Crisis

The outbreak of war in Ukraine has caused an identity crisis in Europe. Yesterday’s pacifism turned into today’s belligerence in a heartbeat, all the while avoiding the geopolitical elephant in the room in favor of moral indignation. This should be a wake-up call.

Wokish Cyrano de Bergerac Banned from France

Beware of those who would betray the proud Gascon. Obviously, Joe Wright, the American director who embarked on the highly questionable adventure of adapting Cyrano to the wokish style, must not have been aware of the risks involved.

Protecting Forests from Top-Down EU Policy Planning

A better strategy for the EU could be to clean up its own house first. The enormous amounts the EU spends on agriculture, a few hundred billion over seven years, heavily subsidize intensive agriculture, with 80% of EU cash going to 20% of the recipients.

Reason in Times of War

There is not much good news in the unfolding tragedy that is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the resolve and the courage of the Ukrainian