Christophe Pons

journaliste retraité

[The Wall Street Journal @WSJ]

From @WSJopinion: Courts keep knocking down President Trump’s tariffs, but he keeps imposing them, no matter the economic or (soon) the political harm
https://t.co/YYiF1qdt3o

[Al Jazeera Breaking News @AJENews]

BREAKING: Iran’s state TV says the Strait of Hormuz is closed to shipping, including tankers, and warns any vessel attempting passage will be targeted, dismissing US claims of safe passage as false and citing insecurity in the region.

🔴More on https://t.co/5H0QqpfIYw

[Al Jazeera English @AJEnglish]

Belfast has seen a second night of unrest as anti-immigration protests escalate.

Demonstrations, triggered by a knife attack, turned violent with fires and vandalism targeting immigrant communities.

[Reuters Africa @ReutersAfrica]

Congo's Ebola outbreak has spread to a new health zone in the northeastern province of Ituri, authorities said on Wednesday, as fresh infections underline sustained transmission more than three weeks after the epidemic was declared. https://t.co/qLPKuNNaGE

[Ishaan Tharoor @ishaantharoor]

FIFA's president can invent a farcical peace prize to flatter the ego of the president of the United States and spend months pandering to his political project, but Haiti's national team can't acknowledge their national struggle for independence because it's too "political"

[DepressedBergman @DannyDrinksWine]

Robert Altman explains the reason why 'Nashville' (1975) wasn't a big commercial success:

"Interviewer: 'Nashville' never became the commercial blockbuster that you and many pro-Altman critics anticipated. Why?

Altman: I can only think it's because we didn't have King Kong or a shark. I don't mean to take anything away from 'Jaws' (1975), but Nashville was not a one-focus thing like that. Also, maybe there was too much critical response; the word masterpiece frightens people away. It's still been more profitable for me personally than any film I've ever made; it's grossed about $8,000,000 and may go to $10,000,000. I think Buffalo Bill is going to be easier for audiences than Nashville, because it doesn't pose a threat: The indictment is in history, so we can always put that blame somewhere else. Nashville's indictment made too many people nervous. The whole community of 'Nashville' disowned it; the country music people said it was no good, it was a lie; and that kept a lot of those fans away.

Interviewer: Wasn't the specific charge they leveled against you that the music was phony, wouldn't pass muster at the Grand Ole Opry?

Altman: This crap about a Nashville sound is mainly a matter of opinion. I wasn't making records, goddamn it, I was making a movie. Take any song in there, I can point out a current hit or failure that's better and worse-musically, lyrically and every other way. The main reason for that criticism was that they saw the names of actors, not professional songwriters, on the songs; and Richard Baskin, who did all the arrangements, was not a country-and-western guy. It's my contention that anybody can write a song. The Nashville people have to claim they're more professional; otherwise, how are they going to justify the $1,000,000 a year they make?"

(Robert Altman's interview to Playboy, 1976)

P.S: On this day, 51 years ago, "Nashville" premiered in New York City, USA.

[BBC Sport @BBCSport]

"Chill, relax"

BBC sports editor Dan Roan asks Fifa president Gianni Infantino if he's lost control of his own tournament.

#FifaWorldCup

[The New York Times @nytimes]

From @TheAthleticFC: FIFA's president, Gianni Infantino, has stood back while journalists and even a referee have been denied entry to the U.S. The situation is a mess, our columnist writes. https://t.co/T39IluqZYa

[Joe Pompliano @JoePompliano]

World Cup ticket sales have been a disaster.

FIFA held back tickets to create artificial scarcity, launched its own resale platform with a 15% fee for both buyers and sellers, and now there are still 180,000 tickets available for purchase.

READ: https://t.co/3UKLVaM6IM

[Reuters Africa @ReutersAfrica]

The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo has increased to 635, including 127 deaths, government data showed on Wednesday. https://t.co/PkC7DC0BKr

[DepressedBergman @DannyDrinksWine]

On Judy Garland's first day on the set of Stanley Kramer's "Judgment at Nuremberg" (1961), which was her first onscreen appearance since "A Star is Born" (1954), the cast and crew greeted her with warm and lasting applause. It was a welcome return to films for her, and her mood was further elevated by the lower pressure of acting in a cameo, rather than carrying a picture as she had done in almost every film she made since childhood.

Her joyful attitude made it difficult for her to perform her dark emotional scenes. "Damn it, Stanley, I can't do it. I've dried up. I'm too happy to cry," she said. Kramer gave her a ten-minute break before continuing to great effect. "There's nobody in the entertainment world today, actor or singer, who can run the complete range of emotions, from utter pathos to power...the way she can," Kramer said.

("Behind the Camera - Judgment at Nuremberg", Rob Nixon, TCM, 2010)

P.S: Remembering the great Judy Garland on her 104th birthday!

[Bloomberg @business]

Cambridge Aerospace has become one of Europe’s most valuable defense startups https://t.co/17P6OC6f95

[Christophe Pons @CPons_UK]

@LesEchos Tandis qu'avec Airbus on ne se respectait pas?
Les torts sont sans doute partagés (entre #Dassaut #Airbus), mais l'annulation du projet d'avion de combat FCAS expose une fois de plus l'incapacité de l'Europe à surmonter les querelles de clocher.

[Christophe Pons @CPons_UK]

@AureliMoreau @francemusique Superbe programmation. Je découvre Dorati. Incroyable de voir que la pianiste Ilse von Alpenheim -sa femme- vient de disparaître à l'âge de 99 ans. Peut-être un futur épisode sur elle dans Stars du classique? (Si cela n'a pas déjà été fait...)

[Aurélie Moreau @AureliMoreau]

« Je crois que, si l'être humain a un avenir, la musique en a un également. »

✨Antal Doráti, une grande force rythmique et une musicalité généreuse dans #StarsDuClassique sur @francemusique

https://t.co/72BRSP1Guo

[Cécile BDC @ccilbdc]

A 16h30 dans #StarsDuClassique : Tabea Zimmermann, toute la richesse de l’alto, par @AureliMoreau https://t.co/cJqdGBwP0M via @francemusique @mvoinchet @stephanegrant @lodeonfrederic

[Financial Times @FT]

Caterpillar and Hochtief are among once-staid ‘picks and shovels’ companies lifted by the data centre boom. https://t.co/1BF07XYi6Z

[Jeremy Corbyn @jeremycorbyn]

What an absolute disgrace. A FIFA-certified referee being denied entry to the United States purely because he is Somali.

The World Cup is meant to bring people together. This is racism, plain and simple. Shameful.

https://t.co/rpSgTmmPU4

[DepressedBergman @DannyDrinksWine]

How the World leaders reacted to Jean Renoir's "La Grande Illusion" (1937) upon its release:

After watching the movie, Joseph Goebbels called it "Cinematic Public Enemy No.1" and ordered the prints to be confiscated and destroyed, with Vichy French authorities banning the film in 1940. When the German Army marched into France in 1940, Goebbels ordered the film's prints and negative to be the first things seized by the Nazis.

Benito Mussolini called it an "anti-heroic" film and banned the movie Italy.

Paul-Henri Spaak, then foreign minister of Belgium, who was also the brother of the movie's co-writer Charles Spaak, banned the movie in Belgium.

In France, the Vichy government labelled the movie "demoralizing" & banned it.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, then US President who knew the social and political importance of the movie, supported it and declared, "All the democracies of the world must see this film".

("The Social Cinema of Jean Renoir", Christopher Faulkner, 1986)

P.S: On this day, 89 years ago, "La Grande Illusion" (1937) premiered in Paris, France.

[Alzheimer's Society @alzheimerssoc]

'I’m truly bowled over by the outpouring of support and affection since revealing my dementia diagnosis.

'Receiving a dementia diagnosis can turn your world upside down, but I really do believe it’s better to know.

'Too many people are experiencing delays in diagnosis - on average 3.5 years - meaning they’re left in limbo without the help they need.

'An early diagnosis can open the door to treatment, support, care and the chance to take part in research that could change the future. 

'People living with dementia and their families have waited long enough for change. We must demand better for everyone affected.

'I would urge everyone to join me in signing Alzheimer’s Society’s open letter calling on government to deliver a bold and ambitious plan for dementia.’

@jonsnowC4