Trade, biofuels and the environment: key agriculture issues in U.S. election
… and promises to make farming more environmentally friendly. Here … European Union, while working to address persistent imbalances in agricultural … The U.S. and Europe should work together to … does not specifically mention organic agriculture. A Biden presidency …
Book World: Five books for fans of historical portraits
From the publication of “Wolf Hall” in 2009 until the release of “The Mirror and the Light” last March, devotees of Hilary Mantel’s portrait of Tudor statesman Thomas Cromwell always had more to look forward to. Now, her acclaimed trilogy complete, fans must go elsewhere for historical novels with the complex characters, luminous descriptions and period authenticity that are the trademarks of Mantel’s fiction. One of these excellent, ambitious novels might be just what you’re looking for.
Ford Madox Ford’s “The Fifth Queen” (1906) concerns Catherine Howard, the unfortunate young Englishwoman chosen by Henry VIII in 1540 to replace the disappointing Anne of Cleves as his wife. The tale begins with a chance meeting between the king and erudite, pious Catherine in the treacherous court where Cromwell presides like Darth Vader, menacing and all seeing. In Ford’s portrait, Henry is weary, choleric and mercurial, while Catherine is completely sympathetic, nothing like the girl – frivolous and promiscuous – that many historians describe. The storytelling is less propulsive than Mantel’s: Ford labors over scene-setting and, like a playwright, uses speech and action to reveal motivation rather than explicating his characters’ thoughts. But he vividly captures the uneasiness felt by many in England at the loss of Catholicism, “the old faith,” and his artful use of archaic language transports a patient reader directly back into the heart of Tudor-world.
While Willie Stark, the messianic state governor at the center of Robert Penn Warren’s “All the King’s Men” (1946), doesn’t occupy a throne, he wields enormous power in the imagined Louisiana of the 1930s, recognizing no limits to his own will. Sprawling, melodramatic, with a structure that zigzags in time, this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel’s rise-and-fall story is told by Stark’s right-hand man, Jack Burden, someone in search of love and meaning who comes to understand that the actions of everybody – exalted or otherwise – have consequences. Warren was inspired by the demagogic Louisiana governor Huey Long, but Stark’s populist methods and the corruption of his confederates don’t seem utterly remote from our own day.
Gore Vidal gives us an American-style royal court with his masterly “Lincoln” (1984), bouncing from character to character, borrowing their point of view in turn, to create an artful portrait of the 16th president. In Mantel’s novels, the reader lives inside Cromwell’s head, but here the main character’s state of mind is a matter for interpretation. Lincoln emerges as a folksy, aphorism-spouting backwoods lawyer whose virtuosic political skills outstrip those of all the sophisticates around him. Vidal relishes the entertaining possibilities of his story, but there is nothing lightweight about this carefully researched work. The reader approaches the martyrdom of the president with dread, conscious that without Lincoln’s willingness to pay any price, the Union might indeed have collapsed.
Our 35th president, John Kennedy, proclaimed Mary Renault as his favorite novelist for her fictional evocations of Greece antiquity. “The King Must Die” (1958) tells the coming-of-age story of Theseus, the legendary Athenian king, whom Renault makes a fully human, completely believable youth living in a strange pagan world. Gods and goddesses are not rendered explicitly – but neither is their power denied. The climatic section finds Theseus among the seven girls and seven boys chosen by lottery to be tributes, shipped to Crete and trained to entertain crowds as they fight wild bulls to the death. Fans of Suzanne Collins’s dystopian “Hunger Games” novels will recognize the debt she owes to Renault’s highly original reimagining of the mythical past.
If what you most savored about Mantel’s Cromwell trilogy was its 16th-century setting, try the Northern Irish writer Maggie O’Farrell’s”Hamnet,” which last month won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in the U.K. O’Farrell takes the few scraps of historical evidence about William Shakespeare’s family and uses them to create a dense and lovely rendition of their domestic life. Yet Shakespeare himself isn’t at center stage – O’Farrell is interested in Anne Hathaway, called Agnes here, who in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1582 married a young Latin scholar, later the famous playwright. After Agnes and her husband suffer the crushing loss of their 11-year-old son, Hamnet, the playwright produces a play with a variant of the boy’s name as the title. This Agnes is bestowed with not only second sight, but certain modern attitudes and an independence of thought that feels anachronistic. In this regard, O’Farrell is playing to the galleries of today’s female-dominated book club audience. Her novel, while admirably evocative in its physical details, throws into high relief Mantel’s amazing accomplishment. Mantel summoned from the past a human being, called Thomas Cromwell, who isn’t a replica of the real man, but a fictional creation with the mind-set of his age, who despite that can still illuminate the struggles, desires and griefs of people throughout time.
– – –
McHugh is the author of the novel “A Most English Princess: A Novel of Queen Victoria’s Daughter.”
Sakharov Prize 2020: meet the finalists | News | European Parliament
, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/20201008STO88808/
Rolls-Royce’s Illuminated Spirit Of Ecstasy Banned By European Union
It’s hard to feel too sorry for anyone wealthy enough to own a new Rolls-Royce, but there’s bad news for these folks in the European Union because the illuminated Spirit of Ecstasy badge is no longer available. Making matters worse, the light-up hood ornament needs to be removed from any Rolls that currently has it.
The cause of this weird decision is that the illuminated sculpture does not comply with the new EU light pollution regulations. After disconnecting it, Rolls will refund owners for the price of the option and replace the hood ornament with a silver-plated Spirit of Ecstasy. Note that this only applies to vehicles in the EU, and models elsewhere are still free to light up the lady.
“In February 2019 we sent our dealers a bulletin saying we were removing the option of an unlit Spirit of Ecstasy. It was no longer to be sold to customers. It came off the options list,” a Rolls-Royce spokesman told The Daily Mail. “Sadly, we are telling our customers that we will by law have to disconnect their Spirit of Ecstasy.”
What’s not clear is what happens if owners simply don’t bring their Rolls-Royce to a dealer to remove the illuminated Spirit of Ecstasy. It’s hard to imagine the cops pulling over someone in a Phantom just because there’s a light-up hood ornament.
The latest Rolls-Royce to join the range is the new Ghost. It now rides on the dedicated Rolls-Royce Architecture of Luxury platform and has an interesting suspension setup with a damper on the upper wishbone that helps create an even smoother ride. There’s also a GPS-aided transmission to make motoring in the sedan even more luxurious. Prices start at $332,500.
Trump-Related Books Fueling Record Year
Books about President Donald Trump are fueling a record year for political books, with sales up nearly 100% from 2019.
According to The Wall Street Journal, political book sales increased 85% this year through September, while political e-book sales were up 20%. Many of the books are about Trump, his administration, his inner circle, and how he governs.
“2020 is on track to be the biggest year for political books since we began tracking U.S. book sales in 2004,” NPD BookScan’s Kristen McLean told the Journal.
The sales figures are expected to surge again next month when former President Barack Obama releases the first volume of his memoir. The Journal noted that the first run includes 3 million hardcover copies.
As of Monday morning, the top 20 political books being sold on Amazon include Bob Woodward’s “Rage” (No. 4), Dan Bongino’s “Follow the Money: The Shocking Deep State Connections of the Anti-Trump Cabal” (No. 5), and Michael Cohen’s “Disloyal: A Memoir: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump” (No. 16).
The Journal reported that overall book sales are up 6% (print) and 7.6% (e-books) this year, despite the fact that many stores were closed for weeks, if not months, because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The challenges America is grappling with continue post election regardless of the election outcome,” Penguin Random House’s David Drake told the Journal.
New map book is for adventurers
This is a book for the adventurers – for the intrepid explorers who thrill to the words ‘off the beaten track’!
It’s correctly, and unpretentiously, entitled Topographical Maps of Cyprus – but don’t let that fool you! Yes, the book is packed with detailed maps of the Troodos range (right from the Akamas peninsula to the foothills of Larnaca) but this is so much more than a cartographical guide.
Nature trails (including length, duration, and degree of difficulty) and picnic sites are meticulously listed; medieval bridges, watermills, and even tar kilns are discussed and precisely grid referenced; the renowned painted churches and monasteries of Troodos and environs are cleverly highlighted. There’s even a section on the wineries of the region and, since safety is paramount for those who venture into the wilds, there’s a lovely bit about Hiking Safety. ‘Never hike alone,’ we’re admonished. And among other sensible suggestions, we get: ‘Take plenty of water, don’t pack too heavy, dress in layers, start early, pace yourself, and look out for snakes, spiders and other critters’!
The majority of the book consists, of course, of the maps: meticulously researched, compiled, and charted by cartographer Michael Savvides. A member of the Council of the Cyprus Mountaineering, Climbing and Orienteering Federation, and founder of the hiking and orienteering club Orientaction, Michael is a trailblazer who introduced orienteering to Cyprus some 10 years ago now.
“I have always loved exploring,” he enthuses. “It’s such a challenge to find yourself alone in unknown territory, combining your physical and mental abilities to overcome the challenges you face. Orienteering itself,” he adds, “is such a character-building sport. And though it’s relatively new to the island, it took off immediately; to date we’ve already held three major international orienteering events in Cyprus!”
As a local pioneer of the sport, Michael was often sought out by those who shared his passion. “Over the years, many people asked me where they could find large-scale maps of certain parts of Cyprus,” he continues. “But while there are small-scale maps aplenty, mostly aimed at tourists and travellers, larger scale maps just didn’t exist. Perhaps the area that was most frequently requested,” he adds, “was that of the centre of the Troodos Range. And of course, it wasn’t available. So I set out to create it….”
“Then,” he laughs, “another fervent hiker asked me to add in the Akamas Peninsula. And someone else suggested I also map the biking regions around Larnaca… And slowly, slowly, the one original map grew into a book of the whole Troodos region!”
Unlike your average tourist guide, Topographical Maps of Cyprus is a mine of information for “explorers, researchers, runners, and hikers,” says Michael. “It’s a database of geographical, historical, architectural, religious, and viticultural information, which also includes a list of every village and all the major footpaths. Footpaths,” he continues, “which I have walked myself – hiking thousands of kilometres in a bid to ensure the information is absolutely correct. Nowadays, many cartographers work from satellite imagery, sitting in an office far removed from the landscape. But when you make a map you have to be aware of what the terrain looks like on the ground; if you’re familiar with the territory you’re mapping, then you don’t mistake satellite imagery of a white line for a track when it’s actually a river!”
Six years of painstaking work in the making, Topographical Maps of Cyprus has been drawn from Michael’s own reconnaissance, along with data from a plethora of “books, old maps, new maps, and information from international organisations.”
Comprised of 10 main sections, the book covers the Akamas Peninsula, the town of Polis to the west of Paphos Forest, Paphos Forest, Esouza Valley, the central Troodos Forest, the wine region of Krasochoria, the Pitsillia region, Macheras Forest, the Stavrovouni region, and the hilly area west of Larnaca town. Each of the ten sections includes at least eight detailed maps, each map in turn covering an area of five by seven kilometres.
Drawn to a scale of 1/25,000, so that each centimetre on the map represents 250 metres on the ground, the 90 maps include everything any intrepid traveller could wish for. Contours appear every 10 metres, and highways, roads, dirt tracks and footpaths are all clearly marked. Manmade sites of interest – including buildings, vineyards, churches, chapels and mosques, mills, quarries, fishing shelters, kilns, lighthouses, and even water tanks – appear throughout. And among the more natural features of the landscape, we get cliffs, forests, wild vegetation, tree plantations, seasonal streams, rocks, and (worthy of their capital letters) Huge Rocks – many of which are also marked as climbing fields, should you be so inclined!
Best of all, everything is so precisely grid referenced that you can set your GPS by the coordinates, arriving at the exact spot you intended. “All maps are GPS compatible,” we’re told in the introduction. “Coordinates taken from a GPS receiver can be drawn directly on to the maps.” And with this, Michael has effectively put an end to the days of driving (or stumbling) in circles, desperately trying to find the Venetian bridge/rock-climbing spot/picnic site you’re after!
A pioneering book, there’s a follow-up in the works (which will include the Diarizos and nearby river valleys, along with the Commandaria region) which Michael plans to release in 2021. But until then, Topographical Maps of Cyprus is proving to be an excellent source of information: “It’s a ‘live’ book,” Michael enthuses. “Not something you keep on your bookshelf, but something that goes in your car or your backpack everywhere you do. It’s for the adventurers,” he grins. “The explorers amongst us…”
A Digital Euro For The Digital Era – Introductory Statement By Fabio Panetta, Member Of The Executive Board Of The ECB, At The ECON Committee Of The European Parliament
Madame Chair, honourable members of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs,
Thank you for inviting me to present the Eurosystem report on a digital euro.[1]
The quest to ensure that means of payment are fit for purpose has characterised economic history.
In the provision of money by the sovereign, Europe can boast of a primacy dating back to ancient Greece[2] and the Roman era.[3] The search for sound money continued in the “dark” years of the High Middle Ages, despite the resumption of bartering; in the eighth century the monetary reform of Charlemagne spread out in many European countries.[4]
The evolution of money over the centuries and across different regions has reflected changes in economic life, in technology, and in societal beliefs and behaviours. When Marco Polo visited China in the 13th century, he was shocked to discover paper money, which we now know had already been used there for centuries. He called its creator a perfect “alchemist”.[5] Today, digitalisation is spreading to all areas of our life, including the way we pay. So I do not expect anyone to find the idea of a digital currency as astonishing as Marco Polo found the idea of paper money.
Nowadays, central banks are entrusted with the fundamental task of providing citizens with costless access to simple, secure and risk-free means of payment that can be used on a large scale. Delivering on this task requires central banks to analyse relevant developments in society and adapt accordingly.
In order to be able to give Europeans easy access to a safe form of central bank money in a society that is moving increasingly quickly towards digital payments, the ECB’s Governing Council has decided to advance work on the possible issuance of a digital euro.
Should the need arise, we want to be ready to introduce a digital euro: a form of central bank money that would complement cash, not replace it. Together, these two types of money would be accessible to all, offering greater choice and easier access to ways of paying.
After publishing our report on a digital euro on 2 October, we are now in a phase of listening and experimentation. Our exchange today is a key step in this phase and marks the launch of the ECB’s public consultation.[6] I will come back to this consultation in a moment. But first I will outline the characteristics of a digital euro, as well as the advantages and the challenges it could present. I will also discuss some scenarios that could require the ECB to issue a digital euro.
What is a digital euro?
We already have an array of choices when it comes to retail payments: central bank money in the form of cash, commercial bank money – for example, digital bank deposits – and non-bank digital money (such as payment cards). What we do not have is a digital currency that is issued by the central bank and that we can use for all our daily transactions, including in e-commerce.
A digital euro would fill this gap: it would be an electronic form of central bank money accessible to all citizens and firms – in other words, a digital equivalent of euro banknotes. It would provide costless access to a simple, risk-free and trusted digital means of payment, accepted throughout the euro area. In the digital era, it would preserve the public good that the euro provides to European citizens.
Compared with existing means of digital payments, a digital euro would provide added value in several ways. First of all, it could be used for payments anywhere, by anyone and at any time – just like cash in the physical world.
Second, it would bring simplicity: a digital euro should be designed to be easy to understand, easy to use and easy to transfer. Regardless of its features or the technology it would be based on, people from all groups in society should be able to use it in their daily lives. This is because making a payment is about more than just exchanging money for goods and services: it is a form of social interaction made possible by money, which has been described as “the most universal and most efficient system of mutual trust ever devised”[7].
Finally, a digital euro would increase privacy in digital payments thanks to the involvement of the central bank, which – unlike private suppliers of payment services – has no commercial interests related to consumer data. Ensuring privacy is an essential element of modern democracies and part of our European values. Payments must also respect people’s right to privacy in the digital era, and the design of a digital euro would have to respect this principle. This is a core aspect we will look at – indeed, we have already started exploring possible ways of enhancing privacy.[8]
At the same time, payments in a digital euro – just like any form of payment – would have to respect the rules on countering money laundering, the financing of terrorism and tax evasion. This would enable public authorities to combat any illegal activity more effectively.
To summarise, the digital euro would still be a euro, only in digital form. It would both shape and promote the digitalisation of payments, while reducing the associated risks. This would in turn support the ongoing digitalisation and modernisation of the European economy.[9]
Why might we need a digital euro?
A digital euro would be critically important in a number of scenarios, which are analysed in our report.
In particular, it would be needed in the event that citizens become reluctant to use cash as they go digital. This is not the situation we face today: cash is still the most common way of making retail payments in the euro area. However, its role as a payment instrument is diminishing – in some countries rapidly so – as consumers are increasingly paying electronically:[10] as a proportion of all physical retail payments, cash payments decreased from 79% in 2016 to 73% in 2019. This trend has accelerated during the pandemic – with a vast majority of consumers expecting to continue using digital payments as often as they do now, or even to use them more often in the future.[11] And because of this trend, we may see a further increase in the uptake of international card schemes and solutions such as payment wallets and apps developed by large technology firms.
A digital euro would ensure that even in a situation where there is rapid digitalisation in the world of payments, sovereign money remains at the core of the European payment system. This would contribute to financial inclusion. It would also shield us from the risk that a private or public digital means of payment issued and controlled from outside the euro area could largely displace existing domestic means of payment. Such a development would raise regulatory and financial stability concerns and could even put Europe’s monetary and financial sovereignty at risk.
How could a digital euro be introduced? Legal considerations and possible challenges
A digital euro would raise legal, technological and policy questions that we need to address.
Let me start with the legal basis. Today, only euro banknotes and coins are legal tender under EU primary law. This means they can be used to pay anywhere in the euro area.[12] Therefore, a key issue discussed in the report is the importance for a digital euro to have legal tender status. Indeed, central bank money is a public good. Euro banknotes fulfil the core function of providing people with risk-free central bank money. It is crucial to ensure that, as a form of public money, a digital euro enjoys universal reach and acceptance, as the legal tender status provides.
The introduction of a digital euro also raises technical challenges. Some are related to information technology and cyber risks, which will need to be managed effectively. Others are related to design choices. In this respect, we can leverage the experience gained in past projects that have put us at the frontier of payments.[13]
Finally, the design of a digital euro would have to be consistent with key policy objectives. In particular, its design should address the possibility that investors could rapidly move significant amounts of bank deposits into a digital euro, with potential adverse effects on the banking sector and financial stability. We are exploring design strategies to address this and other challenges, and we will assess them in depth. For instance, we could set the necessary incentives through the remuneration of digital euro holdings, to make sure the digital euro is an attractive means of payment, not a form of investment.[14]
What next? Exploring design options, consulting the public and working together
Our report also describes the design options we are considering. We will explore all aspects of different options: whether they are technically feasible, whether they comply with the principles and policy objectives of the Eurosystem, and whether they satisfy the needs of prospective users.
But introducing a digital euro is more than a technical question. The value of money – in both physical and digital forms – is rooted in citizens’ trust. Acceptance by the public is crucial. For this reason, today we are launching our public consultation. We are seeking feedback on the design and on the financial and social issues surrounding the possible introduction of a digital euro.
We welcome everyone’s views: citizens, merchants, the non-financial sector, professionals from the financial industry, technology companies, and academics. We encourage everyone to take part.
After the public consultation and a period of preparatory work, the ECB’s Governing Council will decide – towards the middle of 2021 – whether to initiate a fully-fledged project that should lead us to define the specific characteristics of a digital euro and get ready for a possible launch. This journey will require prudence and perseverance.
Conclusion
Let me conclude. Since the introduction of the euro, the ECB has been responsible for preserving citizens’ trust in our currency. Today, support for the single currency stands at record high levels.[15] To be successful, a digital euro would also have to enjoy strong support from the public. It would be a digital symbol of progress and integration in Europe. And it would support the international role of the euro.
Issuing a digital euro would be relevant for almost everything the ECB does. And it would affect our society as a whole. This is why we are seeking, through the public consultation we are launching today, an intense and open dialogue on our recent report with citizens and other stakeholders.
Together with European institutions and authorities, in primis the European Parliament, we will discuss the framework that would be necessary to introduce a digital euro. As co-legislators and representatives of European citizens, you will have a fundamental role to play in the process. I therefore very much look forward to our first exchange today.
The #1 Book for All Things Vegetable
This review is part of our community-driven book tournament, The Big Community Book-Off. With your help, we’re finding the best books across categories (from bread to pasta, one-bowl to weeknight-friendly, and cake to cookies, to name a few), and putting them through a series of rigorous reviews—considered, tested, and written by none other than you. And so, let’s hand it off to our community members Erin, Ruth, and Shereen. Here are their reviews of your five favorite vegetable-forward books—and their nail-biting verdict on which one reigned supreme.
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<hr class="divider--ornament"/><!-- text -->When a Food52 editor connected the three of us over email, we quickly figured out what we had in common. Nope, we’re not vegetarians, not one of us. But we’re all obsessed with fresh produce and cook vegetarian much of the time.
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Sakharov Prize 2020: MEPs select the finalists | News | European Parliament
The democratic opposition in Belarus, Guapinol activists and Berta Cáceres, and the Archbishop of Mosul were shortlisted for the 2020 Sakharov Prize on Monday.
Following a joint vote by MEPs in the Foreign Affairs and Development committees on Monday 12 October, the finalists for the 2020 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought are:
- The democratic opposition in Belarus, represented by the Coordination Council, an initiative of brave women and political and civil society figures;
- Guapinol activists and Berta Cáceres in Honduras;
- Mgr Najeeb Michaeel, Archbishop of Mosul, Iraq.
Next steps
The European Parliament’s Conference of Presidents (President and political groups’ leaders) will select the final laureate on Thursday 22 October. The prize itself will be awarded in a ceremony in Parliament’s hemicycle on 16 December.
Background
The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought is awarded each year by the European Parliament. It was set up in 1988 to honour individuals and organisations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms. It is named in honour of Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov and the prize money is 50 000 euros.
Last year, the prize was given to Ilham Tohti, an Uyghur economist fighting for the rights of China’s Uyghur minority.
