October 1, 2023 – Monocle editorial director Tyler Brûlé, Juliet Linley, Samuel Schumacher and Adrien Garcia unpack the weekend’s hottest topics. Plus: check-ins with our friends and correspondents in London, Bangkok, and Ankara.
All posts by She Seeks Serene
The New York Times — Sunday, October 1, 2023
Congress Narrowly Averts Shutdown as House Democrats Help Pass Stopgap Bill
In a stunning reversal, Speaker Kevin McCarthy pushed through a bill with Democratic votes to temporarily keep the government open. President Biden signed it late Saturday.
Mosquitoes Are a Growing Public Health Threat, Reversing Years of Progress
Climate change and the rapid evolution of the insect have helped drive up malaria deaths and brought dengue and other mosquito-borne viruses to places that never had to worry about them.
Decades Later, Closed Military Bases Remain a Toxic Menace
Cities hoped for new businesses and housing on former military sites. But many are still waiting for poisonous pollution to be cleaned up, a wait that for some may never come.
In Texas, Mums Rival Football as the Big Homecoming Attraction
The elaborate adornments have come a long way since the days of simple chrysanthemum corsages.
CULTURE: FRANCE-AMÉRIQUE MAGAZINE – October 2023
France-Amérique Magazine – October 2023 – The new issue features a walk through France’s vineyards and observe the changing cultural landscape. An estate near Epernay is working to produce the world’s greenest Champagne, while other producers are turning to no- and low-alcohol wines to cater to to sober-curious generation. Welcome to the Age of Raisin. Also in this issue, read about “Wemby-mania” and the success of French NBA players; meet French-American composer Betsy Jolas who, at the age of 97, still creates with the same intensity; and discover a new art space near Paris – a former blimp hangar, masterpiece of Belle Epoque industrial architecture.
NOLO WINES – New Culture or Sour Grapes?
Sales of no- and low-alcohol wines soar in France amid deep-seated cultural change. Your correspondent keeps his true feelings bottled up.
By Anthony Bulger
LUDOVIC DU PLESSIS – Telmont, the Green Champagne Revolution
The contagiously enthusiastic “climate optimist,” a former executive for Dom Pérignon in the United States, is working to produce the world’s most environmentally friendly Champagne. In pursuit of this objective, he is working with an American investor renowned for his environmental activism, Leonardo DiCaprio.
By Clément Thiery
HANGAR Y – Outside Paris, a New Art Space Takes Flight
On the banks of a lake in the Meudon forest southwest of the French capital, a masterpiece of Belle Epoque industrial architecture is looking to become a hub of contemporary creation.
By Jean-Gabriel Fredet
Saturday Morning: News And Stories From London
The New York Times — Saturday, Sept 30, 2023
Right Wing Tanks Stopgap Bill in House, Pushing Government Toward a Shutdown
More than 20 hard-right Republicans defied Speaker Kevin McCarthy and defeated their own party’s bill, making a lapse in funding at midnight on Saturday all but certain.
Vulnerable New Yorkers Suffer as Some Services Decline Under Mayor Adams
Some critical services in New York City are growing less reliable under Mayor Eric Adams, from long waits for food stamps to fewer sexual health clinics.
Talking Peace in Sudan, the U.A.E. Secretly Fuels the Fight
From a remote air base in Chad, the Emirates is giving arms and medical treatment to fighters on one side in Sudan’s worsening war, officials say.
Navy Will Start Testing SEALs for Illicit Drug Use
For the first time, everyone in Naval Special Warfare, not just trainees, will face random screening for performance-enhancing drugs, believed to be widely abused in the ranks.
The New York Times Book Review – October 1, 2023
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (October 1, 2023): This week’s issue features the biography “Larry McMurtry: A Life”….
Larry McMurtry, a Critter of the American West Who Rejected Its Mythos
Tracy Daugherty’s new biography is the first comprehensive account of the prolific novelist who brought us “Lonesome Dove,” “The Last Picture Show” and more.
LARRY McMURTRY: A Life, by Tracy Daugherty
When the art critic Dave Hickey learned that Tracy Daugherty was writing a biography of his friend Larry McMurtry (all three men are Texans), he said to Daugherty: “Knowing Larry, it’s going to be a real episodic book.” Episodic this biography is. It’s also vastly entertaining.
McMurtry, the prolific author of “The Last Picture Show,” “Terms of Endearment” and “Lonesome Dove,” was a demythologizer of the American West who appeared to live in several registers at once.
The Miracle and Madness of Science That Changed the World
Benjamín Labatut’s novel “The Maniac” examines the dawn of the nuclear age and the brilliant, sometimes troubled minds behind it.
Finance Preview: Barron’s Magazine – October 2, 2023
BARRON’S MAGAZINE – October 2, 2023 ISSUE:
What the Job Market’s Baffling Strength Means
Unemployment remains near historic lows even after the Fed’s aggressive rate hikes. What’s behind the job market’s resilience—and why it could last.
Strikes in Detroit and Hollywood Are Just the Beginning
After decades of losing ground to corporate cost-cutting and globalization, labor unions face their biggest opportunity in years to forge a comeback. It won’t be easy.
General Dynamics Stock Is a Buy. A Shutdown Doesn’t Change That.
The defense contractor’s shares are cheap and the company is growing faster than its peers.
What Cava’s Board Chair Looks for in Restaurant Investments
Ron Shaich, head of Act III Holdings, founded and later sold Panera, and then backed Cava, this year’s IPO sensation. What he’s investing in now.
Car Insurance Premiums Have Gone Through the Roof. It’s Going to Get Worse.
The rising costs of new and used cars has fueled soaring claims costs—19% year over year in August. The situation hurts drivers. insurers, and investors.
Architecture: A Modern Home In Pacific Palisades
Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Breathtaking Modern Home 00:59 – The Riviera Neighbourhood 01:12 – The Layout of the House 01:35 – A Walkthrough of the Home 04:03 – Designing For A Dynamic Climate 04:53 – A Simple Material Palette 05:09 – A Collaborative Process
Journeying further, the main level opens to reveal the living space with dropped ceilings that at first obscure the top of the canyon. However, as the house tour moves further into the living area, the interior design opens up with the ceiling, lifting to gift the occupants breathtaking views of the canyon. From the entry way, the architects have designed a tall space with concrete walls and split skylights, which have been designed specifically to allow light to reflect and bounce into the breathtaking modern home.
The upper level contains the primary suite, which has its own his and hers bathrooms and dressing rooms. Additionally, this level contains the kitchen, dining room, living room and the covered outdoor space that leads to the outdoor entertaining areas. From here, the house tour leads down to the second level where additional living spaces are placed – these three secondary suites complement the interior design of the breathtaking modern home.
Travel: Walking Tour Of Zurich, Switzerland (4K)
Essay: The Dysfunctional Superpower – Can America Deter China And Russia?
“Xi’s sense of personal destiny entails significant risk of war…”
The problem, however, is that at the very moment that events demand a strong and coherent response from the United States, the country cannot provide one. Its fractured political leadership—Republican and Democratic, in the White House and in Congress—has failed to convince enough Americans that developments in China and Russia matter. Political leaders have failed to explain how the threats posed by these countries are interconnected. They have failed to articulate a long-term strategy to ensure that the United States, and democratic values more broadly, will prevail.
Boomers Daily 