Again, this overview would not be possible without the press my library provides online <3

Guardian x2: How Europe’s translators are fighting against the rise of AI and That sinking feeling, a.k.a The unloved European leaders.

The first article concerns the use of AI in translation, the correct term would be machine translation btw. How it has sort of improved in the last years, but still not up to the task. The change of translators’ jobs is tragic indeed: instead of translating the text from scratch, some of them need to spend the same amount of time on correcting the machine version while being paid half of what they got before. 

I have been around book industry for a while now and the question of using generative AI has been hot ever since. My take? Screw AI. I have learnt Machine and Deep Learning and still see those as very useful tools, but generative trash is not welcomed in my life. I even argue weekly with my parents, who have eagerly embraced this abomination. If you are curious, this blog contains 0% of AI content, not even spell-checks. I own my mistakes. 

(There is another adjacent article in the New Yorker of “automated writing”, like it is nothing new. It is definitely nothing new, my only question concerns motivation - it is easy to see why automating a useless e-mail can be fair, but why on earth some people are outsourcing creative writing?)

As a dessert, a machine translation of a sentence from another piece of media featured this week with a small dictionary entry to clarify the situation. Again, abomination.

The second article is a funny and a sad one at the same time - most of the political leaders, be it prime ministers or presidents, are very deeply unloved by their people. The writer tries to soften the blow by saying that the times are unprecedented, which is very nice and true, but it doesn’t justify the incompetence of some of the mentioned politicians (I am looking at you, F.M.) and the mere inability to state and communicate goals. Let me be naive here for a sec - it does seem like these elected people in power have no idea what they are doing. And instead of being open and sincere, they fake it till they don’t make it. 

Dear European leaders, people are not stupid and/or have kindergarten level of understanding the world. You get what you give us (I am still looking at you, F.M., I’ll be looking at you until Vertaruensfrage). 

L’Obs: Moi, Souleymane, diplômé, en CDI, sous OQTF

Before we dive in: 

CDI: Contrat à durée indéterminée, employment contract without the end-date, unbefristed for my fellow Germans 

OQTF: Obligation de Quitter le Territoire Français, obligation to leave France

Mon Dieu, this was too much. 

All right, Natacha Tati writes about a specific case of a specific person who is being ordered to leave France despite having his whole life there. She also paints a very grim picture of bureaucracy and motivation behind this whole enterprise. 

As a naturalised person, I feel any of such stories too close to heart. If you have never been an immigrant anywhere, you’re just unable to comprehend this existential dread.  

Souleymane, a man in his 30s, has been through a lot to get where he is now, but it is still not enough - the judges, sympathetic listeners, still deliver a horrible punch in his gut. 

The word kafkaesque was mentioned in the article and there is no better alternative to describe this circus (well, this is an alternative). I notice that governments talk about migrants more when they are threatened with any kind of voting, but the apparatus they have built in the recent years is beyond comprehension. An army of civil servants of all kinds, lawyers preying on people in distress, sorry, I cannot. This tendency becomes worse every year, but, please, notice, who are concerned in this discourse. The main character in the article is not a Sven from Sweden (apologies to any Svens offended by this remark). 

My last take is a personal anecdote: my family is very racist. Unbearably so. Growing up it is inevitable that children, at least in the beginning, share views they are brought up with. So imagine my surprise as an 6-year-old, who learns from an encyclopedia about Great Migration ca. 300 CE in Europe. The rabbit hole was deep. How the fuck can anyone be against migration, while we are all descendants of migrants? If you feel your status quo threatened by incomers, then your status quo, pardon my French, is merde. 

t.a.z.: Weg mit den Bundesländern!

This is a funny coincidence - this week I was fuming while doing the dishes, that there is no sense in living in Europe and not having access to TV in other European languages (VPN helps, but the situation is still comical). And here writes the t.a.z. about this being a nice idea, along with the dismantling federal system in Germany. 

If we are being serious, German federalism is not an invention of 1949, nothing has practically changed since the Middle Ages, with a couple if unsuccessful historical hiccups we need to learn from.

Hard enterprise, because then the politician and civil servants will loose their jobs, so they don’t want it, but, according to history, nothing is permanent. 

But yes, once you move from Berlin to any other place, it feels like a new land, which is annoying. I do miss NRW, though.

Cherry on top: You Are Living In An Economic Fairy Tale by Barry’s Economics on YouTube

This video-essay made me sob. 

In short, Barry talks about how children animation has already given us the orientation in who the bad guys are. But we grow up and participate in an unfair system and accept it as it is. 

Don’t want to spoil anything, this video is worth your time, please watch it!

P.S. Tomorrow comes another piece of media, that requires a separate post - I have read my first Asterix in French and there are some interesting nerdy linguistic things I’d like to share. Now this was an accomplishment! 

I get all my articles via local library on Libby or PressReader. As a press junkie, those sources are a blessing, VÖBB, I love you 🤟 

The Old Guard by Samuel Moyn (Harper’s)

There is a common problem in politics - too many old men in power. It shouldn’t be necessarily the government, though it is, but also the voters and those who have amassed a certain amount of wealth and thus gatekeeps change. The article focuses on the USA, but the same situation can be seen around the world. I have observed it in Germany many times. Quite scary, actually.  The people who run the show they have no stakes in anymore (sorry if it sounds harsh) are, unfortunately, not allowing younger people into decision-making. Look out of the window to notice the consequences. 

Celebs’ irritating book clubs (The Economist)

Long story short - famous faces sell. Parasocial relationships are real and we somehow tend to trust the celebrities, like Dua Lipa, to tell us which books are good. And they turn a solitary hobby into a social one.

Sorry, I did not like this article, as I don’t understand the hype behind celebrities trying so hard to carve themselves the status of intellectuals. Well, now I sort of understand, but still cannot accept it. 

En Bretagne, suivez le druide by Guillame Tion (Liberation) ❤️

What promised some serious beef with people who abuse RSA (welfare system in France) turned out to be a very deep and fascinating dive into contemporary Druid culture. Yes, there is such a thing!

On the first look, these people do not fit into a neoliberal order we all suffer from right now, but as I always say in recent years, the worth of a person should not be determined by productivity.  These druids create a community free of charge, but the price is honesty and devotion to the cause. 

Was really happy to read this one!

Le big bang du diagnostic tardif by Cécile Deffontaines (L’Obs)

Topic that has hit home - last year I was diagnosed with autism at the age of 29. The article focuses on people above 40, but we all have the same problems. Having it hard to fit in even in one’s own family, not knowing what is wrong, seeking answers - been there, absolute hell. Something tells me, that the more common diagnostics can become, the more people will find out, that they are neuroatypical. Can’t wait for the discourse to shift, because the contemporary status quo of the world leaves us overboard. 

Guardian writes about cars being not a good thing for anybody.

Instead of the article, I can wholeheartedly recommend the YouTube channel of CGN - Cycling global Network. They have already made several reportages (I’d rather call them documentaries) about this problem with a particular stress on bikes vs cars. I have also found a book on this topic: “Life after cars” by Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon. Haven’t had the chance to read it, but looks promising. Fuck cars (with exceptions, of course, I am not naive).

GCN 1 and 2 videos

Eurovision 2026 🎶

You can hate it as much as you want, but I have been a ESC aficionado since 2004. I was bloody 8 year old back then. Yes, most of the songs are that bad. Yes, it is political. Both things have always been there. I am there for the show and music, as some songs live in my playlist rent-free ever since I heard them during the finale. I never watch the semis and never listen to the songs before, this is a tradition. And yes, I might sleep on 31.12, but I will never sleep on the Eurovision night. 

Not ashamed of it, even proud. So let’s move to some observations (man, I even made notes this year!!):

Vienna is a very rich city in terms of culture, so it wasn’t surpising to see the orchestra. Plus with the recent scandal when a young prominent Hollywood actor said something stupid and everybody took it out of context, there were many instances with opera clearly influencing the songs (take France or Romania plus several overs). Music in the Postcard section was a piece of art and I’d love to find it!

All in all, this year wasn’t particularly strong, some entrances were decent in terms of choreography, some had strong vocals (Poland!) and refreshing messages (UK). My problem is, that many songs overall are being created to become torn up by TikTok edits, so that they do not sound coherently anymore. But this is Grandma in me speaking, it is just a new form of culture, which is inevitable. 

A good thing: more and more countries decide to ditch singing in English and it works perfectly! Albanian number and lyrics made me cry, that hasn’t happened for a while. This is the diversity I personally ask for:

The presenters:

M: talks about rules in French

S: I couldn’t have said it better!

M: Si!

Eurovision, apart from huge problems, is about a night full of partying and legacy. 70 years of it. You can boycott it, you can snobbishly say, that the composers of 19th century would have had a heart attack, but Eurovision is still there. There are still people like me, who Shake It once a year in May. It is emotional and I want it to stay this way.

P.S. the memes on Reddit rose to the occasion before the livestream was ended :D

P.P.S. Had more time this week and watched the French adaptation of Monte-Christo (2024) - they have changed things that did not age well and left the rest with love alone. Highly recommended!

There has been an idea going on in my head for some time: what if instead of just consuming media, I collect it and write about in on Sunday. Let’s try.

die Zeit (🇩🇪)

There is a very interesting interview with Paolo Benanti, the technological advisor to the Pope. The main idea is quite simple: the technology is fine, but the abuse of it by people needs to be addressed. The premise was, who could have thought, the American president and his misuse of AI-generated pictures, that have long crossed the border of blasphemy (this guy will be mentioned later once again, sorry).

As a hardcore atheist, I can’t help but have some interest in what has been happening in Vatican. A side-note: the comparison in media of the first year of Pope Leo and the first year of Friedrich Merz’s chancellory is a subject in itself. Go, Pope, I guess at this point. Tomorrow I am starting a 3-month project about reading everything I have on Christianity. Again, I am an atheist albeit a curious and an open-minded one. 

the Guardian (🇬🇧)

A very funny article on the visit of King Charles III to the former colonies. The bell from HMS Trump as a gift and the “And should you ever need to get hold of us, well, just give us a ring”. Pure British humour, and I mean it as the highest compliment. 

How come that the world made such a turn, that a monarch (Guardian spares no criticism btw) has to talk about democracy in a manner of a school headmaster. But it can happen in a timeline, where an elected leader thinks himself a king/emperor/God. Trump has no respect for anybody, we know that much, but his childish adoration for an institution where choice of participants is based on pure luck and genetics is astounding. That reminds me of how post-soviet boomer generation has undying love either for Stalin’s dictatorship or the tsars themselves. Not a single critical thought - pure emotion. 

The stark difference between the reception in the White House and the mood in New York further dives into the contemporary ideological divide. TikTok star (I do like his videos) and the Mayor of New York holds true to the principles of the Fathers of the American Constitution, by telling that if have had a chance, he would have asked Charles to return Koh-i-noor diamond from the Tower of London to India. I imagine such conversation being potentially rather awkward for some of the party. But hey, despite Charles being not that bad, the times have changed, maybe one day the diamond will be returned at last.

In the end the author of the article David Smith (the most British name ever, ironically) had to deliver the final punch in the face of Trump that was pure joy to read.

YouTube: Meduza (rus: there is no emoji with a white-blue-white colour)

An interview about social media with a developer who worked on the mobile side of aforementioned platform. Logically, he was in between of pride and shame. On the one hand, back in 2007 nobody could predict how algorithms on mobile platforms will turn us into slaves. On the other hand, he noticed very (and I mean it - VERY) early, how dangerous it is for the children to be left alone with tech unsupervised, just because parents are tired. 

Don’t know what to think there, the history will judge the big tech later, though the first glimpses of condemnation are started to appear.

📚: “London Falling” by Patrick Radden Keefe

I do not like true crime more because of the ethical uncertainty about being curious of gory stories, but this book is different. We all have seen the meme with the guy and the red threads suggesting a conspiracy. Well, justifiably, there is sort of one surrounding the death of a 19-year-old young Londoner. I have no desire to spoil anything from the book, just know, that is is an extremely deep dive into the milieu of con-artists and the influence we have from the ultra-wealthy and from damned social media. It might sound like a salad of topics, but it is immensely well-written. You might want to save time and read the original article in The New Yorker, but this book is definitely worth your attention.