Latest news with #Alsatian
The Sun
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
‘Golden Dome' is pure fantasy
MUTZIG, FRANCE: First stop on my annual visit to France's mighty Maginot Line forts is this lovely Alsatian town. Mutzig was built by the Germans 1893-1916 to defend against enemy approaches to the important city of Strasbourg. It was – and remains – the largest modern fortress in Europe. The vast fortress, which covers over 800 acres, was never attacked during World War I by the Germans or French. But as Europe's first important fortress made of concrete and fully electrified, it was eagerly studied by French engineers and served as a template for the Maginot Line forts two decades later. Both world wars showed the vulnerability of fixed fortifications. An enemy will always find a way round them or discover a fatal weakness. In regard to the 322km-long Maginot Line, the forts did not fail. They held out to the bitter end. The reason for France's stunning defeat in 1940 was the failure of its field army and its blockheaded generals. Interestingly, a French parliamentary deputy with the effervescent name of Perrier precisely predicted where the Germans would break through the Ardennes Forest in 1940. Though vulnerable, the fixed defences of the Maginot Line were hugely popular in France and wildly overestimated because they involved huge construction projects for many of the villages and factories along France's eastern border with Germany. Just as New Deal make-work projects boosted the United States during the Great Depression. We see a similar mania in the response to President Donald Trump's plan to create a national 'Golden Dome' defensive shield to protect the nation from assorted nuclear threats. In many ways, it's a re-run of President Ronald Reagan's Star Wars missile shield, which never got off the ground but was extremely popular among the public. Frederick the Great of Prussia noted, 'he who defends everything, defends nothing,' As true today as it was in the 18th century. A national missile defence system to cover the entire nation would be impossibly expensive for a nation already deeply mired in debt. The always powerful military-industrial complex will see Trump's Golden Dome fantasy as a second Christmas though the basic technology has yet to be proven. One wonders if the proponents of this defensive system have noticed that Russia has developed ballistic missiles that can alter course, change altitudes and switch targets? Or that China has ICBMs aboard freighters in the Pacific. What about evolving electronic countermeasures that can fry enemy communications and guidance systems? It would be far more prudent for the US to pursue disarmament talks and effective inspection regimes with its rivals than pie in the sky defensive systems that will certainly enrich military companies but fail to protect North America. What's more, having even a partial anti-missile system will likely make the US more aggressive and prone to wars. Better to spend the trillions on curing cancer or blindness than on space wizardry. Alas, we have a view of what awaits us. Lately, Trump banned people from 12 mostly Muslims nations and imposed restrictions on seven nations. Good work Mr President. You and your New York City construction buddies have now made enemies of a quarter of the world's population.
The Sun
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Lessons from Maginot line and Trump's missile shield plan
MUTZIG, FRANCE: First stop on my annual visit to France's mighty Maginot Line forts is this lovely Alsatian town. Mutzig was built by the Germans 1893-1916 to defend against enemy approaches to the important city of Strasbourg. It was – and remains – the largest modern fortress in Europe. The vast fortress, which covers over 800 acres, was never attacked during World War I by the Germans or French. But as Europe's first important fortress made of concrete and fully electrified, it was eagerly studied by French engineers and served as a template for the Maginot Line forts two decades later. Both world wars showed the vulnerability of fixed fortifications. An enemy will always find a way round them or discover a fatal weakness. In regard to the 322km-long Maginot Line, the forts did not fail. They held out to the bitter end. The reason for France's stunning defeat in 1940 was the failure of its field army and its blockheaded generals. Interestingly, a French parliamentary deputy with the effervescent name of Perrier precisely predicted where the Germans would break through the Ardennes Forest in 1940. Though vulnerable, the fixed defences of the Maginot Line were hugely popular in France and wildly overestimated because they involved huge construction projects for many of the villages and factories along France's eastern border with Germany. Just as New Deal make-work projects boosted the United States during the Great Depression. We see a similar mania in the response to President Donald Trump's plan to create a national 'Golden Dome' defensive shield to protect the nation from assorted nuclear threats. In many ways, it's a re-run of President Ronald Reagan's Star Wars missile shield, which never got off the ground but was extremely popular among the public. Frederick the Great of Prussia noted, 'he who defends everything, defends nothing,' As true today as it was in the 18th century. A national missile defence system to cover the entire nation would be impossibly expensive for a nation already deeply mired in debt. The always powerful military-industrial complex will see Trump's Golden Dome fantasy as a second Christmas though the basic technology has yet to be proven. One wonders if the proponents of this defensive system have noticed that Russia has developed ballistic missiles that can alter course, change altitudes and switch targets? Or that China has ICBMs aboard freighters in the Pacific. What about evolving electronic countermeasures that can fry enemy communications and guidance systems? It would be far more prudent for the US to pursue disarmament talks and effective inspection regimes with its rivals than pie in the sky defensive systems that will certainly enrich military companies but fail to protect North America. What's more, having even a partial anti-missile system will likely make the US more aggressive and prone to wars. Better to spend the trillions on curing cancer or blindness than on space wizardry. Alas, we have a view of what awaits us. Lately, Trump banned people from 12 mostly Muslims nations and imposed restrictions on seven nations. Good work Mr President. You and your New York City construction buddies have now made enemies of a quarter of the world's population. The writer is a syndicated columnist. Comments: letters@
LeMonde
10-06-2025
- General
- LeMonde
In Alsace, Turks reconnect with their heritage: 'It's hard to part with these objects, but I'm glad they'll be in a museum'
Canan Özgül gazed fondly at her grandmother's semaver (samovar in Turkish), which she brought to Strasbourg after her grandmother died in the late 1990s. The round-bodied copper and tin vessel plugged into a wall socket – a rarity at the time, which, according to her granddaughter, "shows the thirst for modernity of this staunch republican." Now 63 years old, Özgül had long used it to prepare tea before switching to a more modern appliance. The Istanbul native was 18 when she arrived in the Alsatian capital in 1980 to study medicine. After a series of adventures, including a return to Istanbul, she ultimately became an architect and had two children. About 10 years ago, she moved with her partner into a house in Stockfeld, a garden city in northern Strasbourg. On the doorstep, a decorated copper water pitcher holds a flower pot: "I used to wash with it when I was a student. I heated water with an immersion heater because my apartment didn't have a bathroom."
Wales Online
09-06-2025
- General
- Wales Online
Clawed carcass on Anglesey beach leaves one person asking if a 'tiger' had washed up
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Beachgoers were left stunned after finding a large clawed carcass on an Anglesey beach. The discovery was made this morning on Traeth Lleiniog at Llangoed, near Beaumaris. They initially noticed the bones of the carcass. They then saw the long claws on the animal that had perished, ruling out the possibility it was the carcass of any local livestock. A local resident sent pictures to North Wales Live, saying it "not joking, it looks like tiger or some other type of big cat". North Wales Live contacted local sealife expert Frankie Hobro, who owns Anglesey Sea Zoo in Brynsiencyn. She was able to explain what the group had come across. Join the North Wales Live WhatsApp community group where you can get the latest stories delivered straight to your phone (Image: Andrew Harkiss) She said: "This is an easy one and actually it isn't land based. This is definitely the carcass of a seal, almost definitely a grey seal from the patches of skin colour and remnants of fur and also from what I can tell of the size of, although this is more tricky to estimate without a scale. "They do indeed have very impressive claws as this shows - very useful for hauling themselves out of the water over slippery seaweed-covered rocks. (Image: Andrew Harkiss) "They also have extremely impressive teeth but it looks as if the jaw is either not present or not distinguishable on this carcass - possibly just the angle from which the photograph is taken. "Grey seal jaws are seriously impressive, very comparable to the jaw of an Alsatian dog, but with the teeth pointing more backwards into the mouth. "All in all an adult grey seal is a force to be reckoned with and demands the utmost respect. These big 'sea dogs' are common in large numbers around our coasts here but they should not be approached even when they looked benign, and in fact it is illegal to deliberately disturbed a herd of seals when they are hauled out." Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox
North Wales Live
09-06-2025
- General
- North Wales Live
Clawed carcass on Anglesey beach leaves one person asking if a 'tiger' had washed up
Beachgoers were left stunned after finding a large clawed carcass on an Anglesey beach. The discovery was made this morning on Traeth Lleniog at Llangoed, near Beaumaris. They initially noticed the bones of the carcass. They then saw the long claws on the animal that had perished, ruling out the possibility it was the carcass of any local livestock. A local resident sent pictures to North Wales Live, saying it "not joking, it looks like tiger or some other type of big cat". North Wales Live contacted local sealife expert Frankie Hobro, who owns Anglesey Sea Zoo in Brynsiencyn. She was able to explain what the group had come across. Join the North Wales Live She said: "This is an easy one and actually it isn't land based. This is definitely the carcass of a seal, almost definitely a grey seal from the patches of skin colour and remnants of fur and also from what I can tell of the size of, although this is more tricky to estimate without a scale. "They do indeed have very impressive claws as this shows - very useful for hauling themselves out of the water over slippery seaweed-covered rocks. "They also have extremely impressive teeth but it looks as if the jaw is either not present or not distinguishable on this carcass - possibly just the angle from which the photograph is taken. "Grey seal jaws are seriously impressive, very comparable to the jaw of an Alsatian dog, but with the teeth pointing more backwards into the mouth. "All in all an adult grey seal is a force to be reckoned with and demands the utmost respect. These big 'sea dogs' are common in large numbers around our coasts here but they should not be approached even when they looked benign, and in fact it is illegal to deliberately disturbed a herd of seals when they are hauled out."
