Viernes, 23 de septiembre de 2022 (Continuación)

Fratelli D'Italia party leader Giorgia Meloni attends a rally for the elections in Piazza Roma on May 30, 2022 in Monza, Italy (Photo by Alessandro Bremec/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

EuropaUnión Europea,

I am often asked what Giorgia Meloni -- leader of the national conservative Brothers of Italy party, and likely next prime minister of the country -- is really up to.

What comparables should we be looking at? Hungary, Poland, Brazil and even the United Kingdom (not to mention the United States under Donald Trump) are all countries where the "destra" or "right wing" seized power at least in part on the back of nationalist sentiment.

But 45-year-old Meloni, who is the favorite to become Italy's youngest and first female prime minister in Sunday's election, does not fit into neat definitions. Her meteoric rise is perhaps best described as an audacious balancing exercise.…  Seguir leyendo »

EuropaUnión Europea,

Russia's attack on Ukraine has forced Germany to rethink its energy policy. Until February, the plan was to ambitiously expand the use of renewables while phasing out nuclear energy by the end of 2022, and then coal-fired power by 2038. Natural gas was to be used as a bridging technology—both in industry and in the power sector, so that gas-fired power plants could complement intermittent renewables. In the short term, that is now difficult to imagine. But in the medium term there is no alternative.

Gas prices, which used to be on a ten-year-average €20 ($20) per megawatt hour before the crisis, leapt to more than €200 in March, and are not projected to fall below €100 until 2025, according to Ember, an energy think-tank.…  Seguir leyendo »

Putin Is in Trouble

Europa, , ,

In the wake of a stunning counteroffensive in which Ukrainian forces reclaimed over 1,000 miles of territory, Russia is uneasy.

The country’s political talk shows, usually so deferential, have given the floor to more critical voices. Opponents of the war have weighed in — about 40 officials from municipal councils signed a petition requesting the president’s resignation — and previously loyal figures have begun to mutter about the regime’s failings. In a sign of general discontent, Alla Pugacheva, Russia’s most famous 20th-century pop star, has come out against the war. Six months of consensus has started to crack.

That consensus wasn’t as cast-iron as it might have seemed.…  Seguir leyendo »

El fascinante misterio de las matemáticas

ReflexionesPensamiento, Cultura y Ciencia

De niño, en las primeras semanas de la clase de álgebra, me sentía confundido y luego me sentí como adormecido. Los adolescentes ordenan el mundo a partir de fragmentos de información. A su manera, la adolescencia es una especie de álgebra.

Las incógnitas se pueden determinar, pero hacerlo requiere una aptitud especial, sin mencionar que es necesario sentirse cómodo con la información que queda oculta. Se requiere un pensamiento lógico y directo, y la voluntad de seguir las reglas, que no son capacidades adolescentes distribuidas por igual.

Cuando pensaba en las matemáticas cuando era un chico era para especular sobre por qué me obligaban a aprenderlas, parecía obvio que no se necesitaban en la vida adulta.…  Seguir leyendo »