France's Front National: An Anti-Regional Party At Heart

Leader of the Front National, Marine le Pen, the morning after
her party’s strong showing in the first round of regional elections. 
Pascal Rossignol/Reuters

By Thibaut Fleury Graff, Université Rennes 1

France’s extreme-right Front National (FN) Party has come out on top of the first round of voting in France’s regional elections, gathering 28% of the overall vote. The second round, on December 13, will tell the full story, as the ruling Socialist party and opposition Les Républicains may yet join to form a shared front, but it is not too early to notice that the FN’s local campaign is at odds with the fundamental nature of the party.

Comparing the speeches of FN leader Marine Le Pen, candidate for president of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy region (NPCP), and her niece, Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, candidate in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region (PACA) with the party’s long-standing political program, two mutually exclusive conclusions can be drawn.

First, the FN does not respect its ideological foundations: the accusations of cronyism and political opportunism that it regularly levels against the major parties can be applied to its own ranks as well.

Second, despite the discourse of its candidates, the party will maintain its traditional ideological line, and in case of victory, its policies in the NPCP and the PACA are likely to be profoundly anti-regional.

French Regional Elections: Noone Can Dismiss Le Pen As An Also-Ran Now

Taking it in her stride. EPA

By Paul Smith, University of Nottingham

Marine Le Pen probably won’t be the next president of France, but the regional elections are proving that her Front National has truly become a major player.

Le Pen’s party has taken 28% of the vote in the first of two rounds to elect regional assemblies. The right-wing Republicans, led by former president Nicolas Sarkozy, came a close second, with a shade under 27%. The ruling Socialist Party trailed, with just 23% of the vote.

There is one week to go until the decisive second round, but even if the left and right somehow manage to block their path, the FN has already struck a major blow ahead of the presidential election in 2017.

It is a crushing blow for the ruling Socialists and bad news for Sarkozy and the Republicans, too.

Mamoru Hosoda's "The Boy And The Beast" Nominated For 43rd Annie Awards

The Boy and The Beast

The International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, announced on Tuesday the nominations for its 43rd Annual Annie Awards™ which recognize the best in the field of animation. The list included a Best Animated Feature-Independent nomination for Mamoru Hosoda's "The Boy and The Beast" – the critically acclaimed anime film from Studio Chizu, which is being distributed in the U.S. by FUNimation Entertainment. ASIFA - Hollywood voting members will receive ballots onJanuary 1, 2016. Winners will be announced on February 6, 2016 at a black tie ceremony in Royce Hall atUCLA.

"The Boy and The Beast" is one of four inaugural nominations in the new Best Animated Feature-Independent category debuting at the 43rd annual awards.  In the words of ASIFA - Hollywood President Jerry Beck, "We will now recognize not only features in wide-release, but also the independent animators, international studios, anime and special productions that might not otherwise get the attention they deserve."

Can Christmas Tree Lights Really Play Havoc With Your Wi-Fi?

Very pretty, but could they be ruining your connection? Chris_J/flickr

By Andrew Smith, The Open University

Ofcom, the UK’s independent telephony regulator, has recently released a Wi-Fi checker app for your smart phone. At the same time, it warned in its press release that your Christmas tree fairy lights could affect the quality of your Wi-Fi connection.

Before the terrible jokes start and we all declare that this is a fit of “Bah Humbug!” from the telephone regulator, the warning is correct – your fairy lights could indeed be a Wi-Fi downer. But then so could many other devices. Ultimately, it is a matter of how much of a problem they actually cause.

When Fear Is A Weapon: How Terror Attacks Influence Mental Health

By Daniel Antonius, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

On November 13 2015, a series of coordinated attacks in Paris left 130 people dead. A week later, armed gunmen stormed a hotel in Mali, seizing hostages while also firing indiscriminately at guests, killing 27 people. And this week a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, left 14 dead. While the motive is not known, the FBI has assigned counterterrorism agents to the case, sparking public speculation that the shooting may have been an act of terrorism.

You could spend hours every day watching, reading and listening to news related to these events. This level of exposure can significantly influence your worldviews and how you live your life.

The aftermath of events like these can make people feel more vulnerable. And as cities go on alert because of the threat of future attacks, fear can color our daily routines and world views.

With my colleague S Justin Sinclair at Harvard Medical School, I have been studying the complexity of terrorism fears, and how fear can affect and motivate people.

It is probably not a surprise that a terror attack can have a major impact on people’s mental health. But what sort of effects are common, and how long do they last?

To answer that question, we can turn to a growing body of research examining the psychological aftermath of terror attacks.

Mein Kampf Publication – The Best Way To Destroy Hitler's Hateful Legacy

A toxic text – but we can learn from it… Adam Jones/flickr, CC BY-SA

By Alexander von Lunen, University of Huddersfield

The Institute for Contemporary History in Munich plans to publish an annotated version of Mein Kampf in 2016; the main idea being that a critical edition of the book should be available to counter the anticipated reprint of it by neo-Nazis.

For 70 years, reprinting Mein Kampf has been illegal in Germany. However, the copyright, which is owned by the Bavarian government – and is used to enforce the law – expires this year. From 2016, anyone can reprint it.