Latest news with #Lifeof
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
With Upcoming Space Launch, Adventurer Jaime Alemán Set to Complete the "Grand Slam" of Travel
Having Visited All 193 Countries and Both Poles, Alemán Now Eyes Space and a Human First HOUSTON, May 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Jaime Alemán of Panama, a distinguished lawyer and former senior diplomat, is about to make history—again. The pioneering space company Blue Origin announced this week that Mr. Alemán will be among the crew aboard its next suborbital mission, set to launch in the coming weeks. At age 73, this voyage to space will mark the final leg of Alemán's extraordinary, decades-long journey: visiting every country on Earth, setting foot on both the North and South Poles, and now, reaching the edge of space. "I didn't set out on this quest to set a record," said Mr. Alemán. "I did it as a challenge to myself. I wanted to experience our planet in the most intimate way possible—through its boundless beauty, magic, and people. Going to space lets me take all of that in, to see the Earth not as different nations and races and creeds, but as our one home." Upon completion of the flight, Mr. Alemán is expected to become the first person in history to achieve this unique trifecta: all 193 United Nations-recognized countries, both polar extremes, and outer space. An application for official recognition has been submitted to Guinness World Records. A Life of Purpose, A Journey Without Borders Alemán's lifelong pursuit has not only been about travel—it's been about curiosity, diplomacy, and connecting cultures. His adventures have spanned from remote Himalayan villages to war-torn capitals, from desert caravans in the Sahara to scientific outposts in Antarctica. And soon, they will extend beyond Earth. About Jaime Alemán Jaime Alemán is a lawyer, global traveler, former Ambassador of Panama to the United States, and founder of Alemán, Cordero, Galindo & Lee (Alcogal)—one of Latin America's leading law firms. He has long championed cross-cultural understanding, sustainable travel, and international cooperation. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Rally International Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
With Upcoming Space Launch, Adventurer Jaime Alemán Set to Complete the "Grand Slam" of Travel
Having Visited All 193 Countries and Both Poles, Alemán Now Eyes Space and a Human First HOUSTON, May 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Jaime Alemán of Panama, a distinguished lawyer and former senior diplomat, is about to make history—again. The pioneering space company Blue Origin announced this week that Mr. Alemán will be among the crew aboard its next suborbital mission, set to launch in the coming weeks. At age 73, this voyage to space will mark the final leg of Alemán's extraordinary, decades-long journey: visiting every country on Earth, setting foot on both the North and South Poles, and now, reaching the edge of space. "I didn't set out on this quest to set a record," said Mr. Alemán. "I did it as a challenge to myself. I wanted to experience our planet in the most intimate way possible—through its boundless beauty, magic, and people. Going to space lets me take all of that in, to see the Earth not as different nations and races and creeds, but as our one home." Upon completion of the flight, Mr. Alemán is expected to become the first person in history to achieve this unique trifecta: all 193 United Nations-recognized countries, both polar extremes, and outer space. An application for official recognition has been submitted to Guinness World Records. A Life of Purpose, A Journey Without Borders Alemán's lifelong pursuit has not only been about travel—it's been about curiosity, diplomacy, and connecting cultures. His adventures have spanned from remote Himalayan villages to war-torn capitals, from desert caravans in the Sahara to scientific outposts in Antarctica. And soon, they will extend beyond Earth. About Jaime Alemán Jaime Alemán is a lawyer, global traveler, former Ambassador of Panama to the United States, and founder of Alemán, Cordero, Galindo & Lee (Alcogal)—one of Latin America's leading law firms. He has long championed cross-cultural understanding, sustainable travel, and international cooperation. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Rally International Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Guardian
04-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Zbig: a bracing life of Carter's abrasive national security adviser
Double-digit inflation, high unemployment and the Iranian hostage crisis left Jimmy Carter a one-term president. Still, his watch was consequential. The US and China normalized relations, Egypt and Israel made peace and Russia invaded Afghanistan. Beyond that, the US returned the Panama canal and in Iran the shah fell to the Islamic revolution. After 444 days in captivity, 53 American hostages were freed moments after Ronald Reagan became president. Carter died in December, at 100. Zbigniew Brzezinski, who died in 2017 aged 89, was Carter's national security adviser. Like his boss, who came from rural Georgia, Brzezinski was a Washington outsider. But Brzezinski was also an émigré. The son of a Polish diplomat posted to Germany, he saw Hitler's rise, spent the war in Canada, then received his doctorate from Harvard. In 1968, as a Columbia professor, he witnessed campus unrest. His memories of the war years left him with little patience for make-believe revolutionaries. 'The protestors were spoiled brats from suburban homes risking nothing,' Edward Luce writes of Brzezinski's take, depicting a confrontation between Brzezinski and the 'rabble'. Discussion was heated, not violent. After 10 minutes, Brzezinski announced that he was returning to his office. 'I have to go back and plan some more genocides,' he told the protesters. Luce's Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America's Great Power Prophet is a bracing tome even at 562 pages, a highly readable reminder of how US and global politics looked and felt before the cold war ended. Brzezinski is portrayed vividly, warts and all. Deeply and meticulously researched, Zbig lays out its subject's ascent, the tumult of the Carter years and what followed. Brzezinski's three children gave Luce 'unrestricted access to their father's extensive personal diaries, letters, and papers and his voluminous collection of documents housed at the Library of Congress'. The book's endnotes run more than 45 pages. British-born, Oxford-educated, Luce was a Guardian correspondent in Geneva before landing at the Financial Times, where he became a scathing critic of chumocracy and now, chief US commentator. In the late 1990s, he had a stint in government, as speechwriter to Lawrence Summers, US treasury secretary under Bill Clinton. Nowadays, he is a sometime guest on MSNBC's Morning Joe, co-hosted by Brzezinski's daughter, Mika. As Luce shows, Zbigniew Brzezinski began his government career as a Democrat under Lyndon Johnson. But after Carter, Brzezinski became a political maverick. In 1988, he endorsed a Republican, George HW Bush. In 1992, alarmed by Bush's 'chicken Kiev speech' – in which the president warned against Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union shortly before it happened – he supported Clinton. In 2003, under George W Bush, Brzezinski vociferously opposed the US invasion of Iraq. In 2008, he backed Barack Obama over John McCain. Obama sought to distance himself from Brzezinski's less-than-welcoming stance on Israel. Brzezinski felt stung. On the other hand, Obama made Brzezinski's son Mark US ambassador to Sweden. Luce devotes particular attention to Brzezinski's extraordinary relationship with Pope John Paul II, who played a role in hastening the downfall of the Soviet Union. Brzezinski also enlisted the assistance of the pope in connection with the Iranian hostage crisis. John Paul turned to Brzezinski over the church's presence in China. A rapport developed, Brzezinski's command of the Polish language helping things along. In June 1980, Carter visited the Vatican. The night before the big meeting, Brzezinski and Col Les Denend, an aide, received a mass 'for the ages'. As they left, 'the pope grabbed Denend's arm and told Brzezinski, 'I should have a colonel as my assistant, not you. I am keeping him.'' The following day, 'Brzezinski and John Paul II spent seven hours in conversation,' Luce writes. 'They continued talking while [the Pope] gave Brzezinski and Denend a private tour of the Sistine Chapel.' Luce considers the depth of Brzezinski's Catholicism. A product of a Jesuit education, he appears to have developed doubts. On his death, his children scattered his ashes in a Virginia forest. He had left no instructions. Brzezinski's rivalry with Henry Kissinger marked the lives of both men. Kissinger, a Jewish refugee from Germany, arrived in the US in September 1938. He served in the US military, unlike Brzezinski, then received tenure at Harvard, then became national security adviser and secretary of state, under Nixon and Ford. Nelson Rockefeller was Kissinger's first political patron. David Rockefeller, Nelson's brother, stood behind Brzezinski. Kissinger was pessimistic, viewing the US in a state of decline. He also believed the Soviets were a permanent fixture of the 'global landscape'. Brzezinski judged the Soviets to be sliding. As Luce puts it, he thought 'Washington's goal should be to hurry them along.' Luce also details and dishes on the historic Camp David peace talks between the US, Egypt and Israel. Carter's rapport with Anwar Sadat of Egypt was deep and warm. 'My chemistry with him is good,' Carter said. But Carter possessed no love for Menachem Begin of Israel, calling him a 'psycho' in comments to Rosalyn Carter, his wife. 'The coldness between [Begin and Carter] was tangible,' Luce writes. Carter reportedly told Brzezinski: 'Begin is devious to the point of lying.' And yet Carter drew parallels between Brzezinski and Begin, who was also born in Poland. 'You're just like Begin,' Carter is quoted as telling his national security adviser. 'Brzezinski took that as a compliment,' Luce writes, quoting a note from Brzezinski to self: 'I think this remark was in some respects quite true.' In old age, Brzezinski looked on as US politics, and foreign policy, took a worrying turn. 'A major country like the United States has to have a broadly conceived program for effective international action, influence and cooperation with others,' Brzezinski said in March 2017, discussing Donald Trump. 'I see nothing of the sort emerging from the administration and least of all from the president, who in my account has not given even one serious speech about the world and foreign affairs.' Brzezinski died two months later. Zbig is published in the US by Simon & Schuster
The Guardian
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The Life of Sean DeLear review – loving film about queer black punk rocker, and secret legend
That's Sean DeLear, pronounced like 'chandelier', born Anthony Robertson in 1964. You probably haven't heard of him: DeLear was the lead singer of a band called Glue on the underground post-punk scene in Los Angeles in the 1980s and 90s. On stage, he performed in drag, singing punk songs dressed like a 1960s go-do dancer in cute little dresses. The band never landed a major record deal, and DeLear died from cancer in 2017. This sweet, scrappy documentary has been lovingly put together by his friend Markus Zizenbacher. It's not the first posthumous attempt at recognition for DeLear. In 2023, his teenage diary, written in 1979, was published under the title I Could Not Believe It. Extracts of this queer black memoir are read here on the voiceover – and they are glorious. Even aged 14 years old, living with his Christian parents in a conservative suburb of Los Angeles, DeLear was proudly, joyfully gay, though this was before the terror of Aids. The interviews in the film with his mum and brother, an evangelical pastor, feel a little bit thin; his family accepted his sexuality, they say, but not much else. DeLear never had a proper job. For years he believed his band Glue would make it. A friend says the reason they didn't might have something to do with having a black man in drag as lead singer, and tells the story of a Glue video being pulled from MTV by an executive. DeLear later moved to Vienna, joining a performance art collective, and lived like a celebrity, never thinking about where the rent was coming from. And celebrities loved him: when he walked into the women's toilets at Kate Moss's 21st birthday party, a gaggle of supermodels swarmed him, cooing over his dress. Does it matter that he wasn't famous himself? Clearly he was a legend to everyone who knew him. The Life of Sean DeLear is on True Story from 2 May.
