It’s the EU way – if you can’t compete, sue. If you can’t shake them down, legalize theft of the competition’s product.

EU Observer:

Ms Kroes warned that the company founded by Bill Gates faces additional fines of €3 million a day from the end of this month if it sticks to its recalcitrance.

She added "It is the first time ever in the 49 year history of the EU that the European Commission has had to fine a company for failure to comply with an antitrust law."»

That is, when member states aren’t using tariffs and public ownership to actively create “champions” and monopolies.

The fuse is lit!

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When the target missile was destroyed, sending a brilliant white, mushroom-like cloud into the dark sky, the crowd began to applaud and cheer wildly.

" We smashed it," several people cheered as the rainbow colored contrail gave way to the cotton ball cloud of destruction above.»

This is the kind of thing the national and international press mentions only when it's failed.

As a result of this selective reporting, even they don't know off hand how
far along anti-missile defense is, as long as Dr. No knows. Hey, at least he has exquisite comic timing while he's teaching his adoring followers some Donner Family values.

- With thanks to Brian S.

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Interesting to note that the reactions of certain Arab countries to Israel's self-defense were far more balanced than the blatant and over-the-top anti-Semitism blurted out by a punch drunk Chiraq during his flop of a Garden Party. Chiraq's comments, and France's position, are subject to the fear of the reaction of French youth who might, at any moment, Fofana out across the country in an orgy tournante of killing, looting, and burning.

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They were just 4 everyday British lads. No-one knows what got in their heads. Maybe "they were provoked" by the notion that there might be a war in Iraq two years later, which would permit an end to any confusion as to why these garden variety British lads would do such a thing.

- h/t Drink-soaked Trotskyist Popinjays for WAR.

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« Dieudonné est atteint d'une maladie très grave : la parano du Juif »,

Said his former comedy partner Gad Elmaleh:

Montreal - “Dieudonné has a serious disease: the paranoia about Jews. It is a diagnosable psychiatric condition. What proves it is that he’s sure that a draft film project of his about Black people was shot down by Zionists forces.”

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Jacques Chiraq speaks for ALL Europeans on Bastille Day: "I find honestly -- as all Europeans do -- that the current reactions are totally disproportionate". Of course, by "all Europeans", Chiraq means: the anti-Semitic mainstream European preSS (Al-Reuters, Al Guardian, Le Monde Al-Jazeera On the Seine, Libération PropagandaStaffel, France Info France Intox, etc. ad nauseum, anti-Semitic mainstream weasel politicos, and anti-Semitic French youth who would like nothing more than to have one more provocation before recommencing their killing and burning non-stop orgy tournante. And Chiraq just couldn't resist this one: "One may well ask if there isn't today a kind of wish to destroy Lebanon -- its infrastructure, its roads, its communications, its energy, its airport. And for what?"

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It’s quiz-time. Name that city.

It is the capitol of the country that the Israelis should bomb to attach consequences to the actions of Hizballah, (translation: Army of God,) which the MSM prefers to spell Hezbollah for fear of telling anyone what their name means, even though it doesn’t even sound like that in Arabic.

The nation in question is the the gatekeeper of Hizballah's funds and weapons, and permits their cooperation of persons from a third country to assist them in combat.

Bonus round: name that third country in question.

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Today the French celebrate Bastille Day. That is, only those who care about the notion of an autonomous nation-state.

Have fun storming the castle!

Party on, but don’t contribute to the cycle of violence.

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A demonstration in Paris planned by the Iranian opposition movement the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) to coincide with talks on Tehran's nuclear programme has been banned because of a threat to public order, police said Wednesday.

You know how people (French citizens, Yanks, other) are always being told, "All the world must stand for human rights, for freedom of speech, against violence and weapons and war. Those principles, and that love of solidarity, is the only reason France's citoyens (spontaneously) joined demonstrations against America (which were not against our American friends but against their leaders)"? Only thing, of course, is when a third country is involved (such as Iran or when China's prime minister comes for a state visit), suddenly all those principles go by the wayside and the demonstrations are banned…

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Heres a man Id willingly give up Eriks right arm to meet: Felix Ismael Rodriguez a.k.a. Ché-blaster.

via Tex of Whacking Day

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Tribu-Ka, complete with contrived history and ideology, are threatening the state with a “bloody response” if they don’t withdraw their anti-vigilante law, calling it unjust to let them go heeb-hunting.

My take is that these clown wouldn’t make it more than three blocks in North Philadelphia.

Merci à Kevin.

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French authorities are only now taking notice of the fact that, for a few years now, public gatherings in France regularly degenerate into predictable orgies of violence.

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Miserable failure.

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Have at it.

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In exchange for 3 Israeli soldiers, Hezbollah and Hamas are again demanding a mass release of their thugs, including one Samir Kuntar. Shrinkwrapped looks into just who Samir Kuntar is. Said one of his victims:

"As police began to arrive, the terrorists took Danny and Einat down to the beach. There, according to eyewitnesses, one of them shot Danny in front of Einat so that his death would be the last sight she would ever see. Then he smashed my little girl's skull in against a rock with his rifle butt. That terrorist was Samir Kuntar."

Meanwhile, the western leftist “peace” types don’t want Israel to over-react. In fact they don’t want them to react at all. The peace they seek for the Levant is that of the dead.

The fuse is lit!

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Indian police detain a near Camp Delta number of people, and not a peep from the lurking rats in London who like Pavlov’s dog would howl “we just won’t believe the lies anymore!” if the US was even tangentially involved.

Mumbai police said those rounded up included known thugs, gangsters and trouble makers, who might have information about the bombers. Most of the detentions were made overnight in Malwani, a north-eastern suburb of India's business capital, a police spokesman said.
He added that none of them has been formally arrested or charged, and they were brought in only for questioning to help with the investigations into Tuesday's serial bombings.

Thus we translate what the Indy, Graun, or Socialist Worker might say if it happened in Los Angeles:

Jack-botted thugs posing as Police rounded up known to include real or possible civil liberties activists, token community cultural representatives, and individuals about whom one may never be critical who might have information the regime wants with-held from the public. Most of the detentions were made overnight in a manner which would frighten children and pets, a police spokesman said.
He added that none of them has been formally arrested or charged, and they were brought in only for questioning which even in the absence of any evidence probably involves torture to help with the investigations into Tuesday's public demonstration of discontent.

The fuse is lit!

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It's a provocation! Guess they'll have to settle for watching their Pearl and Berg videos on their cellphones to get their "2 minute hate" fix.

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Looks like SOS Racisme and the MRAP will have to call off their pitbulls.

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Zidane claims that his family was insulted by Materazzi. His thuggery was therefore provoked. Sort of like the killing and arson during last November's riots was provoked by Sarkozy calling the French youths racaille. In any case, being provoked is becoming a very common defense strategy among a certain portion of the French population. Remember these hyper-sensitive French and their wild eyed claims of being provoked? Zidane's mother says that Materazzi should be castrated. Violent impulses run in the family, I guess.

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I’m sure it won’t last with all the Dr. Strangelovian twitching they’ve been up to for 30 years.
I guess that after the usual diplomatic flitting about they finally realized that what they did to Jörg Haider (drumming him out) is what the Israelis are doing to Hamas. Other than the fact that they’re both moonbats, the difference between them is that Hamas are dangerous killers, and Jörg is a tosser.

The fuse is lit!

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Syria says Israel deserved Hizbollah attacks, “world” prefers people dispose of their self preservation instincts.

More pressingly, lefties are trying to turn Enron embezzlers into political prisoners, and the personal has so greatly become the political, that people’s choice to shack up becomes a matter of public “debate”.

Leftism is no longer an ideology - it's become little more than a habit of projecting ones' emotions on the world.

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Ever wonder what it’s like to be the rocket?



Video courtesy of NASA.

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Another dodgy socialist politician get a get out of jail free card.

A former French prime minister [Cresson] has been officially criticised by the EU's top court for appointing her dentist as a top aide to the European Commission.

It found that Ms Cresson had appointed her dentist, Rene Berthelot, to the post of "visiting scientist" in order to allow him to act as a personal adviser.

However, the court said Mr Berthelot did not undertake any of the activities associated with his official job title - as an expert on AIDS - and was even too old to hold the post.

Unschpinbar, dude.

The fuse is lit!

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PARIS (Reuters) – the organization S.O.S Racisme required of the international Federation of football (FIFA) an investigation into the circumstances which surrounded expulsion of the leader of French play Zinedine Zidane for a blow of head, at the time of the finale of World of football against Italy.

“According to several well informed sources, it would seem that the Italian player Marco Materazzi called Zinedine Zidane a “dirty terrorist””, the organization wrote in an official statement. “If this assumption is confirmed, the Italian player would thus be guilty of a racist matter”, it added. “Whereas the whole of World Cup was dedicated to the fight against racism (...), we ask that FIFA show itself to be the greatest example of that declaration.”

To begin with, terrorists are not a “race”.

As bad as trash talk is, it’s sure isn’t the worst thing that’s been said on a field.

One kind of trash talk isn’t any worse than any other kind of trash talk. If someone thinks it ‘racial,’ that doesn’t mean the headbutt was any less worthy of a red card. If someone has had a racial comment made to them, it’s not like it suddenly makes you a foot shorter and completely helpless.

No-one has the slightest clue what they said to each other. Judging by the time of their exchange, there is no way in hell Materazzi had the time to read out a whole press release by SOS Racisme.

That greaseball that grabbed Zidane had it coming.

The fuse is lit!

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The Grauniad’s Comment is Free site is the kind of mildewed corner of the British mind where they’re still arguing the merits of capitalism (for fear that anyone would be permitted to practice it, as if they could control the black market in the CCCP.)

Their virtuoso commenter, it turns out is a contrarian to their views with the handle “MrPikeBishop.” MrPikeBishop a.k.a. Frank Fisher is the kind of reader who makes a blog. He isn’t a drive-by shooter, but goes where he disagrees to liven up the joint, and get a few of the hackles up, in this case, on the Sesame Street of political ideological dialogue.

I was thinking of making you guess who was in pole position, but it's just too easy: MrPikeBishop has posted 2,407 comments on the site (and only a few of those were promoting his own blog), putting him way ahead of his nearest rival, altrui, at 1,565, closely followed by Szwagier with 1,522.

Lovely stuff. Especially when you consider how painful it is to try to explain to a leftist that farmers DO need a profit motive to produce food. All hail Pikey!

So – in the interest of educating the previously programmed, we have found the following as an aide. It’s a fillum, so it can be readily understood even by a product of a higher education on Sociology. Granted, it may be over the heads of the average leftist who would dispose of some rights here or there in the interest of “fair trade,” (doesn’t that just sound PERFECTly FAIR!,)but it might sink in when they’re a little older, standing in line to use their socially “fair” food ration cards.

Roll ‘em.:



When trying to teach the most fragile egos about democracy and capitalism, speak slowly and use small words and again - remember speak slowly.

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What follows is Christian Isely's first dispatch from the Middle East

Kuwait — April 23, 2004

I am working for Louis Berger, a US engineering firm contracted to the Department of Defense to manage infrastructure projects as a component of the larger reconstruction effort. We are specifically charged with managing transportation, communications, health, and the justice system physical infrastructures. I have a one year contract and will be living and working in the Green Zone in Baghdad. My role is to manage payroll and perform various administrative tasks. I may even participate in the hiring process for recruiting Iraqis.

I don't yet know how often I will write these. It totally depends on the situation on the ground in Baghdad. I will write as often as experience dictates. That is, as I experience things that I feel are important, I will write them down and report them (This also depends on my internet access).

Many of you expressed an interest in this newsletter since you wanted to get an inside perspective. I must admit, that is also one of the many reasons I signed up for this. I really want to know what is going on and why.

I don't yet know what things I can or cannot write about so don't be surprised if there are any topics that I don't touch upon.

I also don't yet know how much internet access or time I will have so don't be alarmed or surprised if I don't write you back immediately regarding any individual e-mails or questions.

I guess that about covers it.

Kuwait, a Staging Ground

Just a few days into my stint and it has already been an adventure!

I flew business class into Kuwait yesterday morning via British Airways and partook of the best airline food I've ever had the pleasure of eating. The meal included plenty of wine on the flight too. In theory, alcohol is non-existent in Kuwait. However, I suspect that if you are a member of the right circles, this is not a problem.

Upon arrival at the airport, I found the small office of Kellogg, Brown, and Root (KBR). KBR is a subsidiary of Halliburton and has many logistics contracts. One of their jobs is to process and transport Coalition personnel into and out of Iraq. I wasn’t the only one waiting to enter Iraq. Several other contractors showed up. Most must have been in the security industry for they had a tough mercenary look to them — cargo pants, tattoos, and muscular builds. Eventually, a KBR contractor led us out to what resembled a tour bus. After everyone was accounted for we left the airport and commenced to drive across the desert that is Kuwait.

Air pollution seems to be a problem here. A dismal haze was hanging around the horizon and some longer term residents have complained of respiratory problems or new allergies. I wondered if this had anything to do with the oil industry for also out on the horizon, were fires burning off the abundant natural gas.

Despite the enormous oil wealth of the country, there are hints of an earlier time for Bedouin, their sheep, and camels roamed beside us as we drove on the first rate highway toward the Persian Gulf.

Upon arriving at the hotel, our bus was searched for a bomb under the carriage. For this, the guards used a mirror stuck at an angle off of the end of a pole — kind of like a dentist's mirror. This allowed them to see the underside of the vehicle. I guess Kuwait isn’t even all that secure.

The hotel they have us staying at is the Kuwaiti Hilton and it is located on the beach complete with great views of massive oil tankers filling nearby or floating lazily out along the hazy horizon. There is a massively overpriced Starbuck's here which is quite a hangout in the evening when tens of Kuwaiti men (usually dressed in long white robes complete with Arab headgear) and young women in tight jeans sip from Starbuck's labeled mugs. I guess that's globalization for you. The coffee, by the way, tastes exactly the same as at home.

Kuwait’s Immigrants

I have already made a friend here. The hotel has a bus that ferries hotel employees between the city and work. I took the bus to make it into town and soon started up a conversation with one of the other passengers. His name was Eddie. He was a Catholic Indonesian and he was working here to support his wife and kid back home with his comparatively high wages earned in Kuwait. As it turns out, Kuwait has has an extremely large immigrant population made up mostly of Indians but there are also significant numbers of Pakistanis, Philippinos, Indonesians, and various Eastern Europeans.

Eddie took me to a few shops where I purchased an Arabic phrase book, Arabic music CD's, and Marlboro Reds (very cheap — about $15 a carton) — not that I'm a heavy smoker but they might be a good bargaining currency and I don't know how available or expensive they will be in Baghdad. Later, we ate at an Indonesian restaurant and he insisted on paying the majority of the check! We spoke of many things including the strange country of Kuwait that we had both found ourselves in, the dire situation in Iraq, Islam, his family, and what the future might hold for us.

After dinner, he took me to a Catholic church nearby. I was surprised that Kuwait even had churches. They are more tolerant than I thought! I soon found an Indian priest during an Indian wedding celebration (maybe they are originally from the Goa region?). I walked up to him while the bride and groom danced around in the crowd to much applause. I told him that I was leaving for Iraq the next day. He blessed my St. Christopher medal which my mother had given me for my protection. St. Christopher, by the way, is the patron saint of travelers.

Issued Equipment

Today, I was issued my PPE or Personal Protective Equipment. This included a gas mask (to protect me from those elusive Weapons of Mass Destruction), hood, duffel bag, pistol belt, canteen, kevlar flak vest, and helmet — All US army standard issue. The vest and helmet are needed for the 10 minute ride from Baghdad International Airport to the Green Zone. I was also instructed as to how to put on my mask and shown how to inject atropine (nerve gas antidote) into my leg. This of course occurred after I was shown grizzly photos of what small pox and mustard gas victims look like after exposure. This was probably the freakiest experience to date.

Most of the people running these briefings are ex-US military. In fact, most of the civilian contractors I’ve run into seem to be ex-military. Although I have nothing but respect for the service’s men and women, I am glad there are also people like myself with a very different perspective. To date, I have not met too many people who are as interested as I am in the cultural, historical, and political aspects of this entire venture. That is one area where I feel I will make a strong contribution since I am extremely interested in understanding as much about Iraq as possible. I have recently been reading a biography of Saddam Hussein so that I may familiarize myself with the last 50 years of Iraqi history.

The mood of most people I’ve met that are heading into Iraq seems to be very upbeat and most are very excited to be part of something so vital to American security and to the people of Iraq. However, there are also those who are here to make a quick buck via the substantial salaries. Some people have reinvested their earnings in the new Iraqi Dinar. I guess you could call it a bet on the success of the entire project. The idea is that should Iraq stabilize, the value of the Iraq Dinar will increase in relation to the US Dollar.

I have also met some Brits who are doing their part. Most of the British civilians apparently work in the South — especially in Basra. Of course these are the areas where the British exercise control.

Everyone I’ve talked to is disappointed about the Spanish pullout which was followed by Portugal and Honduras. I wonder what would have happened if the Madrid bombings had not taken place.

Everyone also recognizes that the UN will be playing a role when things settle down. What that role will be is still up in the air. There is also tremendous ambiguity as to what Iraqi sovereignty on July 1st will look like. Everything is always changing so it is difficult to predict the future.

I must say that the majority of the people I've met are sincere in their efforts and feel they are contributing to the freedom of the Iraqi people. Freedom is not a phrase just thrown around but sincerely uttered and meant. Although there of course is tremendous debate about the intentions of the US administration regarding Iraq, have no doubt that there are those who are here because they want to do the right thing.

I guess that's about it for now. I leave for Baghdad on a C-130 tomorrow morning and will write again as soon as I have the opportunity.

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Today George Bush will be celebrating his birthday. Some will protest and say, that's not true, the president's birthday was July 6. But we're not talking about the same person, apparently. And the George Bush I have in mind will hardly be doing much bona fide celebrating, actually, in view of the fact that he turns only 3 today.

The George Bush I have in mind is not the one whose full name is George Walker Bush, nor the one whose full name is George Herbert Walker Bush, but the one whose full name is George Bush Abdul Kader Faris Abed El-Hussein (no relation to Saddam). And this George Bush was born in Baghdad on July 11, 2003.

As far as can be ascertained, George Bush’s parents named him in honor of some Western leader one of whose recent feats they found to be not only impressive and admirable, obviously, but worthy enough to name their new-born son after. They must have been plenty impressed, in view of the fact that they gave their child the name of someone not of their faith, with linguistic roots not of their culture. (Sort of like a Westerner — say, someone from the Bush clan — giving a newborn son a name such as Mohammed Ahmed Yusuf Bush.)

Now, here is what I suggest. I suggest that the West should send a number of representatives to Baghdad. The type of people that David Brooks calls “the members of the sneering brigade”, “the think-tank johnnies and the rest of the commentariate” in “their usual sky-is-falling mode” — people like José Bové, François Hollande, Jacques Chirac, Gerhard Schröder, José Luis Zapatero, Jean-Marie Colombani, Plantu, Willem (to name only the Europeans), etc… They should choose a couple of high-visibility VIPs, “arm” them with all the usual arguments, and send them to Baghdad.

And there, they should seek out the parents of George Bush. Once the couple has been found, they should patiently explain the “truth” to them and seek thereby to install some common sense in them. That would include telling them…
• that the war was unnecessary and a sham, conducted for bogus reasons;
• that Iraq, and the world, were far better off before the conflict;
• that the presence of foreign soldiers is “humiliating” for George Bush and his fellow countrymen;
• that they must resent America (or at least, the Bush administration) for the current situation in which thousands have been killed over a period of more than three years and hark back to the previous situation in which the secret police killed several thousands per month with total impunity;
• that, in contrast to the administration of George Bush’s namesake, they, the holier-than-thou members of the peace camp, had (and have) nothing but the best interests of his parents in mind;
• oh, and, of course, that George Bush’s namesake is nothing but a nincompoop and a despicable liar.

Once the parents of George Bush have been converted to the sky-is-falling truth, the “the members of the sneering brigade” could go to work convincing more of Iraq’s population.

The members of “the commentariate” could start with Mohammed, Ali, and Omar, the brothers from Iraq the Model and expand outwards, to include the Iraqis who lost hands and tongues to Saddam’s thugs, had their faced scarred by acid, had their sisters, mothers, and daughters raped, and had their parents, brothers, and children shot down and their bodies thrown into unnamed graves. With luck, “the think-tank johnnies” would eventually reach that vast majority of people who in polls believe life has never been better since the war toppled Saddam and who say they feel more optimistic than they ever had in the past.

Let us join together and wish them “good luck and godspeed with your sacred mission”.

Oh, and by the way, Georgie: Happy birthday!

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Okay. I give. How can anyone fail to see that Global Warming isnt a huge issue. I see the scientific consensus now. 17000 scientists cant be wrong.

The fuse is lit!

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When the Brits do it, the French preSS calls it hooliganism and calls for UK teams to be banned from European competition. When the chères têtes blondes do it, it's just fun and games in Djack Lang land. Stade Charlety was the scene of a series of gang fights yesterday. 12 people were treated for injuries (but nothing serious, we are assured by the powers that be). Stade Charlety was the scene of a stabbing after the semi-final match.

Here are some French youth clobbering some guy during a World Cup retransmission at Paris' Stade Charlety.

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Now that the French have lost the World Cup and Zidane the Thug is officially retired, we can get back to brass tacks. So let's talk about French poverty which is continually fed by the French Social Model (which besides being a dysfunctional social model is also an outstanding blog which has just been featured in TCS Daily).

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La racaille invades the Champs-Elysées.

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To find out, why Zidane, why?



MateLeSurLeNet.com

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An embedded Times (UK) correspondent traveling with and protected by UK paratroopers is so grateful to them, that she’s willing to put a price on their lives – one that they can dwell on so they can take pride in their work, and see their mission as little more than low paid mercenary work.

All I can say is an extremely heartfelt thank you to those brave paras for somehow turning the situation round so we got out, and in particular Lee, the military policeman, for giving me water when I was so thirsty my tongue was sticking to the roof of my mouth and encouraging me to keep running when I thought I could run no more. When these courageous men are risking their lives out there, many for not much more than £1000 a month, I would have thought the least the Defence Minister could do is bother to show up in Parliament for yesterday’s emergency statement on Afghanistan.

If your life isn’t cheap enough for her fellahs, remember why she’s there to report – in large part about herself:

Fortunately the plane made it to Dubai and I managed to get back to London Saturday night, missing the penalty shootout but just in time for my son’s seventh birthday party the following day. It was a real “Cupcakes and Kalashnikovs” moment spending all Sunday morning making ham sandwiches for seven year olds with gunfire still ringing in my head then explaining to mothers who do not work, where I had been for the last few weeks.

Enough about me talking about me. Why don’t you talk about me?

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A good illustration of a French dude using his head. Racaille.

Check out the whining French commentator bleating "why?, why?" at the end.

Great post-match commentary over at Atlas' place.

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Une équipe franchouille qui, à l'encontre de la nation qu'elle représentait, avançait sans panache dans cette Coupe du Monde grâce à des penalties et autres largesses accordées par les arbitres, a perdu contre l'Italie. Pour étouffer définitivement l'intox Black-Blanc-Beur, Zinédine Zidane prouve que le naturel revient au galop en clôturant sa carrière internationale avec un geste digne des plus féroces racailles.

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Except for it to happen, Europe would have to grow a pair. Not likely. Thanks to S.

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...a victory of age and treachery over youth and skill.

Update: dag. Lost my bet.

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The visceral anti-American world view will go along with anything to prop up its’ fragile ego. Remember that the mainstream media brought out the usual tch-tch ritual when those lovely Somali ‘Sharia courts’ booted out warlords who were doing deals with American intelligence. It seems they’re more intelligent that people give them credit for. After having to hear the European press laud the ‘grassrootsy’, ‘peaceful’, indeed proletarian nature of the Somali Sharia-istas, it might come as no surprise just how intolerant they are.

Under an edict issued by a leading Mogadishu cleric, the five-times daily prayer required by the Koran will be enforced under penalty of death, a move that appears to confirm the hardline nature of the city's Sharia courts.

"He who does not perform prayers will be considered as infidel and Sharia law orders that that person be killed," said Sheikh Abdalla Ali, a founder and high-ranking official in the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia (SICS).

It’s really quite simple – the only clue you need is to see who the international press gives the most column-inches to and be suspicious.
Next time you hear a religious zealot of one sort pounding on conservatives in the tolerant west, imagine what sort of ‘fair trial’ said luvvies would be getting in Somalia.

“See you in court.” Now THAT’s funny.




Oh yeah – there’s the other religion to discuss today... And my guess is France 2:1 Italy.

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Oh my. This sounds like “the lobster” is at it again.

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Merci pour ce morceau de critique très constructif.

De la part (nous n'en doutons aucunement) de personnes lucides entièrement objectives.

Bizarrement, je ne me souviens pas que nous ayions jamais fait des pronostics pour les matchs des Bleus, en bien ou en mal ; par contre, je me souviens d'un nombre de posts sur les pronostics de la presse française où le pessimisme et l'alarmisme se mêlaient au mépris (pour l'âge de Zidane, par exemple) et aux secouements de tête, etc.

En d'autres termes, avant d'aller se plaindre des étrangers, et de croire que toutes leurs critiques (voire leurs simples observations) sont malveillantes, on ferait mieux, parfois, de les écouter ou, en tout cas, de pointer le doigt vers soi-même. Voilà une raison d'être de ce blog, et c'est par ailleurs le message que vous prétendez faire aux Ricains tout le temps ("ce n'est pas contre le peuple américain que nous en avons, mais contre leurs leaders et leur politique"), mais il s'avère cette attitude ne s'applique pas en ce qui concerne la France — autre exemple de deux poids deux mesures qui forment une autre raison d'être de ce blog.

Entretemps, nous attendons toujours (depuis plus de deux ans et trois mois) une réponse à l'article suivant et/ou aux informations qu'il contient — une réponse autre que : ce ne sont que des Irakons, "rien a foutre", l'on ne se mouille pas, une énumération détaillée des raisons pour lesqulles il ne faut pas en tenir compte, et/ou (quand il y a le moindre incident ou controverse impliquant l'armée américaine) un 300eme de petit commentaire haineux contre les Etats-Unis (ou ses leaders).

La politique de la France reste très vivement critiquée par les Irakiens

Par Rémy Ourdan

Il est presque impossible, hormis chez les responsables baasistes déchus, de trouver quelqu'un qui soutienne la position de Paris dans la crise . La politique de la France reste très vivement critiquée par les Irakiens. Contrairement à ce que croient souvent les Européens, le fait d'être opposé à l'occupation américaine ne fait absolument pas monter la cote de popularité de l'Europe, ou de tel ou tel pays, en Irak. C'est un paradoxe, mais c'est une réalité. ...

Faut-il le souligner ? : des conflits où des hommes risquent la mort (fussent-ils américains, irakiens, britanniques, français, ou autres) sont infiniment plus importants que des évènements sportifs (que leurs joueurs comprennent des Français, des Américains, des Italiens, des Brésiliens, ou autres). Du coup, qui sont ceux, hooligans ou autres, qui voient dans le sport autre chose qu'un spectacle? Nous ou vous-même?

J'ajouterais que le seul fait de faire un brouhaha sur un évènement sportif, aussi important soit-il, tout en ignorant les aspects de conflits dans le monde qui ne collent pas à la version auto-congratulatoire de la vision du monde en question, est en soi-même une réponse "rien à foutre". (Réponse qui se rapporte sans doute au courage que vous prônez au plus haut.)

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The photos of Robert Vanderhilst compare Cubans of the Southern shore to Cubans of the Northern shore.

Meanwhile, Le Monde 2 highlights the theories of Marylène Patou-Mathis (click on image "11"), a Frenchwoman (why doesn't that sound surprizing?) who laments the disappearance of Neanderthal man. And no wonder. "Too cool to survive" Neanderthal died out because, contrary to our ancestor, Cro-Magnon, he was intelligent, cultivated, and non-violent. (How long before we get a book entitled, "Frenchmen Descend From Neanderthals, Americans Descend From Cro-Magnons"?)

While we're at it, check out this book from that other product of the lucid society, Yves Paccalet.

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Tonight, France's soccer team, les Bleus, confronts Italy for the World Cup.

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