Courtesy of The Diplomad, we have the "world" reeking havoc with one of that last institutions with global reach that can provide relief at a truly large humanity loving scale.
Can't the vulture-like NGO workers just hit the bricks, and go find some helpless carrion to give them the love they deserve? And leave the professional life savers get on with making the UN and the EU look good?
Behind the Façades in France: What expats and the mainstream media (French and American alike) fail to notice (or fail to tell you) about French attitudes, principles, values, and official positions…
Saturday, January 22, 2005
The intellectual landscape of the left
Maybe they could live where no-one can hear their fits of Tourettes Syndrome.
Better yet, why leave the "special superstate?" Also found on a continent near you.
And you won't believe their prices!
Friday, January 21, 2005
If "Sober-Minded" EU Members Are Moving Towards a Consensus to Selling Arms to China, Asks the MSM, then "Who Is to Disagree" with Such a Decision?
The relegation of Zhao to nonpersonhood shows that when it comes to sensitive issues of Communist Party prestige and authority, China, contrary to widespread belief in the West, is still very much a Communist dictatorship, a country whose leaders, as Orwell might have put it, sometimes require that the truth be made falsehood and falsehood made truth. And the leftover Orwellian nature of the Chinese government has tended to have more weight in U.S. policy making on China than it has in Europe. The arms transfers to Iran, a more practical problem, illustrate the widening European-American divide on strategic thinking about China, with Europe less inclined to impose restraints on China than the United States.writes Richard Bernstein in an International Herald Tribune article called EU vs. U.S. vs. China: Partnership paradoxes.
And, of course, this difference relates to the biggest area of trans-Atlantic disagreement, the emerging consensus in Europe that the arms embargo the European Union members have maintained against China since 1989 has become an anachronism, and that, probably before the end of this year, it is going to be lifted.Nobody, of course, except perhaps the American troops who may have to go to war with China some years down the road. But they, as the rhetorical question suggests, can only be clods whose opinions are necessarily skewered…
Indeed, who can entirely disagree with such a decision?
It has been almost 16 years since Tiananmen. China's leadership today, may as in the Zhao case, still resemble the old gang that ordered the assault on the democracy protesters, but the assault's instigators, like Deng Xiaoping and Li Peng, have passed from the political scene. China in general shows no signs of playing a rogue role in global affairs.Tell that to the inhabitants of Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, and any country with a coast on the China Sea (not to mention the crew on the plane which collided with a Chinese fighter in the early months of 2001).
Oh, and, by the way, it turns out that China has been invited to participate in Galileo, the proposed EU rival to the American satellite navigation system (the Global Positioning System).
That is followed by lots of quotations from spokeswoman for the EU's foreign policy chief (former NATO bigwig Javier Solana), explaining how the Europeans analyze the situation "in a sober manner". Ah, those Europeans, ever so much more "lucid" and reasonable and visionary than those oafish Americans… Well, why not, they will never have to fight the Chinese; all they have to do is stay on the sidelines and slam "the cowboys" for being trigger-happy.
Still, the article ends on a sobering note. However, although Bernstein
does emphasize the regular and constant failure of either China or the EU to put human rights before their economic interests, he in no way takes the next logical step, which is to take a more skeptical look — one as skeptical as that that the mainstream media (of all countries) usually reserve for Uncle Sam — at the "peace camp" for its regular moral claims of holding the high ground, both before and after the war…
Freedom of Expression vs. Hateful Speech
In the wake of the latest outrage of Jean-Marie Le Pen, Ronald P. Sokol has an interesting article in the International Herald Tribune on whether hateful speech should be punished or not.
The author, whose writings include "Freedom of Expression in France: The Mitterrand-Dr.Gubler Affair" and who practices law in Aix-en-Provence, says that
it may be worth recalling two American cases involving speech just as egregious as that which shocked the French justice minister …The opinions of judges Felix Frankfurter and Louis Brandeis are hard to ignore…
The Inauguration Speech, the Iraq War, and the Future
With everybody (including the interested party) taking it as a given that George W Bush is no expert on speechifying, not to mention a clueless cowboy, I was surprised at the president's second inaugural speech, the video version of which I watched on my computer while blogging last night. Soon, I stopped typing as the background "noise" rose to (inaugural speech) heights that, frankly, have rarely attained during my lifetime…
With that in mind, Joseph Knippenberg of the Ashbrook center recommends this snippet from the Washington Post's presidential interview by Michael A. Fletcher and Jim VandeHei:
The Post: In Iraq, there's been a steady stream of surprises. We weren't welcomed as liberators, as Vice President Cheney had talked about. We haven't found the weapons of mass destruction as predicted. The postwar process hasn't gone as well as some had hoped. Why hasn't anyone been held accountable, either through firings or demotions, for what some people see as mistakes or misjudgments?Clueless, brainless, and no capacity for eloquence and thought. Right?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we had an accountability moment, and that's called the 2004 election. And the American people listened to different assessments made about what was taking place in Iraq, and they looked at the two candidates, and chose me, for which I'm grateful.
Listen, in times of war, things don't go exactly as planned. Some were saying there was no way that Saddam Hussein would be toppled as quickly as we toppled him. Some were saying there would be mass refugee flows and starvation, which didn't happen. [More good news from Iraq here.] My only point is, is that, on a complicated matter such as removing a dictator from power and trying to help achieve democracy, sometimes the unexpected will happen, both good and bad.
And the point is, there has to be a flexible strategy that will enable our commanders on the ground and our diplomats to be able to adjust strategy to meet the needs on the ground, all aiming at an eventual goal, which is a free and democratic Iraq, not in our image, in their image, according to their customs. See, we haven't been — we've been there — sovereignty was transferred in June of 2004. So this has been a sovereign nation in its new form for less than a year. I'm optimistic about it, and so are a lot of other people who were there in Iraq — optimistic about that, being optimistic about the emergence of a free government.
I'm also mindful that it takes a while for democracy to take hold. Witness our own history. We weren't — we certainly were not the perfect democracy and are yet the perfect democracy. Ours is a constitution that said every man — a system that said every man was equal, but in fact, every man wasn't equal for a long period of time in our history. The Articles of Confederation were a bumpy period of time. And my only point is, is that I am realistic about how quickly a society that has been dominated by a tyrant can become a democracy. And therefore, I am more patient than some, but also mindful that we've got to get the Iraqis up and running as quickly as possible, so they can defeat these terrorists.
The Ashbrook center's Knippenberg also links to John Lewis Gaddis's Grand Strategy in the Second Term, and he recommends John Keegan's take on the Iraq war, its aftermath, and… some of its not-so-well-known antecedents…
Meanwhile, Robert Alt writes that
having sour grapes about elections is nothing new. I still recall the "Don’t blame me, I voted for Bush" bumper stickers that adorned cars following Clinton’s win. But Ms. Rothchild’s statement goes deeper. ["After spending 10 days in London with friends who were outspoken about their disdain for President Bush’s policies, Berns Rothchild came home wishing she had a way to show the world she didn’t vote for him. 'I sort of felt ashamed, and didn’t really want to be associated with being an American,' said Rothchild".]
The whole "ashamed to be associated with America" thing seems to correlate much more with the Left and losing. The mantra seems to be, either the Left wins, or we’re moving to France; or we’re ashamed to be Americans, who are, by the way, not nearly as smart or sophisticated as we are, or as Europeans are. These are the same people who travel with Canadian flags on their luggage. Oh, but don’t question our patriotism. We love America. Massachusetts is just swell. Vermont is a fine place. And we might even admit to being Americans again, just as soon as a Democrat who reflects our disdain for the heartland is in the White House again.
Stonewall Jackson on War
Today is the birthday of Thomas Jonathan Jackson, the Confederate General (1824-1863) who said
The hardships of forced marches are often more painful than the dangers of battle.
I yield to no man in sympathy for the gallant men under my command; but I am obliged to sweat them tonight, so that I may save their blood tomorrow.
When war does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard.
What A French Crêpe Maker Asked the Americans to Tell Their Countrymen
[The American couple in Paris and the Frenchman at the crêpe cart] idly chatted in FSI French for a bit, when, looking a bit nervous, he suddenly asked, "You are Americans?"writes New Sisyphus.
We steeled ourselves for the onslaught that would come. At the very least we would get a sad-toned explanation about how lamentable it was that our good friends the Americans had lost their collective minds; at worst, we would be called war-mongers and baby-killers. All we wanted was crepes.Read what the Paris crêpe maker wanted the Americans to tell their countrymen…
"Yes," we said proudly. We don't have time for those lame-asses (or I suppose I should say "lame-arses") who play the Pretend to Be Canadian Game abroad. If we were going to get it, we were going to get it, but we weren't about to hide who we were, sullen crepe makers be damned.
"Well," he said in heavily-accented basic English, "I thought so … it's just....I want to tell you...." He looked around furtively, quickly.
"What?"
(Merci à Mike H)
Note how it is always the U.S. that must come bearing the olive branch, taking the steps to heal wounds
Like the Belmont Club (see posting below), New Sisyphus has an outstanding comment on Thomas Friedman's Thursday article in the New York Times:
As a liberal bellwether, Friedman represents the ultimate in conventional wisdom (the good ol' CW). The CW is hopelessly naive about Palestinian intentions; Friedman is hopelessly naive about Palestinian intentions. The CW is that any foreign policy challenge or setback is due to some American failure; Friedman is pretty sure that any foreign policy challenge or setback is obviously due to some American failure. The CW is that Democratic policy provisions are always altruistically motivated and self-evidently good; Friedman thinks that.....well, you get the idea.
Yesterday's Friedman column, An American in Paris, is an exemplar of the genre. Chock full of cliches, lame metaphors and tired thinking--the kind one would expect from a political science professor at Evergreen State College--it was just crying our for a Fisking.
So, without further ado, please follow us to Friedmanland, where everything is always America's fault, Saudi princes have bona fide peace plans and if only Likud would retire from politics the Middle East would be an oasis of peace, science and industry!
…Note how in Friedmanland, it is always the U.S. that must come bearing the olive branch, taking the steps to heal wounds. It's almost as if France, Germany and Russia had absolutely nothing to do with the trans-Atlantic rift by their ridiculously transparent pro-Saddam stonewalling! Nope, France's diplomats can circle the globe stirring up anti-American animosity, but it's all Bush's fault, isn't it? After all, we all know there is no evidence (*cough* oil-for-food *cough*) that parts of Europe were profiting handsomely from the Saddam trade.
| Leave Europe behind: one less dead weight | Lâcher l'Europe: ça fera un poids mort en moins |
| Zeropa (like the pygmies at the UN), not even able to ship three bags of rice to the other side of the planet after the tsunami, is begnning to understand that it has taken the wrong path and is stuck in the wrong century.
| La Zéropa (comme les pygmées à l'ONUzi), même pas logistiquement capable d'envoyer trois sac de riz à l'autre bout de la planète suite au tsunami, commence à se rendre compte qu'elle s'est trompée de chemin et de siècle.
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| Radio MiF: Velvet Underground: Live at Max's Kansas City | |
Proud to Be Danish
And no talk from the incumbent, either, of withdrawing the Iraq contingent, even partly, in the future…
Like the Spanish, the Australian, and the American governments before it, the Danish government is heading for elections with — barring terrorist attacks such as those in Madrid (and even in spite of them, one would hope, should such occur) — high chances that the electorate has no intention of censoring its government (far from it) for being the ally of the George W Bush White House in Iraq and ("peace camp" members' wishful thinking notwithstanding) for not pulling the troops out of Iraq.
Note that it is totally misleading (not to call it a lie, as members of the "peace camp" are so prompt to do) to say that in the wake of the March 14 election bombshell (due to the politicking in the wake of the train bombings that killed 191 people three days earlier), Spain's "new prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, kept his election promise and quickly withdrew the 1,300 troops that Aznar had sent to Iraq."On Tuesday, Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen called for early elections on Feb. 8, nine months ahead of the end of his four-year term in a bid to capitalize on favorable opinion polls.
Mindful of Denmark's support of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, Danish antiterror officials said they would increase their vigilance during the campaign and on election day.
…Rasmussen, who politically and militarily backed the U.S.-led war to oust Saddam Hussein, is favored to remain in office.
Denmark presently has 501 troops in southern Iraq, and a majority in the Parliament, including the opposition Social Democrats, has backed the deployment.
This puts the patina of honour and dignity (keeping promises, being honest) on an event that, if anything, actually betrayed a promise, the one that consisted of consulting with the United Nations before any such withdrawal.
Workers and Bosses: Friends or Foes?
Denmark and France symbolize two opposing tendencies in the European labor movement today, writes Thomas Fuller in the International Herald Tribune.
…To the Danes, the strike is a weapon of last resort; in France, it is a means of expression.
Denmark and France, labor specialists say, symbolize two opposing tendencies in the European labor movement today. Their differences go much deeper than just strike tactics and ultimately illustrate both the worries and the hopes of organized labor on a continent where union membership is shrinking.
For those who believe that organized labor is still the best way to organize society, Denmark stands out as a model, a country where unions have an important day-to-day role in managing the workplace. Unions help run the unemployment insurance program, and their representatives sit on company boards.
In Denmark, unions and employers are partners. In France they are adversaries.
In Denmark, unions are proactive and help craft rules on things like maternity leave and working hours. In France unions react to, but rarely propose, new laws.
France also has a much lower rate of union membership: just 9.6 percent. By the standards of rich countries, this is close to extinction. France has the lowest level of unionization in the Western world — the average proportion of unionized workers is 30 percent in Europe and around 13 percent in the United States.
Unions in France appear to wield greater power than their numerical strength, labor specialists say, because they receive widespread attention in the French media, and the small minority of unionized workers, mainly in the public sector, strike relatively often.
The French government also buttresses the unions' power, inadvertently or not, by extending agreements reached between unions and employers to 90 percent of the working population, according to estimates by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Einar Edelberg, the deputy permanent secretary of the Danish Ministry of Employment, calls this arrangement "poison" for the labor movement. Workers lose their incentive to join unions, he said, and organized labor becomes less representative.
The situation is altogether different in Denmark, where 75 percent of employees are union members, one of the highest rates in the world.
In interviews in Copenhagen, union officials said the success of the Danish labor movement depended on keeping government interference to a minimum. Rules on working hours, pay and vacation time are negotiated between unions and employers, not in government ministries.
This contrasts with France, where the regulations of the workplace are laid out in Napoleonic detail in the Code du Travail.
By contrast, there is no government-set minimum wage in Denmark — the government sees no need to impose one because Danish unions represent such a large percentage of the working population. But a large part of Denmark's success in managing labor relations rests on something more intangible, an unusually harmonious relationship between workers and their bosses.
"Both we and the employers are very aware that we need to have trust in each other," Rasmussen of the trade confederation said.
Edelberg of the Employment Ministry said, "There is a spirit of 'we are in the same boat,"' an apt analogy given the country's Viking past.
…Labor specialists agree and say the notion of power is often confused with the frequency of strikes.
"You cannot always confront the government and shut all the railways," said Marino Regini, dean of the political science at the University of Milan. "That is not what I would call strength. Strength is the ability to influence."
Kverneland has a direct influence on her company's policies from her seat on her company's board, a post she was elected to.
In France, by contrast, Mahieux, the official with the labor union Sud, said co-management was not the type of unionization that he wanted.
"Our job is not to help organize the company," he said,
Mahieux, who works at a ticket window at the Gare de Lyon, a Paris train station, and is a secretary of Sud, said his main mission was to "defend the rights of employees."
Often for French rail workers this means calling strikes. …
The bottom line in the comparison of these two countries is that unemployment in Denmark is 5.2 percent, just over half of France's rate of 9.6 percent. Growth is anemic in both countries, but Denmark is marginally wealthier, with per capita gross domestic product of $30,700, compared with $28,600 in France.
Danish experts doubt, though, that their labor model could be exported.
Jesper Due, a labor specialist at the University of Copenhagen [whose name means 'dove'], said it came naturally for Danes to work out their problems by forming clubs, associations and unions. "There is a saying: 'If you have five Danes, you'll have 25 associations,"' Due said. If you have five southern Europeans, he added, "you'll have 25 arguments."
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Typical
In its eagerness to find fault with the administration, a member of the mainstream media writes that
Vice President Cheney made a rare admission of error in Iraq policy early today, saying that the administration had made a mistake by overestimating how quickly the country was likely to recover after the ousting of Saddam Hussein.What was that mistake again?
Speaking on the radio show "Imus in the Morning," Mr. Cheney said that the Iraqis had been more intimidated by the brutalities of the Hussein regime than was understood before the invasion.This is a mistake? If the bulk of the facts in Cheney's comments are true — that with hundreds of thousands of slaughtered people, the situation was in fact tougher than previously thought — then what does this say about the position of the so-called "peace camp", individuals and governments alike? You know, the position that held that the situation weren't that serious, that a smattering of dialogue and discussions with Saddam, sprinkled with patience, goodwill, and brotherhood, would solve the Iraqi crisis and bring about a peaceful solution…
"I think the hundreds of thousands of people who were slaughtered at the time, including anybody who had the gumption to stand up and challenge him, made the situation tougher than I would have thought," Mr. Cheney said, according to The Associated Press. "I would chalk that up to a miscalculation, where I thought things would have recovered more quickly."
| When you face is longer than your dick, you know you got a problem | Quand ta tronche est plus longue que ta bite, vous savez que vous êtes confronté à un problème |
| Priceless long faces on French news as Bush is sworn in.
| Tronches longues comme des pissotières aux infos franchouilles au moment où Bush prête serment.
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| So God didn't come after all?
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| Radio MiF: Hoggboy: 7 Miles of Love | |
| Now reading (en): You Bright and Risen Angels | |
| Livre de chevet (fr): La fosse de Babel | |
| Outsourcing: the French have subcontracted out their 'beat on the Jews' business | Délocalisations: les franchouilles ont sous-traité leur industrie 'casser du feuj' |
| Excellent commentary at Balagan concerning Plantu's wretched cartoon below.
| Commentaire excellent chez Balagan au sujet du dessin infect de Plantu ci-dessous.
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| Radio MiF: Hoggboy: Or 8? | |
| Let them march with teddy bear signs | Ils n'ont qu'à manifester avec des pancartes à bisounours |
| "If Europeans ban the Nazi symbol, how are they going to protest George W. Bush when he visits?" Guess they didn't think that one through. But we all know that 'hate-speech' laws are very flexible. They have seemingly endless interpretations when applied to Muslims and homosexuals, but no apparent use when appled to Americans and Jews. Don't be surprised if swastikas blossom when it comes to insulting America.
| "Si les européens interdisent la croix gammée, comment vont-ils faire pour protester lors des visites de George W. Bush?" Ils n'ont pas pensé à ça. Nous savons tous que les lois qui traitent 'l'incitation à la haine' sont d'une souplesse étonnante. Ces lois sont dotées d'interprétations insoupçonnées en ce qui concerne la protection des musulmans et les homosexuels, mais elles perdent toute semblance d'utilité dès qu'il s'agit de défendre les américains ou les juifs. Ce ne sera pas une surprise si les croix gammées fleurissent sans aucune restriction à partir du moment où il est question de s'attaquer à l'Amérique.
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| Depression | |
| "The French no longer believe in anything. That's why the situation is relatively calm. They feel that there is no point in expressing their point of view or making themselves heard." Given the state and the State they are in it's normal that they be depressed. (hey, when you're equipped like that it's normal to be on the rag most of the time, Oh the humanity!).
| "Les Français ne croient plus en rien. C'est même pour cela que la situation est relativement calme, car ils estiment que ce n'est même plus la peine de faire part de son point de vue ou de tenter de se faire entendre." Vu l'état et l'Etat dans lesquels ils se trouvent, c'est normal qu'ils dépriment (et puis, quand on est foutus comme eux c'est peut-être normal d'avoir ses ragnanas la plupart du temps. Tiens, c'est bouleversant de beauté et d’humanité, ça).
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Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Vocal Protests Set Aside, Le Pen's Outrageous Comments on WWII Can Hardly Be Qualified as Totally Removed from the French Mainstream
Notwithstanding the (justified) outcry that has met Jean-Marie Le Pen's claim that life in France under the Nazi occupiers wasn't that bad (the National Front leader charges he is the victim of persecution), how surprized should the French be when they have been regularly lionizing all things European while disparaging everything American?
And non, it is not just the present administration in Washington; during the 60th anniversary commemorations of D-Day last summer, did the French not made an all-out effort to downplay the American contribution to the war effort as well as cast doubt on the Americans' intentions while heaping praise on the (present) alliance with Germany and the depth of the friendship with the Germans, as well as the depth of the camaraderie with the allies — that is, the camaraderie with the "peace camp" allies of 2003?
As for the 1944 Battle of the Bulge which was (if my calculations are correct) the bloodiest battle for the Americans on the European front during World War II, its (recent) 60th anniversary has been virtually ignored in France, in total contrast to the outpouring of emotion and articles during the (August) commmorations of the liberation of Paris…
Learning to Be Lucid and Open-Minded, and See the World the Gallic Way
Those oafish Americans should get out of their isolation more, and learn more about the rest of the planet, and understand what makes others tick, and be tolerant, and be more wise to the ways of the world, and become more lucides, and learn more about other people(s) and cultures — just like, say… the cultured French… (And of course, it is only Tony Blair that the reasonable, Cartesian, and ever-so-tolerant Français have something against; it is not their "English friends" for whom, of course, they show nothing but admiration.) Oh, and be sure to check out the photo…
Sarkozy Plans to Encroach Further on His Boss's Territory
While Jacques Chirac thinks of running for a third term (perhaps mainly because he cannot find another way to avoid a trial after leaving office?), Katrin Bennhold reports that
After taking over President Jacques Chirac's center-right party late last year, Nicolas Sarkozy plans to encroach further on his boss's territory, focusing his 2005 agenda on diplomacy, the traditional roaming ground for the head of state in France.Meanwhile, the rumor is that Chirac favors the opposition socialists' François Hollande in the 2007 election to his own party's Sarkozy, which, if true, would be a rehash (in reverse) of the 1995 presidential election, during which the incumbent President François Mitterrand supposedly favored Paris mayor Chirac over both his (Mitterrand's) own (socialist) party's Lionel Jospin and his cohabitation prime minister, the conservative Edouard Balladur (whom Sarkozy preferred over fellow RPR party leader Chirac, which is one of the main reasons France's current president is hardly on friendly terms either with him or Balladur)…
… Since his election as leader of the Union for a Popular Movement in late November, the ambitious 50-year-old has pledged to travel abroad once a month — more than any other French party leader.
… According to political analysts like [Stéphane Rozès, director of political studies at the Paris-based CSA polling institute], raising his profile internationally is also an attempt by Sarkozy to keep the media interested — particularly since Chirac might be less present abroad this year, judging from the unusually domestic focus in his New Year addresses last week.
But, by no means should you let this back-stabbing make you in any way doubt that France is the land of principles and principled leaders!…
Quoth the Poet, Evermore
Regarding the never-ceasing chatter on the sins and ills of America and her society, let us remember that today is the birthday if Edgar Allan Poe, the writer (1809-1849) who said
In one case out of a hundred a point is excessively discussed because it is obscure; in the ninety-nine remaining it is obscure because it is excessively discussed.Also:
I have great faith in fools; self-confidence my friends call it.
In criticism I will be bold, and as sternly, absolutely just with friend and foe. From this purpose nothing shall turn me.
All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.
Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears.
It is by no means an irrational fancy that, in a future existence, we shall look upon what we think our present existence, as a dream.
Man's real life is happy, chiefly because he is ever expecting that it soon will be so.
I never can hear a crowd of people singing and gesticulating, all together, at an Italian opera, without fancying myself at Athens, listening to that particular tragedy, by Sophocles, in which he introduces a full chorus of turkeys, who set about bewailing the death of Meleager.
| More or less hated than 11-9-2001? | Détestés plus ou moins comparé à 11-9-2001? |
| You have been warned. 'American people, if you do not show the world that you disapprove of the pro-war stance of your President, you will be hated more that any people has been hated until now.' Huh? Whatever you say dude. Other than that, he's a funny guy.
| Voilà, vous êtes avertis. 'Peuple américain, si tu ne montres pas au monde que tu désapprouves le comportement belliqueux de ton président, tu vas être détesté comme aucun peuple ne l'aura été jusqu'alors.' Comment? OK, d'accord bonhomme. Sinon, il est plutôt marrant comme type.
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| Intelligentsia losing their grip | L'intelligentsia perd pied |
| Maurice G. Dantec packed the amphitheatre of Paris ESG last night for a literary happening organized by Ring Magazine. Dantec spoke about the French press, intellectual terrorism wielded by the French intelligentsia, and his literary activity in 2005 (Cosmos Inc. et American Black Box). Given the number of people who turned out despite the heavy rain it's now obvious that the brown shirt journalist hacks from | Hier soir, lors d'une soirée organisée par Ring Magazine, Maurice G. Dantec a fait salle comble à l'amphithéâtre de ESG à Paris. Dantec a profité de l'occasion pour parler d'une certaine presse franchouille, du terrorisme de la pensée exercé par l'intelligentsia locale, et de sa rentrée littéraire en 2005 (Cosmos Inc. et American Black Box). Vu le nombre de personnes qui se sont déplacées sous la pluie pour assister à la soirée, il est évident que les journalistes chemises brunes |
| Zeropean soft power: can't tell if it's a dick or a clit | Pouvoir mou zéropéen: il s'agit d'un zob ou d'un clitoris? |
| Hard to tell with these faggots (that's why Zeropeans are flipping their tongues like dykes). If anything, tsunami relief has shown Zeropeans that all their talk of super power status is just like their military and political influence: bogus.
| Difficile à dire avec ces pédaloïdes (c'est pour ça que les zéropéens agitent leurs claquemerdes comme des lesbos). Le débâcle zéropéen en matière de secours aux sinistrés du tsunami a démontré que tous les discours conférant un status de super-puissance à la Zéropa sont à l'instar de l'influence zéropéenne en affaires militaires et politiques : du toc.
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| There are too many of you!
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Tuesday, January 18, 2005
An Iraqi Familiar with French Global Consciousness Gives His Humble Opinion…
From Iraq, Hammorabi gives us instructive information about the humanism, rationality, lucidity, and brotherhood of France's visionary leftists:
…In a programme by Al-Jazeera TV two Iraqis were invited. One of them supports the process of democratization and election and the other who lived in France (Communist) called Noori Al-Moradi against the election. The later considers the election as an American game no more no less! Until here it is OK, because he just represent his own ideas but the most dangerous thing is that Al Moradi called the Iraqis that if there is going to be a civil war then the Iraqis should burn the alive and the dead among those who fight because as he said that they are just two factions of pro-American traitors. This call is a serious thing which we think is not allowed under the French law and it should at least be investigated by them.No wonder Iraq the Model echoes two Iraqi language weblogs' calls on all Iraqi politicians, journalists, thinkers, and writers to boycott Al-Jazeera and not to accept any invitation from this network to appear on its shows…
On the other hand if the CBS TV holds responsible its broadcasters for incorrect information about GWB, then the international community should know that it is more dangerous to leave Al-Jazeera TV un-accounted for its wide support for the terrorists. If the European and French law blocked Al-Manar (Lebanese TV) then why it should not apply its law on Al Jazeera which is openly and more widely support the terrorists?…
(Interestingly, Hammorabi repeats a rumor that Zarqawi may have been captured…)
America is a fascist racist country exploiting foreigners…
But we, the enlightened Europa, are open-minded to "cultural diversity" and "state-led integration" and "world peace and music" and… and… [breaking into song] we are the world, we are the children...
(Danke zu RV)
Meanwhile, let's make sure that European education ministries' history books — engrossed in teaching today's generations of children how much wiser, more generous, more tolerant, more visionary that they, and the societies they belong to (and that their leaders are the products of), are than everybody else (and especially those American capitalist pigs) — don't devote too much space to history's other great relief effort. (No wonder the huge undertakings "have been largely forgotten"…)
(Cheers to Joe N)
Daniel Webster
Today is the birthday of Daniel Webster, the American Statesman (1782-1852) who said
A country cannot subsist well without liberty, nor liberty without virtue.
An unlimited power to tax involves, necessarily, the power to destroy.
Failure is more frequently from want of energy than want of capital.
God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it.
He who tampers with the currency robs labor of its bread.
How little do they see what really is, who frame their hasty judgment upon that which seems.
I apprehend no danger to our country from a foreign foe... Our destruction, should it come at all, will be from another quarter. From the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government, from their carelessness and negligence, I must confess that I do apprehend some danger.
I mistrust the judgment of every man in a case in which his own wishes are concerned.
It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment, independence now and independence forever.
Justice, sir, is the great interest of man on earth. It is the ligament which holds civilized beings and civilized nations together.
Let us not forget that the cultivation of the earth is the most important labor of man. When tillage begins, other arts will follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of civilization.
Sarkozy "l'Américain"
Asking whether France's rightist parties can adhere to ideas dominating in America, Jean-Claude Casanova points out that those who are eager to trip up the America-admiring Nicolas Sarkozy have taken to calling him "Sarkozy l'Américain".
Sarkozy has earned that moniker, adds Jean Birnbaum, because he keeps favoring the search for practical solutions over the Gallic penchant for abstract debate. Birnbaum notes that it is, and has always been, an exceedingly perilous nickname in France for the politician wearing it.
Already less than a generation ago, this was used on one of François Mitterrand's prime ministers. And some two centuries ago, as Philippe Roger notes in his "genealogy" of The American Enemy throughout history, it was used on another prominent French VIP. "From Talleyrand to Rocard, the US label has always made mincemeat of French politicians", says Roger (De Talleyrand à Rocard, l'étiquette US a toujours flingué un homme politique) — more on his book (as well as Jean-François Revel's) here and here.
So forget French chatter about their "American friends" and their assurances about how much they really like the American people ("eet ees only Bush an' zeir o'zair leaders zat oui 'ave somes'ing agains'"). It is all scorn and condescension. To quote MiF, "Americans, you are hated here".
| Message to the stinking French | Message aux pourritures de franchouilles |
| Bush ratings up. Iraq policy ratified. Fuck you all.
| Le taux de popularité de Bush est en hausse. Sa politique vis-à-vis de l'Irak est approuvée. Allez vous faire foutre tous. Pas la peine d'écouter les franchouilles suceurs des queues des ayatollahs. Franchouilles, faites vos courbettes!
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| Toil and trouble for the UN. Didn't some paternalistic spittle shooting clown-faced shithead jabber that their was no problem at the UN?
| De l'eau dans le gaz à l'ONUzi. Il n'y avait pas un connard de bouseu paternaliste qui postillonnait avec sa bouille à bozo en baragouinant qu'il n'y avait pas de problème avec l'ONUzi?
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| Super-Cannes | Supplique pour être enterré sur une plage ... |
| High risk of Mediterranean tsunami.
| Les risques sont élevés pour un tsunami en Méditerranée.
|
| The ticket that exploded | |
| Paris backroom chic.
| Baiser choc, clamser chic.
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| Radio MiF: Buju Banton: The Early Years: 1990-1995, Boom Bye Bye | |
Clueless Yanks, If Only You Had Some Brains, You Would Be Convinced
…of the natural superiority of the French justice system (merci à GS) and the French political system…
"Soft-Power" Europe: Boom Boom for You Yankee Clods, Bonbon-Dispersal for Us
John Vinocur reports on the "grand gesture" that "Europe's ultimate risk-taker, stabilizer, and military guarantor" (a.k.a Uncle Sam) may make towards the "soft-power" Europe (you know, the entity that endows "humanity with a global consciousness" and emphasizes "global cooperation over the unilateral exercise of power") during George W Bush's visit there next month.
…making nice, sounding understanding rather than contemptuous of Europe's soft ambitions, doesn't undermine the hard-power fact of the United States' continuing middle-term role as Europe's ultimate risk-taker, stabilizer and military guarantor.
But what's Europe supposed to be delivering in exchange?
The giveback is soft too, not troops for Iraq, but centering on Germany, where during a Bush stopover in Mainz, Gerhard Schröder would demonstrate pretty unequivocal opposition to the notion of a world based on multipolarity. That's the French scheme for a global future that includes Europe as a superpower, and turns it into a regional pole alongside China, the United States, Russia, India etc — creating, in the American view, artificial divisions, rigidities and the unlovely but obvious subtext of a United States isolated at a table of its so-called polar equals.
If Schröder says world mulipolarity cannot be Europe's forward vision — in Paris last week, Jacques Chirac's personal bugaboo, the presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy, marked himself down as opposing it as a confrontational idea — then multipolarity's place as an emblematic banner for a European superpower would die forgotten as French excess. Should Schröder find this too much disloyalty to Chirac, or if Chirac did not subtly recant beforehand, perhaps on a quick trip to Washington (he is seriously conflicted about how much soft power Europe can acquire before China howls in laughter), then Bush would return home without a quid pro quo.
Not exactly the American way of doing business, and not an easy, empty-handed sell to the conservative presidential constituency. So there are uncertainties about the trade-off.
The fact is there are also a few reasonable American doubts about endorsing, however notional its status, a soft-power European superpower.
The United States can't be interested in consecrating a Europe that could well turn out to be a Righteous Power, instructing, pontificating and limiting its responsibilities to what Robert Zoellick, Condoleezza Rice's future deputy secretary of state, said a year ago was Europe's predilection for endless negotiations in excellent hotels in pleasant locations. This Righteous Power aspect (the phrase is that of a former Bush White House official), sometimes comparing the supposed new nobility of Europe's purpose with the Americans' hard-power clangor, is obvious in many European descriptions of life as the gentle superpower.
For Egon Bahr, once Willy Brandt's chief adviser, Europe should abandon the humiliation of the hopeless task of keeping up with the United States in military expenditure (he skipped referring to risk) and arrive at a refined burden-sharing process in which it was the Americans' job "to force" peace while Europe dealt with peace-maintenance. Boom boom for you clods, bonbon-dispersal for us.
In an article in which she acknowledges plenty of European incoherence, another German, Ulrike Guerot of the German Marshall Fund, all the same projects a dreamlike EU becoming "the real superpower" of the 21st century, "endowing humanity with a global consciousness" that emphasizes "global cooperation over the unilateral exercise of power."…
Monday, January 17, 2005
"The coverage of the Iraq war in some French media was almost cartoonish in its opposition"
reports John Fund as he discusses France's CII satellite TV station, the planned, government-funded "CNN à la française"…
…the French belief that they are losing what Mr. Chirac calls "the battle of footage" to Anglo-Saxon media behemoths is absurd. The message put out by U.S. and British media outlets isn't unified, and to the extent that is true, the output is hostile to much of U.S. and British foreign policy and certainly to President Bush. An independent inquiry found that the BBC had twisted its reportage in a reckless attempt to discredit Prime Minister Tony Blair's Iraq policy.
…France will have to be careful in the message it puts out on its new version of CNN. Jean-Pierre Tailleur, the author of a book that harshly criticizes the French media, says the coverage of the Iraq war in some French media was almost cartoonish in its opposition. "They minimized the atrocities of Saddam's regime and presented Bush as a criminal on the same level as Saddam and Hitler," he wrote.
(Merci à FH)
Check out Jean-Pierre Tailleur's website (while intellectuals and media alike complain about la malbouffe, he complains about le maljournalisme…) and one of his articles in English…
Iraqis Want to Be Martyrs More Than Ever
says Anthony Shadid in the Washington Post as he reports on what a terrible, bloody, horrifying mess Iraq has become since Americans made the "mistake" of (illegally!) overthrowing Saddam.
"Going to the polling stations is a victory for the Iraqi people," said Ali Danif, a 45-year-old writer. …
"It's one of my wishes to die at the gate of the polling station," [a smiling Suheil Yassin] said, a gesture that was self-consciously dramatic. "I want to be a martyr for the ballot box."…
(Shookhran to Iraq the Model)
Franklin on Blockheads
Did Benjamin Franklin, the American statesman (1706-1790) whose birthday it is today, have intellectuals and other members of the élite in his mind when he said:
A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one.Other quotations include:
A countryman between two lawyers is like a fish between two cats.
A good conscience is a continual Christmas.
A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges.
A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body.
A life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things. There will be sleeping enough in the grave.
A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle.
A penny saved is a penny earned.
A place for everything, everything in its place.
A small leak can sink a great ship
Absence sharpens love, presence strengthens it.
Admiration is the daughter of ignorance.
All human situations have their inconveniences. We feel those of the present but neither see nor feel those of the future; and hence we often make troublesome changes without amendment, and frequently for the worse.
All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.
All who think cannot but see there is a sanction like that of religion which binds us in partnership in the serious work of the world.
Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What's a sun-dial in the shade?
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
| Confirmed | C'est confirmé |
| France is suffering from an anti-American virus and the American tourist drop-off is real and hurting. Didn't some paternalistic spittle shooting clown-faced shithead jabber that none of this was a problem?
| La France a chopé un virus anti-américain et la baisse de tourisme américain en France est bien réelle et elle fait mal. Il n'y avait pas un connard de bouseu paternaliste qui postillonnait avec sa bouille à bozo en baragouinant que tout ça ne posait pas de problème?
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| ... staggering and limping | ... sur trois pattes |
| Broken propeller again? Three weeks later the French arrive.
| Hélice bousillée encore? Trois semaines après les fwançais arrivent sur place.
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Sunday, January 16, 2005
MLK on Genuine Leaders, Going It Alone, and Risking Ostracism
Today is the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., the US Civil Rights Leader (1929-1968) who said
The following three quotes come to mind when meditating on George W Bush's refusal to "respect" international rules and to abide by what the so-called "peace camp" calls international law, the administration's taking action alone (well, with "only" some 30 allies or so), and America's subsequent ostracism in the international arena.A lie cannot live.
A man can't ride your back unless it's bent.
A man who won't die for something is not fit to live.
At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.
A right delayed is a right denied.
A riot is at bottom the language of the unheard.
A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.
All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.
All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.
If you can't fly, run. If you can't run, walk. If you can't walk, crawl. The important thing is to keep moving by any means possible.
An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.
Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.
A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan.
| Hazing | Bizutages |
| To the French upset because the term 'torture' is misappropriated: words have meanings. Learn them.
| Aux franchouilles qui partent en vrille car le terme 'torture' est mal employé: les mots ont des significations bien précises. Apprenez-les.
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| Some pottery and dusty old statues | De la poterie et des statues vétustes et poussièreuses |
| Humanist whining about knick-knacks.
| Les humanistes gémissent encore au sujet de quelques bibelots.
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| Commentaire d'Avary:
Durant sa campagne foireuse en Égypte en 1798, le général Napoléon Bonaparte établi son camp aux Pyramides où, le 21 Juillet 1798, il remporta la victoire sur les Mameloukes du sultan Mourad Bey. La bataille fût précédée de sa fameuse proclamation : "Soldats de l'Armée d'Orient, du haut de ces pyramides quarantes siècles vous comptemplent!" Si je fais ce petit rappel historique c'est parce qu'un archéologue-moonbat est allé se plaindre qu'établir un camp militaire à Babylone est aussi stupidement criminel que d'en établir un au pied des Pyramides. Peut-on être archéologue et ignorer l'histoire? Avary | |