Syria: The Weapon that Assad Fears Most

Plantu's take on Syria

• UN soldier: Bashar! If you keep being naughty, we'll bring in Bernard Henri-Lévy!
• Assad: Oh no!! Not that!!

Lecturing the Yanks on Obscene Capitalism? EU's Richest 20% Have Income 5 Times Higher Than Poorest 20%

While Europeans are lecturing Americans on the "ravages" of their "obscene", "ultra-capitalist", "scathing", and "heartless" economic system — criticisms eagerly parroted by the American left (not the least of whom is the current occupier of the Oval Office) — Le Monde informs us that income inequality levels within the European Union goes as far as, for some countries, double that of their EU neighbors'.

Moreover, on average, the richest 20% of the EU have income five times higher than the poorest 20%.

En moyenne, au sein de l'UE, les 20 % les plus riches ont des revenus cinq fois plus élevés que les 20 % les plus pauvres, mais les niveaux d'inégalité peuvent différer du simple au double entre pays.

Depuis 2007 et le déclenchement de la crise, les plus fortes hausses ont été enregistrées en Espagne et en Lituanie. La moyenne européenne est, elle, restée stable.

Les inégalités se sont également creusées en France (+ 0,6) depuis 2007. Après une baisse dans les années 1990, l'écart est reparti à la hausse au cours de la dernière décennie, notait un rapport de l'OCDE en décembre 2011. Selon l'organisation, le système de redistribution (à travers les prestations sociales et les impôts), qui permet de réduire les inégalités de 30 % en moyenne, est devenu moins efficace.

Promoting Anarchy and “Social Justice” Have Their Very Own Bundesministerium

The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) is getting into the business of resource redistribution and „ global justice “. Meh, that’s nothing. The telling feature is that these preachers of the apocalypse for hire are forming links with religious institution – a perfect reflection that their world view (concious or not) is based in the faith they have in their assertions about Global Warning being (1) real, (2) irreversable, and (3) cased specifically by humans whome they disagree with politically.

Being new at teh religion thing, they are missing some fundamental articles – such as the idea that there actually exists such a thing as redemption and forgiveness if sin can be recognized. You see, it makes no difference what you do to appease them, there is always the next newly drawn-up commandmant to tell people that they are in violation of.

Indeed today we are experiencing a Renaissance in the use of fossil energies instead: The rising price of oil and gas has not only led to a Renaissance in coal, but is also making the tapping of unconventional oil and gas reserves lucrative. The international Energy Agency (IEA) is already celebrating the ‘Golden Age of gas supply’.”

As you can see, this is bad in their view, a calamity, except when they’ pause to make the specious “peak oil” argument (itself pulled out of somebody’s ass.) In that case, we are told to obediently follow their instructions to deindustrialize to head off the horror of energy running out.

The shockign thing is that there are people out there who are still fooled by these emotive attempts to manipulate our fears, “warmonger” style.

In a French Journalism School Poll, the Left's Hollande won 100% of the Votes While the Right's Sarkozy Obtained Not A Single Vote in Either Round

In Europe, it turns out, and particularly in France, most journalists are leftists just like in the United States.

Before France's presidential election, a poll was held in le Centre de formation des journalistes de Paris, writes Alain Frachon, with the first round showing the left and the far left out ahead, with incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy obtaining not a single vote, and with François Hollande winning the second round handily, with 100% of the votes, "à la North Korea".

A l'occasion du scrutin présidentiel, le Centre de formation des journalistes de Paris organise un vote parmi les étudiants de première année. François Hollande et Jean-Luc Mélenchon arrivent en tête du premier tour ; Nicolas Sarkozy n'obtient pas une voix. Le candidat socialiste rassemble 100 % des suffrages au deuxième tour. Un score à la nord-coréenne ! Grognards et grognons de l'UMP y voient la confirmation de ce qu'ils disent : la presse est partisane.

Alain Frachon part alors aux États-Unis pour évoquer

une grosse étude intitulée L'Elite médiatique. C'est du costaud, argumenté, documenté. Le livre [de trois politologues américains, Robert Lichter, Stanley Rothman, Linda Lichter] démontre que la plupart des journalistes aux Etats-Unis sont des électeurs du Parti démocrate. Il établit un parti pris systématiquement antirépublicain dans la couverture des grands quotidiens et des grandes chaînes de télévision. Il dénonce ce qu'il appelle "un biais journalistique presque inconscient" en faveur de la gauche, mélange de suffisance élitiste et de complexe de supériorité morale, qui, dit-il, ne reflète aucunement l'état de l'opinion.

Retour en France, où Le Monde revient sur vote au Centre de formation des journalistes de Paris :

" Les journalistes sont tous de gauche ", assure une femme. Elle en veut pour preuve le sondage réalisé dans une école de journalistes : 100 % des étudiants ont voté pour l'autre bord. " Dès le départ, ils sont hostiles ", dit-elle. On parle ensuite d'Audrey Pulvar et Arnaud Montebourg, d'Anne Sinclair et Dominique Strauss-Kahn, de François Hollande et Valérie Trierweiler, pour montrer jusqu'où vont ces affinités électives.

Voir aussi : Le Monde a-t-il contribué à la chute de Nicolas Sarkozy ?

Through the Gates of Hell On the 6th of June

(Thanks to Val)

The story of D-Day.

The Cat Can Write

This Is Not Europe

Declares The Scratching Post, expressing reasons for optimism in America. Seeing how it behaves in the face of the problems connected with a childish world view:

In Europe, they vote for socialists. In America, we vote to put an end to the destructive, omnivorous greed of the public employee union parasites.

Many Men Are Here to Stay…

The story of D-Day.





Plus: Rare color photos by LIFE magazine’s Frank Scherschel.




Related: Classic photos from World War II…

This is What Economic Hypothermia Looks Like

For example, public utilities not paying bills to their suppliers.

Greece’s Public Gas Corporation has asked power regulator RAE to take measures to protect the country’s electricity network, suggesting it may cut supplies to private electricity producers, which owe it €300m, Greek daily Ekathimerini reports. At least €100m must be paid to Turkey’s Botas and Russia’s Gazprom before 22 June.

Purges and Harassing Kulaks to Follow

Greek leftist vows to cancel bail-out, renationalise economy

It looks it’s playtime in the Comintern revival sandbox, kids.

Greek leftist leader Alexis Tsipras on Friday (1 June) unveiled his economic programme if he is elected later this month, pledging to cancel the EU-sponsored bail-out and renationalise banks and companies.

Surreal repetition aside,

economists say his plans are unfeasible and mere electoral posturing.

In which case new economists will be found. Or rather, you can call them “economists”.

To the extent possible, all goods and services should be provided free of charge to all. Goods available in abundance should be available without limit; those in short supply should be rationed.

and there will always be the same amount of them too, I bet... To pile more onto the heap of things that I can objectively tell you were untrue in any collectivized economy, he continues:

Economists' arguments in favor of property actually "only prove that man really produces most when he works in freedom..."
Kropotkin argued that, far from shirking work when they do not receive a wage, when people work cooperatively for the good of all they achieve feats of productivity never realizable through economic or state coercion.

All of which is untrue. All they had to motivate workers was coercion, otherwise finding a way to turn your work into a way into a black market trade would be the only other reason to show up, sober or not.

The sad thing is that despite history and first-hand accounts from living people to the contrary, there are people who actually believe the assertions like Peter Kropotkin's blatherings from pre-Soviet Russian communism. In the U.S., they either called themselves “Occupy Movement”, or call themselves the Progressive branch of the Democratic Party. They are just about the same everywhere in the world, and they have a penchant for whatever personal violence will satisfy their egos.

But back to Tsipras:

Yet despite the appeal a young politician vowing to take on "rotten, corrupt and discredited elites" may have with the electorate, his economic plans raised eyebrows among experts, as a cancellation of the bail-out would de facto leave Greece with no money and force it to exit the euro.

This despite his saying that “there is no way back to the Drachma.” He’s right on that one.

There is no way back to the Drachma. They have insufficent reserves to back it up with.

Trouble in the Mountain Hideout

Capital flight has made Switzerland rich, but now it threatens the real economy.

Even the shrewdest parasites such as the Swiss can’t live off of a dead host for very long.

In August, the SNB had instituted a floor of CHF 1.20 to the EUR and had sworn up and down to defend it by printing unlimited amounts of francs to acquire unlimited amounts of euros, a potential fiasco if the euro were to collapse. Jordan swore once again that the SNB would maintain the minimum exchange rate and that interest rates would “remain at zero for the time being.”

“But there’s a housing bubble,” he said. And and a dangerous conundrum: "In considering the threats facing Switzerland, we concluded that the focus must remain on the minimum exchange rate. As a consequence, interest rates are at zero, and so we have enormously expansionary conditions."

Panic now, while there’s still time, but don’t forget your coocoo clock.