Screw the globophobes!	Globophobes, allez vous faire mettre!
Another one just opened.	Encore un qui vient de s'ouvrir.

Pali Psycho Death Cult©®™ and willing henchman	Le Culte Psychotique de la Mort palestinien©®™ et ses tristes sbires
The brat wasn't shot, there was no massacre in Jenin, Kill faster, Total war.	On n'a pas tiré sur le sale gosse, il n'y a pas eu de massacre à Jénine, Tuer plus vite. Guerre totale.

Axis of Evil Countries (and Prospective Members) in the News

A rather objective column on Iran's nuclear capabilities, by Ran Halevi, can be found in the newspaper of reference.

Wanting to explore "a myth", the English National Opera seems to be preparing a Springtime for Kaddhafi, RV informs us, while directing us towards Syria which, besides attempting to sign an arms deal for Russia's SA-18, may soon be, according to GPF, the target of an American air strike.

Referring to the escalating attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq by Iraqi insurgents, [a former senior U.S. intelligence official told United Press International that] "Syria is complicit in the (anti-U.S.) insurgency up to its eyeballs."

"Syria is the No. 1 crossing point" for guerrillas entering Iraq," Gary Gambill, editor of the Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, said. He added that Damascus "does nothing about it." An administration official said Syria has "camps in which Syrians are training Iraqis for the insurgency and others where Iraqis are training Syrians for the same purpose" which could be hit by U.S. air strikes.

… Recently, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said that senior Baath Party officials from Iraq are operating from Syria where they provide financing and direction to the cells of Iraqi insurgents killing Americans …

U.S. officials told United Press International that money, direction, weapons and personnel are flowing into Iraq from Syria, ending up in Iraqi cities such as Iskanderiya, Baqouba, Latafiya and Fallujah.

… In addition to Syria being used as a rear area for insurgents, it is a key center of finance for former Saddam Hussein officials who are leading the insurgency, thanks to stashes of Iraqi cash that could run as high as $3 billion, which is all in the Syrian banking system, according for former and serving administration officials. There are also allegedly "many millions of dollars" from Palestinian groups flowing into Syria that are also being used to help finance anti-American guerrilla groups in Iraq, these sources said.

And how about doing an Iraqi Freedom, swooping in, and getting rid of the entire régime, once and for all? Indeed, couldn't that have been done in April or May 2003, and in less than the three weeks it took to topple Saddam? (Wishful thinking…)

Waiting for the weekend while playing with their navel ring	Toujours attendre les prochaines RTT en se tripotant le piercing au nombril
Zeropa thinks that it is 'reality based'. Better check the definition.	La Zéropa est convaincue d'occuper un espace 'à base de réalité'. L'heure est venue de vérifier la définition.
Sorry, the DNA taken from the hair of your left eyebrow doesn't match the DNA from your right foot toenail.

Message to the stinking French	Message aux franchouilles pestilentiels
Fuck you all.	Allez vous faire foutre tous.

Two Government Insiders Cast a Devastating Eye on the World of French Politics

Casting a devastating eye on the world of French politics, two former ministers have authored books about their experience in the halls of power, at times comparing that world unfavorably with its equivalents in Britain and the United States.

Speaking to Nicolas Weill, Luc Ferry denounces the archaism of the political establishment, the lack of courage of the MPs, and their "almost obsessional" attachment to the media.

The former education minister charges that

the president of the republic probably prefers to have by his side professional politicians who owe him something rather than lay people who owe him nothing. The latter … have nothing to lose or, at least, much less than those for whom politics has become the profession.

For Francis Mer, politics has become a "trade for life", and in spite (or because) of that, the world of French politics is lacking in "professionalism"; specifically, it is lacking in that

"breath" that exists between the public and the private sectors, notably in the United States.

Saying that he calls himself a champion of the "free market, albeit not an extremist", the former economics minister calls on his colleagues to follow the example of the English, "who manage their administrations like a private enterprise", instead of the Omertà that exists in France.

The response to the two men's criticism (as noted by Jean-Baptiste de Montvalon) is not always reassuring — listen to this description of a calling (politician/member of parliament) that its supposed to be that of someone who serves the people:

This job can't be improvised. It's a specialty which has its own language, its own code of conduct, its own culture, and its own mores.

As Iraq's President Visits France, Chirac Tones Down His Voice

The International Herald Tribune's Katrin Bennhold claims that Jacques Chirac is tempering France's criticism of U.S. policy.

While both Chirac and his foreign minister, Michel Barnier, have firmly denied any change in France's policy on Iraq, they appear to have softened their language on some of the main areas of controversy with the United States in Iraq.

Only a few months ago, French officials would still call for "an end to the occupation" and demand a concrete date for the withdrawal of coalition forces in Iraq. Thursday this demand was muted.

Of course, this is all realpolitik. Everything France does and says (or, conversely, doesn't do and say) is presented as being proof of superior wisdom, tolerance, capacity for reasoning, love of justice, avant-garde vision, etc: that is the message when Paris vigorously opposes Uncle Sam abroad and… that is the message when Paris tones down its voice to adopt "a new balancing act".

So far, it doesn't seem to be working…

[During the visit of Iraq's interim president Ghazi al-Yawar, Paris stressed] that it is ready to plan for a long-term cooperation with Bagdhad on issues ranging from education and health to archeology. French officials are also quick to stress that France is ready to pull its weight in the reconstruction of Iraq, pointing notably to its agreement to scrap €4 billion, or $5.2 billion, of debt owed to it by Baghdad.

But so far French goodwill has not won that much tangible appreciation.

While Germany has trained some 1,200 Iraqi police officers in the United Arab Emirates since March, a French proposal made in July for a similar effort has so far been ignored by Iraq.

"We explicitly renewed the proposal today, but there was no reaction," said one of Chirac's aides, who declined to be identified, after Thursday's talks.

Update: Following the historic Iraq election, President Ghazi al-Yawer derides one of the central tenets of French foreign policy as "complete nonsense"…

When Le Monde Teaches You More About WMD Than America's MSM, Something Has Gone Seriously Wrong…

Although it is written by Eric Leser (who invariably ends his piece with a broadside on America), the Le Monde article that accompanies Serguei's cartoon on the end of the search for WMD actually gives more "mitigating circumstances" and all-inclusive information than I have read in the American mainstream media…

The decision to bring the searches to a halt is linked to the risks run in Iraq and to the absence of any new information on potential non conventional arsenals. On December 10, 2004, [Charles] Duelfer was attacked near Bagdad during a routine mission, and two bodyguards were killed.

… Every suspect site in Iraq was the object of thorough searches. Most of them had already been pillaged and emptied of all their equipment. …

[What Saddam Hussein was hiding for the most part] was the technical means to allow him to resume the production of weapons of mass destruction after the lifting of the UN's sanctions. …

In the meantime, RV directs us to NewsMax (No WMDs? Tons of Uranium, Sarin Gas, Buried MiGs):

[Instead of throwing in the towel,] Bush would do better to explain to the American people just what U.S. forces did find in their search for banned weapons in Iraq — starting with, for instance, the 1.8 tons of partially enriched uranium Saddam had s[t]ocked away.

…And if Bush needs more ammunition to refute [top House Dem Nancy] Pelosi, he could cite the discovery of Sarin gas-filled artillery shells.

…And if the White House wants some dramatic imagery to show how easy it was for Saddam to hide banned weapons, how about those photos of the 30 Iraqi jet fighters that weapons searchers found buried in the sand near Baghdad.

…No weapons of mass destruction? President Bush needs to spend more time examining the evidence and less time working through his mea culpas with Barbara Walters.

The WMDs in Iraq are called 'French journalists'	Les ADM en Irak s'appellent 'journalistes franchouilles'
That French fine whine.	Ça n'arrête pas de gémir.
I was wrong, there are no WMDs in Iraq.

and Koffee Hard-On is the pimp	avec Kafé Hardeur comme mac
The UN: the best financed whorehouse in the world.	L'ONUzi: le bordel le mieux financé de la planète.

Sounds funny to me	Ça me fait marrer, moi
... and may the streets will flow with the blood of non-believers.	... que les caniveaux ruissellent du sang des infidels.

Bad apple	Le vers est dans le fruit
Apple attacks bloggers. Not surprising that it makes the computers of choice for brown shirt panty-waists.	Apple s'attaque aux bloggeurs. Pas étonnant que cette boîte fabrique les ordis préférés des pédaloïdes chemises brunes.

Hailed by the French for Defying Bush, Iraq's President Calls Members of the "Resistance" What They Really Are

While their contempt for Prime Minister Iyad Allawi knows no bounds, the French love Iraq's President.

And no wonder: as Patrice Claude states in his first sentence of his portrait on the "amazing" Bedouin who holds a Saudi passport, "The Americans did not want Ghazi al-Yawar."

Before telling the Sheikh's story, Claude takes the time to poke fun at the Americans and the neo-cons. He goes on to wax admiringly on the 'humanitarian' who has "defied" George W Bush, who "never shrunk from speaking his mind to the occupier" (suggesting that anybody who does not challenge the Americans — "the occupier" is taken as a given — can be nothing but a boot-licker or a poodle), and who allegedly wants the Americans to leave as soon as possible. (I always thought that Dubya was supposed to appreciate leaders who were honest and who spoke their minds.)

It is almost as an aside that Claude drops three or four lines about the Sheikh's views on the "rebels",

those forces of evil who boast no program, no idea, and who defile religion.

While Iraq's president is in France for a visit, Jacques Chirac and Michel Barnier are trying to get their country to improve relations with both Iraq and Washington, writes Claire Tréan in one of those articles in which the independent newspaper does little else but rehash French government press releases and spell out the world situation as seen from the Quai d'Orsay (with itself as the incarnation of wisdom and reason).

Expressing the "sadness of the Iraqi people and government regarding the kidnapping of that innocent journalist" (Florence Aubenas), Ghazi al-Yawar made another pointed remark whose (not so) subtle message it is not at all certain was understood by French leaders and media entranced by an Iraqi official who "defies" the Americans:

That makes but one more manifestation of blind terrorism which makes no distinction between human beings, religions, gender, or nationality.

Yes, that's right. The man lionized by Patrice Claude — a representative of an élite hailing the "resistance" to an "illegal occupation" — called the members of said resistance terrorists, and terrorists for whom the victims' nationality makes no difference.

Update: Following the historic Iraq election, President Ghazi al-Yawer derides one of the central tenets of French foreign policy as "complete nonsense"…

Plane Ticket for Malbrunot

Anybody want to start a fund to pool money for buying Georges Malbrunot a plane ticket?

(Merci à RV)

America Is Such a Dangerous Place…

…a country without law and order and full of gangsters and murder and mayhem…

Europe is much safer… and here you have authorities you can trust!

(Where was it the Dutch MP was possibly flown to for her safety?…)

America Is Such an Arrogant and Unjust Place…

…a country that refuses to abide by international standards and that ignores the world's wish for an international court with integrity, equality, impartiality, and justice for all…

America Is Such an Awful Polluter…

…a country which arrogantly mocks international rules of the environment…

Europe is much more green-friendly… just listen to France give her lessons…

(Merci à RV et SGVN)

America Is Such a Prudish Place…

…a country filled with retrograde puritan views on sexuality and such…

Europe has a much healthier attitude to such trivial matters…

Elmer Davis on Applause, Boos, and Hisses

Today is the birthday of Elmer Davis, the US newspaperman, radio commentator, and author (1890-1958) who said that

 Applause, mingled with boos and hisses, is about all that the average voter is able or willing to contribute to public life.

One of the things that is wrong with America is that everybody who has done anything at all in his own field is expected to be an authority on every subject under the sun.

The first and great commandment is, Don't let them scare you.

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.

This nation was conceived in liberty and dedicated to the principle — among others — that honest men may honestly disagree; that if they all say what they think, a majority of the people will be able to distinguish truth from error.

This republic was not established by cowards; and cowards will not preserve it.

Shock and awe	Secousses et effroi
After a resounding success in round 1, let's move on to round 2. Authors previously published or not: New Paris publisher starting activity in July 2005 is looking for manuscripts from daring French language authors. Contact publisher at nouvelediteur@hotmail.fr. Leftist humanist poets need not apply.	Suite à un succès retentissant lors de la 1ère étape, nous passons à la 2ème. Ecrivains débutants ou confirmés: Nouvel éditeur parisien qui démarrera son activité au mois de juillet 2005 recherche des manuscrits inédits de la part d'écrivains qui osent. Contactez l'éditeur à nouvelediteur@hotmail.fr. Poètes humanistes de gôche s'abstenir.