Things Which May not be said "for the Good of the Man".... Sound Familiar?

Gore explained that in order for climate change alarmists to succeed, they must “win the conversation” against those who deny there is a crisis.

Al Gore has reduced himself to the social tactics of fascism.

So to please him, some may not utter specific opinions, or otherwise be sanctioned for saying them. That's okay by Al. Those are the tactics of totalitarians.

In one respect, he's gotten it right... about apocalypse peddlers who confuse political fealty with propriety. Scientific investigation must be banned from his little world to uphold his absolutism:

“This is an organized effort to attack the reputation of the scientific community as a whole, to attack their integrity, and to slander them with the lie that they are making up the science in order to make money,” Gore said.

Planking for Ché

Here it is reaching its’ natural conclusion as he would have had it.

Good for society: Child labor, ticket scalping, price gouging, kidney selling, blackmail

We grow up learning that some things are just bad

writes John Stossel:

child labor, ticket scalping, price gouging, kidney selling, blackmail, etc. But maybe they're not.

What I love about economics is that it can show that what seems harmful is actually good for society. It illuminates what common sense overlooks.

This is all covered in the eye-opening book Defending the Undefendable by economist Walter Block. …

Nasty, Brutish, and Short

So where is this armpit of the European Union, this cancer of the continent?

Stop that! I know what you’re thinking!

Greece? The Balkans? Not exactly. Behold the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, population 503,000, a tiny freckle on the map between Belgium, France, and Germany.

Actually, I would call it a pollup. It’s one of those highly unusual places where, if you weren’t told were you were dropped in, you would have some sense you’re in northern Europe, but would be unable to establish where.

Luxembourg boasts the world's highest per capita GDP, $108,832 in 2010. But something must be wrong.

Much as no-one seems to make the strange and politically specious “affluenza” argument anymore, one wonders what they’re measuring:

The miserable Luxembourgers – who rate lower than all but one other European country on the Happy Planet Index (they're tied with war-torn Sudan!) – buy more cigarettes and alcohol and have a higher per capita carbon footprint than any other country.

Why can’t they practice self-immolation like the REAL believers in a desperate cause?

The feminist goal was never equal pay for equal work but always was for more pay for less work

The feminists are so accustomed to having their gender doctrines prevail in the courts, in the bureaucracy, in the media and in academia

writes Phyllis Schlafly,

that they can't deal with being told the truth, i.e., that their notions don't make sense and are unfair to others, especially employers, husbands and fathers. …

[The 64-page decision in a workplace class-action suit brought by the feminists' friends in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] is another example of the fact that the feminist goal was never equal pay for equal work but always was for more pay for less work.

… Mirabile dictu! The judge really shocked the feminists since they usually win when they assert fault against the so-called patriarchy without any evidence or fear of prosecution for perjury.

The trouble with many younger women is that they've been falsely taught by feminism to plan their life career in the workplace without any space or time for marriage, husband or children. They have a total lack of understanding of how demanding a new baby is, and also of the way their own attitudes can change in regard to how they really want to spend their time after a baby arrives.

When Mother Nature asserts herself and babies appear, the women who have been misled by feminist ideology expect their employers and, indeed, the rest of the world, to accommodate their change of schedule. The feminists expect their employer to assume the costs of the priorities and the interruptions that once were easily absorbed in the traditional lifestyle of husband-provider and fulltime homemaker.

However, as Judge Preska wrote, "the law does not mandate 'work-life balance.'"

… How to balance work and family is the number-one topic in women's magazines today. Article after article tries to present a plan for balance between baby and job, plus advice to help the mother feel not guilty when baby gets the short end of the stick.

However, the articles sound hypocritical because for years the feminist movement has carried on a strenuous campaign to move all homemakers out of the home ("a comfortable concentration camp," in Betty Friedan's words), and into the workplace on the argument that caring for babies is not a worthy occupation for an educated woman. Feminists have even propagated the myth that expecting mothers to care for their own babies is an example of the oppression of women by the patriarchy.

Update: A person who used to work for a California law firm shares his experience in this matter:

Years (and years, and years) ago I was an associate in a big law firm in LA. Now, the way law firm finances work (this depends on the firm, and things are a lot more diverse now, but...), an associate has an associated cost: salary, benefits, of course, but also overhead, a secretary, office space, computer, phone, etc. Typically, an associate's collections (money collected from clients based on work the associate performed) are viewed as 1/3 salary, 1/3 overhead, 1/3 partner profit (meaning the associate is expected to bill and collect enough to cover those costs, though partner profit is not really a cost, it is an expectation). If you aren't working, you are not collecting, and you become a serious cost center.

During one two-year period, I had two children (admittedly, the wife did most of "bearing" work). During the same two-year period, one of my direct peers also had two children. She did the bearing work, in that case. Thus, during that two-year period, she was able to take 6 months off (four with full pay, and of course she kept her benefits, her office lay empty, her secretary still kept a job, etc. the entire six months), three months for each child. I, on the other hand, took 2.5 days off (it helped that one kid was born on a Friday, but that was the second kid so I probably would have been in the next day anyway).

Yet when we came up for partner or for bonuses or whatever, we were both to be treated equally.

Despite what you hear from the media and the Democrat party, the poor are getting richer

Despite what you hear from the media and the Democrat party, the poor are getting richer. In fact, America's poor are so rich, we should be celebrating it. Bill Whittle has the facts to back it up [merci à Carine].

And for more information, check out the excellent research from the Heritage Foundation: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2011/07/What-is-Poverty

Democrats have been running our inner-cities for the past 30 to 40 years, and blacks are still complaining about the same problems. More than $7 trillion dollars have been spent on poverty programs since Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty​ with little, if any, impact on poverty. Diabolically, every election cycle, Democrats blame Republicans for the deplorable conditions in the inner-cities, then incite blacks to cast a protest vote against Republicans
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=16500
Since 1964 we have spent $8--10 trillion on antipoverty programs.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=16860

Update — Thomas Sowell: "The poor" are the human shields behind whom advocates of ever bigger spending for ever bigger government advance toward their goal

Waaah! We’re Oppressed!

Only in firmament of the needy EUtopian leftist mind would somebody compare a 14 day suspended prison sentence as being “treated like a terrorist”.

Greenpeace Copenhagen Gatecrashers Convicted – Fret They Are Being Persecuted

Great! Take Them Back With You!

NASA has expended some of its’ waning brain power speculating on the political affiliation of aliens, or at least a rosy sci-fi imagining of who they might be.

Of course, the fact that this is also the chosen political affiliation of people who are prone to be hostile to religious faith seems entirely lost on them when said energy is expended contemplating something as spiritually relevant as “ abduction by small greys”.

It’s sad. Their leftism is showing.

"Nowhere Can Real Checks and Balances Be Found": How France Is Seen By Foreign Correspondents 3/3

" Les médias français, notamment audiovisuels, ont une attitude de respect énorme par rapport au pouvoir en place ", relève … Paulo Dentinho [correspondant de la Radio-Télévision portugaise]. " J'ai l'impression que Paris est un centre très spécial où les élites politiques, économiques et les médias se rencontrent dans un cercle fermé. Peut-être cette proximité est-elle trop grande ", note Michael Strempel [de la télévision allemande ARD].

Apart from Nicolas Sarkozy and, to a lesser degree, the Le Pen politicians, foreigners have little interest in French persons and subjects, writes Jean-Baptiste de Montvalon in the final part of a Le Monde series on how France is seen by foreign correspondents based in Paris.

Dans la majorité, tout converge vers Nicolas Sarkozy : affaire de style, mais aussi de système institutionnel. Côté style, la recette qui a fonctionné ici a connu ailleurs le même succès. " Les deux premières années de son mandat ont été formidables pour l'image, note l'Italien Alberto Romagnoli (RAI). Du vrai théâtre : Sarkozy divorce, Sarkozy parle avec des ouvriers, Sarkozy épouse une Italienne... " " Sarkozy ? Ah oui, ça, c'est un personnage ! s'exclame Pierre Marlet (RTBF). Quand on le met en titre, on est sûr d'être consulté sur Internet. "

Evoquant " une certaine curiosité " par rapport à " quelqu'un qui sort du comportement normal des anciens présidents de la République ", Paulo Dentinho juge que la présence à ses côtés de Carla Bruni, cette " beauté féminine au parcours un peu exotique ", compte désormais pour beaucoup. " Sans elle, il ne serait pas très intéressant pour le public international ", estime-t-il.

But this people-based journalism is not only the doings of irresponsible foreigners interested only in artifice. The lack of interest in other subjects derives naturally from the France's monarchical presidency.

" NULLE PART UN CONTRE-POUVOIR "

Pragmatiques, les correspondants étrangers basés à Paris se sont ainsi adaptés à la présidentialisation du régime, tout en étant plutôt circonspects sur sa nature, qui reste un sujet de curiosité. " Il est intéressant d'observer un tel pouvoir du président, une personnalité qui domine à ce point dans une démocratie ", note Michael Strempel, qui rappelle qu'en Allemagne, " la politique, c'est le compromis éternel ". La comparaison produit chez lui un sentiment ambivalent.

Un ton en dessous de Jim Bittermann, qui estime que le système institutionnel français est " beaucoup plus efficace " qu'aux Etats-Unis, Michael Strempel concède une " relative admiration dans certaines circonstances ", lorsque la France prend des décisions de manière " plus rapide et plus claire " que l'Allemagne. La présidence française de l'Union européenne (du 1er juillet au 31 décembre 2008) est là encore citée en exemple. Pour autant, le correspondant allemand juge " un peu étrange " le " manque de contrôle du pouvoir " dans notre pays. " Personnellement, je trouve que les pouvoirs du président sont exagérés. C'est un peu trop pour une démocratie ", conclut-il.

" On ne trouve nulle part un contre-pouvoir valable ", constate lui aussi Joav Toker, évoquant notamment " la faiblesse du Palais-Bourbon ", siège de l'Assemblée nationale. Pour le correspondant israélien, cette toile de fond pèse sur les médias, qui sont " seuls au front, face à un homme et sa cour ". Résultat, même si des progrès ont été accomplis depuis vingt ans, " la capacité et la volonté critique de la presse française à l'égard du pouvoir restent en retard par rapport à la pratique dans les autres pays démocratiques. " " C'est un problème organique, une question d'ADN ", ajoute Joav Toker.

" Les médias français, notamment audiovisuels, ont une attitude de respect énorme par rapport au pouvoir en place ", relève également Paulo Dentinho. " J'ai l'impression que Paris est un centre très spécial où les élites politiques, économiques et les médias se rencontrent dans un cercle fermé. Peut-être cette proximité est-elle trop grande ", note Michael Strempel.

Jean-Philippe Schaller, de la télévision suisse romande, a observé lui aussi ce " côté connivent " du journalisme politique à la française, ainsi que son corollaire, " le risque d'être plus indulgent ". Il en a fait l'expérience en couvrant un voyage de Nicolas Sarkozy dans l'Orne, en septembre 2009. Alerté par des syndicalistes qu'il avait interrogés pour préparer ce déplacement, il obtient confirmation que les salariés présents sur l'estrade aux côtés du chef de l'Etat ont été sélectionnés en raison de leur petite taille. Diffusé sur la TSR puis sur la RTBF, le sujet fait le tour du Web avant d'être repris par les télévisions françaises.

" Les correspondants étrangers ne subissent pas la même pression, reconnaît Jean-Philippe Schaller. On peut se permettre une certaine insolence, une prise de distance. Ici, on sent que la presse se bride un peu, pratique l'autocensure. Certains journalistes français m'ont dit : "Vous, vous pouvez faire ce qu'on ne peut pas faire." "

Where do I get the Feeling...

That men of a politically minded persuasion will want to get a blowjob in front of this sign.

"Mes compatriotes ont été très choqués; Ils découvrent une France dure, et c'est nouveau pour eux": How France Is Seen by Foreign Correspondents 2/3

Le Brésilien Franz Vacek [correspondant depuis trois ans et demi à Paris de Rede TV, grande chaîne de télévision brésilienne] : " Entre les expulsions de Roms, les trains d'immigrés tunisiens bloqués à la frontière franco-italienne et les campements de Calais, mes compatriotes ont été très choqués. Ils découvrent une France dure, et c'est totalement nouveau pour eux. "

Cette rudesse a aussi surpris les auditeurs allemands : "Chez nous, on aime le compromis. La rapidité d'intervention des autorités françaises contre les Roms a choqué, témoigne Anne-Christine Heckmann [correspondante à Paris pour plusieurs stations de radios publiques regroupées au sein de l'ARD]. Cette image négative est contrebalancée par l'activisme diplomatique de Sarkozy. Les Allemands se disent que tactiquement, c'est bien de prendre des initiatives sur la scène internationale et ils admirent cette stratégie."

In the second article in a series of three of how France is seen abroad, written by Alain Constant and illustrated by Patrick Chappatte, treats foreign viewpoints of France's foreign policy.

Le poids du passé colonial de la France est aussi présent dans les sujets envoyés par l'Américaine Eleanor Beardsley, correspondante à Paris de NPR (National Public Radio). " J'ai fait des sujets sur les pieds-noirs, sur les soldats musulmans qui se sont battus pour la France et ont ensuite été rejetés. Cela intéresse les Américains, qui ont de la France l'image d'un pays très antimusulman. J'ai également beaucoup traité du volontarisme de Sarkozy sur le front libyen. Aux Etats-Unis, les gens sont étonnés de cette réalité car ils gardent en tête l'image d'une France refusant de combattre en Irak et rechignant à faire la guerre. Je rappelle régulièrement dans mes papiers que la France est engagée aux côtés des soldats américains en Afghanistan ", souligne la journaliste qui, entre autres sujets ayant trait à l'action militaire française, est allée sur la base aérienne de Solenzara (Corse-du-Sud) rencontrer des pilotes de combat français.

… La France et les Roms, un sujet qui n'intéresse pas que l'axe Paris-Bucarest : " Les actions de la police française contre les Roms ont fait beaucoup de bruit au Mexique. Lors d'un sujet, j'ai interviewé des Roms qui m'ont dit avec un certain humour : Sarko nous déteste parce qu'il est hongrois ! ", raconte Kasia Wyderko. Même intérêt chez les Chiliens, si l'on en croit le témoignage de Paola Martinez Infante, correspondante de la radio indépendante Bio Bio : " Mes compatriotes ont été très étonnés d'apprendre comment la France traitait les Roms. Le décalage entre l'image du pays des droits de l'homme et les expulsions a choqué. Mais le Chili, où vivent beaucoup de "gitanos", n'est pas épargné par le racisme. Là-bas, ce sont les Boliviens et les Péruviens qui en sont victimes."

Where’s my Insane-O-Meter?

Firmly planted in this donkey’s sphincter:

A state lawmaker is explaining his remark that suggests the impact of Pennsylvania's booming natural gas industry includes the spread of sexually transmitted disease "amongst the womenfolk."

Democratic Rep. Michael Sturla of Lancaster County was expected to discuss the remark at a previously scheduled hearing Wednesday on gas drilling.

To wit, the CYA was unleashed on the gift that keeps on giving:

However, Sturla was apparently citing testimony by Troy Community Hospital from May that says among its experiences with the influx of drilling crews is an increase in sexually transmitted diseases.

”Drilling crews” Huh. Huh-huh.

Right. That makes about as much sense as attributing it to something like this:

The Latino population in Lancaster County has grown by 68 percent in the last 10 years, the fifth-largest gain in Latinos statewide.

In the city of Lancaster, nearly two out of every five city residents identify their ethnicity to Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba and other Latin American countries.

By Sturla’s “concurrence” reasoning, one could even blame the “womenfolk’s” contagious affliction on virtually anything.

Cliché-opolis

Guides try their best to recreate the odd world behind the Wall. "Safari" guests are subjected to traffic checks by men dressed as officers of the former East German police force. A now they are also forced to exchange their euros for East German marks, which they can spend on such classic Socialist fare such as "Solyanka," a Russian soup, or an Eastern European version of ragoût fin.

But are businesses like this trivializing East German history?

No, they are trivializing East Germans, and trivializing their accomplishments. Worst still, the Soljanka he’s talking about is hard to find and awful. Newsflash, Wessie exploiter: ketchup is not Tomatenmark.

That aside, Frank Hornig’s article in Spiegel’s online English edition has provoked me to think about the eternal vacuity that seems to accompany the Art School black “fake seriousness” in Berliners’ discussion of Berlin’s history.

Thus the Wall, which the East Germans had officially dubbed an anti-fascist protective barrier, finally became a wall in people's minds, an imaginary place that various players from the federal and state governments now seek to occupy. Some prefer to emphasize the victory of freedom and the market economy, while others would rather draw attention to the policy of détente and the East German civil rights movement.

With all of their usual self-absorption and “unseriousness”, how could a trivialized history of the Berlin wall become that “wall in the mind?”

The context he’s now using the stale term seems to be limited to the mind merely capturing images of it, if not a few memories of it.

At least he isn’t pretending to play pop psychologist, as one would find almost universal to the usual dragging out of the “wall of the mind” phrase.

It’s Never Blood for Oil when EUvians do it, Silly!

EU oil companies get set to return to Libya This includes a curious redefinition of the word “goodwill”:

EU oil firms are preparing to return to Libya amid good will generated by Nato support. The military alliance has also carried out "prudent planning" for a potential peacekeeping mission.

ONE hit. Yes, only ONE, and it’s also lampooning
the “No Blood for OOOOOOOil!!!!” crowd.

"150,000 Americans less! Excellent!": Le Monde Remembers 9/11

"Tu regardes la télé ?
— Euh, non.
— Tu devrais."

In another summer series, Le Monde has asked for remembrances from a dozen people, from writers André Aciman (translated by Myriam Dennehy) and Jorge G. Castañeda (whose main regret is not the thousands of dead but "La panique sécuritaire, l'hyperbole militariste et le climat d'hystérie qui s'empareraient inévitablement des Etats-Unis [et qui] auraient des conséquences désastreuses pour le monde entier" — also translated by Myriam Dennehy), to photographer Susan Meiselas, viaTom Roger, whose daughter Jean, 24, was a flight attendant on the first plane to smash into the North Tower.

"There is a huge smoke on your left" ("Il y a une immense fumée sur votre gauche"). Je suis alors sorti de ma demi-somnolence, j'ai regardé par le hublot et, effectivement, j'ai vu un gros nuage gris-blanc au-dessus de Manhattan.

Juste après, l'avion s'est cabré, avant d'accélérer comme jamais un avion de ligne ne le fait d'habitude. Puis nous avons atterri à l'aéroport Logan de Boston, d'où nous avons été éjectés dans la précipitation la plus totale. (Pierre Moscovici)

But mostly, there are Frenchmen: Patrice Jarreau, who had recently become Le Monde's America correspondent; Radio France's Jean-Luc Hees (who says he was brought out of the mourning for 9-11 by the election of Barack Obama); Jean-David Lafitte, who was serving as France's ambassador to the United States; Pierre Moscovici, who was on a plane close to Manhattan; Denis Kessler, an insurer who was in Monte Carlo (Une journaliste me tend un micro en me demandant : "De combien les primes d'assurance automobile et habitation vont-elles augmenter en France, à la suite de ces attentats ?"); the actor François-Xavier Demaison; and of course Jules Naudet, who was filming a documentary on New York's firefighters with his brother Gédéon and whose footage became some of the most vivid documents of the era.

But the most repelling memories come from the writer Charles Dantzig:

As I was leaving my home, shortly before 6 pm [Paris time], I overheard two shopkeepers talking on their doorstep, "Attacks in New York ... tens of thousands of deaths ..."

What was amazing was the immediate insolence of the fanaticism. We saw images of East Jerusalem and Nablus where crowds were shouting for joy. The report was quickly removed, to avoid giving ideas to ticklish Islamists, or to otherwise avoid giving in to their sensitivities, some people having the right to call for the annihilation of others while decrying the persecution if they are asked not to put their elbows on the table. A great stupidity was spoken by the composer Karlheinz Stockhausen when he called the attacks "the greatest work of art ever created." A German should use his brains more before mixing aesthetics with destruction (Stockhausen later denied speaking the words).

La Revue des deux mondes offered a cocktail of reactions. A far-right journalist who fantasizes he is of the left because he opposes the "plutocracy" etc, was crossing the boulevard Saint-Germain: "150,000 Americans less! What excellent news!" At the Revue, rue de Lille, where cocktails had been canceled out of decency, a left-wing sociologist sputtered: "When Hanoi was being bombed, we didn't pause!" In times of crisis, evil speaks faster than good does. The good and the decent are dumbfounded. They have nothing to do but feel sorry. Evil, hitherto sleepy, goes on the attack without a warm-up period. The swiftness of evil as soon as it feels a weakness is incredible.

Interpretative stupidity arrives next. In the aftermath of malicious joy, conspiracy theories and other certainties allows one to believe oneself to be both intelligent and swindled, this second reaction being the delicious fantasy-filled proof of the first one.

Comme je sortais de chez moi, peu avant 18 heures, deux commerçants parlaient sur le pas de leur porte : "Des attentats à New York... des dizaines de milliers de morts..."

…Le stupéfiant a été l'immédiate insolence du fanatisme. On montrait des images de Jérusalem-Est et de Naplouse où des foules hurlaient de joie. Le reportage a vite été supprimé, pour éviter de donner des idées aux islamistes chatouilleux, ou au contraire céder à leur susceptibilité, certains ayant le droit d'appeler à l'anéantissement d'autrui tout en criant à la persécution si on les prie de ne pas mettre les coudes sur la table. Une belle sottise a été dite par le musicien Karlheinz Stockhausen qualifiant les attentats de "plus grande oeuvre d'art jamais réalisée". Un Allemand devrait réfléchir avant de faire de l'esthétisme avec la destruction — Stockhausen a ensuite nié l'avoir dit.

La Revue des deux mondes donnait un cocktail de rentrée. Un journaliste d'extrême droite qui se fantasme de gauche parce qu'il est contre la "ploutocratie", etc., passait sur le boulevard Saint-Germain : "150 000 Américains de moins ! Excellent !" A la revue, rue de Lille, où le verre avait été annulé, par décence, un sociologue d'extrême gauche tempêtait : "Quand on bombardait Hanoï, on n'arrêtait rien !" Dans les moments de crise, le mal parle plus vite que le bien. Le bien et le décent sont sidérés. Ils n'ont rien à faire que s'apitoyer. Le mal, jusque-là somnolent, passe à l'attaque sans progression. La prestesse du mal dès qu'il sent une faiblesse est inouïe.

La sottise interprétative arrive en second. Après la joie mauvaise, les théories du complot et autres certitudes permettant de se croire intelligent et floué, ce second est la preuve fantasmatiquement délicieuse du premier.

"Paris fait toujours rêver": How France Is Seen by Foreign Correspondents 1/3

« C'est vrai, nous envoyons des cartes postales, soupire Alberto Romagnoli, de la RAI. Avec la baguette de pain ou Carla Bruni, pas besoin de rappeler le contexte. »

Martine Valo has a piece in Le Monde (illustrated by Mix & Remix), which starts a mini-series of three articles about how France is seen by foreign correspondents based in Paris.

David Picazo annonce, réjoui, son projet du moment : une traversée touristique de la capitale pour les dix ans du film Amélie Poulain. En Espagne, ça va plaire. …

« La cuisine, la mode, le tourisme marchent toujours auprès des Américains. J'ai eu pas mal de retour sur les truffes, les huîtres, le Tour de France », témoigne pour sa part Eleanor Beardley de la NPR (National Public Radio). « En Allemagne, Paris fait toujours rêver, assure Anne-Christine Heckmann, de l'ARD (la radio publique allemande). J'envoie beaucoup de sujets sur l'art de vivre, la culture, les vacances. Je pourrais en vendre un par jour sur les fromages, les endroits insolites à Paris. » L'exotisme étant une donnée relative, vu du Brésil, du Mexique ou du Chili, le Vélib' — une véritable vedette — et Paris Plages le disputent désormais au champagne. Le strip-tease reste une valeur sûre. Quant aux Bleus et à leur « bus de la honte », comme dit Kasia Wyderko, de Televisa Mexico, ils ont fait un carton universel lors de la dernière Coupe du monde de football en Afrique du Sud. …

TÉNOR ITALIEN ET ACADÉMICIEN BELGE

Seidik Abba suit l'agenda du Quai d'Orsay. Mais, curieusement, lorsqu'au ministère de l'intérieur on parle de l'immigration subsaharienne, on oublie de l'inviter. Cela ne risque pas d'arriver avec les chefs d'Etat africains en déplacement. Le travail de tout correspondant est en effet rythmé par la venue de ses compatriotes célèbres : joueur de tennis espagnol, ténor italien, écrivain belge qui entre à l'Académie française, entrepreneurs de poids et pléthore de personnages poli-tiques qui aiment se mirer aux JT du soir, filmés dans quelque prestigieux décor parisien.

… Quant à Dominique Strauss-Kahn, il a donné lieu à d'innombrables interventions, a fait la « une » pendant trois semaines des JT belges, un sujet magazine d'une heure à la télévision espagnole... « En Italie, cette histoire a beaucoup plu. L'argent, le pouvoir, le sexe, l'Amérique, il y avait tout », glisse Alberto Romagnoli.

…Au bout de quatre ou cinq ans, un correspondant est prié d'aller voir ailleurs, souligne David Picazo, sinon il risque d'adopter la vision des autochtones.

Sarkozy Attacked for 'Sacrilegious' Plan to Build Over 100 Wind Turbines Off Normandy's D-Day Beaches

Nicolas Sarkozy has come in for heavy criticism after approving plans for a large wind farm complex off the D-Day coast where Allied troops launched their World War Two assault in 1944

reports the Daily Mail (merci à Carine à New York).

The French President was accused of a 'grave attack on the collective memory' of Allied forces after giving the go-ahead for the plans on the Calvados coast near the Normandy landing beaches.

The proposed project will see more than 100 turbines more than 525ft high erected just seven miles from the beaches, synonymous with the D-Day landings.

Mr Sarkozy's decision to open the bidding process on the €20 billion (£17.5 billion) project has been branded 'sacrilegious' by critics, including British veterans' families.

Blight: How the view from the beachhead at Normandy might look if the plan for an offshore wind farm goes ahead

It was claimed the windmills' flashing lights would ruin poignant night remembrances on Juno and Omaha beaches by giving off a 'disco' effect.

Juno was the target of 3rd Canadian Infantry Division supported by British Royal Marine Commandos.

It is less than 20 miles from the coastline codenamed Omaha Beach in 1944, where U.S. forces suffered more than 2,000 casualties during the operation.

1886 Liberal-Type Judgment Moderated by Common Sense

It is a bad thing to judge by appearances

wrote Inspector Thomas F Byrnes in his 1886 book Professional Criminals of America,

but it it not always safe to judge against them.

Plantu's Fetish...

...Appears to be doing fat chicks:



"Carla" figure: ..."Who is this woman?"
Sarko: "I'm doing her for Europe!"

Politeness Compared in Countries Around the World

In one of innumerable summer series, short and long, to keep readers interested in the daily during the July and August months, Le Monde presents a series on politeness around the world, from Thailand, Japan, and South Korea to Israel, Russia, and Italy via Columbia, California, and the East Coast. (The Alain Salles article about Greece is perhaps the most interesting, in view of Athens' recent economic meltdown and the country's debt…)

Syria's European Flunkies

Come from the "humanist, intellectual left" like this flunky, a former East German VoPo "criminal investigator" (and Honecker's answer to The Karate Kid) who was loved by the chillingly misnamed "VoltaireNet." Let's revisit the Baghdad Bob-esque Jürgen Cain Külbel when the Syrian regime he was covering for is making its' perfectly normal behavior known more broadly to the world. Don't mind their hysterical tone. That's normal for them to see the world as one big potential beer hall putsch, that is, when they imagine Voltaire would be shilling for autocrats and advocating mandatory mindfucks for any real free-thinkers who might slip out of their grasp on their way to adulthood.

Got Issues? Need to Induce Vomiting?

Then here are some poorly drafted vaguely homoerotic paintings of Obama Naked with Unicorns, not to mention saving ugly Betty's self-respect from that cruel, vane world out there. Note how he's walking his fantasy steed on the Canadian side of the border.

Hated it!

Asked Whether He Might Think of Himself as American or as Partly American, George Soros Answers Proudly and Defiantly: "I Am European!"

Vous êtes né à Budapest mais vivez aux Etats-Unis. Vous sentez-vous européen ?

Je suis européen !

In an exclusive interview with Cécile de Corbière and Claire Gatinois, George Soros admits — or he doesn't admit, he states proudly, he states defiantly — that although the Budapest-born Hungarian has lived for years, for decades, in the United States — he has been in America for over half a century (!) and is a naturalized citizen — his identity is fully and exclusively European.

Insofar that George Soros has any love for America, therefore, it seems like it is only, like Barack Obama's, to transform it "fundamentally" into a European-style welfare state.

Otherwise, the main focus of the interview is the weak state of the Euro, and the fact that this puts the EU in danger, along with George Soros's dissing of the Germans for their demanding balanced budgets from all member states of the EU and his dissing of the ("simple-solution"-demanding) American people for opposing more state "stimuli" and other types of intervention.

Faut-il autoriser des pays à sortir de la zone euro ?

Oui. L'euro peut survivre à la sortie de pays comme la Grèce ou le Portugal, de taille modeste. Mais l'Union éclaterait si c'était le cas de l'Italie ou de l'Espagne. Il faut donc distinguer les petits pays des grands. Mais même si un petit pays comme la Grèce abandonnait l'euro, cela provoquerait un chaos, l'effondrement de son système bancaire. Autoriser un pays à quitter la zone euro réclame donc une préparation minutieuse. Il faut s'assurer que les prêteurs ne sont pas spoliés, garantir les dépôts des épargnants et faire en sorte que les banques restent debout. Tout cela doit être écrit noir sur blanc.

… Si vous ne pouvez augmenter le déficit, alors vous êtes piégés.

Que faire ?

En Grèce comme en Espagne, il faut mettre en place des réformes structurelles ; rendre plus flexible le marché du travail et gagner en compétitivité. Mais la demande intérieure doit aussi être stimulée. Il faut établir des règles qui autorisent les pays dont le chômage est élevé à rester déficitaire. Le problème est que l'Allemagne a des idées fausses à ce sujet. Elle aimerait que tous les pays aient des budgets à l'équilibre.

Les Etats-Unis aussi ont un problème de dette et de croissance…

Le problème est d'ordre politique. Il faut mettre en place des stimuli pour accroître la productivité et redémarrer la machine. Mais les pressions politiques contre une hausse des dépenses publiques empêchent ce type de mesures. Dès lors la Réserve fédérale américaine (Fed) peut être le recours. La banque centrale peut déployer un nouveau "QE3", pour injecter plus d'argent dans le système. Cela ferait baisser le coût du crédit, encouragerait les investissements et la consommation. Mais c'est moins efficace. L'argent pourrait rester dans les banques ou se nicher hors des Etats-Unis. Finalement, le blocage est politique comme en Europe. C'est plus grave.

Que voulez-vous dire ?

Les problèmes sont complexes mais les gens veulent des réponses simples. Cela conduit certains à être frustrés et à adopter des positions antieuropéennes comme en Finlande ou en Allemagne où certains se disent opposés aux transferts financiers. Nous devons être unis. Nous n'avons pas le choix.

Chronicles of Helplessness

Europe on Iraq, 2003: there are alternatives to war
Europe on Syria, 2011: we have no alternatives at all

Despite Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's increasing violence against his people there is no chance of the West launching a military intervention against his regime, writes the liberal business paper De Tijd: "Unlike Libya Syria is in the middle of the most explosive region in the world. And while Colonel Gaddafi was pretty isolated even within his own region the Assad clan has been very successful in the past decade in playing off powerful neighbours like Israel, Turkey, Iran and Iraq against each other. In the case of Syria underlining the condemnations with military action like in Libya is not an option. Assad's regime can still count on sufficient support from the regional superpower Iran.

And what exactly is Europe's "nuclear option"?

"We are [also] advocating for the UN Security Council to address the Syria issue again this week,"

Good luck with that, great compassionate minds of Mitteleuropa.

The 21st-century plantation where the Democrat Party has forever taken the black vote for granted

Fox News:

Republican Rep. Allen West, describing himself as a "modern-day Harriet Tubman," said Wednesday he wants to lead black voters on an underground railroad away from the Democratic Party.

The Florida congressman … the only Republican member of the [Congressional Black Caucus], told Fox News the Democratic Party as a whole has let black voters down.

"You have this 21st-century plantation that has been out there. Where the Democrat Party has forever taken the black vote for granted and you have established certain black leaders who are nothing more than the overseers of that plantation. And now the people on that plantation are upset because they've been disregarded, disrespected and their concerns are not cared about," West said.

"So I'm here as the modern-day Harriet Tubman to kind of lead people on the underground railroad away from that plantation into a sense of sensibility."

Applying European Sensibilities to Europeans

In an effort to improve interspecies relations, I thought that it would make an interesting experiment to apply the perfectly normal sentiment thrown around by Europeans when it comes to the rest of the world onto Europeans themselves. As such, let’s look at a sign which formerly graced Spiegel Online’s website for nearly three years which depicted a expectation that they had for the stock exchange transported to the ethical Olympus of the Frankfurt Börse on a day where the EURO STOXX 50 lost around 5%, and SocGen and Barkleys Bank are being soundly dumped and taking Opa’s savings with it:

Might as well jump. Go ahead and jump.

Welfare state spending is a major cause of our debt, and it is also morally costly because it chases fathers out of homes

This extraordinary change [the fact that having children has become increasingly detached from marriage] is the primary reason that government budgets, both federal and state, are so bloated

writes Phyllis Schlafly as the author of Feminist Fantasies comments on a report showing how illegitimate births for all Americans have risen from 26 percent in 1990 to 41 percent today "and could be headed higher."

Without fathers to provide for these millions of children, their mothers turn to "big brother government."

The economist Robert J. Samuelson recently concluded that, "the welfare state is winning the budget war." The bipartisan budget deal, which slashed our military budget but kept welfare-state handouts mostly off limits, turned out to be "a triumph of the welfare state over the Pentagon."

…Now, half of Americans depend, in whole or in part, on government handouts for their living expenses, paid by the other half who pay income taxes.

…In Ronald Reagan's famous caveat, when you subsidize something you get more of it. So the subsidies to women who have no husbands in the house, have promoted more and more children growing up without fathers.

…We can now see clearly that giving cash and benefits to single moms, beginning with Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty, destroyed families by making fathers unnecessary and created a barrier to the women receiving free money.

This common-sense analysis was confirmed by British commentator Melanie Phillips, who described the current London riots as the result of "the promotion of lone parenthood;" "the willed removal" of fathers from the family unit by the welfare state; and the "ultra-feminist wreckers" of the traditional family with a male breadwinner. She calls for removing "the incentives to girls and women to have babies outside marriage" and for dismantling "the concept of entitlement" from the welfare state.

…Welfare state spending is a major cause of our debt, and it is also morally costly because it chases fathers out of homes. The Heritage Foundation's figures don't even count the social and fiscal costs of drugs, sex, suicide, school dropouts, runaways and crime that come mostly from female-headed households.

Also, welfare spending is a failure; it doesn't advance us toward any constructive goal, such as helping recipients get on their feet economically. It merely increases dependence on government handouts and votes for leftwing politicians.

The Obama strategists know their political bread is buttered on the side of creating more and more women dependent on government.

A Nirvana of Pacifism and Cronyism are Just one more Arms Sale Away

Behold, the Axis of Weasels rides again, only the usual European outlook which inflates its' global importance is calling it "a New Power Alliance."

Moscow is flush with cash from energy sales and arms producers in France, Italy and Germany are happy to take large chunks of it. They are busily selling Russia advanced weapons, sensitive dual-use systems and military supplies. All this indicatesunprecedented Russian openness about (and need to) buy advanced weapons systems. Moreover, Moscow-based experts say privately that the Kremlin hopes the arms deals help revive the Russian-French-German axis that began to emerge in 2003 in opposition to the US-Iraq war.

Which was all about high-minded human rights and whirled peas, if you were gullible enough to take them at their word.

Recent military sales include a record-breaking deal signed on June 17 between France and Russia. Moscow bought two French Mistral-class assault ships/helicopter carriers worth more than $1.4 billion, and it has options for purchasing two more. This is the largest deal between a NATO country and Russia since the alliance's inception and the largest defense sale from a Western power to Russia since the World War II-era land lease.

Which, without one shred of conscience, included NATO shared technology. Abiding by the lack of principles that Russia historically exhibits, would have been in Qaddafi's hands if this happened earlier.

You might recall that the French are at war with Qaddafi, and that too is about high-minded human rights and whirled peas too.

On the same day, Germany's leading producer of military technology, Reinmetall, signed a $398 million contract with Russia to develop a "combat training center for Russian ground forces."

Which must giver German militarists, all three of them, a woody knowing that they will sell Russia a combat training center, and probably also run it, while the nation of pacifist fantasies is dismantling a military that's already too understrength and poorly trained to deploy anywhere effectively.

You know the drill. Repeat after me: these are your "allies," America! All of that "smart diplomacy" will do its' magic in no time flat.

The United States has remained remarkably quiet on this issue, but outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates and others in the Pentagon have tacitly objected to these and other deals. Nevertheless, the Obama administration decided against going to bat against such arms sales. At this point, Washington and its key NATO allies can ill afford another spat that may compromise its near-term operations, like those in Afghanistan and in Libya. And, of course, should Washington raise vocal opposition, it might jeopardize the "reset," the ultimate objective of Obama's Russia policy.

The Most Socially Progressive Place on Earth

Swedish “youts” are firebombing cops. It also has happened in the ironically named town of Angered.

“To throw incendiary bombs at the police takes this problem to a level where we definitely don’t want to be. I have never in my whole career seen or heard of anything like it,” detective Bertil Claesson, head of the police unit in Angered, told news agency TT.

Why can’t they just smoke dope under a bridge like NORMAL anti-social punks?

The boy was brought in for questioning on Monday after the blast at a pre school in the Stockholm district of Sköndal seriously injured a four-year-old girl.

[ ... ]

The teenager remanded into custody by police on Monday on suspicion of the pre-school explosion, may have had help from accomplices, according to police.

Look on the bright side, if they DO lock them up, they have a lifetime of complaint, dependency, and arrogantly high expectations to look forward to.

According to the inmates it is not uncommon for detention centres across Sweden to offer their detainees 10-19 channels to choose from. But in Kalmar they have to make do with seven.

Of course in the environmentally “Socially Sustainable” society of the future, they would just be sent straight to the Soylent Green plant.

The Watermelon Chronicles

Pursuant to a message recently received, I encountered a phrase which gave me cause for pause: "social sustainability:

Congratulations on earning a LEED Professional Credential! Your My Credentials account has been updated with your new credential status.

(3x Yadda...>

You can now begin earning continuing education (CE) hours and report them in your My Credentials account. For more information on GBCI's Credential Maintenance Program (CMP), visit gbci.org/CMP.
At GBCI we feel a personal and organizational responsibility for creating global change that is economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable and lasting. Thusly, we encourage you to be active as a LEED Professional, including at your local USGBC chapter and volunteering with GBCI.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact GBCI customer service at 1 800 795 1746 (within the US) and +1 202 828 1145 (outside the US).
Congratulations on your achievement!

Regards,
Green Building Certification Institute
2101 L Street NW, Suite 650
Washington, DC 20037
gbci.org/contact

Okay, like, whateva. What exactly does it mean?

I have no idea, but I'm sure it's chillingly like the "socialist new man" who isn't allowed to object to the instructions given by people who have no actual stake in your personal well-being, and thinks that we should "take one for the team" in ways that we are ordered to.

The Wikipedia entry on social sustainability defines it this way:

Social sustainability is one aspect of sustainability or sustainable development. Social sustainability encompasses human rights, labor rights, and corporate governance. In common with environmental sustainability, social sustainability is the idea that future generations should have the same or greater access to social resources as the current generation ("inter-generational equity"), while there should also be equal access to social resources within the current generation ("intra-generational equity"). Social resources include ideas as broad as other cultures and basic human rights. Also we can speak of Sustainable Human Development that can be seen as development that promotes the capabilities of present people without compromising capabilities of future generations. In the human development paradigm, environment and natural resources should constitute a means of achieving better standards of living just as income represents a means of increasing social expenditure and, in the end, well-being.

So it's, like, basically, like, y'know everything except the tangible, or anything associated with free market decision-making, or the choices made in social interest by an individual on their own. It does seem to recognize the concept of wealth and income, but is too vague to directly indicate their motives or hostility to managing your own resources, especially given that it looks like its' trying to form a philosophy that takes the role of faith in society, employing a concept similar to "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need" which is attributed to Karl Marx.
I suspect that the access provided to future generations is not by you to your spawn, but by a larger, more "authoritative" entity, a kind of cozy equivalent of the test tubes the population of Logan's Run was hatched in, or something... who knows.

Like Marxians, I'm sure they believe that people will work hard for "the good of man" when wanting resources for yourself are no longer an issue. However, that doesn't explain the need to pass through a variety of rites (which seem to be used in operant conditioning) associated with those with less. In their brave new world, no-one would be wanting for anything they needed anyway.

While leadership and motivational topics focus on prosperity in wealth and different social status, social sustaining role models take on the role of taking the risk upon changing what is necessary instead of what is wanted. From this point of view, in order to achieve a social sustainable system, there will be a possibility of challenging current infrastructure and common expectations. Some radical examples are: starvation by choice to understand the actual need of a starving individual, or the vow of poverty to understand a certain level of built-in social expectations, in which proved unnecessary when it comes to solving community issues as listed.

[Bold emphasis mine.]

Note the taking over of Lenten fasting and the clerical vow of poverty. Anyone promoting this should deemed to be proslethyzing a philosophy, which means that any donation to them should not only NOT be tax-deductible, but that if the organization conducts itself as a charitable non-profit, that they are in violation of the law. They are no different than a church, and should be subject to the same constraints put on the churches by government.

I think its motives are unclear, and that it's probably concealing some things that would easily be deemed evil (in the original, non-recreational definition of the term) by the faithful, if they presented their views plainly, rather than hide it in an environmental Trojan Horse.

Ah, but it's their way.

DSK Rape Trial Turns Out to Be — Surprise! — All About Racism

• Nafissatou Diallo: I have a dream!
• DSK: I'm having a nightmare?!
In Plantu's take on the Dominique Strauss-Kahn trial, the Martin Luther King-invoking hotel maid is clearly standing nobly up for black pride and for civil rights. As Radegunda points out, the only time that the Stars and Stripes are used as a symbol of justice by a Frenchman like Plantu is when the American flag is allegedly depicting social justice.

Le Monde's Five-Part Series on the Saga of Rupert Murdoch and His Empire

1) La saga Murdoch 1/5 : Au nom du père par Marc Roche

2) La saga Murdoch 2/5 : Le forcing britannique par Marc Roche

3) La saga Murdoch 3/5 : Scènes de chasse en Californie par Marc Roche

4) La saga Murdoch 4/5 : Une aventure chinoise par Marc Roche

5) La saga Murdoch 5/5 : L'empire en sursis par Sylvain Cypel et Marc Roche

Le Monde's negative coverage on the tycoon lording over, among (many) others, the News of the World leads one reader to protest:

La série d'articles du Monde consacrés à Rupert Murdoch (du 3 au 8 août) relate les moments forts d'une saga industrielle éblouissante. La stratégie de l'Australo-Américain, magnat des médias, dévoile un sens de l'anticipation, une réactivité aux marchés et un opportunisme commercial qui le hissent au-dessus des autres " tycoons " de sa génération.

Mais j'ai été surpris que Murdoch soit dépeint comme " le contraire d'un libéral puisque son mode opératoire consiste à détruire la concurrence en créant un monopole défendu ensuite bec et ongles ". Son implantation américaine, d'une audace folle, ne correspond pas du tout à pareille analyse. Murdoch s'invite à la table des ogres — celle des trois réseaux historiques ABC, CBS et NBC — sans qu'aucun de ces grands médias ne l'ait convié. Il endosse un rôle d'outsider au toupet insensé sur un marché publicitaire éminemment concurrentiel. Le network Fox se construit brique à brique, journée après journée, dans un combat frontal avec les leaders emblématiques du prime time américain. Il s'approprie " Les Simpsons ", série politiquement incorrecte, dont aucune télévision ne veut. Il invente la contre-programmation. Non, l'Amérique n'attendait pas Murdoch. Son couvert n'était pas mis à son arrivée. Fox s'est taillé une place à la force du poignet. Jamais de la vie, il ne pouvait revendiquer le monopole de quoi que ce soit.

Christian de Maussion
Paris

A Bit of the Old Ludwig Van...

Peter Hitchens on the UK riots:

Bitter laughter is my main response to the events of the past week. You are surprised by what has happened? Why?

Rus-Think

Cute creature depicted is not to scale

Warped Russian rag blames the death of the polar bear shot in Svalbard on the student. Further:

The British NATO contingent wastes up to 100,000 USD of their taxpayers' money per aircraft per hour, every single day since February 17, bombing kids, strafing water supplies, murdering babies, targeting civilian structures, in Libya. Now in Norway a polar bear has been shot because of a British student.

...bacause, you see, poley was a fully aware social justice activist. The writer continues his high-minded thoughts with high journalistic standards:

As the British press carries this story in its headlines, maybe some of these callous bastards could spare a fleeting thought for Libyan children slaughtered in their homes by NATO cowards. Or, as one suspects, they couldn't care less.

The RAF should have known about the bear weeks ago, dagburnit!

2012 Trial Awaits the Frenchmen Involved in the Oil for Food Corruption Scandal

Ten years of searching for evidence in the oil-for-food corruption scandal involving Iraq's Saddam Hussein should bring Charles Pasqua, Total, and the oil company's CEO (Christophe de Margerie) to trial in Paris in 2012, writes Le Monde in an unsigned article. Believe it or not, of 17 Le Monde readers (many of them skeptical of their country's justice system where the élites are concerned), a couple actually praise George W Bush (or at least credit W) for his actions (without mentioning it was war) in bringing the corruption to an end.

Meanwhile, in an op-ed, Denis MacShane reminds us that the reason the Iraq War was allegedly "illegal" was due to a refusal to adopt a second resolution by… a communist Politburo (in Beijing) and a neo-authoritarian close to the Russian oligarchs (in Moscow) — and that, far earlier than the threat of a French veto.

La guerre en Irak a été illégale parce qu'un Politburo communiste en Chine et un néo-autoritaire proche des oligarques à Moscou ont refusé d'adopter une deuxième résolution de l'ONU et ce, bien avant la menace d'un veto francais.

Overruled: Government Invasion of Your Parental Rights

Today is Phyllis Schlafly's birthday, so it is far from inappropriate to show the trailer for the 30-min ParentalRights.org Docudrama. The full 30-minute docudrama regarding the proposed Parental Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is available on DVD or www.ParentalRights.org.

Related: Birth and Freedom by Terri LaPoint as well as another trailer, the one for Guilty Until Proven Innocent

The Difference Between Britain and Switzerland

Email from Damian:

No spanking in Britain.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/10/uk-riots-liberal-right-parent

No guns in Britain.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/WARHUKKER/london-riot-tottenham-arrests_n_920806_101746998.html

Riots galore in Britain.

http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/10970/

No riots in Switzerland!

(A little something for my gun-toting pals):

http://thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/08/robert-farago/switzerland-is-crime-free-and-its-all-because-of-guns/

Guns and … chocolate. One doesn't expect a nation occupied with the manufacture of high-grade chocolate to produce union-grade thugs or French "69" style rioters.

Valerie adds:

The Swiss also produce some nice high grade rifles and handguns.

Speaking of encouraging a life with no consequences…

http://www.mrctv.org/videos/london-riot-reactions-and-debate-clapham

Valerie has more:

And then there is this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MXwCOcBjpbg#at=611

Courtesy of the blog Wake Up Black America.

“Spend the next month reading’, try that for a change.”

May this common sense spread.

[Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter] is a progressive and a friend of the Obamas.

“Don’t touch what doesn’t belong to you or what you haven’t earned.”

He’s a friend to Obama. Maybe he should go give this talk to the White House.

Euro-Think: a Sampler

In response to the mere mention of moral failure in the discussion of a failed civil institution, this is the kind of Pavlovian reaction you get.

Get the satanic freemasons out of law-enforcement and from out behind Church pulpits

Once, just ONCE, I'd like to pull the cord on one of these clowns' back and here something different. It's been decades of listening to the same trope, the same vocabulary, the same impotent rage. Can we have some diversity, please!?!

I presume all those paedo priests do believe in an all powerful skyfairy, yet they continue their damnable activities in secret with no shame.

And this doozy, advocating crushing free speech by calling (the mere existence of) a conservative media outlet to be like statist oppression:

In the 1930s, when the Nazis ruled Germany, Reinhard Heydrich was at the head of the Gestapo (the Third Reich's Secret State Police) - an organisation whose major aim was to spy on the German people.

In the 1980s, when the Communists still ruled East Germany, Erich Mielke was at the head of the Stasi (East Germany's Secret State Police) - an organisation whose major aim was to spy on the East German people.

In 2011 Rupert Murdoch is at the head of News Corp. - an organisation whose aims I don't know.

However, having watched FOX NEWS, I am absolutely sure that balanced reporting of political issues to a broad audience is certainly NOT among the aims of News Corp.

And the source? A conservative British newspaper.

So what are the aims of News Corp.?
And how dangerous is News Corp. for all freedom-loving citizens?

If the sick determinism wasn't so typical, it would be shocking.

Immigration Pushes the EU's Population Above 500,000,000

A Le Monde article by Grégoire Allix comments on a Eurostat graph showing how the EU's population has reached (and risen above, by half a million people) 502,000,000, thanks mainly to immigration. But while many countries have seen increases — even when the natural natality rate was negative — eight countries, including Germany, have seen negative rates of population growth.

…plus que l'accroissement naturel, qui se solde par une hausse de 514 000 habitants (+ 1 ‰), c'est l'immigration qui a contribué à grossir les rangs des Européens : le solde migratoire affiche 854 000 personnes (+ 1,7 ‰). Les dix-sept pays de la zone euro, avec 332 millions d'habitants, accueillent à eux seuls 1 million d'habitants en plus et, signe de leur attrait, bénéficient de l'essentiel du solde migratoire (700 000 personnes).

…L'Allemagne a … perdu 50 000 habitants en 2010 mais elle demeure le pays le plus peuplé de l'UE avec 81,7 millions d'habitants devant la France (65 millions) et le Royaume-Uni (62,4 millions).

The Elephant and the Donkey Give Birth to a Mouse

In Plantu's take on America's debt, "the Democrat donkey and the Republican elephant give birth to… a mouse" (a French expression meaning that, in the face of expectations, the results are extremely disappointing)