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Saturday, April 27, 2002
posted by gbarto at 10:28 PM:
Fascinating post from Den Beste (forgive the redundancy) on the age of the universe, the Hubble constant and what it all could mean. If you're in the mood for something bigger than the latest anti-Le Pen protest, take a look.* * *
posted by gbarto at 10:16 PM:
Le Figaro does not look to have been updated since yesterday; the three top stories are the same. As for Libé: 100,000 demonstrators in Paris (the summary doesn't mention the lower police estimates), secondary story, 200,000 march against Le Pen overall. The secondary story, incidentally, is almost word for word the same as the Le Monde lead below; Le Monde cites AFP and Reuters as contributors while Libé gives no credit, but the similarities suggest they both just ran the wire service reports.* * *
posted by gbarto at 10:03 PM:
It's coming up on seven a.m. in Paris, and here's a look at the news over there:Le Monde: Big day of mobilization
Forte journée de mobilisation En prélude au 1er mai, les manifestations contre l'extrême droite, samedi, à l'appel de dizaines d'associations, syndicats et partis politiques, ont rassemblé près de 210 000 manifestants dans une quarantaine de villes. Le cortège le plus important, rassemblant à Paris 45 000 personnes selon la police et 100 000 selon les organisateurs, a défilé entre la République et la place de la Nation. / Big day for Mobilization In a prelude of May 1st, 210,000 demonstrators turned out Saturday in nearly forty towns in demonstrations against the extreme right called by dozens of associations, unions and political parties. The largest gathering, which brought together between 45,000 (police estimate) and 100,000 (organizers' estimate), marched between the place de la République and the place de la Nation.
Le Monde subheads: The extreme right's program, the shooting in Germany (both from yesterday) and a figure skating story: the president of the French Federation of Figure Skating and the allegedly pressured/not pressured Olympic judge are facing questions about the Salt Lake City Olympics.
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posted by gbarto at 3:43 PM:
A Dog's Life has some interesting thoughts on the reparations debate, and I think he hits an important point: There needs to be some acknowledgement of just how wrong the society and government were to first sustain the institution of slavery and second, pursue policies and wink at the actions of people that sought to keep the status of blacks as something less than citizens, even humans at times. And the acknowledgement needs to go beyond the pained lessons of earnest second-grade teachers every February.There is no question that these institutions did incalculable harm to blacks in times past, damage of which the effects are still playing out. While there are, it is true, wealthy and well-established black families today, to point them out as an example of the idea that everything is a-ok is just a conservative cliche. American society still has a ways to go in making up for its actions. The question is whether paying money to a few foundations suggested by Jesse Jackson actually does anything other than enrich those foundations, add to Jackson's prestige, and continue to vindicate his shakedown strategy. Indeed the whole reparations movement faces something of the same problem: is it a heartfelt apology or a payoff to go away - some on the conservative side have proposed handing out checks if Jackson would just go away, which doesn't make it seem particularly attractive. The bigger question, though, is would it help? Not in the sense, does money make one's problems easier to bear? Of course. But would it truly address the wrongs that were a part of institutional racism and which still permeate the structure of society today - the destruction of the family, the erosion of self-esteem and respect, the systemic misuse of law which still leaves blacks today wondering whose side the cops are on? Wish I had the answer. What I can suggest, is that we have a long way to go in any case, and no gesture, no matter how symbolic, will make things better. If we pretend it can, it might make things worse.
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posted by gbarto at 3:42 PM:
By the way, Ken Layne's new-old book is now available. Go get it here.* * *
posted by gbarto at 3:39 PM:
Strange, blogger pro has been doing an awful job ftping my server, though just about everything else (including blogger pro's own file upload) functions without a hitch. Something to think about if you've got the ambition to go elsewhere; I don't, so if a post appears a lot later than the timestamp indicates, that's why.* * *
posted by gbarto at 3:35 PM:
Will blogger ever update?* * *
posted by gbarto at 3:17 PM:
By the way, with respect to the post below, I am aware that Congress' hard line stance also gives Bush justification for not taking a stricter line with Israel. I'd love to think this is the purpose of the flap, but I'm not easily persuaded that the House GOP is really capable of such subtle calculation.* * *
posted by gbarto at 3:15 PM:
Bush, House GOP Split on Israel ResolutionI'm inclined to agree with Congress on the substance of this, but that doesn't mean a whole lot: If we turned over our foreign policy to the reigning agenda of the day among the 535, we'd find ourselves yearning for the competence of Foggy Bottom. Congress deals with a limited number of citizens from the district; even Senators deal mainly with their constituents in the state. The President, on the other hand, has to serve the interests of the whole nation as best he understands them, and he has to hear about those consequences not only from the people, but from an international community that may or may not be right, may or may not be relevant, but that can all the same throw a monkey wrench into the gears of US foreign policy. Comes the question, is Bush kowtowing? Or acknowledging that with the force strength Clinton left us we couldn't go to war simultaneously against Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia even if we wanted to?
It seems to me that Bush is seeking pragmatically to prepare a strike on Iraq that will make '90-'91 seem like a paintball game. Even if our bases are elsewhere, we don't want to wind up with Saudi Arabia following us in because it would be a) a distraction, b) a minor danger at least and c) a signal to the rest of the thuggocracy over there that we are vulnerable. We therefore want to take things country by country, and if the Saudis or others go from being gadflies to real problems, Mr. Bush will presumably remember when Iraq has a new government and the Sixth Fleet is waiting to find out where to go next. In this light, Abdullah could be making a real mistake, fudging on the real problems with Iraq, in much the same way the Taliban (remember them?) thought they could play word games about where Al-Quaeda operated a few months ago. In this vein, Bush's flip-flopping on Israel could be both understood and excused: if the purpose of this exercise is simply to get Iraq, that would remove a major player on Israel's threatboard and give Israel a still freer hand down the road in dealing with Arafat.
Remembering what Dr. Weevil told us here and here, a case can be made that in taking out Iraq we'd be doing something even bigger than knocking out funding for suicide bombers. Right now, the dynamic in the Middle East is one of Israel pushed into a corner, surrounded by a hostile Arab world. What happens to that dynamic when Syria/Lebanon (they are effectively one country now) is surrounded by pro-Western democracies? When Iran is cut off by land from the other Persian Gulf states? What happens when Saudi Arabia's northern neighbor stops doubling their suicide bomber payouts and starts condemning them?
I am not among those who think Israel should roll over and play dead while we "stratergize". That being said, I believe Bush when he vows that Israel will remain a friend about whom we are concerned, and if he feels that a restrained Israel will make it easier for him to prosecute a war that would radically reshape the region to the betterment of Israel, I'm prepared to accept that as a legitimate read on the situation, and not simply the selling out of Israel. It's not my own view, of course, but it is a legitimate one. I hope our Congress will consider it and take out their petitions to run for President before they try to exercise the powers of the office.
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posted by gbarto at 11:43 AM:
Joanne Jacobs' new column is up at Fox News. It leads with what the Palestinians are teaching their children. Take a look.* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:39 AM:
Jacques Chirac has got to be laughing his ass off. Here's the latest Agence France Presse (AFP) update:Manifestations anti-Le Pen, un sondage donne 81% à Chirac / Anti-Le Pen demonstrations; a poll gives Chirac 81%
Meanwhile, says Le Monde, Le Pen thinks he'll get 40%-51% of the vote in the second round. And in an illustration of how only the NYT could compete with French papers for putting a point of view front and center, here's a look at some article summaries and headlines, mostly bereft even of the qualifier, "analysis".
What the extreme right would do if... Friday, the 26th of April, the Prime Minister called upon the French to "express their refusal of the extreme right." The president of the Front National hopes to get between "40 and 51%" of the votes in the second round. His social and economics plans are marked by numerous instances of incoherence.Comes then the "see also" list, headed by: "Economic measures specified by FN are barely coherent" and "[The FN would bring] a form of 'Apartheid' for social protections". Of the first, we would note that the same could be said of Jospin, Arguiller and probably half of the original 16 candidates. Of the second, we'd note that this "apartheid" refers to limiting benefits to French citizens, a measure that may or may not make sense depending on your ideology, but about which there are some legitimate points of contention. I offer these notes not as a critique - everyone reading Le Monde knows about its bias - but to let anyone taking a crack at the French newspapers know that a headline in Le Monde doesn't garner the same reverence as a headline in the NYT - take it as a point of view, not revealed truth.
As for the French newspaper critiques, they're looking more justified. Le Pen, emboldened, has begun to justify the worst fears of his opponents, suggesting trains be set up to take immigrants to the borders so they could go to other countries to steal jobs from someone other than the French. The language about trains illustrates Steyn's point about a "nationalist socialist" being only one syllable from a "national socialist", i.e. a Nazi. Of course that was a settled question in a lot of minds, mine included. The question is whether France's elite will develop enough curiosity about this phenomenon to try and figure out why Le Pen would seem - to a fifth of Frenchman! - to be as worthy of a vote as they are, or whether this will prompt further efforts to outlaw or read out of the public square even legitimate debate (in an effort to quash, rather than address, this alternative).
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posted by gbarto at 11:05 AM:
Other headlinesThree Killed at Nevada Casino
Twelve others wounded in shooting between motorcycle gangs
And you thought the one-armed bandits were a problem
'An Act of Revenge'
Teen who killed 16 at German school had run-ins with teachers
Shocking! I thought he'd turn out to be the student-council president.
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posted by gbarto at 11:00 AM:
Gunmen Attack Jewish SettlementPalestinians go from house to house, shooting residents; four killed
Fox is a little more blunt than the WaPo (see below) about what's been going on in Israel.
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posted by gbarto at 10:57 AM:
I see by the local papers that the graduate teaching assistants at Michigan State University had a one-day walk-out last week. Having taught there last year, I'm sort of shaking my head. Last year, the big push was on to unionize. Which meant that every couple days someone showed up at my door to tell me all the great things we would get if we went with the union. Strangely enough, most of these were not focused on improving our education, giving us more opportunities to pursue our research or facilitating scholarship. Everyone mentioned the great dental plan though. Now I know people can wind up spending a lot of time in grad school; all the same, those are supposed to be the hardscrabble years before the glories of first a professorship, then tenure; it's not a career, it's an apprenticeship for a sinecure - you won't get rich but you won't be hurting by any means. Unfortunately, I think the union drive among grad students does less to encourage respect for their efforts than to remind of what they are on the university's balance sheet: just another contract employee, whose position should therefore be judged not by the educational requirements of the graduate assistant, but by the relative cost and benefits of a g.a. as opposed to an instructor (aspiring professor with a PhD but as yet no route to tenure). Looking at the marchers, all I could think is that they looked not so much like aggrieved scholars, denied a chance to become the elite of academe, but rather more like factory workers, put upon by the man, in this case a nasty university that had done nothing for them other than giving them the chance to get real work experience, real opportunities to pursue their research, and a little money thrown in so they could eat (poorly). Ridiculous.* * *
posted by gbarto at 9:36 AM:
The Washington Post has a write-up on the decline of authority and power among the leaders of the PA. The thesis of the article is that Israel's efforts in the West Bank have had the effect of weakening to irrelevancy the people with whom they were going to make peace. So why this quote?The more the Israelis try to isolate Arafat from the levers of power, the more popular he has become among the Palestinian public. Support for Arafat, the source of his longevity at the head of the Palestinian cause, has soared while the Israelis demolished much of his administration.Much of the article holds that Arafat is weakened beyond measure, unable to act, even to cajole, if it should prove necessary. Yet any democratic leader would take much solace in the quote, would see in it the potential to rally the people to his cause. Where is the army suppressing the will of the people? What is there that prevents a people rallying to Arafat from making peace if he calls upon them to do so? Either Arafat does not have the people with him, or Arafat does not wish to make peace. This is why genuine democratic elections are so instructive; not having sought the confirmation of the people's desire to have him lead in ten years, the Chairman of the PA does not have the ability to assert to any enemy - foreign or within the Palestinian cause - that he is the one who truly speaks for the Palestinian people. To the contrary, it is looking more and more like Arafat is locked in a process as insidious as the Israeli land for peace: hate for power. Arafat did not necessarily start the hate, but now that it is out, he feeds on it, thrives on it. Just as the Israelis are told: "No peace? you need to give more land," Arafat's formula is "No power? you need to unleash more hate." Each time he does, his power seemingly increases, but it is a funny sort of power, sort of like my ability to make friends and family alike eat ice cream: when I try to turn that power in a different direction, I find that my power is merely to make people do what they were agreeable to doing in the first place. Arafat's teaching of hatred has formed a culture where he has the power to make the people do what they've been brainwashed to favor doing, but he cannot use that power constructively. If he could, he could transform all that popular support into a real push for peace. He cannot, which is why the Israelis are right to be trying to give him the boot.
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Friday, April 26, 2002
posted by gbarto at 10:05 PM:
Davis takes on reparations. But will he take on one of California's more pressing problems: an intellectually bankrupt governor who nearly got California's lights turned out, then declared that he didn't get enough credit for the job he was doing as governor. If he does go to bat for those seeking reparations, let's hope it doesn't turn out as badly as when he stood up for California's energy consumers!* * *
posted by gbarto at 9:59 PM:
Libé leads with the latest on Le Pen - he's back to "petits phrases," i.e. speaking more bluntly.Also, a timetable for anti-FN demonstrations and a guide for neophyte demonstrators.
As noted yesterday, French newspapers - and especially Libé - may step outside of what we expect in a mainstream daily in the U.S. Of course there's also Le Canard enchaîné, which I would love to survey but for which I haven't been able to find an updated website.
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posted by gbarto at 9:50 PM:
Figaro: The lead is a look back at the week's surprises, namely Le Pen's emergence, the counter-demonstrations, Jospin's departure from politics, and - who would have though it possible! - the country rallying to Chirac. The web-site is focusing on week-in-review stories. In the print version, the three top headlines are: 1) Police nervous about May 1st 2) Jospin calls for a vote against the extreme right 3) the school shootout at Erfurt.* * *
posted by gbarto at 9:44 PM:
French news: we gave you the lead earlier today; here are Le Monde's subheads:Israel - Bush calls for a retreat and Kofi Annan says the Jenin investigation should start Friday as planned.
Germany 18 dead in shooting rampage in high school in eastern Germany.
Vivendi-Universel Will these guys ever get a break? Now there are allegations that there was something funny about the machines used in the latest shareholder vote.
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posted by gbarto at 1:22 PM:
Jospin: Stand against Le PenLionel Jospin appelle à faire barrage
Lionel Jospin a lancé, vendredi 26 avril, un appel à voter contre l'extrême droite et "le danger qu'elle représente" au second tour de l'élection présidentielle, sans citer pour autant le nom de Jacques Chirac. Ce dernier, en déplacement à Dreux, a dénoncé "l'expression démagogique de l'autoritarisme". Son adversaire, Jean-Marie Le Pen a appelé "le peuple français" au "rassemblement national" contre le "front populaire" constitué autour de Jacques Chirac, tout en musclant, notamment sur l'immigration, un discours qu'il avait policé depuis le début de sa campagne. / Lionel Jospin calls for a block (against the FN) Thursday, Lionel Jospin issued a call to vote against the extreme right and "the danger that it represents" in the second round of the presidential elections, without however using the name of Jacques Chirac. His adversary, Jean-Marie Le Pen called "the French people" to "national unity" against the "popular front" gathered around Jacques Chirac, while hammering at themes, notably immigration, that he had kept in check since the start of his campaign.
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posted by gbarto at 1:12 PM:
Saudis Paid Bombers' FamiliesDocuments obtained by Fox News show Riyadh gave $5,000 each to kin of Palestinian suicide attackers
And on air, the Palestinian spokesman is very eager to reiterate Bush's call for Israel to finish its withdrawal. However, he doesn't want to talk about the homicide bombers and their Saudi funding.
And here's a new one: Homicide bombing is ok because there are civilian casualties on both sides! Did I hear that right?
It gets better - or worse: he says that if a family member blows himself/herself up, this doesn't mean the family should starve? But should they get extra compensation? The moral bankruptcy of the Saudi government and the Palestinian leadership is becoming more and more apparent. The only question is whether the Palestinian people can be freed of this dead weight on their cause, or whether the means by which a Palestinian state is pursued will in time invalidate that people's claim on self-determination.
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posted by gbarto at 1:05 PM:
Joe Namath appears with Shepard Smith on FNC. The question is whether college athletes should be compensated. After all, there are regular scandals where alumni help out on the side in ways that are less than savory. On the other hand, telling student athletes to eschew jobs, money and gifts to avoid the appearance of impropriety is a bit much. My suggestion: The average college student gets subsidies in the form of jobs with the school; why not count up the hours in practice, travel and playing games and compensate student athletes at the preferred rate for typical student workers. As to the question of overtime if the athletes are putting in too many hours: should this prove to be the case, what is needed is not a special pay arrangement but a reminder to coaches that not enough college athletes turn pro to justify wrecking the college careers of 20 guys for every one (or whatever the statistics are) who actually plays pro.* * *
posted by gbarto at 7:39 AM:
An excellent post from the Mac on how the U.S. and Europe diverge on the global scene. The main point:This is the great divide between Europe and the U.S.: we believe nothing, they believe in nothing.In other words, Europe looks for words that sound like their theories are true; Americans look for deeds that indicate their trust is well-placed. Go read the post; it's an interesting discussion of the question.
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posted by gbarto at 7:25 AM:
Den Beste says nothing useful happened in the Bush-Abdullah meeting. When you're dealing with someone like the Saudis, there's a word to describe such a meeting: a success.* * *
posted by gbarto at 7:19 AM:
Yikes. 18 killed in school shooting in Germany. I thought this only happened in the U.S.* * *
posted by gbarto at 7:18 AM:
Wanted for murder: The Palestinian educational system. Found this chilling story at Joanne Jacobs' site.* * *
posted by gbarto at 7:10 AM:
Interesting Post article on Israeli soldiers' view of Jenin effort. Worthy of note: The two were interviewed and gave their names, even as they raised questions about the way the Israeli effort was managed; can one imagine a parallel account on the other side?Also of note, the men say that the Palestinians' fierce response to Israelis entering the camp probably increased Palestinian casualties, unsurprising since people with guns tend to shoot back when fired upon. The troops also noted the widespread evidence of booby-trap bombs, reminding that Jenin wasn't just a refugee camp; it was a war zone where people with both the necessary knowledge and the intent to kill were pursuing their plans. That the UN, supposedly in charge, allowed the bomb-making to go on indicates to me that their right to complain about Israeli efforts if forfeit.
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posted by gbarto at 6:52 AM:
Latest on Israel here. Israel has decided to deal with militants itself, no longer trusting Arafat. But 8 of the 9 kids that came out of the Nativity Church have been released; the ninth is still in custody. Funny, that, the Israelis didn't even demand a trade of hostages or anything. Were they being generous, or did they know there was no point offering since Arafat doesn't care what happens to his people anyway?* * *
posted by gbarto at 6:47 AM:
Some may thing Bush should have taken a stronger line, but I think, judging from stories like this, that Bush is playing things well. Abdullah's got to be furious; his every talking point was ignored, his every effort to say the US needed to back off its support for Israel was ignored, his every intimation that the US-Saudi relationship would be damaged if the US didn't change its tone was greeted with aw, shucks, ya know we're still friends, so keep pumpin' that oil, ya heah? Essentially, the Saudis came to bluster; they got bluster and blather back and nothing more. In other words, a fair exchange with our "friends" the Saudis - friends so long as they assure our oil, and nada if they don't.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:40 AM:
Bush asked Israel to withdraw without delay. But DeLay is in the picture anyway. And as happens too often, while I agree with him, I really wish he had a better way of going about doing his business.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:38 AM:
Asbestos litigation hurts asbestos victims. The Wall Street Journal noted today that with the explosion in asbestos litigation, companies are going bankrupt paying out settlements to those who may have been harmed and may show symptoms of this later on. As a result, the genuinely ill are seeing their claims whittled away by bankruptcy judges instead of getting full settlements from functioning companies. There have been attempts to pass legislation that would bring some rationality to the liability issues involved, but the trial lawyers have balked and the Democrats have duly fought to kill the measures. Which suggests that it's time for Republicans to get into the victims biz. The asbestos suits are costing workers their jobs and the truly sick their proper claim - so that those with a slick attorney and asbestos exposure 20 years ago can share in the loot. The Republicans ought to be challenging Democrats to stand up to the trial lawyers and stand up for working people and the genuinely ill - and raising hell if they don't.* * *
Thursday, April 25, 2002
posted by gbarto at 10:29 PM:
Of course the U.N. should set standards for judging exploitation of women. They're experts. via Instapundit.* * *
posted by gbarto at 10:24 PM:
Found this Natalie Solent post from the 19th:A kinder, gentler France? I would have thought that all the enforced free time would have meant more political activism, not less. But Philip Delves Broughton says that the either the times or the 35-hour week is tending to ensure that the French lose their passion for power and politics.Looking below, it looks like they've found it again.
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posted by gbarto at 10:07 PM:
Libé: 200,000 youth in the streets - protesting Le Pen, of course.Leaders of PS want Jospin to speak publicly on the second round of elections.
And here's one for Emmanuelle: «Ça m'énerve de devoir expliquer qu'on n'est pas un pays raciste» / I'm getting sick of having to explain that we're not a racist country - French expats speak out on Le Pen
Indeed, France is a country which sees itself as tolerant, and by and large is. On the other hand, it's a country whose exit from African colonies (as well as French Indochina) was bloody and dispiriting, leaving a society that had proclaimed the universal rights of man to wonder why it was rejected and how it had erred. France hasn't fully recovered, and when the world intrudes a certain proportion of the population suspects that world has no more place in France than France had in the rest of the world. This, I think, is the origin of Le Pen's support for Israeli self-defense - he sees a simple correspondance between a France for French people and a Jewish state for Jewish people, and wishes that everybody would just go back to the little boxes in which they belong. That his grandfather was Italian is just one of those little inconsistencies that reminds of the irrationality of his vision.
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posted by gbarto at 9:44 PM:
Figaro: The doors of the Nativity Church open.Les portes de la Nativité s'entrouvrent Deux silhouettes viennent d'apparaître. Bras en l'air, deux hommes s'avancent lentement au dehors de l'Eglise de la Nativité. / The doors of the Nativity Church open. Two silhouettes appear. Arms in the air, two men advance slowly out of the Nativity Church.The story continues with its word picture of the two men going from Palestinian camrades in arms to Israeli soldiers who will take them to hospital, then release them once it is determined that they're common soldiers and not on the wanted list.
L'aide aux victimes menacée par le clientélisme Victims' aid threatened by "clientism". For 20 years the Justice Ministry has been in charge of helping crime victims. Now the work is being turned over to independent associations, and some people aren't happy.
And in other news, markets worldwide are troubled by the softness of the economic recovery. Betcha didn't know that.
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posted by gbarto at 9:38 PM:
French news:Le Monde:
Plus de 4 000 personnes ont manifesté à Caen, jeudi 25 avril / More than 4000 demonstrated at Caen Thursday | AFP
The sign says: France in mourning for tolerance.
Lead story: Demonstrations: the mobilization grows
Manifestations : la mobilisation s'amplifie
Les rassemblements anti-FN ont mobilisé, jeudi, plus de 330 000 personnes. A gauche, de nombreuses voix, dont celles de Vincent Peillon et Ségolène Royal, appellent Lionel Jospin à s'exprimer sur le deuxième tour. M. Le Pen s'est déclaré persuadé de faire "beaucoup mieux" que 30% face à Jacques Chirac. Le candidat-président, en meeting à Lyon, a défendu l'image d'une France rassemblée et ouverte. / Demonstrations: the moblization grows. Anti-FN groups mobilized more than 330,000 people Thursday. On the left, numerous voices, including those of Vincent Peillon and Ségolène Royal, call on Lionel Jospin to express himself on the second round. M. Le Pen said he was persuaded he would do "much better" than 30% against Chirac. The President/Candidate defended the image of a united and open France.
Three sub-heads: Israel, etc. - the meeting of Bush and Abdullah; Palestinian tribunal sentences 4 in killing of Israeli tourism minister; Arafat still isolated.
Difficulties getting the last of Al-Quaeda reported by U.S. Armed Forces.
Canal+ Dominique Farrugia to become new president.
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posted by gbarto at 2:31 PM:
Curious, blogger always seems to want to post all but the last post. If you're reading this, it changed the paradigm now that I've adapted to it.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:29 PM:
Saw this on the news last night:'They've Stolen Our Slogan'
Republicans slam Democrats for adopting 'America's future' motto
Funny how in the wake of some terrorist attacks, everyone wants the idea of security in their platform. One notes, though, that the Republicans didn't need the terrorist attack to hit the theme. One also notes the different visions of security: government providing it, versus government staying out of the way but permitting people the tools to provide their own security. The point doesn't get made much, but the parties' approaches to guns and Social Security are identical: one wants the state to have all the power so no one hurts oneself; the other gives the people the means to take care of themselves.
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posted by gbarto at 2:25 PM:
New at the Hugo pages, an essay on authors, politicians and their roles as cultural narrators and a second essay on why academics may not know what literature is.* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:26 AM:
A Dog's Life brings fresh perspective to the Catholic Church's pronouncements yesterday. Take a look.* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:24 AM:
Our friends, the Saudis. LGF reports that they took Dr. Bob's tapes when he tried to leave.* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:08 AM:
BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Nine Palestinian teenagers gave themselves up to Israeli troops surrounding the Church of the Nativity Thursday. It was the largest group to leave the church compound in the 3-week-old standoff. - Fox NewsAlso, Ramallah mayor allowed to leave Arafat compound to restore order in city; Arafat may be allowed to leave compound for Gaza strip but Palestinians rejecting terms of offer and Israel not offering other terms.
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posted by gbarto at 11:02 AM:
Explosion Rocks Building in NYCBlast in Chelsea neighborhood apparently not deliberate; about 50 people hurt, several seriously
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posted by gbarto at 11:00 AM:
Judge: Death to Death PenaltyFederal jurist ready to rule capital punishment unconstitutional
I'm personally opposed to the death penalty, but isn't this a bit of an over-reaching of judicial authority? It seems to me that if the death penalty really were unconsititutional, somewhere between the presidencies of Washington and Madison - when a good number of the framers were still alive - someone would have said something.
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posted by gbarto at 12:22 AM:
Andrew Stuttaford asks an important question relating to our French news earlier: Why is Le Pen the fascist when it's the blowhards at the EU who do the shouting down? Frankly, I think they're all nuts; the only thing more embarrassing than a European right-winger is a European left-winger scrambling for the moral high ground. link via Instapundit.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:17 AM:
Will Védrine ever learn? Instapundit on his idiocy.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:08 AM:
Martin Roth runs a very Christian site that may or may not be to your taste but which hits some important stuff. This site apparently wasn't to Dodgeblog's taste; he retracted his link (It would seem to me one checks the product before making an endorsement, mais que sais-je?). In any case, on the 22nd, Roth points out that religious violence isn't limited to the middle east and Kashmir; Indonesia's problems are boiling again. Unfortunately, you'll have to scroll down in you're interested; we're still waiting for permalinks to appear.* * *
Wednesday, April 24, 2002
posted by gbarto at 11:57 PM:
Interesting letter and look-back on 9/11 from the Mac.* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:20 PM:
Amen to Asparagirl.* * *
posted by gbarto at 9:50 PM:
Al-Quaeda best be careful. The WTC may be one thing, but mess with our shopping and the nukes may come out.* * *
posted by gbarto at 9:44 PM:
Libé has a special supplement on the French elections. It's worth noting that the cover features a picture of Le Pen with the word "Non" above him. For those who aren't familiar with French media, the three papers I'm surveying have distinct ideological bents. I've compared LeMonde to NYT and Le Figaro to the WSJ; however, neither these nor Libération pretends to objectivity. So Libé's special supplement, with a special shot at Le Pen, is nothing out of the ordinary. When Le Monde expressed horror at Le Pen's second place finish, it wasn't a matter of an editor being so overcome he subverted policy. Like the NYT, the front page has a distinct point of view. Unlike NYT, Le Monde doesn't expressly deny this, however. Anyway, today's headlines for Libé:Le Pen gets a big no from European Parliament and has to end press conference early due to security problems.
Chirac turns down debate with Le Pen, saying "Confronted with hate, legitimate debate isn't possible"
* * *
posted by gbarto at 9:31 PM:
Le Figaro: Final meeting of the Council of Ministers during the Jospin-Chirac cohabitation. Pleasantries exchanged.Israel withdraws its assent to the UN investigation at Jenin.
The pope rebuffs pedophile priests.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 9:16 PM:
6:09 in Paris: Here's the news:Le Monde: Le Pen poorly received by European Parliament; forced to halt press conference for security reasons.
Israel seeks clarification of UN investigation in re Jenin.
Patrick Dils, charged with murder of two children 15 years ago, wins his appeal, is aquitted.
And with the dust settled from the elections, a story from a few days ago resurface: Messier (J2M) tries to reassure about Vivendi Universal's future.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:59 PM:
First Arafat, now Hamas. It seems the Palestinian culture must have a deathwish, for everyone who tries to take the reins can't help giving a nudge, then another nudge, and then poof, instead of just appearing out-of-control to those you're trying to terrorize, it really does go out of control. Den Beste says Hamas has a problem: kids too young to know what they were doing weren't supposed to join in on the blow-yourself-up, kill-a-few-Jews movement. But young kids tend to emulate the cool older kids, with sometimes tragic results. If they'd been focused on a culture of life, where 13-year olds were future adults with potential, this wouldn't be happening. But when you effectively teach that a thirteen-year old is a future suicide bombing with 4 years of indoctrination remaining, some will try to grow up too soon. I'm becoming more convinced that it's simply too late for Palestinian culture; if it weren't for the grief of Ayat Ahkras' family and fiancé, I'd wonder if there were any possibility of redemption at all. But Palestinian culture will have to be rebuilt person by person; the damage done by the cynical maneuvering of a leadership that knows crowd sociology better than the human heart will not be turned from hate by a few careful pronouncements, and surely not from the current leaders.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:51 PM:
What price, peace? Den Beste has the story of what happens when you trust in a peace activist: you rot and he publishes.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:44 PM:
Jonah Goldberg asks how you could legitimately accept both the Supreme Court's decision on virtual kddie pron (as Lileks would put it) and campaign finance reform. You can't. If speech is speech is speech, then it all has to be free and unfettered. Given that the purpose of the First Amendment was above all to allow free and open debate so the people could govern themselves, it's especially idiotic to think that if any speech were to be constrained, it would be political speech. However, in bringing libertarians in at one point, but not another, Goldberg fails to note that there is one group that is at least philosphically consistent: The libertarian doesn't argue that pron is ok, but political speech is not. He argues that the government has no business with either, and that the government's only interest in pron is if individuals were endangered or denied their liberty in order to create it - an issue independant of speech.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:32 PM:
Lowry: Bush should tell Saudis to get on board with Iraq coalition or get lost* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:13 PM:
National Catholic Reporter at news conference at Vatican - this isn't just a sex scandal; it's an accountability crisis. What will be done so lay people know what's up with their church?* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:11 PM:
Update on the train: a malfunctioning signal failed to alert the Burlington Northern that there was another train on its track. The train applied its brakes, but too late. The engineer and conductor of the freight train jumped just before the collision.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:06 PM:
FNC reporting on man shot at Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, but the last story on air was about something new (I gather) - two Palestinians were allowed to leave. After raising their shirts to show they weren't booby-trapped, the men came forward, were taken to hospital, and will - if they're not on a wanted list - be released on their own recognizance.* * *
posted by gbarto at 10:54 AM:
Less risk in the stock market? It sure doesn't feel that way when I look at my brokerage statements, but Holman Jenkins makes a sharp case in todays Wall Street Journal. Jenkins is writing (again) about stock options and share prices. His main point is that a lot of the nonsense swirling around discussions of options is, well, nonsense. For example, critics of options say they cause management to focus on share price to the exclusion of more fundamental business issues. Why can't we get a management like that for the companies I invest in? They all seem to be focused on establishing longer term positions in their markets, investment in training, research and technology, and one day I'll thank them for looking so far ahead.On a more serious note - and getting back to risk premium - we are in a drastically different environment today than we were 30 years ago. Inflation is relatively tame, price controls are one of those quaint things that appealed to the sort of people who thought disco was really neat and a politician who thanks he can get traction by socking it to big business quickly finds himself face to face with angry throngs who'd like their retirement funds left alone, thank you very much. As such, the dangers businesses face from politicians, bureaucracies and even the economy as a whole are far fewer and far less severe than in times past, and while that doesn't mean risk is gone, it is different. Therefore, risk premiums ought to be different. Comes the question: who decides how different and to what degree? Some economists will tell you that risk premium ought to be x, y or z, so the market is overvalued. How do they know? Well, because risk premium was x, y or z twenty years ago and it doesn't seem like it should be that much less today. Being from the invisible hand side of things, I'd say that risk premium is what the market says it is. Even those berating the markets today tend to fall back on risk premiums (ratio of expected earnings to price) from earlier days, and who's to say a company should earn enough to purchase back all its stock in five years instead of ten, ten instead of twenty? The market alone knows what the market is willing to pay. Which brings us back to stock options. If you read your statements, you can find out how many options are lurking out there and how much they might dilute the stock. And you can decide whether you trust current management to grow the stock enough to overcome the dilution if the options are cashed in. The bottom line is that stock options have limited impact on material earnings; all they affect other than at the margins (if even there) is earnings per share. So there's no need to rejigger calculated earnings. Just make sure the info on options is in the companies' statements so that people can judge the risks posed by too many options, the same way they judge risk premium. And let the market decide how the options affect the value of the company and its stock.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 9:36 AM:
Polite to the end. Found in a house in Louisiana: four dead bodies. Taped to the front door:Call 911. Door is unlocked. We are all deadThank you for your love and care.
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posted by gbarto at 9:33 AM:
Palestinians steal gold, crucifixes and books from Bethlehem Church of the Nativity, reports the JPost. The news comes from three Armenian monks who had been held there since the Palestinians took the church. And there's a second headline:Palestinians beat priests, staff at Church of Nativity
And most disturbing of all, as Joanne Jacobs alludes on her site (where I found the link), the Palestinians don't have to worry about the glare of the spotlight because the media a) ignores their transgressions and b) writes them off as the result of oppression if they do report them.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 9:19 AM:
Too cool. Be sure to check out the Bleat today. It's the first Gnat movies! I am still amazed and awed at all the neat things Lileks has done with his site and it just keeps getting cooler.* * *
posted by gbarto at 6:44 AM:
Where Rage ResidesFor the ordinary people of Gaza City, death has become a way of life.
"Anyone who kills and struggles for the sake of their land, and dies doing so, they are not dead," he assures them. "They are alive, with a new life. Because as a martyr you will be alive in Heaven."And this is a progressive: at least he's not denying the holocaust took place. He neglects to note that one of his forbears announced a thousand years ago to an enemy that "my men love death more than your men love life," neglects to note that these attitudes about death and martyrdom in Islamic society go back a lot further than '67, or even '48, back to a time when dying for Allah wasn't a futile gesture but part of a wild and willful warfare otherwise unseen since the Romans put down the Celts in Gaul. The Arabs are victims now. Even as they victimize, traumatizing and killing, the unspoken message is "we are victims, honor us in our weakness, we are sick and pathetic and so you must be moved to help." It is an ugly Beckett farce where weakness is power, haplessness is merit, and the ability to act is the obligation to renounce one's own right to act. The farce must end, the Palestinians must learn that the key to their future lies in affirming action toward peace, not self-destructive negative action toward sanctified victimhood. And if the Israelis are the only ones willing to teach them this, let us give them a free hand in doing so.
He launches into a history lesson on centuries of Islamic struggle, a narrative that ends with bloody details of the recent purported massacres by Israeli soldiers who besieged the Jenin refugee camp on the West Bank: "bodies in pieces, a body in a bucket, 15 or 16 people buried in the same area." He calls the aftermath more horrifying than anything the world witnessed during the Vietnam War or, for that matter, the Holocaust.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 6:23 AM:
Israel Puts Off U.N. InquirySharon's government doubts Jenin probe would reach fair conclusion.
And here the UN tries so hard to be balanced when it comes to Israel.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:12 AM:
Another Den Beste, on trusting your teenagers and GPS.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:10 AM:
Great note from Den Beste on ethanol. And I'm guessing there's a Den Beste post up above; they usually come in groups. If you're not a regular reader of Den Beste, you ought to be. I'm still shaking my head at this post, though, since it uses a lot of stuff from my college minor - chemistry - and I would have neither the desire, nor the inclination, much less the patience to work this stuff out.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:03 AM:
A great man dies. Ken Iverson, believer in steel and free markets has passed on. Samizdata has a nice write-up.* * *
Tuesday, April 23, 2002
posted by gbarto at 11:19 PM:
French election archive: In an effort to make the blog a little less unwieldy, I've done a little paring. Now only my commentary for the first two days after the elections appears on this page. The commentary, the links and the newspaper translations are reproduced in full at TurkeyBlog on the French Elections* * *
posted by gbarto at 10:04 PM:
Will Blogger ever post?* * *
posted by gbarto at 10:03 PM:
Libé: Chirac refuses to debate Le Pen.More leftists (supporters of Chevènement) sign on to Chirac campaign.
And check out the election maps.
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posted by gbarto at 10:00 PM:
Figaro on the web: Tunis accepts thesis of bombing at Djerba, a man arrested.Like Le Monde, Figaro covers the formation of the Union for a Presidential Majority (UMP).
* * *
posted by gbarto at 9:57 PM:
Figaro headlines: Debates: Chirac refuses Le Pen; Who's Protesting against the FN?; UN negotiating with Iraq to put in inspectors.* * *
posted by gbarto at 9:54 PM:
6:45 in Paris; let's see what the French will find at the news stand today:Le Monde: The Right Mobilizes; Demonstrations Continue
La droite se mobilise, les manifestations continuent Moins de quarante-huit heures après le premier tour de l'élection présidentielle, la droite chiraquienne a annoncé la création de l'Union pour la majorité présidentielle. Cette nouvelle formation qui vise à rassembler la droite et le centre droit autour du projet de Jacques Chirac, déclenche l'hostilité de MM. Bayrou et Madelin, qui plaident pour le respect des diverses sensibilités de la droite. A Paris comme en province, les manifestations anti-FN se poursuivent et s'amplifient. M. Chirac s'est prononcé, lors d'un meeting à Rennes, contre la tenue d'un débat avec le leader du FN. La gauche tente de se rassembler pour les législatives en juin. / The Right Mobilizes; Demonstrations Continue. Less than 48 hours after the first round of the presidential elections, the Chiraquian right announced the creation of the Union for a Presidential Majority. This new group which seeks to unite the right and center-right around Chirac's plans unleashed the hostility of Monsieurs Bayrou and Madelin, who ask for respect for the diverse sensitivities of the right. In Paris, as in the provinces, anti-FN demonstrations continue and grow stronger. M. Chirac announced at a meeting in Renne that he was against having a debate with the leader of the FN. The left is trying to come together for legislative elections in June.
Sub-heads: The Progress of populists and nationalists across Europe; Le Pen declares himself the candidate of the "free French", ; Lionel Jospin's mantle passed to Hollande.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:07 PM:
Commuter train hits freight train in Orange County, CA. 2 dead, 260 injured. 2nd big wreck in the last few weeks. Apparently, the commuter train stopped and a freight train behind it... didn't.
One woman, watching out the back, saw the train coming, realized what was happening, screamed move, and she and others began running forward to at least get to the front of the car before it was hit.
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posted by gbarto at 11:58 AM:
Thank God for the occasional attentive janitor: Captive Woman's Plea on Restroom Wall Leads to Trucker's Arrest
* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:54 AM:
Becky Quick on CNBC says Calpine has relented and agreed to a renegotiation with California. What they get: withheld payments, assured revenue stream, end to litigation. California gets lower rates.
Gray Davis trying to jabber about price manipulation; Calpine points out the other 29 states where they operate haven't had a problem.
Finally, Quick points out something California might need: In India, you can buy political risk insurance so that if you're in a regulated industry or an industry that works with government, you can be protected against fickle politicians playing games with your industry. With Gray Davis on the political scene in California, I'll bet a lot of industries wish they could buy this.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 10:52 AM:
While Michael Ledeen argues that Le Pen's rise is a defeat for the left, not a victory for the extreme right, George Melloan starts in Italy with his attempt to understand what happened in France. Melloan notes the waxing and waning of the Communist Party's influence in Italy, then shows how the failures of the socialist/communist ideal have caused one left-wing party after another to collapse from Italy to the former Soviet Union. In the midst of the talk of socialists, we forget that they were once a sort of third way between communism and capitalism; if Melloan is correct, it looks like the fall of socialism is in fact a last gasp of the communist ideal revealed as false. Which means full scale capitalism could be on the way across the continent. Just the opposite of what everybody was saying five years ago.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 9:07 AM:
Germany tells Jews, "try to blend in, don't go lookin' for trouble." Asparagirl has the story and it's an appalling one. Best remark:Perhaps as a next step, Germany could subsidize nose jobs and blonde hair dye and blue contact lenses for its Jewish population. Yes, surely, that would be a better, wiser, safer alternative than confronting the root of their problems and the source of the recent anti-Jewish crime wave.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 8:51 AM:
Ridge Pushes Fast-Track 'Trusted Fliers' Screening
Lawmakers, Airline Groups Express Doubts
I have doubts too. 1) If I worked for a terrorist organization, I would be looking for someone respectable to radicalize who could get his/her hands on the fast-tract cards. 2) This strikes me as too pat a way to make sure that government officials - who already get background checks - can avoid the lines and hassles that those of us who fly four or five times a year go through.
I agree that something needs to be done, namely we need to recognize that perfect security is impossible but politically correct security is just absurd. We should therefore be focusing on measures to deal with those who slip through the cracks, not offering the Faustian bargain of handing over all your information to the government or putting up with what Ridge acknowledges is an overwrought, absurd (and I would add, potentially abusive) system.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 8:41 AM:
Palestinian security chief says Israeli security is not his problem and that he has no intention of trying to stop the violence against Israelis. Give the man points for honesty. The U.S. should make a similar announcement about Palestinian security. We had our go at Middle-East unrest, but now it's time to focus on our priority in the region, the ouster of Saddam, and what happens to Arafat and the Palestinian movement will just have to wait.
As for Iraq, we should be beginning to make the case that Hussein's lack of respect for other nations' sovereignty - Kuwait and Iran's in the past, Israel's now and the threats on our former president- removes the automatic presumption of its sovereignty, i.e. as an outlaw nation, the protections of nation states do not apply. We should further note that if the world community fails to deal with this outlaw nation, its right to constrain individual nations so doing is forfeit.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 8:24 AM:
Does the Pope get it? MSNBC reports that he read the Cardinals the riot act, announced solidarity with the victims of pedophile priests and ordered the Cardinals to remove with all due haste those who had caused harm to children and those who helped them get away with it. No word on whether Cardinal Law will fire himself.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 8:21 AM:
Country divided on US role in Middle East; a slim majority say we should leave it alone. The country is also split on who's to blame, the motives of the two sides, and what Powell's trip meant.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 8:17 AM:
Bush aide Karen Hughes leaving this summer to return to Houston where she is from and her extended family lives. The decision was made when she had to decide whether to re-enroll her son in Washington schools for next year. She will continue offering counsel to the President, but will leave the federal payroll. Says she, the President was not surprised, and understood her reasons. Fair enough, and for those in a position to rearrange work to fit the needs of the family, more power to them.
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posted by gbarto at 12:02 AM:
Here's A Dog's Life on dog rescue, a truly special thing. Getting a dog is one thing. Taking in an abused dog and bringing it to health and happiness so he can be someone else's pet is another, an incredible act of giving to be saluted. Read the post, and remember, don't get a pet until you're really sure you want one - resonsibilities and all. It's worth it, but you've got to make the committment.
* * *
Monday, April 22, 2002
posted by gbarto at 11:50 PM:
Libé: 20,000 youth march in 15 cities across the country.
Bruno Megret is backing Le Pen. The only other candidate not to back Chirac is Arlette Laguiller, whose hatred for Chirac leaves her sitting out. Of course if she'd tossed her votes toward Jospin... but she hates him too.
Unencryptings: Pierre Martin, political scientist, believes that if you voted for Le Pen, you're with him.
Pascal Perrineau believes the votes for Le Pen were principally a rejection of the other candidates.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:43 PM:
Blogger (pro) was refusing to post earlier; here's another try.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 8:58 PM:
Secondary stories from Figaro: Israel, and specifically Sharon, have decided to boycott the UN special envoy to Israel (unsurprising; his record isn't exactly unbiased vis-à-vis the Palestinians); the story on Saxe-Anhalt is still #3 on the website.
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posted by gbarto at 8:51 PM:
see TurkeyBlog's full coverage here.
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posted by gbarto at 8:44 PM:
see TurkeyBlog's full coverage here.
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posted by gbarto at 3:39 PM:
see TurkeyBlog's full coverage here.
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posted by gbarto at 2:49 PM:
see TurkeyBlog's full coverage here.
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posted by gbarto at 2:05 PM:
see TurkeyBlog's full coverage here.
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posted by gbarto at 1:32 PM:
Thanks to A Dog's life for the mention.
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posted by gbarto at 1:11 PM:
About time: The Dreaded Purple Master has returned.
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posted by gbarto at 1:07 PM:
Hey! Fox News says that the reason of the three "collaborators" died is because the Palestinians in the crowd prevented emergency workers from reaching him. Does this add to the human rights dimension? Just think, denied medical care. What must the UN think?
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posted by gbarto at 12:59 PM:
Howard Kurtz: Media Notes
Who Cares What You Think?
Web logs create "journalistic medium where no thought goes unpublished."
For the record, I have just left two thoughts unpublished.
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posted by gbarto at 12:51 PM:
Not an auspicious opening if he's going to plead not guilty:Moussaoui Calls for Destruction of U.S.
Accused Sept. 11 conspirator cites Koran and asks judge to fire his lawyer.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:47 PM:
Justice, Palestinian style:Elsewhere in Ramallah, a gruesome scene was played out in a downtown square: at least three masked men fired assault rifles at three alleged informers, in front of scores of bystanders. The crowd quickly grew and watched the wounded men writhing on the ground. The three were eventually taken to a hospital where one later died.-Fox News report
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posted by gbarto at 11:12 AM:
On today's WSJ op-ed page, Bob Bartley looks at a worthwhile question that some more cogent Europeans have apparently been pushing: Would a US invasion of Iraq radically alter the idea of sovereignty, and shouldn't we talk to somebody before we rewrite all the rules? I'd suggest that there is a philosphical basis for the US going it alone.
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posted by gbarto at 7:35 AM:
Great question from Layne - how many of the anti-Le Pen protesters voted? Apparently, not enough.
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posted by gbarto at 7:28 AM:
Breaking News: In re the debacle in France, I still haven't found anyone blaming America for this!
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posted by gbarto at 7:26 AM:
see TurkeyBlog's full coverage here.
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posted by gbarto at 7:22 AM:
see TurkeyBlog's full coverage here.
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posted by gbarto at 7:18 AM:
see TurkeyBlog's full coverage here.
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posted by gbarto at 7:00 AM:
In the midst of the news, be sure to check out Friday's Bleat if you haven't already. Adorable "how coot" moments with Gnat. And try todays as well (link at left under Lileks)
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posted by gbarto at 6:48 AM:
see TurkeyBlog's full coverage here.
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posted by gbarto at 6:43 AM:
see TurkeyBlog's full coverage here.
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posted by gbarto at 6:40 AM:
Israel Withdraws Troops From 2 West Bank Cities
Sharon says initial, larger stage of operation complete; Palestinians accuse army of looting, vandalism.
Anything to keep the focus off whether the Palestinians have renounced terror.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:15 AM:
You've got the French response and my response below. But if you want pure, pristine truth incarnate, better check out Den Beste. And take it out again the next time you are on your way to vote.
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posted by gbarto at 1:08 AM:
Matt Welch hits it on the head. No need to get excited. This is Buchanan winning the New Hampshire primary, not Hitler taking power in Germany. But if he wins... never happen.
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posted by gbarto at 12:36 AM:
The New France:
Center-Right or Right-Wing?
Jacques Chirac won a plurality of the vote in the first round of French presidential elections, capturing 20% of the vote. Ho-hum. The real story: Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the Front National, a man whose agenda in not so subtle terms implies that France would be better if everyone with darker skin than his left, garnered 17% of the vote. With Lionel Jospin flailing to figure out what he stood for and hardcore leftists ready to say "not enough", that 17% for Le Pen was enough to put the French equivalent of Pat Buchanan meets David Duke in the running for "La présidence de la République française".
And that's not all; the Social Democrats got routed in Saxe-Anhalt in the last contest leading up to legislative elections in September, and thus comes the question, whither the European left? Just a few days ago, I forget where, I was reading about how with Jospin and Schroder running France and Germany, Tony Blair would be forced to get on board with the European left and shed his Thatcherite leanings. So much for that dream. Lionel Jospin ... is ... out!
Where does this lead? The first inclination is to say, nowhere good. Certainly that's the case at LeMonde, which went from "séisme" - earthquake - to cataclysme in their characterization. A rather sharp slap on the wrist for les citoyens de la République française, having it explained to them that they've set something awful in motion. With nasty comments like that, maybe even more voters will stay away next time, though Le Pen's margin of victory surely was aided by discouraged leftists who either didn't vote or voted extreme left in the (realistic) conclusion that even if Jospin truly were a leftist, he couldn't put together a government so you'd know it. So far away now seems the triumph of the 35 hour work-week. May 5, the Prime Minister leaves politics. But when he recedes from Matignon, will his fellow countrymen even recognize him? Or will Jacques Chirac's expected continued tenure at the Elysée Palace leave Jospin just another Prime Minister, much the same way Chirac must have felt before his election to the Presidency in 1995? Time will tell. However, none of this means that France has suddenly become a right-wing future Nazi state. The left, en large, easily outpolled Le Pen. And after the legislative elections in June, their fractured voices of today will presumably come together in a crankily unstable yet nonetheless existent coalition to check, if not outweigh, the power of the right. As importanly, one wonders how many French will be astonished that their protest vote for Le Pen actually counted. (Naderites are called to task for diminishing Gore's margins, but the regrets could have been far greater had he actually won.) Now we wait and see, and maybe we snicker just a little at how the leftist elite in France has shot itself in the foot. We can do this, for despite the nasty comments back and forth, France remains fundamentally a part of Western civilization, rendered foolish by its existential angst at no longer being the center of the world, but still a part of our team. The elections, in my best estimation, show the French are fed up with politics and fed up with their leaders. And lest we fear that events seem to earth-shaking, let us go about our business, confident that whatever the shifts in the political climate, whatever the roiling of their society, the leadership will still be angry at America and the citizenry will still watch our movies.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:21 AM:
see TurkeyBlog's full coverage here.
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posted by gbarto at 12:05 AM:
see TurkeyBlog's full coverage here.
* * *
Sunday, April 21, 2002
posted by gbarto at 11:54 PM:
see TurkeyBlog's full coverage here.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:46 PM:
see TurkeyBlog's full coverage here.
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posted by gbarto at 11:42 PM:
see TurkeyBlog's full coverage here.
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posted by gbarto at 11:34 PM:
see TurkeyBlog's full coverage here.
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posted by gbarto at 11:30 PM:
see TurkeyBlog's full coverage here.
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posted by gbarto at 11:19 PM:
Here starts our coverage of the French newspapers, and we're running long on the translations:
Le séisme Le Pen, l'abandon de Jospin
Le premier tour de l'élection présidentielle s'est traduit par un véritable séisme politique, avec l'éviction de Lionel Jospin du second tour où Jacques Chirac, arrivé en tête, affrontera Jean-Marie Le Pen. Pour la première fois dans l'histoire de la République, un candidat d'extrême-droite participera au second tour d'une élection présidentielle. Selon les résultats définitifs communiqués lundi par le ministère de l'intérieur sur la France entière, sauf la Guyane, la Martinique, la Guadeloupe, la Polynésie et les Français de l'étranger, Jacques Chirac arrive en tête avec 19,67 % des voix. Suivent Jean-Marie Le Pen avec 17,02 % des voix, puis Lionel Jospin avec 16,07 %. / The Le Pen Earthquake, the Abandonment of Jospin. The first round of the presidential elections represents a political earthquake with the eviction of Lionel Jospin from the second round where Chirac, arriving at the front of the line, will face Jean-Marie Le Pen. For the first time in the history of the Republic, an extreme right candidate will participate in the second round of the presidential elections. According to the definitive results issued Monday by the Minister of the Interior of all France, save Guyana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Polynesia and French citizens overseas, Jacques Chirac came in first with 19.67%. After were Jean-Marie Le Pen with 17.02%, then Lionel Jospin with 16.07%.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:03 PM:
Holy Shit! Sorry, but I'm tout à fait époustoufflé. Le Monde and Le Figaro are issuing the same results, direct from the Minister of the Interior in France, and here's the breakdown: Jacques Chirac, 19.7%; Jean-Friggin'-Marie LePen, 17.02%; Lionel Jospin, 16.07%. This means that Prime Minister Jospin is out of the running! and that a man who makes Pat Buchanan look sensitive and self-effacing is the number two choice of French voters. This is what sometimes happens with the 2-step election (liberal do-gooders with your dreams of "fairer" elections giving smaller parties a chance take note): Essentially, for the next round, we have George HW Bush facing Pat Buchanan for the presidency.
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posted by gbarto at 1:56 PM:
Three posts off one LGF post below. Does my training in grad school show?
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posted by gbarto at 1:52 PM:
Did Alduous Huxley call another one? Here's a little Brave New World Revisited:Only an Epsilon can be expected to make Epsilon sacrifices, for the good reason that for him they aren’t sacrifices; they’re the line of least resistance. (chapter 16)Is this not the Palestinian suicide bomber? And does this remark not remind of the discussion of Alphas and Betas and - horrors - Epsilons?"Some men must grow up to become doctors," Rantisi said.Division of labor, the Palestinian way: You'll be a doctor, you'll be a corpse, and we'll all be happy because everyone has their role. Suddenly Netanyahu's linking of totalitarianism (Fredrik would say the philosophies behind totalitarianism) and terrorism starts to have a disturbingly compelling logic to it.
"But for that to happen, others have to sacrifice themselves and become martyrs." (cited at LGF)
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posted by gbarto at 1:26 PM:
Charles Johnson gives us a double-whammy with the post mentioned below. He also has this snippet:But [Hamas leader] Rantisi seemed caught off-guard when his oldest son, Mohammad, 23, who is a medical student in Iraq, said he, too, would be "honored to be chosen to become a martyr."What was it somebody said the other day?
"He doesn't know what he is saying," said Rantisi, with a dismissive smile. "He is only saying this because of his youth.Palestine saves death for its civilians, little boys and young women. This is why Arafat lives and Ayat Akhras is dead.Apparently family members are covered under the same policy.
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posted by gbarto at 1:19 PM:
Now I have a pair of quotes, one from mum, one from pup."I am not too sad about my son because I believe that he is a martyr, and is now with God," Haithem's father said. "He did the right thing. He died trying to liberate Palestine."and you already know this one:"If I had 100 sons, I would sacrifice them all for Allah and Palestine. I will not be content until all the Jews are killed and gone from Palestine."
-Palestinian mother of a suicide bomber
Thanks to Little Green Footballs for the paternal perspective; I've been flogging the loving mother's quote for quite a while. You should read the whole post from LGF, by the way. My own take on Palestinian parents is here.
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posted by gbarto at 1:06 PM:
Can Daschle be president? Edwards? (who?) McCain? (as if). A Dog's life isn't convinced.
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posted by gbarto at 12:24 PM:
Our partner in peace.He (Arafat) agreed to set up a private channel between his people and the Israelis, which I joined at the end of August. And there were serious discussions that went on, and we were poised to present our ideas the end of September, which is when the intifada erupted. He knew we were poised to present the ideas. His own people were telling him they looked good. And we asked him to intervene to ensure there wouldn't be violence after the Sharon visit, the day after. He said he would. He didn't lift a finger.Dennis Ross, Bill Clinton's mideast envoy, on how Arafat started the intifadah the very moment that the possibility of peace emerged.
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posted by gbarto at 12:17 PM:
"I think the more access he is given, the opportunity he is given to show whether or not he can control forces or bring this security situation under control," Powell said on NBC's "Meet the Press." (from WaPo)
Does this mean if they let him out and attacks recommence, the Israelis will have the green light to do what they will?
The quote, incidentally, comes from a story on Israel's withdrawal from just about everywhere except Bethlehem and Ramallah. You'll recall that Bethlehem is where they're itching for Israeli withdrawal so that militants can regroup.
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posted by gbarto at 12:13 PM:
From the Detroit Free Press: SUSAN AGER: Enemies must try to really see each other Ager is writing about talking with a friend about conflict resolution, seeing into one another's hearts, and all the other nice things that might come if the two sides in the Middle East could acknowledge their common humanity. Her friend says Palestinians and Israelis should be made to draw portraits of one another so that they'd become familiar with each other's features in new, more appreciative ways. Ager has her own route to peace:If I were working for peace in the Middle East, I might lure Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat into an elevator, then shut it down between two high floors.It's a nice thought, but I suspect that when the doors opened, you would either find Arafat strangled or Sharon knifed. To her credit, Ager sort of acknowledges this near the end:
Hours alone together in a small space, with no one to distract them, might loosen their hearts. Sitting with their backs against the elevator walls, they might begin to see possibilities in options they earlier rejected.
They would be stuck, with no escape from their duty: To pledge to each other, out of their suffering, to live together in peace.My friend and I, and others who describe New Age means of conflict resolution, are guilty of wishful thinking. The old ways are familiar to the men in suits who run the world, with swords at their sides, even if those ways and those men may fail us now.Ager wishes to see war become an artifact of days gone by; unfortunately, we're dealing with people who are still living in the twelfth century. Still, some interesting thoughts.
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posted by gbarto at 11:20 AM:
Faith in government relies on open, fair hearings. The Detroit Free Press and News got a deportation hearing opened that the government wanted closed. This guy makes the point that the government would probably want to close hearings related to Atta too; while secrecy may be needed for the war on terror, we need a way to make sure that it isn't used to cover up government incompetence.
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posted by gbarto at 10:08 AM:
Fourteen killed in bombing in Manila. Muslim extremist group credited/blamed in phone call.
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posted by gbarto at 10:02 AM:
Drop in French voting. In the last presidential election, 64.02% of French voters cast ballots; this time it was 58.55%.
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posted by gbarto at 10:00 AM:
First Electronic Voting in France. In three locales yesterday, French voters were given the chance to vote electronically in secret, as the French test a new system. The results won't count, but will be compared with the paper ballots handed in to see if the system seems viable.
When I was there in '93, I was surprised by how they did the vote then: You got an envelope in the mail with your "ballot" - papers for each of the candidates and brochures for each of the candidates; you took the "ballots" to municipal headquarters and used them to make your votes.
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posted by gbarto at 2:06 AM:
I'd love to see my Microsoft go up, but not this way: Government to use Microsoft Passport for online identification? I know, if we're going to do secure transactions with the government, some sort of authentication is needed. But government should face all the restrictions about information gathering and sharing imposed on businesses, and any other restrictions necessary to insure that when your computer gets involved with the government, the business at hand is the sole thing their computers can track. via Orchid
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posted by gbarto at 12:54 AM:
I referenced this earlier today, but didn't have the link. Everyone else has linked it too, but it ought to be read, so here it is, just in case. It's the agitator, and he is extremely agitated by what happens when unthinking twits try to make a statement.
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