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Saturday, December 07, 2002
posted by gbarto at 12:08 AM:
French news round-up:Le Monde leads with the "Resignation of the American Treasury Secretary."
Libé's top story is "Parents and Profs rise up against Ferry." Ferry being a gov't minister who has moved to cut tens of thousands of teaching jobs at all levels for budgetary reasons.
Le Figaro tells of a "Judiciary Polemic regarding the freeing of Roms." In said polemic, the judges who recently cut lose a number of Gypsies issued a scathing report on why they found police dossiers so wanting.
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Friday, December 06, 2002
posted by gbarto at 11:13 PM:
Oh no! Unremitting Verse is retiring. I found the notice at Natalie Solent's.* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:09 PM:
Two Killed at Venezuela RallyShots fired in crowded square during protest against President Chavez
Doubtless, those on the left who cheered his survival of a coup this summer are cheering to see order maintained.
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posted by gbarto at 11:07 PM:
On the Run, On the DoleWashington state fugitives are still getting welfare checks
It's hard to say who looks the worst in this little fiasco. Apparently, thousands of felons, sought by police, are collecting welfare benefits in Washington state. A Seattle TV station located 347 people in one county alone whom the police couldn't find but with whom the Social Services department had regular contact - by virtue of sending them their checks and making sure their addresses were current.
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posted by gbarto at 11:00 PM:
Court: No Right to Bear ArmsNinth Circuit rules Second Amendment does not protect private gun owners
Let's run that headline through the old translator: Ninth Circuit sets itself up to be overturned yet again!
The ruling is wrong and wrongheaded, suggesting, as it does, that while the states have the right to defend themselves against the federal government, the citizens have no such right. While the idea is cute enough for worshippers of states' rights, it runs contrary to everything argued by Locke and co. within the philosophical tradition that justified our revolution to begin with.
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posted by gbarto at 10:55 PM:
Shakeup at the White HouseTreasury Secretary Paul O'Neill out the door in top-level shuffle
Ditto for Larry Lindsay at the Council of Economic Advisers.
O'Neill's time at Treasury was controversial, as all the reports are saying, but he had some useful things to say, if only he had chosen better times to say them. His plain-spoken commentary on "markets go up, markets go down," reflected a view that was much needed after Rubin's cheerleading.
It seems to me somewhat strange to be coming home to this news; earlier this evening, I was reading Jim Cramer's You got screwed, which concerns itself with the way the telco and dot-com bubbles got inflated. O'Neill's fault in this, like Levitt's, is a failure to correct for the Clinton era, i.e. a sin of omission rather than commission. So we bid O'Neill (and Lindsay, whom we used to like to watch on CNBC) well. May their next endeavors go better.
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posted by gbarto at 3:07 AM:
Noted over at Common Sense and Wonder by yours truly regarding worker-owned ventures and whether they're a bad idea.The founders of Adelphia were hardly "the workers" but they looted the company into non-existence. Many mom-and-pop concerns have also gone under because mom and/or pop abused the business's assets. The problem is not worker ownership, but irresponsible ownership that fails to respect the abstraction of an enterprise as a tangible holder of value vs. the immediate "value" to be gained by physically removing assets or taking unearned compensation. It seems that such irresponsibilty transcends classlines, hence Enron, Price Waterhouse and much more.
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posted by gbarto at 2:48 AM:
Of the list below (you'll see it when you get there) you'll note that we do the same thing with "The White House today said..." and such. Incidentally, two more from the French newspapers: Tsahal is the location of the Israeli Defense Ministry; the TurkeyBlog always translates this one in both senses. And of course, Brussels is the EU.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:25 AM:
While none of them came up tonight, often in the French news there are references to places as synecdoches (referents standing in for something else) for people/government agencies. So tonight, a very brief glossary for a few:Elysée: The President of France (The Elysian Palace is his residence)
Matignon: The Prime Minister of France (The Hotel Matignon is his residence)
Le Palais Bourbon: The National Assembly is in the Bourbon Palace
Le Quai d'Orsay: The Foreign Ministry
Bercy: The Ministry of Finance
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posted by gbarto at 1:54 AM:
French news round-up:Le Monde: "Gaza prey to resurgence of violence." We learn that ten Palestinians were killed in an Israeli op and that P.M. Sharon has laid out conditions for a Palestinian state that the Palestinians reject.
Meanwhile, in Makassar, Indonesia, we've had "A murderous explosion at a McDonald's." Three dead, eleven wounded. The national police don't want to link the attack to the Bali bombing.
Libé: "Terrorism: the head of DST speaks." That's the Department for Surveillance of the Territory. Says he, terrorism could spring up anywhere at anytime but one can't go too crazy with every threat lest people begin to think you're just crying wolf all the time. He also thinks Osama's alive but used audio instead of video with the latest tape so that changes in appearance or indications of his location wouldn't be in evidence.
Le Figaro: "France prepares for black tide." If nothing is done, oil from the Prestige could start showing up on French coasts in 45 days. So the Ministry of Ecology is preparing to do something. Among other things, they've got planes tracking oil pockets moving their way and are sending boats with recuperation devices to gather up concentrated masses of oil.
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Thursday, December 05, 2002
posted by gbarto at 2:20 PM:
Here's Dr. Weevil about an... unusual... idea for a languages department. He's springboarding from a note by the famous Amish Tech Support.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:15 PM:
Fourth Cruise Ship Gets SickP&O Lines' Oceana latest liner on which dozens contract stomach virus
If you'll forgive the vulgar tone, it sounds more like a porcelain cruise. But ever looking for a positive angle, Disney is now running a promotional special where they give you bad potato salad and show you old Mickey Mouse shorts for one-tenth of the price of a normal cruise.
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posted by gbarto at 2:13 PM:
Thurmond Reaches Century MarkCapitol party for GOP senator to draw plethora of power brokers
And every bit alert as he was at 95!
The TurkeyBlog congratulates Mr. Thurmond, while noting it is probably good that he's finally stepping down.
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posted by gbarto at 2:00 PM:
Prosecutors Ask Judge to Vacate Central Park Rape ConvictionsNEW YORK — The district attorney asked a judge Thursday to throw out the convictions of five young men in one of the nation's most notorious rape cases: the 1989 attack on a Central Park jogger who was beaten and left for dead.An amazing story with awful implications for our justice system given the details that are emerging.
District Attorney Robert Morgenthau's recommendation came 11 months after a convicted rapist who had never before been under suspicion confessed and said he acted alone in committing the crime that had been blamed on a gang of "wilding" youths. DNA evidence has backed his claim.
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posted by gbarto at 1:56 PM:
Winter's Fury ArrivesBlizzard that killed 17 in South, Midwest barrels up Eastern Seaboard, snarling air travel and shutting down schools
Old Man Winter's out in full force, it looks like.
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posted by gbarto at 3:02 AM:
Here's Bjørn Stærk with a "religious" practice that shouldn't be tolerated.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:59 AM:
Here's a very nice essay from Cicero on the differences between tolerance and PC with a primer on the origins of our doctrine of toleration in the West.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:53 AM:
French news round-up:Le Monde fronts "Austerity cure for France Telecom." The beleaguered telco will get 9B Euros from France while agreeing to work on stabilizing costs, etc, worrying telecom unions.
Le Figaro leads with the same story, sort of: "The government is ready to privatize France Telecom." We wonder how the Le Monde headline writers missed that, but Le Figaro's emphasis is on how the telco can get on its own two feet with the new CEO's plan. Two sides of the same coin, I guess.
The top Libé headline is "8 million jobs to fill by 2010." While everyone else feels so disturbed about France's economic course and the implications for the workers, Libé is wondering how they're going to come up with enough people (700,000 a year) to fill new positions and replace retirees.
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posted by gbarto at 2:41 AM:
Hmmm...Judge: Bill Clinton Doesn't Have to Testify
Wasn't yesterday's headline about how lucky the Dems were to have him giving counsel over what happened in the midterm elections? Oh well, at least he got his name in the news again.
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posted by gbarto at 2:39 AM:
Iraqi Veep: Inspectors Are SpiesOfficial claims U.N. searches will assist in 'coming aggression,' says inspection of one of Saddam's palaces was provocation
It would seem like if they were just vile spies out to destroy Saddam, they'd be doing the U.S.'s will a lot more readily.
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Wednesday, December 04, 2002
posted by gbarto at 12:43 AM:
Natalie Solent alerts us to the unfortunate approach of our neighbors to the north as regards the war on terror.Maybe "Blame Canada" wasn't just parody.
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posted by gbarto at 12:41 AM:
A Dog's Life reports that the Met has made an ass of itself. Let's hope it has learned from its mistakes and will make amends.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:39 AM:
Hear! hear! for a Hear! hear! over at A Dog's Life on the difference between opposing Islamic terror and being a bigot. Let's remember the real enemy, folks. It's not Muslims in general but those particular Muslims that want to extinguish us and/or convert us at the point of the sword.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:35 AM:
French news update:Le Monde leads with: "Iraq: The U.S. between satisfaction and firmness." Which is to say that Powell and Annan are satisfied with Iraq's cooperation so far but the US insists that inspections must continue and Iraq must behave. The U.S. has also been seeking the support of other nations if war with Iraq becomes necessary; France, Germany and Russia are between reticence and recalcitrance. Regular readers of this feature should not be surprised by that bit of news.
Libé's headline is "Islamic veil at business' front door," regarding a Muslim woman who has complained about the way she's been treated for wearing her veil at work. The business, on the other hand, says it opposes her "passive proselytism."
And Le Figaro fronts "Handicappers: Chirac's appeal." Notes Le Figaro, Chirac normally doesn't invoke his personal interest in legislation, but in announcing a new measure to increase employment of the handicapped and give them greater rights in society, he evoked his long involvement in the cause (he pushed through major measures in 1975 and 1987).
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posted by gbarto at 12:18 AM:
Love that AFP updater on the French news sites. Here's the latest (we've included the whole story since it's short):Monkey attacks 23 women in Japanese city
A monkey has attacked 23 women, biting and scratching them, and sowing panic for three days in a tourist locality of Japan, it was learned Wednesday from official sources. A squad of 30 police officers and municipal agents, equipped with rifles with anaesthetic darts, was launched in pursuit of the animal, a Japanese macaque which measures one meter, in Shimo-Suwa (150 km to the North-West of Tokyo). The incidents took place early the morning, Monday and Tuesday, when the animal attacked women from 50 to 80 years old who were hanging out their linen, according to local media. A 72 year old woman broke her hand when she fell in fleeing and another had to receive stitches for a bite on the thigh.
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posted by gbarto at 12:04 AM:
Saudis Launch Damage ControlOfficial disputes country's alleged financial ties to terrorism
Here's a tip: raising millions for the families of suicide bombers, being the birth country of most of the hijackers and having your prince's wife write checks to folks associated with terrorism was not a good start. If the Saudis were as severe with Wahabbists promoting mass murder as they are with shoplifters, they'd still be barbarians but at least their efforts could be taken seriously.
Hiring a p.r. firm to dress up the ugly facts, on the other, won't do it.
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posted by gbarto at 12:00 AM:
Blogger was down so we just had a quick French news update (it's now in the Blogger system):Le Monde leads with "Bombings in Kenya: the trail to Al-Qaeda," regarding the group's taking credit on several websites Monday.
Le Figaro's top story is "Paris and London to close Sangatte the 30th of December," Sangatte being a Red Cross installation to take care of illegal immigrants.
Libé's lead is "Lyonnais, center of bank wars," regarding that Institution's place in a dispute between Credit Agricole and BNP (Banque National de Paris).
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Monday, December 02, 2002
posted by gbarto at 12:12 PM:
Here's the Le Figaro lead, which we couldn't bring you last night: "Black Tide: The King of Spain Calls for Unity." That's with respect to the oil slick from the Prestige that's washing up on Galicia.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:11 PM:
A Small Nation's Big Effort Against AIDSBotswana Spreads Message and Free Drugs, but Old Attitudes Persist
It's the developing world's most intense attack on AIDS -- including free antiretroviral drugs for any HIV-positive patient who needs them -- and the outcome could shape the epidemic's future.And then there's this:
So far, though, Botswana's AIDS fighters say they are winning major battles but losing the war. Patients receiving antiretroviral drugs are doing far better than expected, often recovering from the edge of death to rejoin the workforce. But their numbers are far smaller than expected, because the promise of free treatment has failed to persuade the vast majority of Botswanans to get tested for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, or to change their sexual behavior.
The virus is still spreading much faster than it is being treated, with an estimated five new infections per hour and 75 deaths per day -- among a population of about 1.6 million. Two years into the five-year African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnership, Botswana is learning what big money, free drugs and strong leadership can and cannot do to halt the epidemic.
But they said that no matter what resources they throw at HIV -- Gates's money, Merck's drugs, Harvard's expertise, the president's bully pulpit -- people here seem psychologically unwilling or unable to admit the immediacy of the crisis. "The really insane thing is how normal this has become," Darkoh said.The Bush administration has held off on some funding, fearing that people wouldn't take meds on a regular schedule, follow treatment regimens, etc. This fear does not seem to be borne out - as the Post emphasizes - for those who actually take advantage of the program. Unfortunately, most don't. Which means even Botswana - with the most active anti-AIDS president around - is only making small strides. Good luck with places like South Africa, then, where the president has denied the existence of AIDS.
Africa is in deep trouble, and no amount of money or drugs from the West is going to fix it. Only in shedding the anti-West, anti-enlightenment ideas of post-colonialism to let new ways of thinking about this disease - for leaders and citizens alike - can get this under control.
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posted by gbarto at 11:57 AM:
U.N. Says Equipment Missing in IraqIn first glitch in five days, inspectors say that components that were present at a missile site in 1998 are not there now
In a statement, the U.N. weapons inspectors said Iraqi officials had told them the equipment had either been destroyed by Allied bombing or was moved to other facilities in Iraq.But why was it moved to other facilities? For use, one presumes. In what? we must wonder. The first ominous note from the inspections has come, then, five days in.
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posted by gbarto at 3:57 AM:
The other night in the French news, I linked to a Libération story which noted the sales figures for Zola, Hugo and Dumas.Cicero asks if I could comment on the wide margin by which Zola outsells everyone else.
For the record, I'll first note that Dumas is indeed not my favorite 19th c. French author. My favorite did not need to wait nearly so long to enter the Pantheon - Hugo was interred there after a state funeral in his honor; he died May 23 and the funeral took place on June 1 (the Assembly and Senate had to vote on the question before anything could be done). Incidentally, Hugo's tomb is opposite Zola's.
As to the sales figures, there are a couple things driving them - as far as I can tell: Libé notes that Hugo and Zola are both on the reading lists for school, Dumas is not. This is not surprising. Dumas was a teller of tales, from what I understand. This was definitely the impression I got reading The Count of Monte Christo (the only of his books that I've read). There's an enthusiasm (or at least an interest) for the way society is evolving - becoming more modern, more technical and more commercial - a point made by David Bell at a presentation I saw at Dartmouth a hundred years ago. But there is not the open moralizing that characterizes the digressions of Hugo and the very plotlines of Zola. When one thinks of Hugo, one thinks of Les Miserables and Notre Dame de Paris (the Hunchback); Hugo wrote the two as critiques of the forces that shape man, namely society and the church (the third force, nature, was the subject of The Toilers of the Sea, but this book simply has not captured the popular imagination in the same way). As for Zola, one thinks of Germinal, L'Assommoir, La Bete humaine, Nana... How many did he write, anyway?
A few observations: When literary types think of Hugo, they know they're supposed to think: "Romantic." His verse and drama epitomized and laid the ground rules for this literary movement, which gave us the pose of the author apart from society, more sensitive, more enlightened, a font of genius rather than a muse's receptacle. Of course, his social fiction (especially Les Miserables) has a strong Naturalist streak (not to mention a fair share of moments where Hugolian narration did a better job of letting us see through the characters' eyes than Flaubertian Realism ever did). But bottom line, Hugo is Romantic and Romantic is Hugo. Better than half a century of literature was written in response to him - supporting or opposing, it doesn't matter; he was the elephant in the room and that counts for something.
While Flaubert moved some books and gave us Realism, I get the impression that it wasn't until Zola that we got another figure who could really set the tone for France. The "J'accuse" in the Dreyfuss Affair (alleging that anti-Semitism, not discipline was driving military affairs) was important but so was the proliferation of tomes that were sensationalized as pornographic but which spoke to the reality of the underclass. Zola's Naturalism asserted that people were subject to social forces outside their control; the pictures he painted were often of the hopelessness of trying to move up from one's social station - or an indictment of a society in which such hopelessness existed. Alcoholism, poor working conditions, the subjugation of women, etc, were dominant themes and - like Hugo's calls for compassion and understanding of those trapped by circumstances - they evoked a sense of pity and compassion in readers that the guardians of French culture would like to maintain. Dumas is fun, but Hugo and Zola define major aspects of what one should know about and feel to be an enlightened citizen of a Republic dedicated to Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.
As to why Zola outsells Hugo: 1) Hugo is incredibly heavy reading. There aren't a lot of Zola musicals, but there are a lot of important Zola works that can be read in an afternoon. 2) There are a lot of important Zola works, period. Emile didn't spend ten years trying to run France and didn't write tons of plays and poetry (which typically don't sell so well). Balzac's Human Comedy is the only thing comparable to the Rougon-Macquart series as far as such things go and when you package your social agenda into 20 or 30 books sold separately, you'll get better figures than the author who wrote a handful of really great novels and 150,000 lines of poetry. My only question: Where's Balzac? I haven't found any good numbers.
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posted by gbarto at 3:10 AM:
French news round-up:Le Monde leads with "Human Tide Against Black Tide" about efforts to contain and clean up the oil spill of the shores of Galicia from the Prestige.
Libé leads has "Radicalism: The Left's new frontier" up top, this addressing the ways socialists, greens, anti-globalists and anti-capitalists have taken a stronger line since the left's defeat this summer.
Le Figaro's site is misbehaving; we'll try to update tomorrow.
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Sunday, December 01, 2002
posted by gbarto at 2:00 AM:
Here's the mighty Mark Steyn on guns and Moore. Notes Steyn:[F]or a champion of the little guy, he goes to an awful lot of time and effort to make the little guy look like a chump.But there's nothing shocking here. It's by now an article of faith in the ultra-liberal culture that the glorious proletariat is too stupid to know how badly it needs that culture's wisdom. One had only to read the letters to the editor after this fall's elections to see in how little esteem these champions of "the little people" feel for the little people when they vote Republican - just because they love them and would pass a million programs for them doesn't mean they respect them as thinking people (there were shades of this on the far right when "the working man" had the audacity to vote for Clinton a few years back). Which serves again to remind that when a stranger shows up and announces he has something wonderful to give you, you'd best watch your wallet - and your freedom.
(via Cicero)
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posted by gbarto at 1:50 AM:
French news round-up:Le Monde's lead is "Iraq: the UN's ready for action" (actually, it says the UN's on it's work-foot, but them French people talk funny sometimes, hence our update to make it all clear). Says Le Monde, the team inspected two military-industrial sites and a military base, this in conformance with Res. 1441, giving Baghdad one last chance to disarm and prove it has done so before facing UN (read US) action.
Here's a Le Monde article from yesterday about the breaking of a cease-fire and renewed violence in the Ivory Coast, but I haven't found anything about French action to evacuate still more people, though Fox is running a story to that effect here.
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posted by gbarto at 1:37 AM:
Jeffords Slams President's Environmental RecordDear, dear. As far as I know the President doesn't sit up nights wondering if the Senator is happy.
However, I understand that as a gesture of goodwill and to show there are no hard feelings about what happened in the last Senate, the President is contemplating siting the next national nuclear waste storage facility just outside Montpelier. Hopefully, the federal jobs will make up for any funds cut from the Dairy Compact.
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posted by gbarto at 1:18 AM:
Foreigners Evacuated in Ivory CoastFrench troops take civilians out of rebel-held city as fighting intensifies
Just for the record. If Le Monde is paying attention, you already read about this in the French news update.
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posted by gbarto at 1:15 AM:
Bush Cuts Federal Pay RaisesPresident cites war on terror as reason for freeze in wage increase
I'll let one of my esteemed correspondents take care of this one:
Nice comment about the cephalo-proctal extraction. The same procedure is necessary for the people writing about Bush "cutting" pay raises for federal employees. So the rotten bastards only get 3.1% as a raise, they don't get a SECOND raise at THE SAME TIME! Poor, poor federal employees. I really feel for them.
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