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Saturday, May 10, 2003
posted by gbarto at 1:11 AM:
Passengers Sucked Out of Plane Over CongoDoors flew open aboard Russian-made cargo aircraft; seven confirmed dead
More bad news in the Congo, more bad news for this plane, more bad news for Russian-made aircraft in Africa (another Russian aircraft crashed in Kinshasa, killing 1,000, in 1996). By the way, the plane was labeled "Ukrainian Cargo Airlines." The plane was a modified cargo plane which has had a few incidents killing everyone on board. In one of those cases, that was 275 people. In another, it was 6. Sounds like someone needs to figure out what this plane is to be used for. We suggest removing the wings and turning them into storage sheds.
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posted by gbarto at 1:03 AM:
Here's the story we were mentioning in French news headlines (down about 3):Bush Wants Free Trade in Mideast
President says lifting U.S. restrictions on trade in region could boost economies of Arab nations, promote peace
As long as they're serious about the reforms required to join this free trade zone, I'm for it.
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posted by gbarto at 12:58 AM:
Not so Happy Mothers' Day prelude:Smiling Mom Puts Gun to Son's Head
Jail escapee shot during standoff
Geez. Talk about therapy bills. If Ms. Lovell's child goes on a shooting spree some Mothers' Day weekend 15 years from now, we'll know why.
Hope things are better in your family.
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posted by gbarto at 12:42 AM:
French news headlines:Le Monde: Middle-East: George Bush Proposes Free Trade. He would establish open markets with Middle-Eastern countries provided they adopted reforms to fight terrorism and corruption.
Le Figaro: Black Tide: Fipol Under Public Protest. The fund was supposed to help victims of the black tide from the tanker that broke apart a few months ago; it has announced it will pay victims only 15% of damages they incurred.
Libé has the same lead as Le Monde, but its headline is Middle East: The Market of Peace.
Ouest-France: The Contagious Groan of Specialists. Regarding manipulations of the health care system over who gets to see specialists.
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Friday, May 09, 2003
posted by gbarto at 2:38 AM:
Here's Cicero on Brazil, land of less racial openness than advertised.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:30 AM:
Congratulations to Greg Hlatky on his 29th patent. The Dog's Life commentator also has a shot at the French and a nice review of Anne Applebaum's book on the gulags. All worth checking out.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:21 AM:
Here's Natalie Solent on the French Doonesbury cartoon from last Sunday. Elle parle français aussi. Et ses observations sont beaucoup plus utiles que celles de M. Trudeau.And by the way, if you lack a Linguaphone set, you can always go the gbarto.com page for language books.
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posted by gbarto at 2:17 AM:
French news headlines:Le Monde: Iraq: An American Resolution at the UN. Tomorrow we present a resolution to get rid of the sanctions.
Le Figaro: Bin Laden Thought to Have Died in December, 2001. This according to an Arabist with the CNRS, a prominent French research outfit. The specialist, Ghislaine Alleaume, draws her conclusions from what documents and audio transcripts show being communicated about Bin Laden in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region since 9/11.
Libé: Political casting to restore order in Baghdad. With high unemployment, theft and insecurity, who can get the country back on track? We're trying to find out.
Ouest-France: Youth Invited to Celebrate Europe. In case you didn't know, May 9 is Europe Day.
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posted by gbarto at 2:04 AM:
We know the kids are idiots; now we're just waiting to find out about the parents:Parents Probed in High School Hazing
Authorities investigate whether adults provided beer, filth in girls' melee
What was once a bad idea, a day for organized humiliation, turned into a somewhat violent and utterly degrading one, with some girls covered in feces and one girl with a broken ankle apparently incurred during a beating.
The parents, if not guilty of supplying liquor, might still need to be investigated for neglect, for they seem not to have been around to raise their children.
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Thursday, May 08, 2003
posted by gbarto at 3:33 AM:
Den Beste has a very interesting discussion on atheism. Among other things, he makes the argument that it is a religion of faith that he has chosen but is not necessarily proven scientific fact. Which puts him in a similar boat to me with my Christianity. I firmly hold to my Christianity because of a few events in my life that were enough proof for me; for a hardened atheist they might not have been. My religion is not something that is going to be shown as scientifically true. Nor should it have to be. What's the point of faith in such an event?Steve runs into atheists who have notebooks full of proof. I have met Christians of a similar bent and they always make me faintly worried. Is their faith so weak that they need tangible proofs to hang onto it? If so, are they the ones to be evangelizing for a faith whose strength lies not so much in miracles of matter as in miracles of compassion and love and the examples these give?
I've more to say on this but I'll have to think on it. In the meantime, I'll note that I'm with Steve one-hundred percent on this sentiment:
There are zealots among theists as well [as atheists], and those are the ones most likely to seek out and try to save any atheist they learn about. (Thus it is that the zealots from both sides often find each other, and they deserve one another.)
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posted by gbarto at 2:21 AM:
French news headlines:Le Monde: Washington resumes with UN on Iraq. Powell is to speak there soon about taking off the sanctions imposed in 1990.
Le Figaro: Retirement Reform: Decision Time. Chirac met with the Council of Ministers yesterday morning; Raffarin went on tv in the evening. But is France ready for their reforms?
Libération: To Work for the Poor. It's a plan for the supplements the government pays businesses to give unemployed hires a chance. But François Fillon, Minister of Social Affairs, brought up his plan for modifying the current system in a cabinet meeting without working with the people who actually run the government employment agencies that would implement it. And he wants a vote by August; others are asking for more time to study his recommendations.
Ouest-France: Here's Fillon again, a very busy bee of late: Fillon gives specifics on retirement reform. Bottom line, it's more equitable but that means less money for those at the top of the scale. And some quarters are still expressing serious reservations.
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Wednesday, May 07, 2003
posted by gbarto at 12:51 PM:
Not Off the Negotiating TablePalestinian PM rejects Israel's demand that 'right of return' be scrapped
Then I guess there just won't be a peace deal. The Palestinians know damn well that they're asking Israel to commit demographic suicide. Since this is about keeping nations distinct, however, Israel should be suggesting that Palestinian right-of-return is not about people returning to their homeland but about the Palestinian government promoting Palestinian settlements in Israel, and that Israel will not even talk to a representative who simultaneouly objects to Israeli settlements in the West Bank and wants Palestinian settlements in Israel. Israel would then be wise to start withdrawing from the settlements to make the point that it won't colonize Palestine but can only make a peace deal if Palestine renounces plans to colonize it.
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posted by gbarto at 12:41 PM:
No Thaw With 'Old Europe'Rice blasts France, Russia, Germany in Spanish newspaper interviews
At issue, whether UN sanctions - sanctions France and Russia ignored and thwarted - can be lifted with Saddam gone. France and Russia want them to stay, since they had lucrative deals with Saddam that would go away if the oil-for-food program changes.
It's worth noting that in spite of sanctions, billions of dollars in oil made it to Jordan, and side deals were cut with Syria and France. In other words, the sanctions were pretty porous since there was no effective enforcement mechanism. So... if France and Russia exercise their Security Council veto to keep the sanctions on, what if billions of barrels of unexplained oil show up on the world markets anyway? If the SEC and its counterparts in Great Britain, Australia, Spain and Italy don't care, will there be anything to be done about a new influx of oil showing up on our markets?
Now mind you, the oil should go straight to the markets and the Iraqis should be paid accordingly. No special deals. Because we want it to be clear as possible that keeping the sanctions is all about cheap oil for France and dropping them is all about giving the Iraqi people what's theirs. In other words, by finessing this right, we have the opportunity in the middle of this diplomatic tussle to send every third-world country the clear message: France wants to use the UN to colonize you for its own interests. America wants you free... and as wealthy as you can get. We have, in other words, the chance to screw Chirac big time and burst the bubble about France speaking for the little people when all it really speaks for is France.
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posted by gbarto at 1:39 AM:
Common Sense and Wonder has a good post on why we've French bashing but little German bashing. Though I would note for the record that this site has bashed both, while also celebrating both at other times.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:28 AM:
French news headlines:Le Monde: Success gained by Hollande. He's the new head of the Socialist Party, elected comfortably ahead of the fringe left.
Le Figarto: US at War against Pillaging. The story's about the new civil administrator of Iraq and his position vis-à-vis that of the person charged with rebuilding.
Libération: SARS Spreads Less Rapidly, Remains Mysterious.
Ouest-France: Ready for a European Water Reactor. That is, that uses water under high pressures in the extraction of energy. The plant's set up, but the parliament has to - and probably will - give permission.
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posted by gbarto at 1:14 AM:
Byrd Blasts Bush Carrier SpeechCalls him 'desk-bound president'
What can you say? I guess it's scored as a victory if Byrd manages to make news other than with a possibly racist or backwardly Old-South remark.
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Tuesday, May 06, 2003
posted by gbarto at 3:28 PM:
Bush Urges Congress to Cut TaxesPresident says lawmakers should approve proposed economic package to provide relief to Americans
Probably not a bad idea. As to the deficit questions, the danger is not economic but psychological. That is, people obsessing over deficits could make it a problem; if the deficits are considered on their own terms they are not a problem.
I am writing in Silicon Valley, the heart of the bubble and the strongest source of difficulty for our economy and this is what I see: empty houses that people can't afford to move into. Empty apartments that landlords can't afford to rent at affordable rates if they are to pay their creditors. Venture capitalists scared shitless who won't relinquish a dime in investment.
People are, in a word, frightened by the climate. But it's here, and it isn't going away until we deal with it. That's bad news for the economy because we risk playing the same games as Japan if we refuse to adjust expectations. But on the deficit front, it gives us room to maneuver. Deficits aren't bad, in and of themselves. They're bad if interest payments are soaking up money that could be used for investment and government bonds are tapping off capital that would otherwise be invested. Those conditions do not obtain. To the contrary, there is plenty of money on the sidelines - if there's something to invest in, the capital is there to do it. And since it isn't being invested in the first place, the so-called crowding out effect isn't going to lead to money being pulled from riskier ventures for the safety of bonds.
What's needed is a way to get money to the people while big business and the 90s wunderkinds come to realize that they're going to have to do something in this world, lowered expectations and all, because sitting on the sidelines scared isn't getting them anywhere. This will take time. Time that they can take but time that the general public doesn't have. Let's do the tax cuts.
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posted by gbarto at 1:56 AM:
Natalie Solent reports that respect for Cuban communism is waning in yet another place: India.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:49 AM:
Berkeley Bars SARS Region StudentsThis may be wise, but it's assuredly not PC. Could any other school get away with being the first to implement this plan?
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posted by gbarto at 1:42 AM:
French news headlines:Le Monde: Fourth National Education Strike. That's right. They're walking out today to protest budget cuts and threats to teacher pensions. For the fourth time in a year.
Libération: Ferry Exasperates an Angry School System. That's the Education Minister. Interesting, given that yesterday's headlines were about the Chirac-Raffarin government's widespread but shallow support.
Le Figaro: Raffarin Doesn't Want to Compromise Reforms. Hence vows about budget limits, etc.
Ouest-France: Fowl: 500 breeders want to shut down. This due to problems with ag policy designed to contain a European surplus.
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Monday, May 05, 2003
posted by gbarto at 4:22 AM:
Here's Virginia Postrel on a "brave" writer, which calls to mind the late, great Michael Kelly's April column for the Atlantic Monthly on all the "brave" writers and actors protesting the war. Notes Virginia higher up:How brave is Bill McKibben's book Enough? So brave that its author, normally a scholar in residence at Middlebury College, spent a year working on it at the Center for the Study of Values and Public Life at Harvard. Such are the punishments suffered by those who write bravely.Notes Kelly of Paul Krugman:
Hard and dangerous and damned courageous. "It's a very uncomfortable thing to question the honesty and motives of your leaders," the New York Times columnist Paul Krugman recently said. "I'm saying that the men who are controlling our destiny are lying. Not many journalists or many people want to confront them." But Krugman is willing, twice weekly, and he has paid a price: fame and influence as a columnist for the most important newspaper in the world.Virginia is commenting on the "brave" meme. How long will it take us to get the "brave? as if!" meme going?
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posted by gbarto at 4:01 AM:
Check out Sunday's Doonesbury for the snarky French response to all the France-bashing of late. Here's the link for my version, which includes English translation.* * *
posted by gbarto at 3:29 AM:
French news headlines:Le Monde: Iraq: The Challenges of Reconstruction. Namely, getting the coalition to work together, getting the Iraqis to work together, and avoiding any humanitarian disasters of the sort that will provoke UN help.
Le Figaro: Chirac and the Constraints of Popularity. Chirac is still riding high after a big victory in a dream race against Le Pen a year ago. Some are already suggesting a third term in four years. But the popularity is not uniform and figuring out how to use it rather than just trying to hang on to it is a challenge.
Libé: Chirac-Raffarin: The Less Hard is Done. le moins dur are the words in the headline. The charge? tough on crime is easy. tough on bloated government handouts ain't. so what's next now that the budget's at the top of the agenda?
Ouest-France: Paperwork: a wound on agriculture. A new study is out, revealing that farmers, like everyone else, spend too much time filling out forms when they should be doing their jobs. American farmers, I'm sure, will sympathize.
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Sunday, May 04, 2003
posted by gbarto at 1:28 AM:
MattWelch.Com in verse? There's a short clip at his website with a reference to the site for doing it, but I couldn't get the site to work. So here's my own improvisation:Norman says May Day's for workers,
And those who pay their way
Den Beste's glad the Middle East
Will be going a new way
Natalie's nefastus parte
Musings ought strike a chord
With Latinists of all flavors
And those by Iraq bored
William Bennet's been out gambling
Cicero's not impressed
Powell's in Damascus to put
Syria to the test
(Says Le Monde); while Rummy'd change
The Map of the Orient
(Quoth Le Figaro); Libé thinks
Of road development
And Ouest-France, finally, wonders
If Jacques Chirac can
Stay a powerful man
While domestic policy blunders
TurkeyBlog 5/4 AM
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posted by gbarto at 1:04 AM:
Fredrik Norman had the right lead for May Day, though it's taken the TurkeyBlog a day or three to link it. The gist: in celebrating the workers, we must celebrate capitalism for all it has done and brought to the workers of the world.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:59 AM:
Top notch Den Beste write-up on the Palestinian question.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:38 AM:
A few days old, but Natalie has things on nefastus parte and a little song whose grammar lesson is wrong but which is nonetheless delightful.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:31 AM:
Here's Cicero on the sins of William Bennett, who lost $8million gambling in the last decade. Marcus's observations are astute and on-target. My grandfather, long an ardent supporter of Bennett's works, is no doubt spinning in his grave. Bennett has done a grave disservice to those he could have helped with the money, but also to the cause with which he has long been associated. I hope the casual dismissals that I read in this morning's Merc will give way to more serious reflection, for either Mr. Bennett has a very serious problem - psychologically - or he has an ugly, self-serving understanding of the world that belies most of what I had understood him to be saying the last fifteen or twenty years.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:14 AM:
Above the fold in France, here are your French news headlines:Le Monde: Colin Powell Demands Damascus's Cooperation. Specifically in terms of not supporting terrorist groups and in sending in the Lebanese army to crush anti-peace forces (i.e. Hezbollah) in southern Lebanon.
Le Figaro: Rumsfeld Remakes Mid-East Map. He's pulling soldiers out of Saudi, rearranging troop deployments and generally giving the impression that with Iraq done, our military posture in the Middle East will be much changed.
Libération: The State wants to restore its role on highways. Basically, there's a fight between Finance (Bercy) and Transportation over road privatization, means of paying for roads, etc.
Ouest-France: Le bilan contrasté du Président : 52% d'opinions positives pour Chirac qui, cependant, déçoit les Français... / The contradictory assessment of the President : 52% have positive opinions about Chirac who, nonetheless, is disappointing to the French...
Seems they're happy with his action on the war, but other than crime, they're concerned about his lack of domestic agenda. This is the French President we're talking about here.
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