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Friday, September 03, 2004posted by W @ 2:17 PM
Thursday, September 02, 2004Rumors They'll be Freed Soonposted by Douglas @ 7:41 PM
The press are widely reporting progress in the negotiations to secure the release of kidnapped French reporters Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot. Al-Jazeera says:
Two French journalists who had been taken hostage in Iraq are no longer in the hands of their abductors, French Culture and Communications Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres has said.They're not out of the woods yet so I'd prefer to refrain from speculation for the moment but should they be the only two to survive abduction and threatened execution at the hands of radical Sunni groups in Iraq then this will be a grand revelation about France's presence in the Middle East and its relation to transnational terrorism.
Wednesday, September 01, 2004But… C'est Injuste! Don't They Realize that the Hostages Are French Friends!?posted by Erik @ 5:10 AM
Let's see, what have we got here?…
The Kidnappers of French Journalists Renew Their Blackmail…Wow. "Odious blackmail"! "Terrorists"! Quite different from the bland and straightforward headlines when Americans and other nationalities are kidnapped, huh? No rightfully angered locals here, no members of the "Iraqi rebellion", no "insurgents", no justification, no "executions", no "Ils l'ont bien mérité" (they deserved it, they had it coming)… Au contraire! Au contraire, as it turns out… Take a look at Paris Tries to Isolate the Terrorists By Orchestrating Arab Disapproval: "Maybe [Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot] were kidnapped by mistake [wonders Malbrunot's editor.] Maybe the kidnappers didn't know they were journalists and French citizens."Is this supposed to mean that it is, perhaps not normal, but to be expected that Americans and other nationalities should be kidnapped (and beheaded)? No mistakes, in those cases? They asked for it, they deserved it? D'accorrrdd… In her article, Mouna Naïm writes that France, all as one — the government, media outlets, and public opinion — was convinced that no harm would befall the kidnapped due to the "soundness" of French policy with regards to the Arab world, in general, and of Iraq, in particularNote how the independent newspaper neatly absolves the politicians from any excessive load of responsability ("la France toute entière"). Some criticism follows, but it is relatively low-key, and it has been neatly deflected. the idea was to attempt to isolate [the kidnappers], to ask the greatest number of authorities of all types [what is that supposed to mean?!] to distance themselves from the kidnapping, to make the hostagetakers understand their total isolation in order to make them give in.Of course, if "America's number one friend" does have this capacity, one wonders if, out of pure friendship for Uncle Sam, she might not have tried to use her influence in other kidnappings. From the Arab League's secretary general … to Al Jazeera television … and Hezbollah television, along with a twice-sounded call from Palestinian president Yasser Arafat, condemnation was unanimous. Journalism unions, party leaders, Arab dailies [and Muslim religious authorities] joined in the chorus, some of whom underlined France's "sympathy" for "Arab causes", others the harm that the kidnappings and threats were doing to Islam and to Muslims in general.Meanwhile, Jordan's Al-Diyar daily opines that France remains the European country which sympathizes the most with Arab causes, which it supports, particularly in Palestine and Iraq.On the media page, our old friend Dominique "Europe needs an enemy and it should be the United States" Dhombres is back from vacation, and he waxes carefully, very carefully about the kidnapping, ending his chronicle with an admiring nod to Al-Jazeera which took an official stand [for the men's release], which is a first.How impressive! As usual, the lucid French understand when there is a need for admiration (and when there is not) and who is deserving of admiration (and who is not). Oh, but wait a minute. It would seem that there is a slight hiccup in the lavish (self-)praise. There is one Muslim leader who, although he has joined in the calling for the release of the hostages, has not joined in lauding France for its support for Arab causes, notably against "the American occupation in Iraq". Who might he be, I wonder? Oh, he just happens to be the president of Iraq… of course, he just happens to be among the Muslims most concerned by America's presence in Iraq. Is he a stooge, maybe? Well, it just so happens that among the wealth of Arab and Muslim voices calling for the hostages' release due to France's sympathetic leanings and to its righteous position on Iraq, there is not one Iraqi quoted. Not one! Iyad Allawi was interviewed by Cécile Hennion and five other newspapers the previous day, declaring that the kidnapping of the Frenchmen showed that there was "no possible neutrality" in Iraq and that those who do not fight at the government level can not escape terrorism. "None of the civilized countries can escape," he said, noting "there is no possible neutrality, as shows the kidnapping of the French journalists." "The French deluded themselves if they would hope to stay outside". And so, returning to the chorus of support on the newspaper's second page, it turns out that it is a bit spoiled by a filler in which the French foreign ministry declares that the words of Mr Allawi are "unacceptable". "Those declarations of his seem to throw doubt on France's determination in the fight against terrorism [declared the Quai d'Orsay,] France is untiringly leading a resolute action against this scourge and it has always brought its support and its contribution to all of the international community's initiatives in the area"Except when it comes to using its great influence to try to help bring about the release of the kidnapped nationals of its "allies" (see above). (Kind of reminds you of Le Monde's editorial calling the doubts about Spanish courage in the wake of the Madrid bombings "a scornful theory", doesn't it? It seems like the French, who proffer intellectual "openness" when it comes to wondering whether America's D-Day landings amounted to a liberation or an occupation, are hardly so open-minded when it comes to putting into doubt their own intentions, or those of their allies.) Allawi, of course, is the man that the independent newspaper has mocked, dismissed as a CIA stooge, and compared to a mafioso (a scorn Le Monde has never reserved for the above-mentioned authorities "of all types"). That scorn has been absent in the past couple of days; the French seem to be a lot more timid and circumspect when their own citizens' lives are at stake. Meanwhile, (live) from New York, Patrick Jarreau brings us news of the Republican Convention, notably the opening speeches of John McCain and Rudolph Giuliani. John Kerry bragged that he had the support of foreign leaders, said New York's former mayor, the very same "who opposed the ouster of Saddam Hussein". "Our choice wasn't between a benign status quo and the bloodshed of war," Le Monde quotes the Arizona senator as saying. "It was between war and a graver threat. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Not our critics abroad. Not our political opponents. And certainly not a disingenuous filmmaker." Many of those "who criticize military action", he added, were "ready to do business" with Saddam Hussein. (Some of the above quotes were translated back to English from Le Monde's own French translation.) Now isn't that strange? These are references to France and the rest of the "peace camp" members, but the independent newspaper — which usually loves to explain the nuances of politicians' speeches and what they left unsaid — refrains from doing so in this case. And that, although it would help to explain why there were no Iraqis to quote from among the chorus of Muslim fawners-for-France. Bizarre, n'est-ce pas?
Tuesday, August 31, 2004France Rebuts al-Allawiposted by Douglas @ 3:48 PM
From Reuters:
PARIS (Reuters) - France criticized Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi Monday for saying states which did not actively fight terrorists would become their targets, after two Frenchmen were kidnapped in Iraq.Note that the interview in Le Monde was actually given to a pool of papers including WaPo, the Times (London), the LA Times, Knight-Ridder and Corriere della sera. But also note that... argh!!... yet AGAIN!... they've misspelled an English word from the US: it's Knight-Ridder, folks, an enormous and prestigious newspaper company any competent news organization familiar with the US ought to know well. Le Monde spells it Knight-Readers...
Inside Jobposted by Douglas @ 10:30 AM
First there was the infamous fraud Marie L. Now it appears the arson at Jewish social center last week was an inside job:
The alleged perpetrator of an arson that destroyed a Jewish center in Paris in the night of August 21 to 22 has been arrested.Pro-Palestinian group CAPJPO (Coordination of Calls of a Just Peace in the Middle East) and the new party Euro-Palestine jointly react with predictable glee on the anti-globalization Web site Bella Ciao: Jewish Social Center: CRIF, Media and Government Fall Yet Again into the Same Trap
"250,000 Versus 200; Any Questions?"posted by Erik @ 5:07 AM
"They simply wanted to express their opinion like everyone else. They had a permit to march [in New York City] just like everyone else. The only difference...they support Bush and conservative ideals. The result: Members of ProtestWarrior, an organization committed to challenging and confronting left-wing protests, were punched, spit on repeatedly, shouted down, insulted and even maced. But there was one thing the hordes of "peaceful" protesters at Sunday's march could not do to the ProtestWarriors …intimidate them."
Check out Ray's photos PS: When (s)he's hungry, what's a rabid
Monday, August 30, 2004All the Brothers Were Valient…
posted by Erik @ 1:32 PM |
Islam in France is a huge joke! | L'Islam de France est une vaste plaisanterie! |
Authors explain how Islam in France is nothing more than a Green fascism driven by outside forces. | Les auteurs expliquent pourquoi l'Islam en France n'est qu'un fascisme vert piloté par des forces extérieures. |
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It is indispensable that the international community assumes its responsibilities. That it admits to the disastrous results of its lack of action.Just in case you didn't realize whom Jacques Chirac was referring to when he mentioned "the international community" in regards to the Iraqi situation, Le Monde is helpful enough to provide the translation: "the international community" is a referral to… the United States. Yes, you read that right, what Uncle Sam is guilty of in Iraq — unlike, presumably, the members of the "peace camp" — is "lack of action".
There is not a single word of doubt thereabout in the rest of the article devoted to the French president's speech to the French ambassadors' annual meeting home in Paris, which, instead, is lionized, as usual, by Le Monde's Claire Tréan, who goes on to explain the lucidity and the reasoning in every point in Chirac's speech.
(The previous day, the ambassadors had listened to a speech by France's new foreign minister, in which he not once mentioned the United States, Russia, NATO, Israel, Palestinian, the trans-Atlantic alliance, or September 11. This led the New York Times' Elaine Sciolino to note one ambassador calling Michel Barnier "the anti-de Villepin". ['Mr. de Villepin seemed determined to revive the historic greatness of France. He has a romantic view articulated in his book on Napoleon, "The Hundred Days," that describes the emperor's philosophy as "Victory or death, but glory whatever happens".'] Don't expect a low-spoken foreign minister to be fundamentally any different than his predecessors, though.)
Meanwhile, the independent newspaper sports an article on the man who invented Bush, in which Patrick Jarreau refers, in the first three paragraphs alone, to "that improbable president", to Karl Rove's "puppet", and (in the opening line) to the "fact" that "Nobody [!] believes that George Bush can have made it to the White House by his own means" (i.e., by his own mental prowess).
In the rest of the article concerning Karl Rove, it's the same usual negative-sounding and fear-inducing expressions about who really is "at the helm of the greatest power on the planet": The man "in the shadow of George Bush senior", "that string-puller", "that puppet displayer", "the man who is credited with as much intelligence as the man, to whom he is only officially the advisor, is credited with as little of", "the fundamentals of Karl Rove's job is propaganda and fund collecting by mail", "more a reactionary [the word of death in France] than a conservative", "Karl Rove is followed by a reputation as a trickster and a killer" (!).
He sincerely admires the man he helped to become the most powerful man of the United States, and whom he wants to turn into, in two months' time, a reelected president. In his eyes, George Walker Bush is the only Republican politician who can make his party stay durably in the White House.Immediately before that paragraph, however, Jarreau had written that Karl Rove
has never been accused of showing a lack of respect for his boss. He is too smart for that.In other words, someone as intelligent as Karl Rove (or "as us Europeans"?) can only be too aware that Dubya is nothing but a doofus. But he will not say so. I.e., he is an American who is dishonest and untrustworthy (a liar?). Aren't they all?
Still, Jarreau states that to Rove, George Walker Bush is the only republican politician who can make his party endure in the White House. The question that is never asked in this article (the most popular among visitors to Le Monde's website), is if Rove does not truly admire W, and if he truly believes W is such an ignorant bonehead, why doesn't (why didn't) the macchiavellian strategist he is simply settle on a far more intelligent politician in the first place? (Jeb Bush and John McCain come to mind, but surely even an intelligent nobody must make a more attractive solution than the former's big brother.) Surely that would be the simpler solution?
There is no explanation of this. No explanation but the usual fare in French media and in French society: (Most) Americans are ignorant simpletons, incapable of holding a rational thought, or else, they, or their leaders (or the people in the latters' shadows), are dishonest liars.
Meanwhile, the paper's front page sports a Jarreau headline explaining that Christian extremists are on the campaign trail for Bush, while Henri Tincq castigates the evangelists' cocktail of conservatism, patriotism, and religious fervor and sociologist Todd Gitlin tells Corine Lesnes that we are haunted by the fear that Bush might capitalize on any violence. As for Le Monde's editorial [another website favorite], it skewers Bush's "biblical vision of the world" and snorts in disgust at the "people chosen by God", noting that the planet's fundamentalisms (such as Hindu nationalism and Islamism) "are sometimes fed by the aggressivity of Christian groups linked to evangelical or Baptist churches from North America" (good to know who, fundamentally [sic], is the guilty party). "This vision of religion must be denounced".
And so… it's time — again! — for someone as lucid and intelligent (and secular) as Chirac to call on the simple-minded Americans "to assume their responsibilities" and "admit to the disastrous results of their lack of action". Quite convenient, n'est-ce pas?
posted by W @ 6:48 AM
That's why you are in this mess, dickhead | C'est la raison pour laquelle tu te trouves dans ce bazar, ducon |
'France has always refused the view of a clash between the West and Islam.', Michel Barnier, French Foreign Minister, licking the nutsack of the Islamic Brotherhood in Egypt. | 'La France a toujours récusé la vision d'un choc entre l'Occident et l'islam.', Michel Barnier, Ministre des Affaires Etrangères de la Fwance, en train de faire une gâterie aux Frerots Islamiques en Egypte. |
posted by W @ 1:35 PM
posted by W @ 10:00 AM
Religion of Pieces to French journalists: Welcome to the World | Religion des Pets (car ça sent la merde) aux journalistes franchouilles: On va vous faire aimer l'an 2000 |
Clash of Civilisations: French TV calls the terrorist kidnappers 'activists'. Marianne offers her backdoor, but her shit is tired. | Choc des Civilisations: La télé franchouille appelle les ravisseurs terroristes des 'activistes'. Marianne offre sa rondelle, mais elle est piètre croupion. |
UPDATE: Ripoublika Franska government claims that French muslims unanimously condemn the kidnappings. Young French Muslims say that the Mossad-did-it. | DERNIERES INFOS: Le gouvernement de la Ripoublika Franska déclare que tous les musulmans français condamnent à l'unaminité ces enlèvements. Jeunes musulmans français déclarent que le Mossad-l'a-fait. |
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A sound mind in a sound body, is a short, but full description of a happy state in this World: he that has these two, has little more to wish for; and he that wants either of them, will be little the better for anything else.An excellent man, like precious metal, is in every way invariable; A villain, like the beams of a balance, is always varying, upwards and downwards.
Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company and reflection must finish him.
Fortitude is the guard and support of the other virtues.
posted by W @ 5:27 AM
Don't let it go to your head, guys | Hé les mecs, faut surtout pas avoir la grosse tête |
'Islamic Army in Iraq' tells French journalists, 'You ought to be in pictures'. | 'l'Armée islamique en Irak' offre aux journalistes franchouilles une carrière cinématographique. |
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posted by W @ 4:36 AM
Head scarves and shrouds | Voiles islamiques et linceuls |
And they are still punching above their weight. France finds its proper place in the Clash of Civilisations. Look for bomb belts in Sarcelles very soon now. | Des poids coq qui essaient encore de monter chez les poids lourds. La France trouve sa juste place dans le Choc des Civilisations. Il y aura des ceintures d'explosifs à Sarcelles sous peu. |
Divide and rule, a sound motto. Unite and lead, a better one.and
How can you come to know yourself? Never by thinking, always by doing. Try to do your duty, and you'll know right away what you amount to.
It's a quagmire | C'est un bourbier |
Quagmire for the French candidate. Quagmire for France. Thanks to Holly. | Le candidat franchouille est dans un bourbier. La France est dans un bourbier aussi. Merci à Holly. |
posted by W @ 1:39 PM
Nothing to do with those no-income madrassas ringing France's cities | Rien à voir avec les madrassas pompes aux allocs qui encerclent les villes fwançaises |
Doubling of anti-Semitic attacks in France. Reasons unclear. | Depuis un an le nombre d'attaques antisémites en France a doublé. Les causes restent non élucidées. |
UPDATE: Allah comments. | DERNIERES INFOS: Allah en parle. |
posted by W @ 10:01 AM
posted by W @ 6:41 AM
posted by W @ 3:44 AM
Globophobes: dumbest leftists in the world | Globophobes: la gôche la plus bête du monde |
The small-time thugs at ATTAC are starting to feed on each other. Probably tastes better than the bio crap that José Bové©® slings at 'em. The time comes when these shitheels have to go back to their desks. Just a bunch of techno-yuppies forever unfulfilled by their dog's life at the PR firm. | Les petites frappes chez ATTAC commencent à se bouffer entre eux. Peut-être bien que ça a meilleur goût que la merdouille bio fourguée par José Bové©®. Arrive le temps où ces étrons rentrent tous derrière leurs bureaux. Ils ne savent que jouer aux têknos-bobos éternellement insatisfaits de leurs vies de bourriques dans leurs boîtes de com'. |
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