Sarkozy threatened to leave euro during bailout fight

If true, that's a pretty big deal. The Guardian:

Nicolas Sarkozy threatened to abandon the euro unless Angela Merkel dropped her hostility to the EU's €750bn safety net for the single currency, sources in Brussels and European capitals said yesterday.

In a confrontation between Europe's two most powerful politicians, the French president said he would walk out of the talks and warned of lasting damage to the Franco-German relationship unless the German chancellor backed the plans.

"It was a standup argument. He was shouting and bawling," said one official in Brussels. "It was Sarkozy on steroids," said a European diplomat. "He's always very energetic. This time he was very emotional, too." The French leader banged his fist on the table, according to yesterday's El País newspaper in Spain.

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Pat Buchanan is upset that there are too many Jews on the Supreme Court

But he's not a bigot, really. From Media Matters:

Indeed, of the last seven justices nominated by Democrats JFK, LBJ, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, one was black, Marshall; one was Puerto Rican, Sonia Sotomayor. The other five were Jews: Arthur Goldberg, Abe Fortas, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan.

If Kagan is confirmed, Jews, who represent less than 2 percent of the U.S. population, will have 33 percent of the Supreme Court seats.

Is this the Democrats' idea of diversity?

But while leaders in the black community may be upset, the folks who look more like the real targets of liberal bias are white Protestants and Catholics, who still constitute well over half of the U.S. population.

Not in living memory has a Democratic president nominated an Irish, Italian or Polish Catholic, though these ethnic communities once gave the party its greatest victories in the cities and states of the North.

What happened to the party of the Daleys, Rizzos and Rostenkowskis?

And not in nearly half a century has a Democratic president nominated a white Protestant or white Catholic man or woman.

[...]

If Kagan is confirmed, the Court will consist of three Jews and six Catholics (who represent not quite a fourth of the country), but not a single Protestant, though Protestants remain half the nation and our founding faith.

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WWF hails North Sea cod conservation program success

Anyone from the Chesapeake is familiar with the successful turnaround of the rockfish population, but this is yet another example of how conservation programs can work for everyone. The Independent:

North Sea cod, once on the brink as a result of decades of over-fishing, has now recovered to an extent that the public should start eating it again with enthusiasm, one of the world's biggest wildlife charities has said.

In a rare wildlife conservation success story, the charity WWF said the fish renowned for its flaky white chunks was being caught sustainably off the shallow cold waters of north and eastern Britain for the first time in a decade. Stocks of the fish have risen by 52 per cent from their historic low four years ago because of a combination of cuts in landing quotas, and conservation techniques which have reduced the number tossed back dead into the sea.

As a result, the EU has increased the British quota for North Sea cod by 16 per cent this year, from 11,216 tonnes to 13,000. Although stocks are still low by historic standards, the recovery could prompt British supermarkets to start stocking North Sea cod again. Most cod in grocery chains and fish and chip shops at present comes from Iceland and the Barents Sea.

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Volcker questions the euro

It's not exactly a vote of confidence during the currency crisis. Paul Volcker is respected enough that his comments could trigger even more concern about the falling euro which closed below $1.24 on Friday. He also voiced concern over the US debt. Reuters:

Europe's debt troubles could undermine its currency, White House Economic Adviser Paul Volcker said on Thursday.

Volcker, a former Federal Reserve chairman and a widely respected economist, told students at the London School of Economics that it was difficult to have a common currency without a common government.

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Saturday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The President's weekly address is about the need for Wall Street reform. He's right, but this debate feels like it's a year too late.

I'm increasingly thinking that the Gulf Coast oil spill is strikingly similar to the economic crisis. The oligarchs who run the country didn't want any regulation -- and Republican and Democratic lawmakers protected them. Wall Street and the oil industry really do own large parts of the DC political establishment. Money flowed into the Capitol just like that oil is gushing into the Gulf. Look where it got us. (I just started reading "13 Bankers," which documents the power of the Wall Street bankers over Congress so am particularly annoyed about this mess.)

Anyway, it's a lovely day in the District of Columbia. I'm heading out for a long run this morning. We're doing 12 miles today. I'll be in a much better mood when I get back.

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Jimi - Wind Cries Mary

It's not the best recording but I love that it was live TV. I'd take that over the sterilized stuff you find today.

Our week in the south wraps up tonight when we jump on the TGV back to Paris. We lucked out and had a bit more sun than the original forecast which was nice. The downside was that everyone below was inspired by the lack of wetness and decided it was time to burn. I'm pretty sure that when people are born in France, they receive a burning kit. They love to burn everything. There's really nothing quite like waking at 7AM to the smell of burning leafs or twigs or whatever. I don't know about others but I've always enjoyed waking to that smell plus the congestion that I get from the smoke. Read More......

Violence continues in Thailand

It's hard to imagine such violence in Thailand. I was never naive enough to think that everything was perfect during my visits there but compared to some of their neighbors, it still seems surprising. BBC:

Thai troops are clashing with anti-government protesters in the capital Bangkok, on a third day of violence that has killed at least 16 people.

Plumes of smoke are rising from sections of the city centre, where the protesters, who want the prime minister to resign, are barricaded in a camp.

Authorities have ruled out negotiations with the red-shirt protesters.

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