Pave: Uncondemnable VIII

Le jour 481 de Sarko

If I condemn, I can no longer hear both sides.

Bernard Kouchner,
French Foreign Minister, explaining why what is wrong
has equal standing with what is right
PARIS August 11, 2008 (M&C)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

SAAKASHVILI 'NO LONGER EXISTS'
AS GEORGIA'S PRESIDENT: MEDVEDEV

MOSCOW September 3, 2008 (AFP) - Speaking in an interview ahead of US Vice President Dick Cheney's visit to Georgia, Medvedev again accused Washington of helping Tbilisi "build its war machine" and urged the United States to review its relations with the country. Mr. Medvedev:

For us, the present Georgian regime has collapsed. President Saakashvili no longer exists in our eyes. He is a political corpse.

AMAZING RUSSO-VISION!
Strange Super Power Of Former Super Power Enables
Russian President NOT To See What Others See

Mr. Medvedev, of course, wishes here a collapse where no collapse exists.

RUSSIA ORDERS HALT TO ONSLAUGHT
AS GEORGIA RALLIES SUPPORT
MOSCOW August 12, 2008 (AFP)

THOUSANDS OF GEORGIANS RALLY
TO SUPPORT SAAKASHVILI
TBILISI August 12, 2008 (Reuters)

GEORGIA 'WILL JOIN NATO': MERKEL*
TBILISI August 17, 2008 (AFP)

PRESIDENT BUSH CONDEMNS ACTIONS TAKEN
BY RUSSIAN PRESIDENT IN REGARDS TO GEORGIA
WHITE HOUSE August 26, 2008 (Office of the Press Secretary)

CHENEY: GEORGIA WILL BE IN OUR ALLIANCE [scil., NATO]
TBILISI September 4, 2008 (CNN)

(See here for more damns for Russia and more support for Georgia.)

In a swift retort, Georgia's national security council secretary Alexander Lomaia told AFP:

It's utterly deplorable for the leader of a great country to use methods unacceptable in a civilised world to undermine the legitimacy of the Georgian government.

The Russian president has lost control, because his efforts to depose the Georgian government have failed.

The Georgian president is a democratically-elected leader, he and his government enjoy the support of the Georgian people and the international community.

The strong rhetoric came as [American Vice President] Cheney headed to Georgia in a show of support for the former Soviet republic that has been seeking to join NATO.

Medvedev's interview was broadcast after Moscow claimed victory Tuesday following a European Union emergency summit, [and this] where EU leaders stepped back from imposing sanctions over Russia's partial occupation of Georgia. Mr. Putin:

Thank God, common sense prevailed. We saw no extreme conclusions and proposals, and this is very good.

Mr. Medvedev:

But we would like the international community to remember who began the aggression and who is responsible for people's deaths.

Mr. Medvedev's problem is precisely that. The international community DOES remember who began the war and who is responsible for the subsequent deaths and wanton destruction:

Recent occurrences in Georgia, beginning with the military invasion by Russia, have been flatly contrary to some of our most deeply held beliefs. Russian forces crossed an internationally recognized border into a sovereign state; fueled and fomented an internal conflict; conducted acts of war without regard for innocent life, killing civilians and causing the displacement of tens of thousands -- all this against a nation that has a democratically elected government and an orientation towards the West.

The United States and many in Europe have made clear that Russia's actions are an affront to civilized standards and are completely unacceptable. For its part, Russia has offered no satisfactory justification for the invasion -- nor could it do so. Differing views on the status of these two areas, within the sovereign borders of the Georgian democracy, cannot justify a sudden and violent incursion by Russia. ...

Three weeks ago, after causing significant destruction inside Georgia, Russia accepted and signed a six-point ceasefire agreement proposed by President Sarkozy of France, the nation that holds the Presidency of the European Union. By now the Russian government is well aware of its responsibilities: To abide by the signed ceasefire agreement, and the clarifying letter and document from President Sarkozy; to let in all humanitarian and medical assistance from the United States and other countries; to keep open all lines of communication and transit for that assistance; to end all military activities in Georgia; to withdraw from that country; and to fully respect Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Though aware of these responsibilities, Russia has yet to meet them. Indeed, it has taken the opposite course, by recognizing South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states. This only worsens the situation in the region. It also contravenes the ceasefire, and runs against numerous UN Security Council Resolutions that Russia itself voted for in the past.

To summarize: In the space of the last 30 days, Russia has violated the sovereignty of a democracy; made and then breached a solemn agreement, in a direct affront to the European Union; severely damaged its credibility and global standing; and undermined its own relations with the United States and other countries.

This chain of aggressive moves and diplomatic reversals has only intensified the concern that many have about Russia's larger objectives. For brutality against a neighbor is simply the latest in a succession of troublesome and unhelpful actions by the Russian government.

Dick Cheney,
Vice President of the United State,
remembering in detail
what Mr. Medvedev would have him forget
CERNOBBIO, Italy September 6, 2008 (Office of the Vice President)

------------------------------------
* Support all the more damning given the German Chancellor's position only five month's earlier:

PFFT (What is this?): Mr. Medvedev tears a page from the Noko comity of nations playbook 4½ | Lies like a Soviet 5

Pave: Where Is The French Peace Mob? IV

Le jour 476 de Sarko

GÉORGIE ? JE SUIS TRÈS OCCUPÉ EN CE MOMENT.
(L) Manif anti-Israël, (R) rein
Georgia Is Also Occupied At The Moment

Russia is left unchallenged by the Euro ruling elite and the French peace mob is busy getting a tan somewhere.

Pave: Uncondemnable VII

Le jour 476 de Sarko

If I condemn, I can no longer hear both sides.

Bernard Kouchner,
French Foreign Minister, explaining why what is wrong
has equal standing with what is right
PARIS August 11, 2008 (M&C)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

DIVIDE AND CAPITALISE:
RUSSIA EXPLOITS A LIMP EU SUMMIT
ON THE GEORGIAN CRISIS

September 2, 2008 (Times Online) - The cost of pretending to have it both ways has been clear since the Nato summit in Bucharest in April. Nato’s pledge to Georgia and Ukraine – that they would definitely become members someday but that they could not start the actual process of trying to clear the membership hurdles – told Russia that Nato was not prepared to make real commitments.

British ministers maintain that the Bucharest pledge was really better than allowing membership talks to start, but this is ludicrous. Georgian officials argue that the grand but vacuous promise gave Russia the green light to act as it did, and they have a point.

... Otherwise, even though the EU should rightly settle for the lowest common denominator on such important questions of its own identity, the proposals were weak beyond parody. “The Union will remain vigilant,” a version of the text said yesterday, adding that the review “may lead to decisions on the continuation of discussions on the future of relations between the Union and Russia in various areas”.

The EU also warned Russia that it should stick to the ceasefire brokered by President Sarkozy of France – or else (but this was unspecified).

... Russia’s behaviour shows that it knows how to make good use of others’ indecision.

RUSSIA EXPLOITS DIVISION IN EUROPE
Moscow's Strategy To Drive A Wedge
Between European Countries Was On Display
During Monday's EU Crisis Meeting.

BRUSSELS September 3, 2008 edition (CSM) - As Europe wrestles over how to deal with a game-changing Russia, the largest country in the world, it faces one of the oldest tactics in Moscow's diplomatic playbook: the art of divide and separate.

... Before, during, and after the EU event – which ended with an 11-point statement seen by Brussels insiders as marking a "crossroads" in Europe's relationship with Russia – Moscow put on a concerted effort to highlight divisions among European nations, and between the US and Europe. Ronald Asmus, of the German Marshall Fund:

Moscow is certainly trying to divide Europe, and to divide Europe from the US. In the past few days they've started to try to emasculate NATO, to tell Europe not to go with the US. The comments sound Soviet-era.

[Matthew Bryza, deputy assistant secretary of State in charge of Eurasian affairs,] advocated that the international community now enter Georgia and examine closely what actually happened during the Aug. 8 crisis in South Ossetia – look into the charges of genocide leveled by Russia as a reason for entering the republic. "Let's investigate. Let's look at what happened. Let's be transparent."

Russian officials in South Ossetia have said they are not yet ready for such investigations, citing security concerns.

The EU mission, described as taking place in two phases, the second in November, would constitute several hundred personnel, and supplement a mission in Georgia of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which has Russian participants.

Russian ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizov said Monday Russia would accept "about a 100 observers."

Please, let's not rush Russia. The old bear needs time to rework the evidence to fit its invasion fairy tale.

RUSSIA SAYS EU RIGHT TO AVOID SANCTIONS

SOCHI, Russia September 2, 2008 (Reuters) - Russia on Tuesday praised the European Union's "responsible" decision to avoid imposing sanctions on Moscow over its conflict with Georgia, but said the bloc had failed to understand why it had intervened.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, in an interview with the Euronews television channel recorded at his Black Sea summer residence:

This is sad [i.e., the EU's incomprehension of Russia's invasion], but not fatal because things change in this world. Another situation, in my opinion, is more positive. Despite certain divisions among the EU states on the issue, a reasonable, realistic point of view prevailed because some of the states were calling for some mythical sanctions.

The single most damning outcome of the EU summit? Compliments from Russia for doing nothing.

PFFT (What is this?): EU wilts 3 | Peace mob on vacation 5 | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: Uncondemnable VI Redux

Le jour 476 de Sarko

Talk is cheap and a commodity of which France has a limitless supply. This works for Russia because the big old bear doesn't listen and doesn't care as long as it gets what it wants, which a meek EU won't deny them.

Posted by Damian at 04:30 PM

------------------------------------------------------------------------

We have to find a balance. The balance is between tough talk and economic consequences. My stance is yes to tough talk. No to economic consequences.

Alexander Stubb,
Finnish Foreign Minister,
defining a balance of all of one and none of the other,
BRUSSELS September 1, 2008 (Telegraph)

RUSSIA LIES, FRANCE COMPLIES
Lies Are Just Another Version Of The Facts

The cheap talk:

Nous condamnons sans ambiguïté la réaction disproportionnée des Russes, et nous sommes conscients de notre responsabilité dans le maintien du dialogue avec nos voisins russes.

[We condemn without ambiguity the disproportionate reaction of the Russians, and we are aware of our responsibility in maintaining dialogue with our Russian neighbors.]

Sarko,
Président de la République,
condemning the Russians to French dialogue
September 1, 2008 (Le Monde/AFP/Reuters)

[Hat tip: Zoomerx]

There is no point to talking tough, to condemnation, if it has no correspondent instrumentality. Russia blows off Euro tough talk, because, really, who cares what Europa thinks? Who cares about its diplomatic faints and disappointments? Not Russia. Russia concerns itself with only one thing, what will the other side materially do?

In the case of Europa, sputter and maintain dialogue.

EU HAS NO UNITY ON RUSSIA

September 1, 2008 (MINA) - Russia shrugged off the prospect of strong words from the EU, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisting the Georgia campaign had set a standard for how Moscow would defend its interests in future.

"In light of Russia's actions we should suspend negotiations on a successor to the partnership and cooperation agreement," a spokesman for Prime Minister Gordon Brown told reporters in London before leaving for the half-day Brussels summit.

Brown's remarks contrasted sharply with a conciliatory tone in Paris, where Prime Minister Francois Fillon said President Nicolas Sarkozy would embark on new mediation between Georgia and Russia and seek to pursue dialogue with the Kremlin. M. Fillon:

Either we want to relaunch the Cold War, point our finger at Russia, isolate it and stamp on it as was the case for a decade -- that is not the choice of France or Europe -- or we choose the option of dialogue.

And were Germany to cross the Meuse today, France wouldn't even bother with a bumbling defense, instead she would busily organize summits, conferences, and tea parties inviting the Führerbegleitbataillons to join them in dialogue.

PFFT (What is this?): Cheap talk 5 (There is no higher rating.) | Rayonnement français 0 (There is no lower rating.)

Pave: Uncondemnable VI

Le jour 475 de Sarko

If I condemn, I can no longer hear both sides.

Bernard Kouchner,
French Foreign Minister, explaining why what is wrong
has equal standing with what is right
PARIS August 11, 2008 (M&C)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Either we get a credible response or the credibility of the EU will be damaged.

Radoslaw Sikorski,
Polish Foreign Minister,
objecting to France's hello-kitty diplomacy
BRUSSELS September 1, 2008 (Telegraph)

Today France will head a special EU summit to discuss the situation in Georgia and the EU's forward relations with Russia. France has crafted a balanced position of blather and no action.

GEORGIA: FRANCE SAYS NO TO SANCTIONS

PARIS September 1, 2008 (AGI) - Today at the Brussels summit over the crisis in the Caucasus French premier Francois Fillon ruled out sanctions against Russia. The issue, he said in an interview with French radio, is not even on the agenda.

EU LEADERS TO UNITE IN OPPOSING RUSSIA

This headline is busted in the story's third sentence.

BRUSSELS/TBILISI/LONDON September 1, 2008 (FT) - At a summit called by Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s president, leaders of the 27-nation bloc are expected to announce measures of support for Georgia and to condemn Russia’s attempted partition of the Caucasian state. But they will not consider economic sanctions against Moscow.

Or any sanctions at all. Britain and the Baltic and Eastern members of the EU favored something more punitive than the regrets and tongue clucks pushed by France, Germany, and Italy. Gordon Brown appears to have won the day with a suspension of "negotiations on a successor to the partnership and cooperation agreement between the EU and Russia":

France, Germany and Italy initially tried to block the move and the British proposal exposed deep differences over Russia among the EU's big four powers. ... But following tense talks, British diplomats said that the negotiations would be "paused".

During talks, British diplomats were particularly concerned by French attempts to drop a freeze on any decisions to move closer to Russia.

British diplomats also raised concerns over "too much equivalence" on the question of Russian troop withdrawals from Georgia during summit talks.

France, it is fair to say, has a high-tolerance approach to Russia. She wants more of oil-rich big-spending Russia's business. Talk is cheap and a commodity of which France has a limitless supply. This works for Russia because the big old bear doesn't listen and doesn't care as long as it gets what it wants, which a meek EU won't deny them.

Beyond that requires a bit of sacrifice, for which the French, unique in linguisitcs, have a word but no concept.

PFFT (What is this?): The meek shall inherit the Kremlin 5 | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: Obamania In France III

Le jour 474 de Sarko

The kiss of irrelevancy.

SOCIALIST CHIEF ENDORSES OBAMA

PARIS August 31, 2008 (IHT) - Francois Hollande said an Obama presidency would usher in a positive, new chapter in international relations.

"We need an Obama victory next November," Hollande told party supporters at an annual meeting in the Atlantic coastal city of La Rochelle. An Obama win "will be good news, not only for the American people, but for the whole world."

And here we were thinking what France needed was some spine, a little more work, and maybe a few of the black locals supported for public office.

Hollande promised to work for the senator's victory, but acknowledged that the French Socialists' endorsement could end up tarnishing Obama's image in the eyes of the American electorate, given the way some voters regard socialism.

During a brief visit to France in July, Obama met with conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy but not with opposition Socialists.

Apparently this is the big idea for the Socialist party's comeback in French politics, to campaign for an American presidential candidate. [Pause.] At least it generated a nice headline for them.

Meanwhile the French electorate begs attention.

FRANCE'S SOCIALIST PARTY 'CLOSE TO MELTDOWN'
The French See The Socialist Party As Hopelessly Divided And
On The Verge Of Meltdown, According To Poll Released Friday...

PARIS August 29, 2008 (Telegraph) - [A]lmost two thirds of the French see the party as mortally riven by internal rivalries.

The Socialists "are perpetuating their own discredit", according to the head of ViaVoice, which conducted the poll. The public no longer "understands" why the party cannot forget its "egocentric preoccupations" and "pay more attention to the French and (be) a stronger opposition to the (ruling) power".

Would you mind ringing back mid-November? Everyone's pretty occupied at the moment trying to get a nod from Mr. Obama.

PFFT (What is this?): Obama poodles 3 | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: Never Mind V

Le jour 473 de Sarko

France leverages her presidency of the EU to punish Russia for its ginned up invasion of Georgia.

SARKOZY WARNS RUSSIA:
WITHDRAW FROM SOUTH OSSETIA
OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES
August 17, 2008 (Guardian)

SARKOZY THREATENS 'CONSEQUENCES'
AS RUSSIA STALLS ON GEORGIA PULLOUT
BRUSSELS/TBILISI August 17, 2008 (Guardian)

EU CONSIDERS SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA

PARIS August 28, 2008 (Herald Sun) - EU states are considering imposing sanctions on Russia when they hold an emergency summit next week on the Georgian crisis, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said today.

"Sanctions are being considered, and many other means'' at next Monday's meeting in Brussels, said Kouchner, whose country holds the European Union presidency.

It was the first time that Paris evoked the possibility of sanctions against Moscow.

"We are trying to draw up a strong text showing our desire not to accept" the situation in Georgia, he told reporters, adding that he did not want to "prefigure" what the sanctions might be.

And this:

Kouchner's comments marked a turnaround from his stance Monday, when he said the EU did not envision sanctions against Russia following its brief but intense war against Georgia.

Oh. Never mind.

France leverages her presidency of the EU to shield Russia from penalties for violation of the UN charter (Chapter I, Article 2§3, 2§4; Chapter VI, Articles 33§1, 36§3; Chapter VII, Articles 39, 40; Chapter XVI, Article 103; et al.), breaking treaty agreements and -- if M. Kouchner is to be believed -- international law, lying about its purposes and cease-fire compliance, violating the sovereign territory of Georgia and -- if M. Kouchner is to be believed -- threatening its neighbors, wanton destruction and expropriation of property and -- if M. Kouchner is to be believed -- ethnic cleansing.

RUSSIA URGES WEST TO REFRAIN FROM SANCTIONS

MOSCOW August 29, 2008 (Reuters) - Russia and European powers took a step back from confrontation over Georgia on Friday, with Moscow urging the EU not to rush into punitive action and France saying now was not the time for sanctions.

FRANCE DOESN’T WANT SANCTIONS
AGAINST RUSSIA BUT DIALOGUE:
FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER
PARIS August 29, 2008 (FOCUS)

EU DOES ABOUT TURN, NO SANCTIONS ON MOSCOW

ROMA August 29, 2008 (AGI) - The EU has done an about turn over the issue of enforcing sanctions on Moscow. The matter of applying sanctions on Russia will not be considered as Brussels meets on Monday for an extraordinary summit, according to a source from the Elysee Palace. Conversely, the French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, announced yesterday that they were "considering sanctions and many other possibilities" for the summit in Brussels. He continued to say that "we are trying to put together a strong bill which makes explicit our non-acceptance" of the situation in Georgia.

The turnarounds are dizzying. And bewildering. [Pause.] If M. Kouchner is to be believed.

PFFT (What is this?): No sanctions, no problem 4 | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: Uncondemnable V

Le jour 473 de Sarko

If I condemn, I can no longer hear both sides.

Bernard Kouchner,
French Foreign Minister, explaining why what is wrong
has equal standing with what is right
PARIS August 11, 2008 (M&C)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

La France rappelle son attachement au respect de l'indépendance, de l'intégrité territoriale et de la souveraineté de la Géorgie, dans ses frontières internationalement reconnues.

[France reaffirms its attachment to respect for Georgia’s independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty within its internationally recognized borders.]

Géorgie
Points de presse du Ministere
des affaires etrangeres et europeennes
PARIS 25 août 2008 (Quai d'Orsay)

An unobnubilated French position. Look carefully, you may never read one of these again.

RUSSIA RECOGNIZES BREAKAWAY GEORGIAN REGIONS
MOSCOW/TALLINN, Estonia/PARIS August 26, 2008 (IHT)

Plainly a violation of Georgian "independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty within its internationally recognized borders" begging condemnation from the international community.

BUSH CONDEMNS RUSSIA
RECOGNITION OF GEORGIA AREAS
CRAWFORD August 26, 2008 (Forbes/Reuters)

US CANDIDATES CONDEMN RUSSIA
MOVE ON GEORGIA AREAS
WASHINGTON August 26, 2008 (Reuters)

BRITAIN, ITALY CONDEMN RUSSIA'S
RECOGNITION OF BREAKAWAY REGIONS
LONDON/ROME August 26, 2008 (Earth Times/DPA)

G7* CONDEMNS RUSSIA
August 28, 2008 (RNW)

NORDIC, BALTIC COUNTRIES CONDEMN RUSSIA
RIGA, Latvia August 28, 2008 (IHT/AP)

ALBANIA CONDEMNS RUSSIA'S
RECOGNITION OF GEORGIAN BREAKAWAY REGIONS

TIRANA August 28, 2008 (Xinhua) - Albania on Thursday condemned Russia's decision to recognize Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states, calling the move "totally unacceptable".

Albania!

And then there is the French tongue cluck.

FRANCE 'REGRETS' RUSSIAN RECOGNITION OF SOUTH

PARIS August 26, 2008 (CNBC/Thomson Financial) - The French foreign ministry said Tuesday that Russia's recognition of the rebel Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states was a "regrettable decision."

Yes. Well, the Russians are said to be devastated by the French disappointment. But just a notch or two below the regretful French are Moscow's boosters.

CHAVEZ BACKS RUSSIAN RECOGNITION OF GEORGIA REGIONS

PUERTO ORDAZ, Venezuela August 29, 2008 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez backed Russia's recognition of two breakaway regions of Georgia on Friday, making Venezuela only the second nation to support Moscow's stance [Belarus is also in the tank for Russia]. Sr. Chavez:

Russia has recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. We support Russia. Russia is right and is defending its interests.

Chavez has bought billions of dollars of weapons from Russia and supports its increased role on the world stage as a counter-balance to the United States.

------------------------------------
* Just recently the G8.

PFFT (What is this?): C'est dommage 2½ | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: Where Is The French Peace Mob? III

Le jour 472 de Sarko

GÉORGIE ? NE ME DÉRANGE PAS, S'IL TE PLAIT.
(L) Manif contre la guerre en irak, (R) rein
No Complaints With Russian Invasions

[Hat tip: Hervé]

The problem -- well, one of many -- running a totalitarian state is that you come to believe that the clumsy lies you force on your own citizenry will be swallowed whole by the free world at large. The Russian account of its invasion of Georgia is old school Soviet "glorious lies". The Soviet legacy is not one of subtlety and finesse. Geopolitics, international law, treaties, gimmicks (e.g., seeding "Russian" citizens in Ossetia), timings, logisitics, and out-sized destruction all belie the dopey Russian fairy tale of righteous pacification.

HOW THE GEORGIAN CONFLICT REALLY STARTED

Augusrt 28, 2008 (WSJ) - According to the Georgian president, the Russians had been planning an invasion of his country for weeks -- even months -- ahead of time. Mr. Saakashvili:

Some months ago, I was warned by Western leaders in Dubrovnik to expect an attack this summer. Mr. Putin had already threatened me in February, saying we would become a protectorate of Russia. When I met Mr. Medvedev in June, he was very friendly. I saw him again in July and he was a changed man, spooked, evasive. He tried to avoid me. He knew something by then. I ask everyone to consider, what does it mean when hundreds of tanks can mobilize and occupy a country within two days? Just the fuelling takes that long. They were on their way. Would we provoke a war while all our Western friends are away on vacation? Be sensible.

I got a call from the minister of defense that Russian tanks, some 200, were massing to enter Tskhinvali from North Ossetia. I ignored it at first, but reports kept coming in that they had begun to move forward. In fact, they had mobilized reserves several days ahead of time.

This was precisely the kind of information that the Russians have suppressed and the world press continues to ignore, despite decades of familiarity with Kremlin disinformation methods. Mr. Saakashvili:

We subsequently found out from pilots we shot down that they'd been called up three days before from places like Moscow. We had intelligence coming in ahead of time but we just couldn't believe it. Also, in recent weeks, the separatists had intensified artillery barrages and were shooting our soldiers. I'd kept telling our guys to stay calm. Actually we had most of our troops down near Abkhazia where we expected the real trouble to start. I can tell you that if we'd intended to attack, we'd have withdrawn our best-trained forces from Iraq up front.

Why did the Russians not act before or later? It was a matter, [Mr. Saakashvili] said, of several factors coming together: the useful distractions of the Beijing Olympics and the U.S. elections, the fact that it took Mr. Putin this long to consolidate power, the danger that tanks would bog down in the winter.

But two factors above all sealed Georgia's fate this summer, it seems. In April, NATO postponed the decision to admit Georgia into the organization until its next summit in October. Mr. Saakashvili believes Moscow felt it had one last chance to pre-empt Georgia's joining NATO.

Finally, he says, the invasion had to be done before the situation in Iraq got any better and freed up U.S. forces to act elsewhere -- a matter not simply of U.S. weakness but of increasing U.S. strength. Mr. Saakashvili:

If America thinks it is too weak to do anything about Georgia, you should understand how the Russians see it, how much Moscow respects a strong United States -- or at least a U.S. that believes in its own strength.

[Hat tip to Sebaneau for keeping us current with developments and world opinion on this.]

PFFT (What is this?): Russia, invade anywhere you like but France (svp) 3½ | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: Uncondemnable IV

Le jour 472 de Sarko

If I condemn, I can no longer hear both sides.

Bernard Kouchner,
French Foreign Minister, explaining why what is wrong
has equal standing with what is right
PARIS August 11, 2008 (M&C)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Отморозки тем отличаются от нормальных людей, что когда они чувствуют запах крови, их очень трудно остановить, и тогда приходится прибегать к хирургическим методам.

[Morons differ from normal people, when they smell blood it is very hard to stop them, thus surgical (military) methods are required.]

Dmitry Medvedev,
President of Russia and lap-dummy of Mr. Putin,
characterizing the Georgians or the Georgian government
while missing the glaring self-irony
MOSCOW August 12, 2008 (RIA Novosti)

BUILDING THE NEW EVIL EMPIRE
Just Like The Old Evil Empire
Minus The Marxist Mumbo Jumbo

GEORGIA MUST BE PUNISHED - MEDVEDEV
VLADIKAVKZ, Russia August 19, 2008 (news.com.au)

RUSSIA WARNS MOLDOVA AGAINST "GEORGIAN MISTAKE"

SOCHI, Russia August 25, 2008 (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned ex-Soviet Moldova on Monday against repeating Georgia's mistake of trying to use force to seize back control of a breakaway region.

Russia sent peacekeepers to Moldova in the early 1990s to end a conflict between Chisinau and its breakaway Transdniestria region and is trying to mediate a deal between the two sides.

Transdniestria, one of a number of "frozen conflicts" on the territory of the former Soviet Union, mirrored the standoff between Georgia and its rebel regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia until they erupted in war earlier this month.

RUSSIA CONDEMNED FOR RECOGNIZING REBEL REGIONS
MOSCOW August 26, 2008 (CNN)

MEDVEDEV THREATENS MILITARY RESPONSE TO US SHIELD
August 26, 2008 (Irish Times)

RUSSIA ADOPTS BLUSTERY TONE SET BY ENVOY
MOSCOW August 27, 2008 (NYT)

RUSSIAN WARSHIPS SENT TO ABKHAZIA
August 28, 2008 (Aljazeera)

ANY COUNTRY COULD BE NEXT,
WARNS UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT

August 28, 2008 (Guardian) - Ukraine's president, Viktor Yushchenko, could not have put it more starkly. Condemning Russia's decision to recognise the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Georgia's two separatist regions, Yushchenko warned yesterday:

Any nation could be next.

In fact, Yushchenko was articulating what is now a commonplace in diplomatic circles: that having successfully "done" Georgia, the Kremlin might now turn its attention to Ukraine - and in particular its Russian-speaking region of Crimea.

France's foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, said the same thing:

It is very dangerous ... there are other objectives that one can suppose are objectives for Russia, in particular the Crimea, Ukraine and Moldova,

PFFT (What is this?): Morons run amok 4½ | EU tongue cluck deterrence 3 | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: Where Is The French Peace Mob? II

Le jour 471 de Sarko

GÉORGIE ? HEIN ?
(L) Manif contre la guerre en irak, (R) rein
Only The Brave Dare Condemn Russian War

[Hat tip: Hervé]

SARKOZY URGES RUSSIAN TROOP WITHDRAWAL

PARIS August 24, 2008 (The Australian) - President Nicolas Sarkozy has discussed the situation in Georgia with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev and called on Russian troops to leave Georgia's Black Sea Poti port.

Sarkozy's office said the two leaders spoke by telephone and would remain in close contact over the coming days:

Concerning the nearby region of Abkhazia, President Sarkozy insisted it was important that Russian troops present at the Poti/Senaki area should withdraw as soon as possible.

Shifting from an imperative to the conditional. Please note, Sarko is not here insisting that the Russians leave Georgia, he is insisting that it is important that they should do so at their soonest possible pleasure.

FRANCE, RUSSIA AT ODDS OVER CONTENT
OF LEADERS’ PHONE TALKS

TBILISI August 24, 2008 (Civil.ge) - The French and Russian presidents have agreed to replace Russian forces in the so-called “buffer zone” outside South Ossetia with OSCE monitors, the French president’s press office said in a statement. The Kremlin has denied any such deal has been made.

French President Nikola Sarkozy spoke with his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, on Saturday evening, August 23. After the phone conversation, a statement was posted on the French president’s website, reading:

The two presidents have agreed on the need to set up an international mechanism under the OSCE aegis to replace Russian patrols in the security zone in the south from South Ossetia.

[Les deux chefs d’Etat...se sont notamment accordés sur l’urgence de la mise en place d’un mécanisme international sous l’égide de l’OSCE, pour remplacer les patrouilles russes dans la zone de sécurité au sud de l’Ossétie.]

The Kremlin, however, has denied reaching such an agreement, saying the issue wasn't even discussed.

PFFT (What is this?): Only brave enough to condemn America 5 | Rayonnement français 0 (There is no lower rating.)

Pave: Obamania In France Redux

Le jour 469 de Sarko

ALREADY ELECTED IN FRANCE!
Not Even Nominated Yet In America

[Hat tip: Carine]

France -- without a single elected minority in the national government -- in such a France American black presidents are elected with ease.

Only in America -- as they say in France.

By supporting abroad what they wouldn't dream of at home, the French congratulate themselves on being very progressive, very much beyond prejudice.*

------------------------------------
* Racism in France? Bigotry? Don't take our word for it, see here, here, here, here, or here, to link but five admissions by the French themselves.

PFFT (What is this?): High French turn-out 3½ | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: "The Americans? We're going to smash them." Finale

Le jour 468 de Sarko

The Americans? We're going to smash them. That's what we came here for.

Alain Bernard,
big-talking French swimmer, who lost his lead --
and gold for France -- to Jason Lezak, oldest swimmer
on the American relay squad in the 4x100 freestyle relay
August 7, 2008 (ABC-AU/Reuters)

The Olympics are over. France took the last gold, defeating Iceland in handball. Congratulations, France. We didn't even know handball was on the Olympic card.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) ranks its medal table by gold medals. By this ranking China came in first with 51 gold, America second with 36, and France 10th with 7.

CSM points out that had American Michael Phelps been entered as his own country he would have finished 10th, notching France down to 11th.

America took 31 medals (12-9-10; 28% of its total medal take) in swimming, while France took 6 (1-2-3; 15%), a proportional showing but not the smashing promised. Of the 25 swimming world records broken, America set 10* and France 1. Proportionally this is 2-to-1, a smashing the other way round.

In overall medal count, France's ranking improves to 7th (40 medals total), China notches down to second (100) and America notches up to first (110).

Earlier posts here and here.

------------------------------------
* Michael Phelps alone broke seven world and eight Olympic records.

PFFT (What is this?): Unsmashed 4 | Rayonnement français 2

Pave: Uncondemnable III

Le jour 467 de Sarko

If I condemn, I can no longer hear both sides.

Bernard Kouchner,
French Foreign Minister, explaining why what is wrong
has equal standing with what is right
PARIS August 11, 2008 (M&C)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Let's connect some dots, starting here.

VASILI ISTRATOV: "RUSSIAN PASSPORTS
WERE ISSUED TO SOUTH OSSETIAN RESIDENTS
BASED ON RUSSIAN LEGISLATION"

August 13, 2008 (Today.Az) - Eighty percent of residents of South Ossetia are Russian citizens and Russian citizenship was issued to them on the basis of Russia's legislation, said Russian ambassador to Azerbaijan Vasili Istratov, speaking on the international legal basis of issuance of the Russian citizenship to South Ossetian residents.

He said the legislation of Russia have allowed to issue Russian citizenship to persons, who reside in the territories of former Soviet Republics, for many years.

Connecting here.

MEDVEDEV: RUSSIA WILL CRUSH ANYONE
THREATENING ITS CITIZENS

KURSK, Russia August 18, 2008 (VOA) - Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has promised what he called a shattering blow to anyone threatening Russian citizens.

Russia hands out passports somewhere and that somewhere suddenly falls within the sovereign jurisdiction of Russia. This is quite a trick.

And lastly connecting here.

RUSSIA SENDS ALMOST 4,000 TONS
OF HUMANITARIAN AID TO S.OSSETIA.

ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia August 19, 2008 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has delivered 3,700 metric tons of humanitarian aid to the war-hit Georgian breakaway republic of South Ossetia, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said on Tuesday.

South Ossetia was attacked by Georgian forces on August 8. The majority of residents of South Ossetia hold Russian citizenship, and Moscow launched a massive operation to expel Georgian troops from the region and to reinforce its peacekeepers.

Provincial capital Tskhinvali was left in ruins by Georgia's military offensive, while Russia says some 1,600 civilians were killed in the attack. Moscow concluded its operation to "force Georgia to accept peace" on August 12.

EIGHTY T-90Hs* GIVE A HUMANITARIAN ASSIST IN OSSETIA
If You Think You Are A Russian Citizen But Do NOT Live In Russia,
Contact Sergey Lavrov About A Russian Humanitarian Intervention
[Mr. Putin: Because we care.]

------------------------------------
* The T-90H, Russia's main humanitarian conveyance, is identical in all respects to the T-90S, main battle tank, except for the letter "H" and a cargo of 10,000 blank passports.

PFFT (What is this?): Listening to the dark side 3½ | Rayonnement français ½

Pave: Uncondemnable Redux

Le jour 466 de Sarko

If I condemn, I can no longer hear both sides.

Bernard Kouchner,
French Foreign Minister, explaining why what is wrong
has equal standing with what is right
PARIS August 11, 2008 (M&C)

Is M. Kouchner attentive to this side?

GEORGIANS TELL OF ETHNIC CLEANSING

KARBI, South Ossetia August 20, 2008 (Independent) - The graves were shallow, dug in haste. One was in a shed attached to a house, the stench overwhelming the building. Stones had been on top to prevent disturbance by animals. This was the grim evidence, locals insist, of murderous ethnic cleansing, which has accompanied this conflict.

The dead were Georgians trapped in enclaves inside separatist South Ossetia who had become prey to Ossetian paramilitaries trailing behind Russia's forces. Yesterday, the survivors described their terrible experience for the first time since this sudden war erupted.

... Koba Janashvili, 37, had died on the day Russian troops rolled into the district, according to people in the village of Tkiavi, on the South Ossetian side of the border with Georgia. He died in the looting, burnings and killings which came after the troops, attacks that locals blamed on the Ossetians militia men. ... Tkiavi has seen the killings of around 30 people, say residents.

"They were angry and they were very drunk," said 51-year-old Mr Radmadze. "They looted the main shop and then started shooting people."

... Roza Chikhinadze, recalled the terrifying visits by the militia. "They came in two cars – usually a military jeep at the front and a minibus at the back. It's usually young guys in their early 20s. They behave like they're on a hunting trip."

[Photo source: 20minutes.fr/Reuters/Gleb Garanich]

The 20minutes.fr caption reads:

Une Géorgienne blessée dans l'attaque sur Gori, samedi 9 août.

[A Georgian wounded in the [Russian] attack on Gori, Saturday August 9.]

RUSSIAN TROOPS WITHDRAWING,
BUT ETHNIC CLEANSING ACCUSATIONS LINGER

TBILISI August 22, 2008 (Eurasianet) - For four days, 68-year-old Meri Basishvili trudged through the woods of South Ossetia to make it from her home in Kurta, an ethnic Georgian village there, to relative safety in the nearby Russian-occupied city of Gori. ... Basishvili says that she passed numerous dead bodies on her way through the woods; their stench, mixed with the smell of smoke from nearby burning villages, left an indelible impression. "None of the dead were in military uniform. All of them were civilians, and there was no one to bury them," she told EurasiaNet.

... Stories of torture, rape and brutal murders abound in the schools and government buildings where over 100,000 displaced persons from throughout Georgia now live. Many do not have any information about the husbands, parents or relatives who stayed behind in areas now under Russian and separatist control.

[Photo source: 20minutes.fr/Reuters/David Mdzinarishvili]

The 20minutes.fr caption reads:

Dans les ruines de sa maison, le 10 août, détruite après une offensive russe.

[In the ruins of her home, August 10, destroyed after a Russian offensive.]

The Georgian government charges that the violence committed against both regions’ civilian populations amounts to a deliberate Russian policy of ethnic cleansing. It has appealed to two international courts to seek redress: the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, and the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

The first case concerns Russia’s alleged violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. The second, scheduled for a hearing on September 8, goes further. In a 32-page lawsuit, Georgia claims that Russia’s violation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination dates to the early 1990s, when fighting with Russian-backed separatists in Abkhazia and South Ossetia led to the deaths of "thousands of civilians" and the "forced displacement of over 300,000 people."

... What evidence has been made public appears to concern mostly Russian-backed Ossetian fighters; not Russian ground forces themselves. Most Ossetians from separatist-controlled South Ossetia, however, carried Russian passports; Georgian officials charge that they fought in conjunction with the Russian army and Russian peacekeepers. ... Most of the cases come from the narrow strip of territory separating Gori from South Ossetia and from within formerly Georgian-controlled areas of the South Ossetia conflict zone itself. Ossetians are primarily named as the perpetrators.

• On August 8, in the village of Kvemo Achabeti, an armed Ossetian, roughly 40 years old, reportedly shot and killed an 84-year-old ethnic Georgian after he said that he had no guns to give them.

• In Tkviavi, an ethnic Georgian village within South Ossetia, some 20 "armed men in military uniforms" shot and killed one homeowner and then burnt his house with the body inside. The eyewitness reported that the group spoke Georgian with an Ossetian accent.

• In Karaleti, a village not far from Gori, a group of "Ossetian and Russian armed men" reportedly killed two men in a car-jacking, then burned down two houses and drove off with two tractors and a car.

• The accounts echo an August 13 report from Human Rights Watch about four previously ethnic Georgian villages in South Ossetia that are marked by "terrifying scenes of destruction" with their residents left stranded. In an August 17 report, the organization called on Russian officials to respond swiftly to "end Ossetian militia attacks on ethnic Georgians in the Gori district of Georgia."

[Photo source: 20minutes.fr/Reuters/Gleb Garanich]

The 20minutes.fr caption reads:

A Gori, un Géorgien pleure un membre de sa famille, tué dans le bombardement russe, samedi.

[In Gori, a Georgian mourns a member of his family, killed in the Russian bombardment, Saturday.]

PFFT (What is this?): Hard listening 5 | Rayonnement français ½

Pave: Uncondemnable

Le jour 465 de Sarko

If I condemn, I can no longer hear both sides.

Bernard Kouchner,
French Foreign Minister, explaining why what is wrong
has equal standing with what is right
PARIS August 11, 2008 (M&C)

The Russians on the other hand are not hampered by diplomatic relativism.

RUSSIANS ARREST THE AMBASSADOR OF FRANCE
August 21, 2008 (TGT)

THE OTHER SIDE
New Management Is The Old Management

PARIS BLASTS 'UNACCEPTABLE' DETENTION
OF ENVOY AT RUSSIAN CHECKPOINT

August 21, 2008 (AFP/Georgian Daily) - France said Thursday it was "unacceptable" that its ambassador to Tbilisi was blocked for three hours at a Russian checkpoint near the Georgian town of Gori. The French foreign ministry:

It is unacceptable that the freedom of movement of our ambassador has been curtailed. We have said this to the Russian authorities.

The ambassador, Eric Fournier, was blocked Thursday as he returned to Tbilisi after visiting a French-funded military training centre in the mountains of northern Georgia, the ministry said. Fournier has been active in trying to determine if the six-point peace plan brokered by France to end fighting between Russian and Georgian forces is being implemented.

Russian army headquarters in Moscow said Russian soldiers were simply preventing the ambassador from entering the "security zone" they have established in Georgia.

Ah, can't have diplomatic riff-raff mucking within a Russian "security zone".

And this from Reuters:

The French foreign ministry also said it supported Georgia's territorial integrity, an issue that had been left out of an early truce Fournier helped broker, but is now at the heart of debate at the United Nations.

PFFT (What is this?): Scolding the bear 1½ | Rayonnement français 1½

Pave: Sin Tax Cringe

Le jour 464 de Sarko

Not every bad idea becomes law in France.

CREDIT CRISIS FORCES FRENCH TO ABANDON FAT TAX
The Spiralling Cost Of Living Has Forced France
To Abandon A "Fat Tax" On Unhealthy Food And Drinks.

PARIS August 20, 2008 (Telegraph) - Budget Minister Eric Woerth said a proposed rise in the amount of TVA paid on salty and sugary foods was "out of the question" in the current economic climate.

The idea was originally put forward by the country's finance and social inspectorates with a view to reducing the healthcare budget deficit and tackling obesity, a growing problem in France. ...

However, experts acknowledged in the report that "the least privileged sections of the population, who eat least well, could be most heavily penalised" by the triple tax increase.

In response Mr Woerth said it was "out of the question to raise TVA on food products, especially during a time when the French are worried about spending power." The new recommendations were set to go before the French parliament this month, and could have become law by next year, but have instead been scrapped.

Although the country is Europe's second slimmest nation after Italy, more than one in three people in France are overweight or obese.

Also see this earlier post.

PFFT (What is this?): Upside of down economy 3 | Rayonnement français 1½

Pave: Bon appétit !

Le jour 464 de Sarko

Do not fear the microbe.

Popular French wisdom on hygiene

FRENCH TOURIST EATERIES GET HYGIENE THUMBS DOWN

August 15, 2008 (The Age) - One in four cafes, snack bars and seafront restaurants in tourist hotspots across France are breaking hygiene rules or serving food unfit for consumption, the agriculture ministry said today.

French health inspectors visiting 9400 food establishments found more than 2600 to be in breach of at least one hygiene rule, Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Michel Barnier* told Le Parisien daily.

Warnings were issued for dirty toilets and kitchens and for poor hygiene among staff. As well, inspection teams carted away 30 tonnes of food unfit to serve from 550 food shacks and restaurants.

Thirty-seven establishments were shut down altogether, for failing to meet basic hygiene and food conservation rules, and allowing staff to work in dirty clothes, Monique Eloit of the agriculture ministry's food directorate said.

The number of eateries caught in breach of the rules was similar to last year, but the amount of food seized had more than doubled, she said.

Experience the France of the Frenchie (and here and this)!

------------------------------------
* Oh, how the mighty are fallen. Michel Barnier was the once big-talking multipolar ringmaster (and this) for Then-Jack, then this reversal. Now a glorified restaurant inspector.

PFFT (What is this?): Enjoy your gastrodynia 4 | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: A Reminder II

Le jour 463 de Sarko

Then.

France and Poland guarantee each other immediate and direct aid against any threat direct or indirect, which might aim a blow at their vital interests.

Edouard Daladier,
French Prime Minister
and Minister of National Defence and War,
from a press communiqué in which France guarantees
reciprocal "immediate and direct aid"
to Poland in the event of attack
PARIS April 13, 1939
(The French Yellow Book, Document №99)

Herr Hitler is adopting precisely the same attitude toward Poland as he did towards Czechoslovakia in the last days of September.

Robert Coulondre,
French Ambassador in Berlin,
communiqué to Georges Bonnet, French Foreign Minister,
referring to the earlier French diplomatic success
as a prefiguement of further French success
BERLIN August 24, 1939
(The French Yellow Book, Document №217)

THE French Government will make a most urgent démarche to the Polish Government to the effect that the latter should abstain from military action should the Senate of the Free City proclaim the return of Danzig to the Reich. It is indeed important that Poland should not take up the position of an aggressor, which might impede the entry into force of some of our pacts and would furthermore place the Polish Army in Danzig in a very dangerous position. The Warsaw Government would in such a case reserve its freedom to defend its rights by diplomatic action.

Georges Bonnet,
communiqué to Roger Cambon,
French Chargé d'Affaires in London,
relating his urging the Poles to sit tight
and broadly signaling French reluctance to fight
PARIS August 24, 1939
(The French Yellow Book, Document №218)

On August 31, 1939 Germany staged a "Polish" attack on Sender Gleiwitz, a radio station near Gleiwitz on the German border, as a pretense to attack Poland. Long in preparation, Mr. Hitler commenced German "defensive" actions against Poland at 4:45A the next day -- all the while stringing along the Allied parties with the prospect of more talks.

Gentlemen, these efforts towards peace, however powerless they were and still remain, will at least have shown where the responsibility lies. ... What we did before the beginning of this war, we are ready to do once more. If renewed steps are taken towards conciliation, we are still ready to join in. (Loud and unanimous applause. On the extreme left, on the left, in the centre, and on the right the deputies rise and applaud again.)

If the fighting were to stop, if the aggressor were to retreat within his own frontiers, if free negotiations could still be started, you may well believe, Gentlemen, the French Government would spare no effort to ensure, even today, if it were possible, the success of these negotiations, in the interests of the peace of the world. (Loud and prolonged applause.)

... This is the question I lay before the French nation, and all nations. At the very moment of the aggression against Poland, what value has the guarantee, once more renewed, given for our eastern frontier, for our Alsace (loud applause), for our Lorraine (loud applause), after the repudiation of the guarantees given in turn to Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland? More powerful through their conquests, gorged with the plunder of Europe, the masters of inexhaustible natural wealth, the aggressors would soon turn against France with all their forces. (Fresh applause.)

Thus, our honour is but the pledge of our own security. ... Forfeiting our honour would purchase nothing more than a precarious peace liable to rescission, and when, tomorrow, we should have to fight after losing the respect of our allies and the other nations, we should no longer be anything more than a wretched people doomed to defeat and bondage. (Loud and unanimous applause.)

... Gentlemen, today France is in command. (Loud and repeated applause on all the benches. The deputies sitting on the left, on the extreme left, in the centre, and on the right rise and applaud at great length.)

Edouard Daladier,
French Prime Minister
declaration read to the Parliament
describing French readiness to resume negotiations
with perfidious Germany while re-affirming
France's guarantee to fight alongside Poland
PARIS September 2, 1939
(The French Yellow Book, Document №356)

France mobilized and manned her borders but did not fight alongside Poland. What followed was the drôle de guerre, the Phony War, when, with Poland lost, France limited herself to hand-waves across the front lines for nine months. On May 10, 1940 Germany invaded France. A breathtaking 46 days later, the whole of France surrendered.

Now.

If I condemn, I can no longer hear both sides.

Bernard Kouchner,
French Foreign Minister,
explaining why the Russian invasion of Georgia
is beyond criticism by the French government
PARIS August 11, 2008 (M&C)

RUSSIA: 'FORGET' GEORGIAN TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY
GORI, Georgia August 14, 2008 (AP)

FRENCH-BROKERED DEAL GIVES
RUSSIA GROUNDS TO ADVANCE

TBILISI August 14, 2008 (Seattle Times/NYT) - It was early Wednesday when President Nicolas Sarkozy of France announced he had accomplished what seemed impossible: persuading Georgia and Russia to agree to a set of principles to stop the war.

But by the time the sun was up, Russian tanks were advancing, around strategic Gori, in central Georgia.

It soon became clear that the six-point deal not only failed to slow the Russian advance, it also allowed Russia to claim it could push deeper into Georgia as part of so-called additional security measures granted in the accord.

Sarkozy, said a senior Georgian official, also failed to persuade Russia to agree to any time limit on military action.

RUSSIA: WILL BEGIN PULLOUT FROM GEORGIA ON MONDAY
GORI, Georgia August 17, 2008 (AP)

FRENCH FM CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC ON RUSSIAN PULLOUT

PARIS August 18, 2008 (Pressemitteilung/AP) - France's foreign minister says he hopes Russian troops are starting to withdraw from a conflict zone with Georgia, as promised. Bernard Kouchner says he might be wrong but it appears to him that «we are witnessing the start of a withdrawal of troops today and into the night.

Ah, hope triumphs over the wire dispatches. M. Kouchner's discernment is completely wrong.

RUSSIA CLAIMS PULLBACK
BUT FORCES MOVE OTHER WAY
GORI, Georgia August 18, 2008 (breitbart.com/AP)

PLEDGING TO LEAVE GEORGIA,
RUSSIA INSTEAD TIGHTENS GRIP
WASHINGTON August 18, 2008 (IHT)

RUSSIA NOT KEEPING ITS WORD ON GEORGIA

CRAWFORD, Texas August 18, 2008 (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, bound for crisis talks at NATO headquarters in Brussels, said Russian President Dmitry Medevdev had failed to fulfill his pull-out pledge under a France-brokered ceasefire plan. Ms. Rice:

(I wonder) why the Russian president [Dmitry Medvedev] either will not or cannot keep his word.

... But hours later, a US defense official speaking on condition of anonymity said in Washington that US officials monitoring the situation "have not seen any significant Russian movement out of Georgia today."

And then this bit of premature self-congratulation, explaining much of what is wrong with the West's grasp of Russia's naked aggression.

The time will come when the sequence of events and responsibilities can be established in an indisputable and impartial manner...

Throughout the first phase of this latest crisis, Europe's commitment was decisive: It was the European Union, through France, that created a space for diplomacy by quickly proposing reasonable terms for a cease-fire and rendering the political cost of pursuing war exorbitant for both parties. If our efforts finally paid off, it is because Europe -- despite a few differences in tone -- did not limit itself to condemnation. [Eschewed by France entirely.] By choosing action and negotiation over rhetoric and mere denunciation, Europe was able to reestablish a positive balance of strength with Russia and to be heard by that country. When the house is burning, the priority is to put out the fire. Europe can be proud of this success, which proves that it can do a lot when it is motivated by a strong political will.

Sarko,
Président de la République française
and sitting President of the Council of the European Union,
congratulating Europa, and most especially France,
on lending legitimacy to the Russian invasion of Georgia
OP-ED August 18, 2008 (WaPo/Élysée)

RUSSIAN ARMY BATTLE-READY: MEDVEDEV
August 19, 2008 (tvnz.co.nz)

We have to talk to [the Russians]. But if they don't implement their promises, we have to react and stand up strongly. We need firmness, not threats. We must not threaten them because it will not work. Because everyone knows we are not going to war. ... I consider realistically that yes, they are tough. This is a great country coming back to the first rank in the concert of nations, and they want to play as they used to play, as a great country.

Bernard Kouchner,
invoking magical "firmness" to make Russia be nice
PARIS August 19, 2008 (IHT)

RUSSIA SAYS IT'S WITHDRAWING, BUT TROOPS STAY PUT
August 19, 2008 (NPR)

RUSSIA VOWS TO COMPLETE GEORGIA PULLOUT BY FRIDAY
August 20, 2008 (Belfast Telegraph)

IN GEORGIA, RUSSIA DIGS IN AS PULLBACK DATE NEARS
SACHKHERE, Georgia August 20, 2008 (AP)

We are shocked!

RUSSIA REJECTS LATEST FRENCH [UN] DRAFT ON GEORGIA
NEW YORK August 20, 2008 (Forbes/Thomson Financial)

Shocked!

RUSSIANS MOCK NATO REBUKE
OP-ED August 21, 2008 (Canberra Times)

SHOCKED!

PFFT (What is this?): Disturbingly familiar 4½ | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: French Car-be-cues 2007

Le jour 463 de Sarko

37,359 CAR-BE-CUES IN 2007
Excellent Prospects In France For Car Dealerships,
Apply To Michèle Alliot-Marie, Minister of the Interior

Torching cars is a tradition during French holidays. These cheering fires add zest and excitement especially to occasions that rely on ginned-up symbolism without real meaning or when a festive spirit is absent.

But in France there are plenty of gloomy days that need a little excitement. [Pause.] Almost any day. [Pause.] Or every day.

From Le Salon Beige:

Le nombre de « violences urbaines » commises en 2007 en France a été discrètement publié par le ministère de l’Intérieur. Il s’élève à 93 016, dont 37 359 incendies de véhicules, soit 102 par jour ! Le reste se répartit entre 26 217 incendies de poubelles, 7 955 dégradations de mobilier urbain (recensées dans la même catégorie, que celui-ci soit juste endommagé ou totalement détruit), 6 856 jets de projectile (les destinataires étant principalement les policiers et les pompiers), 5 658 rodéos automobiles et 4 101 « violences collectives à l’encontre des forces de sécurité, de secours et de santé », à distinguer des « jets de projectile » qui sont des actes individuels …

[The numbers on “urban violence” committed in 2007 in France has been discreetly published by the Interior Ministry. It comes to 93,016, including 37,359 vehicle torchings, which is to say 102 per day! The remainder is distributed between 26,217 dumpster fires, 7,955 instances of damage to city property (whether just damaged or completely destroyed, listed in the same category), 6,856 peltings by projectile (the targets being mainly police officers and firemen), 5,658 joyrides [scil., car thiefs] and 4,101 “collective violence against the security forces, emergency and medical services”, to distinguish from the “peltings by projectile” that are individual acts…]

[Hat tip: Hervé]

PFFT (What is this?): Brightening gloomy France 3½ | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: Socialist Paradise In Decline: Titillation

Le jour 462 de Sarko

France's worsening economy purportedly claims another French indulgence, passive voyuerism.

BEACH GOERS IN FRANCE GOING TOPLESS LESS

TOULON August 9, 2008 (UPI) - Going topless on beaches in French beach communities like St. Tropez has suddenly fallen out of fashion due to a number of factors, an expert says.

French academic Dr. Guy Fournier said while female beach goers in France have traditionally bared their breasts without a second thought, the trend has declined due in part to the declining economy, The (British) Daily Mail said Friday. Dr. Guy Fournier:

Bare breasts are viewed as a totally natural state on the beach. But public morality follows people's confidence and optimism in their wealth and lifestyle. During an economic downturn, women are less inclined to let it all hang out and more likely to cover up.

Now perhaps you, unlike the UPI, think that Dr. Fournier has put forward an incoherent explanation laden with enthymemes gone begging. Dr. Fournier seems to argue that prudishness follows markets in some direct measurable way. But he offers no measures. No comparative historical study. Not so much as an interview of a former topless bather. In Dr. Fournier's surgery any two dots are connectable -- which makes for fun theory, if bad science.

So let us look at the "topless lessness" dot and find it a more plausible originating companion.

[A quick search of the news wires and an overlarge dot presents itself almost immediately.]

We suggest the below is a good reason there is less toplessness on French beaches. If you have attained the proportions of a hippopotamus, you are more likely to stuff as much of your abundance as will fit in a spandex body girdle for your day at the beach.

FRENCH BEACH PARADE
Topless? No Thank You, We've Seen Enough
[Photo source: Durand Florence/ABC News/SIPA/AP Photo]

The plumping of France is not news.* However it is a fell wound to the French fairy tale of a streamlined national somatotype.

OBESITY IN FRANCE

December 20, 2005 (The Economist) - The rate of obesity in France has started to swell, rising from 8% of the adult population in 1997 to 11% by 2003. Over 40% of the French are now considered overweight. According to a recent Senate report, France has the same share of fat people today as America did in 1991— and an upward trend to match. And these numbers may understate the problem. The 2005 OECD health study says that obesity rates in Britain, at 23%, and America, at 31%, are higher. But it points out that the French figures, unlike British and American ones, are based on polls asking people if they are fat. Unsurprisingly, denial intrudes; self-reporting produces underestimates.

Oh! That the French should fib out of vanity. Perish the thought.

FRENCH "TAILLES FINES" GIVING WAY TO XXL

PARIS September 23, 2006 (China Daily/Reuters) - The French are becoming bigger and fatter and French women in particular are increasingly giving up on their renowned "taille fine," a survey that tracks weight patterns in France shows.

Nearly 42 percent of the French population older than 15 years has a weight problem, an ObEpi-Roche survey showed on Tuesday. Almost a third is overweight and 12.4 percent is obese.

What to do? How about one of those subtle French PSAs?

OBESITY KILLS
Attention ! Si vous êtes gros, ce n'est pas une critique !
[Graphic source: CNAO]

Well, that of course has had zero effect. Time to ready the French solution for everything.

FRANCE WEIGHS RAISING TAX ON FATTY FOODS

PARIS August 6, 2008 (WSJ) - Two French government agencies have recommended raising the sales tax on high-fat and high-sugar food and drinks in an attempt to fight an increasing obesity problem in France.

The report, expected to go before Parliament in the fall, calls for an increase in the value-added tax to 19.6% from the current 5.5% on foods that are high in fat, sugar and salt. It also targets snack foods, such as potato chips.

That is a big fat 356% increase.

JUNK FOOD LEADS TO FRENCH OBESITY

LONDON August 8, 2008 (ABC News) - More than one-third of the French are obese or overweight. A controversial memo submitted to the government recommends a tax increase on junk food... But would that deter families from buying chocolate bars, chips and soda? Not at all, says Paris-based nutritionist Dr. Arnaud Cocaul:

The tax idea is rather stupid. It is very difficult to say which product is good and which product is bad.

Even the Confederation Paysanne, an organization that defends traditional farmers and French-quality products, deemed the idea ludicrous. That opposition is surprising, given that the organization's flamboyant leader, Jose Bove, earned worldwide fame after he trashed a McDonald's restaurant and burned genetically modified corn fields in 1999. Philippe Colin, the confederation's national secretary:

This is scandalous. You may forbid some products because they are deemed unhealthy, but you cannot raise taxes on them, especially now that the French are struggling with rising food prices...just another tax to fix the government's budget situation.

And here we find ourselves agreeing with M. Colin. "Sin" taxes are fundamentally dishonest. If the "sin" poses a mortal danger to the public, the government has an obligation to forbid it. If the "sin" is a lifestyle choice of overindulgence or immobility, then the government should encourage better choices. But what government would survive imposing a limited national menu and a modest exercise regimen? A potato chip in and of itself does not cause obesity. Planting oneself and eating 10 pounds at a sitting day-in-day-out might, though not to a certainty.

Governments love "sin" taxes because -- as the hike contemplated here by the French illustrates -- the sky's the limit. The bigger the tax, the more rectifying virtue. It's all good.

------------------------------------
* See here and here.

PFFT (What is this?): Topless economy 0 | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: A Reminder I

Le jour 461 de Sarko

For those who wilfully forget. For those who are conveniently ignorant.

You should as a matter of extreme urgency get in touch with M. Benes [Edvard Beneš, President of Czechoslovakia] in order to make sure of his agreement. I request you to express to him my deep emotion at the end of these negotiations -- and to assure him that it was not by my choice that no representative of Czechoslovakia was present. I have no doubt, however painful the sacrifices imposed by the present situation, that M. Benes will agree with me that it is of the highest importance, whilst safeguarding for the future the essential conditions enabling his country to retain its faith in its destiny, to save the Czechoslovak nation from the more redoubtable trial of war.

Edouard Daladier,
French Prime Minister
and Minister of National Defence and War,
communiqué to Georges Bonnet, French Foreign Minister,
urging the Czech nation to cut its throat
for comity between France and Germany
MUNICH September 30, 1938
(The French Yellow Book, Document №13)

Please make an immediate communication to M. Krofta [Kamil Krofta, Czech Foreign Minister] to express the sentiments of profound sympathy with which, from hour to hour, I have followed his noble and courageous personal handling of the situation during so painful a national trial. Please assure him of the admiration felt by myself and by all my countrymen for the strength of character and the incomparable self-control shown by all Czechoslovak leaders, whose clear-sightedness has done so much to protect their country from the horrors of war. Will you assure him of my most loyal personal friendship and of my desire to help him to the best of my ability in the constructive task which now lies before him. The dignity and the self-abnegation shown by the entire Czechoslovak nation afford proof of its reserves of strength and vitality, the best safeguard of her historical patrimony and of her proud and free destiny.

Georges Bonnet,
French Foreign Minister,
communiqué to Victor de Lacroix, French Minister in Prague,
expressing his sympathies having persuaded the Czech nation
to cut its own throat in furtherance of French interests
PARIS October 2, 1938
(The French Yellow Book, Document №14)

There follows a self-congratulating dispatch to all foreign posts describing the French plan ("...while conforming with the procedure contemplated in the British plan, considerably enlarged the zone of territory to be occupied by the Germans from the 1st of October.") that won over the Führer and the subsequent hard work endured in selling out Czechoslovakia (Document №15). But even the French realized the Münchner Abkommen was a house of cards. So a for-French-eyes-only dispatch went on the record laying the foundation for placing the blame on the British, whom the Führer found disagreeable ("With regard to France, he took a rather indulgent attitude but on the other hand he insisted bitterly on the fact that he could, so he said, discern in the British attitude the expression of a fundamental antagonism.", Document №17)

The note from the German Foreign Office goes further still. It unequivocally declares that an intervention of the Western Powers in Central Europe, in the shape of a guarantee in favour of the Czechoslovak State, would do more harm than good. ... Doubtless the note seems in places to deal with a "premature" guarantee, but, for those who understand, it is the whole conception of a guarantee of the new Czechoslovakia by the Western Powers which it rejects. ... All that part of Europe henceforward is a preserve of the Reich... Translated into clear language, this phrase means that the Western Powers have no longer any right to interest themselves in Central European affairs.

... At first sight this document is therefore anything but reassuring as to the immediate intentions of Hitler's policy towards Czechoslovakia.

Robert Coulondre,
French Ambassador in Berlin,
communiqué to Georges Bonnet describing
the unraveling of France's "talking cure" handiwork
BERLIN March 2, 1939
(The French Yellow Book, Document №51)

By the time of this dispatch Germany's intentions toward Czechoslovakia were manifestly clear. But to admit this would be to admit that the whole diplomatic enterprise was a botch.

According to rumours which seem to be gaining strength, concentrations of German troops are taking place near the southern frontiers of Moravia and Slovakia. It should be observed that such rumours, for the time being are interpreted as a probable indication of Germany's desire, by intimidatory action, to exploit the situation created by her agents and to exercise pressure so as to extend her domination over Czechoslovakia.

Victor de Lacroix,
communiqué to Georges Bonnet describing
the further unraveling of France's diplomatic handiwork
PRAGUE March 10, 1939
(The French Yellow Book, Document №53)

According to the declarations obtained by one of our correspondents this evening from a German who occupies an important post in one of the Ministries, the fate of Bohemia and Moravia is now settled. What Germany wants is the annexation of these provinces pure and simple. "It is not for the sake of Mgr. Tiso [Monsignor Jozef Tiso, President of the puppet Solvak Republic]," said the person in question, "that our divisions are marching and that we are mobilizing several major aircraft units. You should understand that we intend to settle the question finally. Today an ultimatum will be sent to the Prague Government. The answer we receive is immaterial. It will be overtaken by events by the time it reaches us."

Robert Coulondre,
communiqué to Georges Bonnet describing
the latest German diplomatic initiative
BERLIN March 13, 1939
(The French Yellow Book, Document №56)

Until now the Munich Agreement has been presented even in Germany, as a vital element in the peace of Central Europe and, in a more general way, as a decisive step in the promotion of mutual confidence between the principal European Powers interested in the maintenance of that peace, among whom it should create both a formal basis for understanding and at the same time an atmosphere of cooperation which would prevent any future resort to force. ... It is therefore with the most concern that the French Government is following the development of events in Slovakia. The attitude to be adopted on this occasion by the Reich Government cannot but provide a lesson which will throw a light upon many essential questions for the future relations of Germany with the rest of Europe.

Georges Bonnet,
communiqué to Charles Corbin,
French Ambassador in London, and Robert Coulondre
expressing concern that the engineered Czech suicide
may have gained France nothing
PARIS March 14, 1939
(The French Yellow Book, Document №64)

But the lesson provided by the Reich was ignored and the Western European powers continued to blink beyond when blinking bought them nothing. [We pause for eyewash.] Only change "Führer" and "Germany" to "Putin" and "Russia" and this amazing series of dispatches becomes alarmingly contemporary with its weak-kneed hope-against-hope, its sputtering polite protests, and its tireless appetite for catered negotiations.

PFFT (What is this?): Disturbingly familiar 4 | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: Where Is The French Peace Mob? I

Le jour 460 de Sarko

The Ligue communiste Révoltionnaire (Revolutionary Communist League, LCR) in France decries a non-UN-sanctioned imperialist and oppressive power grab!

A tous les citoyens de France et d’Europe :

Tous ensemble, nous pouvons empêcher cette guerre !

Nous, citoyens et citoyennes de France et d’ Europe, nous luttons pour les droits sociaux et la justice sociale, pour la démocratie et contre toutes les formes d’oppression.

Nous croyons que la guerre qui se prépare, qu’elle se fasse sous le mandat de l’ONU ou non, sera catastrophique... Tous ceux qui pensent qu’une solution politique et démocratique doit s’imposer dans le règlement des conflits internationaux doivent s’opposer à cette guerre parce qu’elle augmentera le risque d’une catastrophe plus grande encore.

Le mouvement contre la guerre est massif dans tous les pays européens et des centaines de milliers de personnes se sont déjà mobilisées dans la rue.

Nous en appelons à tous les mouvements et à tous les citoyens et citoyennes de France et d’Europe afin qu’ils se mobilisent de manière coordonnée au niveau européen.

Nous appelons les autorités françaises et le parlement à utiliser tous les moyens en leur pouvoir pour empêcher la guerre contre l’Irak.

[To all citizens of France and Europe:

We, he-citizens and she-citizens of France and Europe, we fight for the social rights and social justice, democracy, and against all the forms of oppression.

We believe that the war being readied, not under the mandate of the UN, will be catastrophic... All those who think that a political and democratic solution is essential in the regulation of international conflicts must be opposed to this war because it will further increase the risk of a greater catastrophe.

The movement against the war is massive in all the European countries and hundreds of thousands of people are already mobilized in the street.

We call on all the movements and all the he-citizens and she-citizens of France and Europe so that they mobilize coordinated at the European level.

We call on the French authorities and the Parliament to use all means in their power to prevent the war against Iraq.]

Appel à la manifestation du 14 décembre 2003,
et constitution du comité
(LCR)

Oh. [Pause.] Oh. Wait. [Pause.] That was a call to protest a good 4 months before the American-led coalition liberated Iraq.

Well, Russia has been in Georgia since August 6, the LCR must be hopping mad about this violation of the international order, the violence to Georgian sovereignty, the lack of UN legitimacy, the civilian deaths, the wanton destruction, the blatant oil grab.

Let's see what the LCR is doing about all this.

Hhmmm. Notihng here. Nothing here either. Nope. Nada. Zilch.

Nothing. [Pause.] The LCR appears to have no idea that Russia is trashing their inviolable solution politique et démocratique dans le règlement des conflits internationaux.

Shameless.

PFFT (What is this?): Rank hypocrites caught out 5 (There is no higher ranking.) | Rayonnement français 0 (There is no lower rating.)

Pave: Weenies And Warsaw

Le jour 459 de Sarko

One can forget about any talk about Georgia's territorial integrity because, I believe, it is impossible to persuade South Ossetia and Abkhazia to agree with the logic that they can be forced back into the Georgian state.

Sergey Lavrov,
Russian Foreign Minister,
explaining that Russia has not invaded Georgia,
Russia is only securing its own natural enlargement
GORI, Georgia August 14, 2008 (Fox/AP)

Well, since Russia here confirms what the EU has already forgotten, that only leaves serving Russia dessert. And testily looking to America to pick up the tab.

Once again, it turns out that the real decisions in this organization [scil., EU] are being made between Berlin and Paris. Saying that the Union will have a common policy toward Russia is laughable.

Lech Kaczynski,
President of Poland,
describing the "more equal" among equals EU principle
(infra)

POLISH PRESIDENT CRITICIZES FRANCE, GERMANY

WARSAW August 16, 2008 (IHT) - Poland's president criticized the way France and Germany have handled the crisis between Russia and Georgia, accusing them Saturday of being too soft on Moscow due to their commercial ties with Russia.

Lech Kaczynski also said that European Union policy was being decided by the two EU giants without taking into consideration the views of new EU members such as Poland that once fell under Moscow's control during the Cold War.

... Poland and the ex-Soviet republics of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, all new EU members, have sharply condemned Russia for its military incursion into Georgia amid the conflict in South Ossetia.

After the fighting broke out, the presidents of the four countries issued a joint statement calling Russia's policy "imperialist and revisionist" and urging NATO and the European Union to stand up to Moscow.

Leaders from those four nations followed that up with a trip in recent days to Tbilisi, joined by Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko, to show their support to Georgia.

... The already chilly ties worsened significantly in the past days, with a Russian general threatening an attack — even a nuclear one — against Poland on Friday because Warsaw agreed to allow a planned U.S. missile defense site in its borders.

Hear that? [Silence.] That is the outrage and condemnation of France for pre-emptive war, for war without UN sanction, for unilateralism, for military action without consultation. [The silence of space.]

In Europa no one can hear you scream.

PFFT (What is this?): Collective irresponsibility 3½ | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: Gallia Ecclesiæ Primogenita Filia

Le jour 459 de Sarko

Another secular moment in France.

CHAGALL WINDOW SHATTERED IN FRANCE

August 14, 2008 (NYT) - Part of a stained-glass window by the artist Marc Chagall was shattered by vandals in France over the weekend, The Associated Press reported. Culture ministry officials said the glass had been smashed when thieves broke into the Saint-Étienne Cathedral [Cathédrale Saint-Charles-de-Borromé de Saint-Étienne] in Metz. A hole measuring 24 inches by 26 inches, above, was smashed in at the bottom of the 1963 Chagall window, which depicts a scene of Adam and Eve, according to Emmanuel Étienne, an architect for the culture ministry:

They didn’t take anything important, just souvenir medallions and brass crowns from statues.

The vandals also drew graffiti on the cathedral’s stones.

Cheap sacramentals being of less importance to the French Cultural Ministry than goods by a name artist with a ready market.

PFFT (What is this?): Rien important 4 | Rayonnement français 0

Do the French love their children?

It may seem like a harsh and strange title, but this summer had me wondering.

There are undeserving parents everywhere and we all know the accidents presented below happen everywhere. But since mid-July - only a month -, there has been some kind of pattern, trend or loi des séries over here.

A [2 & 1/2 year old] child dies forbidden in a car [parked] under direct sun
July 15, 2008

French father hangs daughters [2 & 7 years old], commits suicide
July 16, 2008

Eunice, 3 years old, disappeared on Sunday, found dead in a Meaux pond
July 28, 2008

Little girl [4 years old] shot with hunting rifle [fired by her grand-mother's boyfriend] during party celebrated with alcohol
August 1, 2008

11 year-old dies after being accidentally killed by friend [manipulating] rifle
August 6, 2008

Baby killed by stone [thrown] in Corsica: two teenagers jailed
August 6, 2008

Var: 6 year-old child left in car being taken care of by police
August 6, 2008

Car parked in direct sun: two children [3 months old and 3 years old] saved
August 6, 2008

Child [5 years old] found dead in his bathtub after being beaten [by his father]
August 6, 2008

Christophe, 2 years old, dies crushed by trailer [accidentally ran over by his grand-father]
August 7, 2008

Child [2 years old] forgotten in car: a father arrested in the Yvelines
August 7, 2008

A mother [35 years old] kills her 2 children [7 & 10 years old] and kills herself
August 8, 2008

Driver hits father and son: one dead [the 3 year-old kid]
August 10, 2008

8 year-old dies in Benirdorm [Alicante, Spain] after being dragged by aquatic motorcycle
August 11, 2008

A [13 year-old] teenager dies forgotten in a car
August 12, 2008

Two little girls [1 & 2 years old] die in a fire in the Drôme
August 12, 2008

Death of a two year old child: the father and his girlfriend jailed
August 12, 2008

Marseilles: mystery surrounds abandoned [2 and a half year-old] child
August 13, 2008

7 year-old child dies crushed by hay bale
August 14, 2008

7 year-old child from Nice drowns in summer camp
August 14, 2008

Father sued after leaving [5 year-old] child alone in park
August 14, 2008

An article sums up the situation: "News are cruel for children this summer. Almost not a single day without young lives being abruptly interrupted..."

Like the government was deemed responsible by many for the death of 15,000 persons during the 2003 heatwave because the State should take care of our elderly, maybe today the parents are waiting for the State to take care of our children. After taking care of them, of course.

A colleague of mine once said in front of me that women should not be egoist: they should have children. Indeed, he continued, if they don't have children, who is going to pay our pensions? Huh.

Pave: "Blood Will Flow"

Le jour 456 de Sarko

In France when the government inconveniences you, if you deem the social order regressive, or should accommodations be insufficiently generous, well, just huddle up with like-minded yobs and destroy something.

SITUATION 'UNCONTROLLABLE' AS WINEMAKERS
GO ON RAMPAGE IN SOUTHERN FRANCE

March 7, 2006 (Decanter) - Disenchanted winemakers attacked police vehicles, wine tankers and négociants yesterday in a further attempt to elicit financial help from the government. Over 100 winemakers, masked and armed with crowbars and sledgehammers, began the day by descending on a wine depot in the Mediterranean port of Sète.

The group attacked an Italian wine tanker and emptied its contents, several thousand litres of Italian wine, onto the tarmac. More wine was spilled shortly after when the winemakers stormed La Navale Française – another négociant in Sète... Several thousand hectolitres of wine were sent gushing out of opened vats, flooding the quayside before the demonstrators took to the roads.

The winemakers formed a rolling roadblock on the A9 motorway between Montpellier and Béziers and attacked police vehicles, including a motorcycle, with sledgehammers. One police van was set alight.

FRENCH WINE 'RADICALS' THREATEN MORE VIOLENCE
December 12, 2006 (beveragedaily.com)

CRAV WINE MILITANTS ISSUE ULTIMATUM

May 21, 2007 (beveragedaily.com) - French wine militants have warned the country's new president, Nicolas Sarkozy, there will be more violence if he does not offer more support to the sector.

Several balaclava-clad men claiming to represent militant winemaker group, Comite d'Action Regionale Viticole (CRAV), made their threats in a video passed to the France 3 television channel in Languedoc Roussillon. Addressing the new president, Nicolas Sarkozy, they said:

If in one month nothing has changed and prices have not risen, then the winemakers will emerge from the maquis (hinterlands) and act. ... Winemakers, we call on you to revolt. We are at the point of no return. If Sarkozy does not have the sense to support the wine sector, he will be responsible for what happens.

It is thought more violence is likely in the wake of EU plans to reform Europe's wine sector. Formal proposals, to be announced on 4 July, may involve ripping up 400,000 hectares of vines and Languedoc Roussillon is expected to be one of the areas worst hit.

CRAV's latest threat comes only a few weeks after claiming responsibility for minor explosions at several supermarkets in Languedoc. No one was injured, but one source close to CRAV has told BeverageDaily that may change. He said central leaders had always warned against injuring people, but their power has disintegrated and splinter factions containing more radical elements were now acting on their own.

It is understood the group contained more than 800 members last year.

FRANCE'S WINE TERRORISTS

PARIS August 1, 2008 (Time) - Hurting from over-production and cheap imports, and punished lately by the rising cost of gas, a small group of local wine growers has resorted to "wine terrorism" in a violent attempt to shock the French government into helping them.

... CRAV's commando operations began with the 2005 bombing of a state agricultural building. CRAV members, or independent sympathizers, have repeatedly carried out bombings or acts of vandalism since, including three acts of property destruction in a 10-day span in May this year alone. In mid-July, CRAV logos were discovered spray-painted at a Narbonne agriculture collective whose vandalized vats had drained nearly 132,000 gallons of wine on the ground — an estimated loss of around $450,000. Last year, it sent a video to newly-elected President Nicolas Sarkozy demanding assistance to the region's grape growers, or

"blood will flow".

Quixotic as it may seem to outsiders, the group — and many Langeudoc-Rousillon growers who support its aims while condemning the violence used to achieve them — want the French government to protect them from a rapidly globalizing market. Foreign wine from cheaper producers such as Italy, Spain, Australia, the US, and South America — where costs can be one-fifth of those in France — has saturated the market, and driven down demand for locally-grown grapes. That has depressed the price Langeudoc-Rousillon growers get for their crops by up to 50% in recent years.

With revenues plummeting and production costs on the rise thanks in part to escalating gas prices, local farmers are demanding financial aid from Paris. But European Union rules limit how much help the French government can extend; Brussels has repeatedly urged growers to cut costs by letting nearly 500,000 acres of land lie fallow, and swap plonk production for more expensive, higher quality wine.

... Jérôme Soulère's lawyer, Jean-Marie Bourland, doesn't justify his client's avowed acts of destruction, but sympathizes with his client's predicament.

We're in a country where, alas, our leaders don't pay attention to well-behaved, and listen to those who leave them no choice. ... For some, I suppose, posing a bomb is their attempt to pose a question.

What CRAV might want to consider is that a government that has made their industry dependent on government is probably not where the solution lies. CRAV also might want to awaken to the fact that there is no lasting protection from the free market. You are either in or out. If you are out then the government becomes your principal customer and, on a commercial basis, governments are notoriously cheap.

PFFT (What is this?): CRAV, bombing its way to a bright future 0 | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: War Talk Redux

Le jour 455 de Sarko

The France of only yesterday...

I wish to reiterate here that for France war can only be the last resort, and collective responsibility, the rule. ... [T]hat holds true for Iraq and for all the crises that we will have to confront together.

Dom "la Mouette" de Villepin,
Then French Foreign Minister,
posturing as a moral exemplar
NEW YORK March 19, 2003 (French Embassy UK)

We consider that all military action not endorsed by the international community, through, in particular, the Security Council, was both illegitimate and illegal, is illegitimate and illegal. And we have not changed our view on that.

Then-Jack, Now Ex-Jack,
posturing as a moral exemplar
ÉVIAN-LES-BAINS June 3, 2003 (BBC)

The France of today.

La France réitère son attachement à la souveraineté et à l'intégrité territoriale de la Géorgie dans ses frontières internationalement reconnues.

[France reiterates its commitment to Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.]

Situation en Ossétie du sud, Géorgie
Déclaration officielle du Ministere
des affaires etrangeres et europeennes
PARIS 8 août 2008 (Quai d'Orsay)

You might think the above communiqué puts France squarely in Georgia's corner. [Pause to nod knowingly.] Think again.

KOUCHNER: SARKOZY TO HEAD TO MOSCOW
TO MEDIATE IN CAUCASUS

PARIS August 11, 2008 (M&C) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy is to travel to Moscow on Tuesday to mediate in the Caucasus conflict, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in an interview with radio RTL in the Georgian capital Tbilisi Monday.

... Kouchner, in the interview, reiterated his support for a ceasefire and a withdrawal of troops from the area. He also called for access to victims and an undertaking in writing from both sides to renounce further violence.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili had 'accepted almost all proposals,' Kouchner said. The EU and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) should play an important political role in mediation, he added.

'It is a war of bombing and mortars,' Kouchner said. 'There have already been numerous civilian casualties.' He refrained, however, from condemning the latest Russian bombing. M. Kouchner:

If I condemn, I can no longer hear both sides.

Ah, France rediscovers overdelicacy in diplomacy -- the mincing non-statement, the leveling of right with wrong, the principled position of cringe opportunism. [Pause.]

Let us pretend like M. Kouchner that there are two legitimate sides. First there is Georgia and its sovereign territory, which it believes it has a duty to administer and keep intact. Next there is Russia and its army operating under a UNSCR resolution leading a coalition of several score nations coming to the aid of a Russian-backed rebel Georgian province. [Pause.]

We are of course pretending. Like the non-judgmental M. Kouchner. There is no flimsy UNSCR sanctioning a Russian invasion of Georgia. There is no Russian-led international coalition. No. There is only Russia doing as it pleases in Georgia.

¡No Pasarán! has translated several philosophical comments on the Russian invasion from Le Monde readers. By philosophical we mean virulently anti-American, which passes for philosophy in much of France. These thoughtful readers -- with perhaps several philosophical droolers in the mix -- applaud Russia and condemn America. Why? [We search the heavens. Nothing.]

Our guess is that Europa applauds to cover its cringe. Criticize America, hate America, believe the worst of America -- and still "dark America" is not going to invade your Euro-state. Raise a hackle in the Kremlin and Russia will find cause to visit your Euro-state and make a permanent impression.

Without an American NATO, Western Europa does not dare to blink, to weakly tongue-cluck.

POODLE PIDDLE
Strong Principled Listening
[Original graphic (unmodified): obeythepurebreed.com]

Pave: "The Americans? We're going to smash them." Redux

Le jour 454 de Sarko

I felt that I was in the lead. I knew I had to accelerate, but it got harder. Of course, we are a bit disappointed, but (silver) is a nice medal.

Alain Bernard,
disappointed smasher
and French celebrity Olympic swimmer,
explaining why the fittest natatory competitor,
believed by him to be himself, with a body-length advantage
in the final 50m of the 400m relay, was beaten by
non-celebrity American swimmer, Jason Lezak,
seven years Bernard's senior
August 11, 2008 (DMN)

A bit disappointed?

L'ex-recordman du monde de la spécialité, qui a passé près de 10 minutes accroupi dans les toilettes du Cube d'eau, la tête dans les mains, semblait encore sous le choc. "Alain est touché. Partir dernier relayeur en tête et se faire battre, on n'en sort pas indemne", a reconnu le directeur technique national, Claude Fauquet. ... Afin d'évacuer la frustration d'une course aussi cruelle que magnifique, de les relancer dans les épreuves individuelles, et d'éviter qu'Alain Bernard ne soit non seulement touché, mais aussi coulé.

Yes. Well, silver is nice if handled with a little grace. [Pause.] When the vain fall, they fall hard.

PFFT (What is this?): A bit disappointed 4½ | Rayonnement français ½

Pave: "The Americans? We're going to smash them."

Le jour 454 de Sarko

Trash-talking Frenchman Alain Bernard makes his boast before delivering the goods. Now, placing second in a world-class competition, France looks like a loser. Nice going, Bernard.

I'M FAVOURITE AND WE'LL SMASH US: BERNARD

August 7, 2008 (ABC-AU/Reuters) - World record holder Alain Bernard has opened the war of words for the Olympic swimming competition, stating he was the favourite for the 100 metres freestyle and the French relay squad would "smash" the Americans.

... France with a team including Amaury Leveaux, Frederic Gilot and Frederick Bousquet clocked 3:12.54 in June, only 0.08 seconds from the world mark and Bernard was bullish ahead of Sunday's 4x100 freestyle relay heats. Alain Bernard:

The Americans? We're going to smash them. That's what we came here for.

That was last week. Today M. Bernard, a gifted athlete, is a donkey.

SMASHING WIN FOR U.S., PHELPS

BEIJING August 11, 2008 (Baltimore Sun) - The U.S. 400-meter freestyle relay team of Phelps, Cullen Jones, Garret Weber-Gale and Jason Lezak came from behind to win the gold medal, upsetting France, and the biggest hero of the day turned out to be Lezak, the American anchor and captain of the entire team.

Lezak trailed France's Alain Bernard -- who started the day as the world record holder in the 100-meter freestyle -- by half a body length when the two swimmers turned from the final wall. But Lezak slowly closed the gap, reeling in Bernard an inch at a time, and he out-touched the Frenchman by eight-hundredths of a second to win gold in a world-record time of 3 minutes, 8.24 seconds.

Please note, it is Alain Bernard himself, enjoying a half-body length advantage for an all-but-certain-win, who does not deliver. It is Alain Bernard himself, the self-declared fittest competitor at the games,* who fails to out-duel the oldest swimmer** on the American relay squad.

The Americans' relay victory was all the more sweet considering the way France declared itself the favorite prior to the Olympics. The Frenchmen weren't shy about repeating it either. In a news conference prior to the start of the Games, Bernard, who boasts a tattoo of a shark on his abdomen, was asked what he thought about his country's chances against the United States.

"The Americans?" Bernard said. "We will smash them."

Several of Bernard's teammates followed his lead, even going so far as to suggest that the Americans were scared of the French.

"This morning, [coach] Bob (Bowman) had said the French were saying some stuff, talking a little bit of trash," Phelps said. "It fired me up more than anything else. I told Garret, and he said 'You know what?' We're going to let our swimming do the talking." Jason Lezak:

When I flipped at the 50, and saw how far ahead he was, knowing he was the world record holder, for a split second a thought crossed my mind: There is no way. But I said 'You know what? This is ridiculous. This is the Olympics and I'm here for the United States of America. I don't care how bad it hurts.' Honestly, in like five seconds, I was thinking all these things. I just got like a super charge and just took it from there. It was unreal.

Lezak's closing leg (46.06) was the fastest relay split ever.

ALAIN SWIMS FOR BERNARD. JASON SWIMS FOR AMERICA.
U.S. 400-Meter Freestyle Relay Team (L to R)
Garret Weber-Gale, Jason Lezak, Michael Phelps And Cullen Jones
[Photo source: Baltimore Sun/Getty Images]

[Hat tip: V de T via ¡No Pasarán!]

------------------------------------
* Alain Bernard (supra):

The 100 metres favourite, it's me. If I didn't believe I was, I wouldn't be here at all. I've always said that 10 to 15 swimmers could be on the podium. But physically, I'm on top. I'm fitter than I was at the French championships, fitter than I was at the European championships.

** Jason Lezak is 32 years old. Alain Bernard is 25 years old.

PFFT (What is this?): Big talk 5 | Scary French 0 | Sportsmanship (France) 0 | Rayonnement français ½ (Trash-talking and not delivering forfeits a 4 rating)

Pave: Missed The Boat

Le jour 452 de Sarko

COLOSSAL DÉFICIT COMMERCIAL FRANÇAIS,
QUI CONTRASTE AVEC L'EXCÉDENT ALLEMAND
[COLOSSAL FRENCH TRADE DEFICIT,
CONTRASTS WITH GERMAN SURPLUS]
7 août 2008 (Dépêche)

[Source: Patrice Deré, AFP/Douanes]

[Hat tip: Janina]

MADE IN FRANCE, GOING NOWHERE*

LONDON August 7, 2008 (Forbes) - Want to know why France's trade deficit hit a record high last month, while Germany's trade surplus grew at its fastest rate in two years? Look no further than Russia.

Russia may have lots of energy resources at its disposal, and it benefits from exporting them, but it also needs to import as well. Capital goods, cars, machinery and equipment all wind their way towards Moscow, and that is precisely why Germany is prospering while France dithers. Gilles Moec, economist with Bank of America:

France has, to a great extent, missed the boat on globalization [and here]. Germany has expanded internationally and taken in the emerging markets, in sectors like the auto industry. France, in this regard, is still quite muted.

The problem is a structural one. Germany's dedicated focus to its export industry has pushed companies to spread their cost base wide, build up their international supply chains and to satisfy emerging-market demand for capital goods.

Meanwhile, France's track record of strong domestic growth after World War II meant that international expansion and exports were never seen as necessary, or even a good thing, leaving luxury consumer goods and food as the only real strong points for French international trade.

The figures speak for themselves. French exports to Russia totaled 5.7 billion euros ($8.7 billion) last year, while Germany's were nearly five times bigger, at 28.1 billion euros ($43.1 billion).

... So it might not be wise to simply blame the strong euro, or high energy prices, for France's trade deficit. After all, the exchange rate is the same for France's Renault, as it is for Germany's BMW or Daimler (nyse: DAI - news - people ). Only the cost base and the products are different--as is the brand power of "Made In Germany."

Ah. [Pause.] Well, as Tony Blair might say to Then-Jack, Now Ex-Jack:

Well, France gave its support [and this and this and here and this ] but I did not see much in return [and this and this and this and now this]. I am not sure that it is in the nature of our Russian friends at the moment to return favours systematically.

Or something along those lines. Except that Tony Blair is not a mal élevé bore who thinks the world waits on his mood swings.

------------------------------------
* France is a recognized destination of going nowhere.

PFFT (What is this?): Russia neglects the poodle 4 | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: Hyped Economy VIII

Le jour 451 de Sarko

As we can see since 2001, the gap between government forecast and reality will remain significant.

Marc Touati,
chief economist, Global Equities,
commenting on successive French governments
to the present talking up hope eternal
PARIS January 15, 2008 (fxstreet.com/Dow Jones)

FRANCE'S LAGARDE SAYS INSEE GROWTH FORECASTS
'EXCESSIVELY PESSIMISTIC'

PARIS June 20, 2008 (Forbes/Thomson Financial) - Insee said yesterday that French GDP growth will slow to 1.6 percent in 2008 as France starts to feel the effects of the global economic slowdown. Its full-year GDP growth forecast is slightly below the French government's current target range of 1.7 to 2.0 percent.

Nothing seems to discourage Mdm. Lagarde's economic boosterism of the French economy. Certainly not bad news.*

FRENCH INDUSTRIAL CONFIDENCE
'HITS THREE-YEAR LOW'

PARIS July 24, 2008 (AFP) — French industrialists are the gloomiest about business prospects for three years, a survey by the statistics institute INSEE showed on Thursday, pointing to a sharper economic slowdown in coming months.

FRENCH CONSUMER CONFIDENCE
DIPS TO NEW RECORD LOW

July 29, 2008 (RTTNews) - The French consumer confidence fell to a new record low in July, results of a [INSEE] monthly consumer confidence survey showed. Meanwhile, official data revealed that producer price inflation increased in June... The latest business survey report released by the INSEE revealed that demand in the French manufacturing industry fell noticeably in the second quarter and business leaders expect a further decline in demand in the third quarter.

French housing starts declined 28.2% in three months to June, larger than the 21.6% fall recorded during three months to May, official data showed. Meanwhile, housing permits showed a 15.3% decrease. For three months to May, decline in housing permits was 19.9%.

This is a new record low from the record low of June.

FRANCE'S TRADE DEFICIT SWELLS TO RECORD HIGH IN JUNE

PARIS August 7, 2008 (Guardian/Reuters) - France's trade deficit ballooned to a record high in June... The value of imports outstripped exports by 5.6 billion euros ($8.7 billion)... The deficit far exceeded the 4.6 billion euros expected in a Reuters survey of economists, fuelling expectations for weak, or even no economic growth in the second quarter.

Bad news is only a foil for better-days-just-around-the-corner headlines.

LAGARDE SAYS UPTURN FOR FRENCH ECONOMY
A POSSIBILITY FROM H2 2009

PARIS July 15, 2008 (Reuters/Thomson Financial) - Finance minister Christine Lagarde said GDP growth in France in 2008 is likely to be at the bottom of the range of the official forecast and that an upturn is a possibility from the second half of next year.

FRENCH MINISTER SEES INFLATION RATE
FALLING OFF 17-YEAR HIGH IN COMING MONTHS

PARIS July 22, 2008 (IHT/AP) - French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said Tuesday she expects the inflation rate to start falling in the months ahead as the economy absorbs last year's rise in fuel and food prices.

"Inflation will fall in coming months," she told reporters, adding that the rate for July will remain high.

Focus on the fabulous future -- this is a neat French trick. "Coming months", ah, dear skimmer, why that is anywhere from September to the eschaton. We explain how you too can perform neat tricks like a French finance minister here.

------------------------------------
* Also see posts here and here.

PFFT (What is this?): Mdm. Lagrade bets on the eschaton 3½ | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: Bad News Is Good News

Le jour 449 de Sarko

Same story, different headlines.

AIR FRANCE-KLM PROFIT DROPS 59% ON OIL BILL

LONDON August 5, 2008 (MarketWatch) - Air France-KLM on Tuesday reported a 59% profit decline for its fiscal first quarter, as fuel surcharges weren't nearly enough to counter a sky-high fuel bill.

The last of the major European airlines to report earnings, Air France-KLM said its profit fell to 168 million euros (USD $260 million) from 415 million euros.

Revenue rose 6% to 6.29 billion euros after a passenger traffic rise of 3.7%.

Analysts, on average, were looking for a profit of 145 million euros on revenue of 6.27 billion euros.

In the glum story AF-KLM betters both revenue and profit expectations by almost 16%.

AIR FRANCE PROFIT BEATS FORECASTS

August 6, 2008 (The Age) - Air France-KLM Group, Europe's largest airline, reported first-quarter profit that exceeded analysts' estimates as the carrier sold more business-class tickets and protected itself from record fuel costs with hedging contracts.

... Net income for the three months through June 30 dropped 60% to 168 million euros (USD $260 million), or 54 cents a share, compared with the 152 million-euro median estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

But in the bright story AF-KLM only beats the forecast average by 10.5%, or a 52% fall-off from the glum news report.

Imagine the numbers had AF-KLM serviced all passenger classes.

PFFT (What is this?): Less profit, better results 2½ | Rayonnement français 2½

Pave: Life In France, VI

Le jour 447 de Sarko

Paysans lighten the burdens of wedlock by making a gift of them to the neighbors.

RACY GOINGS-ON IN LA FRANCE PROFONDE
The Wife-Swapping Club Comes To Rural Normandy

August 4, 2008 (Independent) - The nearest town to our house in Normandy is a sad place which has never fully recovered from the summer of 1944. ... The population is ageing and glum. Excitement is hard to find.

A few days ago work began on renovating a long-closed shop on the town's main square. Would this be yet another estate agent selling houses without roofs to the British? Or something more interesting? A hand-written red and white sign appeared in the window. The sign read:

Ici bientôt, Club Echangiste.

Opening here soon, Wife Swapping Club.

Clubs Echangistes are an accepted part of the entertainment industry in France. Paris has more than 60 of them. That, however, is the wicked big city. An officially proclaimed, rural wife-swapping club – next to the notary's office – seemed too good to be true. On closer inspection, the red-and -white sign in the tiny shop-front added the following details.

On peut apporter son mari, son chien, son âne, sa belle-mère.

A separate sign read:

Fully booked until 20 August.

Was this meant to be a satire on the submerged, sexual oddities of rural life? I asked the man painting the inside of the shop. He shrugged. "It's meant to be funny, I think," he said.

Yesterday, a new sign had appeared next to the other ones.

By popular demand, we will open on Sunday. After Mass.

More life as eeked out in France here, here, here, here, and here.

PFFT (What is this?): Rural dullsville 2½ | Hymenaios weeps 5 | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: Socialist Paradise In Decline: Vacation

Le jour 446 de Sarko

Le but de la politique que je propose n'est pas de maintenir stable le pouvoir d'achat, il est de l'augmenter. Le but, ce n'est pas la stagnation, c'est le progrès. Le but, ce n'est pas le minimum, mais le maximum.

[The goal of the policies that I am proposing is not to keep purchasing power stable, it is to increase it. The goal is not stagnation, it is progress. The goal is not the minimum, but the maximum.]

Sarko,
then aspiring candidat du pouvoir d’achat,
now Président de la République and pocket reformer
Ensemble (Paris: XO Editions, 2007)

NEARLY HALF FRENCH WILL NOT TAKE SUMMER HOLIDAY

July 31, 2008 (RFI) - Nearly half of all French people have decided to forego the most hallowed of Gallic traditions this year: August holidays. Some 42 per cent of the population say they will not take a summer holiday and blame a lower standard of living for not heading for the mountains and beaches, according to a study commissioned by the French Communist Party's paper l'Humanité.

Pardon, allow us a caveat. It is in the interests of the French Communist Party (Parti communiste français, PCF) to find such a finding. The Communists who continually run for the presidency and lose, have participated in only two Ve Republic governments (the first-term Mitterand cabinet and the Jospin** cohabitation cabinet, see Arnaud's comment below). A spent force (and this and here), the Communists have no record of social accomplishments, so the next best thing is to rob accomplished political parties of accomplishments. It is also in the PCF's interests that the rhetoric of the sorry lot of the French worker never be lessened, otherwise why elect the Communists? What hope the revolution?

That said, this is a survey of intentions, not a record of events. It is likely that many of the no-vacation responses are complaints and, come August, these respondents will be off to the beach or campground leaving their cares behind them.*

Polls show that declining purchasing power [and here] has become the principal concern for most French people, taking over from employment in Autumn 2007, and adding to the decline in popularity of President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose main election slogan was "Work more to earn more".

Restaurants and cafés have felt the penny-pinching by French consumers according to the UMIH, the national restaurant union, reporting that clientele numbers fell 20 to 30 per cent in July alone.

Hotels have reported a better showing, but vacationers are trying to bargain for hotel rooms at the lowest possible price, president Yannick Fassaert of the tourist association Gites en France told L'Humanité.

"Lowest possible price"? [Pause.] How radical. How unsporting. Where is yesterday's "economic patriotism"?

In fact, more than a quarter of all French save money to go on vacation, according to the study. And 56 per cent who are hitting the road are staying closer to home, due to rising petrol prices.

... The Communist Party takes a particular interest in the question because the right to paid vacations in France was granted by the country's first-ever left-wing government, the 1936 Popular Front which the party supported.***

A reach-back to 1936 is indicative of the bold retrospective thinking found among today's French Communists.

------------------------------------
* Cares such as Mamie et Papy. See also here, here, here, and here.

** Lionel Jospin (16.18%) lost to M. Le Pen (16.86%) and Jack (19.88%) in the presidential 1er tour in 2002 and retired for good from politics. He unretired to shill for the EU constitution, which was voted down by the French (57.26%/42.74%). He re-retired. He un-re-retired to present himself as a Socialist présidentiable in 2006, was quickly disabused, and re-re-retired.

*** And pointedly did not participate in (soutien sans participation) as association would sully Communist principles and compromise the forever-over-the-horizon revolution. Association might also lead to collegial sentimentalism, making any accompanying post-revolutionary score-settling awkward.

PFFT (What is this?): Bonnes vacances ! 1½ | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: Who To Believe? France Or Those Lying Jews? IX Redux

Le jour 444 de Sarko

Non, la France n'est pas un pays antisémite. ... La France n'accepte pas l'antisémitisme ; elle le combat. Mais elle n'accepte pas non plus les accusations qui touchent à son honneur.

[No, France is not an anti-Semitic country. ... France does not accept anti-semitism; she fights it. But neither does she accept charges that wound her honor.]

Ex-Jack,
then-president of anti-Semite-free France,
explaining how France while battling
French anti-Semitism morning, noon, and night,
cannot, as a point of honor, acknowledge
claims of anti-Semiticsm in France
PALAIS DE L'ÉLYSÉE February 13, 2004
(Élysée/Yedioth Aharonoth)

In June of this year a lone Jewish teenager, identified by his kippa, was brutally beaten by a Parisian gang of 15 to 20 "youths" and left in a coma. What was plain was that the victim was a Jew and, from eye witnesses, the attackers were Maghrébins (North Africans). The tough call for the French media was how to report this savage attack without giving offense or not too much offense or the least offense possible to the Maghrébin community. Ever resourceful in new approaches to the facts the French press conjured up "intercommunitarian strife", a sort of Jewish-Maghrebi West Side Story minus the catchy tunes or dance numbers or the nice Natalie Wood-Richard Beymer love interest.

Now the story was Rudy Haddad, a Jewish gang member with a police record, is caught alone on the turf of a rival Maghrebi gang. Mayhem ensues. [Heads nod knowingly.]

There was only one small fail-point in this everyone's-to-blame fairy tale. [Pause.]

No complementary Jewish gang.

Nidra Poller, perhaps the most intelligent and trusted reporter in France (and here), provides a believable exposition.

HATE

PARIS July 31, 2008 (WSJ) - The brutal mob beating of a Jewish teenager in full view of witnesses at the end of a summer afternoon marks an ominous development in the hate crimes that have plagued France since the fall of 2000.

... As if to camouflage the horror of a brazen aggression, French media framed 17-year-old Rudy Haddad's beating in an incongruous narrative of turf battles between Jewish gangs and African and Maghrebi gangs. Confused accounts of the June 21 fights that ended with the attack against Rudy -- portrayed as a tough guy with a police record -- curiously recall the "cycle of violence" treatment of the Arab-Israeli conflict, where Palestinian terror attacks and Israeli efforts to prevent them are judged as morally equivalent. In Rudy's case, officials and reporters contravened the customary self-imposed gag rule and immediately pinned an ethno-religious label on the "youths" who, according to witnesses, bashed Rudy's skull, broke his ribs, jumped up and down on his inert body with all their might shouting "dirty Jew," and left him in a coma. But every account ended with a line about "intercommunitarian strife" that placed half the blame on the victim. The exact nature of these Jewish gangs was left in the dark...

To reaffirm the good reputation of his district, Socialist Mayor Roger Madec organized a "fraternal gathering" in front of the City Hall on July 3. Reporters were greeted by a press attaché who hastened to inform them that this was not a "purely" anti-Semitic attack -- the Jewish gangs, you know.

With the exception of Richard Prasquier, the president of the Jewish umbrella organization CRIF [Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France] who asked what is being done about the hatred that fired the unspeakable violence against a 17-year-old simply because he is Jewish, the other speakers sang the praises of good neighborly diversity and warned the media not to pin anti-this and anti-that labels on the "regrettable incident." None of these other speakers thought to address Mr. Prasquier's question.

... In France, where racial, religious, national or ethnic breakdown of population statistics is forbidden, and where applying such labels to criminals is taboo, the term "youth" is used to hide the identity of thugs, even when their identity is visible in TV footage. The taboo was exceptionally lifted in Rudy's case to sustain the narrative of intercommunitarian strife. The fortuitous discovery -- or invention -- of Jewish gangs imposed a corresponding African and Maghrebi label.

Since tough laws and improved police work have not put a stop to the harassment of Jews, some young Jewish men are trying to defend themselves. Much was made of Rudy's "police record." In fact, his "record" consisted of an attempt to defend a friend who'd been knocked to the ground by a group of Muslims who came to break up a Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony in honor of kidnapped Israeli soldiers. Rudy fought them off with his motorcycle helmet, which became in legal terms an "arm by destination."

... The Rudy Haddad story leaped back onto the front pages on July 10 with the arrest of seven "youths" who turned out to be in their mid- to late 20s. Two have been arraigned and jailed: an African, identified as Sekou M., and a North African, Foued O. The latter, who is a career air force corporal, is accused of bashing Rudy's head with a crutch. Another African, Boubacar C., suspected of involvement in the machete attack, has been charged and released while awaiting trial. The implication of husky, mature men in the attacks that raged that day and culminated in the savage beating of a Jewish teen further undermines the narrative of mere squabbles among youngsters.

And here is a telling anecdote about the rule of law in the very heart of France:

A woman told me she witnessed another violent fight near the City Hall [in Paris's 19th arrondissement] in midafternoon. Fearing someone would get killed -- the (African and Maghrebi) assailants were beating their victims with iron bars -- she asked the policemen on duty to intervene. One of them shrugged and said, "They should all go home."

Worth the full read.

PFFT (What is this?): Everyone go home 5 | Rayonnement français 0 (There is no lower rating)

Pave: Une nation qui rayonne dans le monde VI

Le jour 443 de Sarko

La population est inquiète et ne croit plus aux chiffres officiels.

[The local population is worried and no longer believes official figures.]

André-Yves Becq,
deputy mayor of Bollène,
describing local confidence
in official versions of events
17 juillet 2008 (Le Monde)

EVACUATION AT FRENCH NUCLEAR PLANT

July 29, 2008 (TPA) - An engineer has said 127 people were evacuated from a French nuclear site after what he called a minor incident that triggered an alarm.

Engineer Jean Girardi said 45 of those workers have been taken to the hospital after the incident at the Tricastin nuclear complex near the city of Avignon in southern France.

Mr Girardi said the alarm was apparently set off by a minor leak of radioactive particles. He also said tests found "extremely weak traces of radioactivity" on two people.

The French electric company EDF said Tuesday's incident had no impact on employees' health.

It has declined further comment.

Or maybe it was nothing at all. No leak. No radioactivity. A false alarm.

100 EMPLOYEES OF FRENCH NUCLEAR SITE EVACUATED

GRENOBLE July 29, 2008 (BW/AP) - About 100 employees were evacuated from a nuclear site in southern France on Tuesday after an alarm went off accidentally, the power plant said. ... Stephanie Biabaut, a spokeswoman for the plant near the city of Avignon, said the alarm went off accidentally Tuesday, and medical tests showed that personnel were not contaminated.

... French electric company EDF, which runs the plant, declined to explain Girardi's comments [See above.] but insisted the case was merely a false alarm.

You see, officially it was a false alarm. Officially nothing has happened. [Pause.] Officially nothing to worry about, M. Becq.

NEW EDF SPOKESMAN: QUOI-MOI, INQUIET ?
M. Girardi Is No Longer Available For Comments
[Photo source (background): obouton]

PFFT (What is this?): Quoi-moi, inquiet ? 4½ | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: French Poodle

Le jour 442 de Sarko

MR. OBAMA NOVELTY UNDERPANTS
Special French Deluxe Edition Features
Confidence-Building Eiffel Tower Imprint

Without so much as a "merci beaucoup" Mr. Obama breezed in-and-out of France transforming a once haughty and hostile nation into a kennel of yapping, adoring poodles ready to vote him into office -- unless, of course, he were to run in France. [Abrupt needle scratch.] Relax, mes amis. Not to worry about any Mr. Obamas emerging in France. Relax.

And the most yapping of the adoring French, the chief of state himself, Sarko.

SARKOZY TO OBAMA: JE T’AIME
July 25, 2008 (ABC News)

Yap.

NICOLAS SARKOZY LOUE "L'AVENTURE DE BARACK OBAMA"
[NICOLAS SARKOZY PRAISES "ADVENTURE OF BARACK OBAMA"]
26 juillet 2008 (Le Monde)

Yap.

NICOLAS SARKOZY : « OBAMA ? C'EST MON COPAIN »
[SARKO: "OBAMA? HE'S MY BUDDY"]
26 juillet 2008 (Le Monde)

Yap.

SARKOZY GUSHES OVER OBAMA, KINDRED SPIRIT

July 26, 2008 (Chicago Sun Times) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy gushed over Barack Obama on Friday when the two appeared together at the Elysee Palace, coming close, it seemed, to making an endorsement. Sarko:

But, obviously, one is interested in a candidate who's looking towards the future, rather than the past, and that's something that -- a concern that I share.

... And you have to know that here in Europe, here in France, we're watching with great interest what you're doing.

... Not everyone here is called Sarkozy, you know. And I'm aware of the fact that not everyone is called Obama in the United States of America. And that's a sense of -- gives us a sense of America of adventure. And Barack Obama's adventure is an adventure that rings true in the hearts and mind of the French and of Europeans.

In March, rival John McCain visited with Sarkozy at the palace, but the French leader did not give him the honor of a joint appearance.

Not too long ago such effusions were construed as "poodling".

M. Sarkozy n'est pas un européen convaincu, comme nous tous, qui défend les intérêts de la France. Il est avant tout un pro-américaniste, il est un zélateur de Bush...quelqu'un qui se fixe comme programme d'être le futur caniche du président des Etats-Unis.

[Mr. Sarkozy is not a confirmed European, like the rest of us, who defends the interests of France. He is foremost a pro-americanist, a Bush zealot...somebody who sets an agenda to be the future poodle of the president of the United States.]

Laurent Fabius,
député PS de Seine-Maritime (4ème),
former PM, présidentiable wash-out,
and "Top Ten" politician (No.6)
September 16, 2006 (Le Monde)

Ah, but now even Socialists want a Mr. Obama moment.

Should Mr. McCain win, then this sort of thing will again be denounced as poodling.

(A more outrageous but less cited example of French poodling here.)

Although it would seriously wound European sensibilities to say so, their endorsements mean little or nothing to the American electorate. Unless there is a war on (e.g., 2004), presidential elections do not much turn on foreign policy. They turn on domestic issues. Selfish Americans.

PFFT (What is this?): Kiss-up gamble 3¾ | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: The Beholden Forget III

Le jour 441 de Sarko

PORN FILM MADE AT FIRST WORLD WAR MEMORIAL
Pornography Has Become The Latest Threat To Graves And Memorials
On The First World War Battlefields Of Northern France.

PARIS July 29, 2008 (Telegraph) - While common acts of desecration have in the past included vandalism and graffiti, indecent photographs and videos are increasingly being shot around the magnificent structures built during the post-war years to remember the fallen.

The latest incident saw a French couple given a four-month suspended prison sentence for making a pornographic video at the Vimy Ridge memorial near Arras.

After being found guilty of exhibitionism, they were fined £400 each and ordered to pay a

symbolic one euro (80 pence)

in damages to Canada, which lost 60,000 men in the Great War.

At Vimy Ridge 3,598 Canadians were killed and 10,602 wounded. [A quick calculation.]

80 pence x French SYMBOLIC multiplier = Ample compensation to Canada. And a little something left over for British desecrations.

Naturally, France pockets the £800 in fines for the bother of dispensing her justice.

VIMY RIDGE MEMORIAL
Added Attraction

Despite the courageous deeds and sacrifice honoured by the Vimy Memorial, the couple are believed to have stripped naked and performed sex acts beside the soaring stone structure.

They then posted the video on a website, invited people to pay to watch it.

Their punishment came just six months after another couple were fined for taking nude photographs of themselves in the same place.

... Police who investigated the case said similar incidents were regularly reported at other memorial and military graveyards.

[Hat tip: Hervé]

PFFT (What is this?): Hallowed ground 0 (There is no lower rating) | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: Air France, à votre service III

Le jour 440 de Sarko

Faire du ciel le plus bel endroit de la terre

[Making the sky the best place on Earth]

Current Air France company theme

And if you are a person with special needs, not to worry. Air France is ready to catapult you into the blue with attentive care. Below is Air France policy found on the the Air France Web site:

PASSENGERS WITH REDUCED MOBILITY
Saphir:* For A Smooth And Comfortable Trip!

[* Air France special needs customer service program.]

Is your mobility reduced as a result of a disability (whether motor-based, visual, hearing or mental), your age or an illness? With Saphir, Air France offers you a wide range of services tailored to your needs.

These services are available across the whole Air France network when you travel on flights operated by Air France.

From the moment you set off to the moment you arrive,
Air France makes your journey smoother!

All cabin crew have received disability awareness training.

They will be notified about your special needs and know exactly what your assistance requirements are.

They will go out of their way to ensure that your flight is as comfortable and pleasant as possible.

And here is how all that awareness training and attentive care policy translates into customer service.

AIR FRANCE AVOIDS DISABLED PASSENGERS

July 27, 2008 (asap.co.uk) - A well-known magazine, Emerging Horizons, has accused Air France for not making arrangements to suit disabled passengers. In its summer issue the magazine called Air France Germ of the Year in its research on travel industry. It was based on personal experience of one of its editors who is paraplegic. The magazine found that Air France was not doing enough to care for people with disabilities to have a seamless travel experience. The carrier was simply ignoring the requirements of people with less mobility and at times, even refused to allow such passengers on its flights.

In one incident, a senior captain of Air France refused to accommodate a disabled passenger on the flight. The passenger Michelle Daly, who is a French government adviser, had booked an Air France flight from Paris to London. She was travelling to London to attend a conference on disabilities. However, when the captain came to know that the lady could not walk by herself, he asked her to leave the plane. According to him, she posed a risk to safety and health of other passengers.

Fortunately, British Airways were willing to accommodate her on its flight to London later in the afternoon that day.

Air France argued that the captain’s decision was correct, as their aircraft was not equipped to handle disabled passengers.

More posts on the seamless Air France travel experience here, here, here, here and here. And if you are a passenger "with a high body mass", see here and here.

PFFT (What is this?): Walk before you fly 4 | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: Zsu Zsu

Le jour 439 de Sarko

Enough of Mr. Obama. For now. (Don't worry. More later.)

At this year's Burning Man an art installation will pay homage to Zsu Zsu, the Crybaby Drama Queen, an epitome for the French bad girlfriend. She disdains her boyfriends, she disdains the project, she disdains Burning Man. If you should meet her, she already disdains you.

Zsu Zsu will hide in a pink heart-shaped trailer that rests on its side. The trailer is fitted with a mechanical hand that accepts "geefts" for Zsu Zsu. Outside is a replica of the Eiffel Tower, rechristened the Spiteful Tower, which acts as a mood thermometer for Zsu Zsu. In back is a storage tank that supplies the trailer with French air with its rich mix of French particulate matter and, we imagine, the signature smell that is Paris.

ZSU ZSU INSTALLATION SKETCH
A Little Monument To French Contempt In The Nevada Desert

Zsu Zsu refuses visitors, though occasionally she opens the trailer door to spit on an unlucky few. When not admiring herself, she calls out complaints and insults to passers-by. By the end of the week everyone will have had enough of Zsu Zsu and her trailer and its associated properties will be burned to the ground.

PFFT (What is this?): Conceptual bad girlfriend 2½ | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: Never Mind IV Redux

Le jour 438 de Sarko

It is just too much fun.

OBAMA SUPERSTAR

OP-ED 25 juillet 2008 (Figaro) - Mission accomplie. Barack Obama retourne aux États-Unis en ayant réussi sa sortie dans le vaste monde. Réputé inexpérimenté parce qu'il n'a que trois ans de mandat de sénateur derrière lui, le candidat démocrate a montré qu'il n'avait aucun complexe à avoir sur la scène internationale.

[Mission accomplished. Barack Obama heads back to the United States having made a success of his outing in the great big world. Considered inexperienced because he has only three years in the Senate behind him, the democratic candidate showed that he had no hang-ups on the international stage.]

IN FRANCE, OBAMA HAS THE LOOK OF A PRESIDENT
July 25, 2008 (Fox)

FRANCE SHOWS OBAMA APPROVAL
As Candidate Tries To Win U.S. Hearts,
French Leader Says That Nation Finds Him 'Very Attractive'
PARIS July 26, 2008 (Chicago Tribune)

OBAMA RISKS PRAISE FROM FRANCE
PARIS July 26, 2008 (LAT)

Oh. Never mind.

FRENCH GOING WILD FOR SENATOR KERRY
IN ELECTION FEVER
‘A Certain Elegance’ Is Seen

PARIS March 15, 2004 (NYSun) - If November’s presidential election were being held here, there’s no doubt that Mr. Kerry, the Massachusetts senator and Democratic candidate, would win by a landslide. Constance Borde, head of the France chapter of Democrats Abroad:

People are going crazy. My phone is ringing from morning to night because everybody wants to know about Kerry. I’m even getting calls from French people asking if they can contribute to the campaign, and of course I have to tell them no.This is something I’ve never seen happening.

THE WORLD BACKS KERRY

October 15, 2004 (Guardian) - Millions of Americans are scratching their heads over how to vote on November 2 after the last of the three televised presidential debates left George Bush and John Kerry neck and neck over jobs, education, health care and taxes, with little mention of Iraq or 9/11. But the rest of the world, according to a poll we and several other newspapers publish today, has already made up its mind, backing the Democratic challenger by a margin of two to one.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

October 27, 2004 (Guardian) - The French distaste for the Bush administration is evident in all the polls. A recent survey showed that Kerry would win as much as 82% of the French vote, while George Bush would secure a mere 16%. Around 70% of French people say that their opinion of America has deteriorated over the past three years, 75% of the population say that they have a poor opinion of Bush, and 77% say that they believe the US-led campaign in Iraq was a mistake.

...BUT THE WORLD BACKS KERRY

PARIS October 30, 2004 (Times Online) - If it were left to the voters of the world, John Kerry would stroll into the White House, leaving President Bush buried deep in a landslide. With few exceptions, from Europe to Asia, Africa to Latin America, people want an end to probably the most globally unpopular presidency on record.

3 NOVEMBRE 2004, LE JOUR D'APRÈS
Dopey Americans Miss An Enlightened World's Big Cue

PFFT (What is this?): Putting Euro-Obamania in perspective 4 | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: You Don't Say?

Le jour 438 de Sarko

OBAMA : « L'AMÉRICAIN MOYEN
AIME ÉNORMÉMENT LES FRANÇAIS »
[OBAMA: AVERAGE AMERICAN
ENORMOUSLY FOND OF THE FRENCH]
25 juillet 2008 (20minutes)

[Blinding insight. Lugubrious pause.]

Oh. [More lugubrity.]

Well, that explains why our movie deal fell through.

PFFT (What is this?): Last to know 4⅞ | Rayonnement français 2½

Pave: Never Mind IV

Le jour 437 de Sarko

OBAMA HEADS FOR FRANCE AFTER MAJOR BERLIN RALLY

BERLIN July 25, 2008 (AFP) - Public opinion polls in France mirror those elsewhere in Europe to show Obama is by far the candidate most people would like to see succeed President George W. Bush in the November elections.

Oh. Never mind.

POLL SHOWS FRENCH STAUNCHLY BEHIND KERRY

PARIS October 28, 2004 (AFP) - More than two out of three French would vote for John Kerry and only one in 10 for George W Bush in the US presidential election if they had the chance, according to an opinion poll published Thursday.

Take heart, Europa, Mr. Obama will be available for your elections after November 4. Vote all you want.

What is not apparent to self-fascinated Europa is that its phony self-congratulating Obamania (and here) is not a ringing endorsement to Americans. Americans will vote Mr. Obama up or down depending on the strength of his appeal to Americans. It is a long shot that any foreign endorsements will win him votes and more likely some will cost him votes.

UNDERWHELMING FRENCH SUPPORT
Americans Amused By "Teeny Basket", Flat Placket

Ah, thanks, but no thanks.

PFFT (What is this?): Europa wants American star power 3½ | Europa wants American leadership ⅛ | Rayonnement français ½

Pave: Une nation qui rayonne dans le monde V

Le jour 436 de Sarko

La population est inquiète et ne croit plus aux chiffres officiels.

[The local population is worried and no longer believes official figures.]

André-Yves Becq,
deputy mayor of Bollène,
describing local confidence
in the government's nuclear oversight
17 juillet 2008 (Le Monde)

I don't want people to feel that we are hiding anything from them.

Jean-Louis Borloo,
ministre d’Etat, ministre de l’Ecologie,
de l’Energie, du Développement durable
et de l’Aménagement du territoire,
checking on things, better late than never
July 19, 2008 (Telegraph)

July is nuclear screw-ups month in France.

FIFTEEN FRENCH WORKERS EXPOSED
TO LOW-LEVEL NUCLEAR RADIATION

PARIS July 21, 2008 (Xinhua) - Fifteen French workers were slightly exposed to nuclear radiation at Saint-Alban nuclear station in Iser province, but their health was unaffected, local media reported Monday.

A manager with France's national power company said regular medical checks found traces of radiation materials in the workers' bodies after they carried out routine repair and maintenance tasks at the nuclear station on July 18.

The manager said they were immediately sent to a hospital for further checks, which showed their organs, luckily, were not affected.

Luckily.

The nuclear station reported the incident to the country's nuclear safety bureau, which examined the scene of the incident, but did not list it as a nuclear radiation incident as it was not very severe.

Luckily.

100 EMPLOYEES AT FRENCH NUCLEAR SITE CONTAMINATED

PARIS July 23, 2008 (BW) - Radioactive particles spewed from a pipe at a French nuclear reactor on Wednesday, slightly contaminating 100 employees, a spokeswoman for the national electric company said.

It was the fourth incident at a French nuclear site in recent weeks and the second in five days.

Caroline Muller, a spokeswoman for Electricite de France, said 100 EDF employees were "slightly contaminated" by radioactive particles that escaped from the pipe at a reactor complex in Tricastin, in southern France. Ms. Muller:

What concerns us is less the level of the people contaminated than the number of people contaminated.

Ahhh...huh? It seems to us it is precisely the level of radiation where the concern begins. If the contamination is so piddling as to be of no concern, than what matter the number of contaminated employees?

The incident came a day after authorities lifted a ban on fishing and water sports in two rivers that was imposed July 8 after liquid containing unenriched uranium leaked from a broken underground pipe at a site run by nuclear giant Areva at the huge Tricastin complex, near the city of Avignon.

The truly amazing thing, the wonderful thing about French nuclear power is all that energy is produced but fugitive particle decay never poses a danger to the environment or the locals or the staff. [A sudden idea.] Why not just bottle the contaminant, slap a fancy label on it, and sell it? It's that safe.

L’EAU ENRICHIE EN URANIUM
Darn Good, Pretty Safe

65% of French think nuclear energy poses a risk.

Europeans and Nuclear Safety,
Eurobarometer Report (February 2007), p. 21

Yes, and now we know why.

More posts on radiant France here, here, here, and here.

PFFT (What is this?): Rayonnement français (radiation) 3½ | Rayonnement français (glory) 0

Pave: Spin: Face Change

Le jour 435 de Sarko

We do not believe in a once Golden Age of journalism. An age where reporting confined itself to findings and the established facts. No, reportage has always come with an agenda. This agenda often goes by the name, spin. And one typically first encounters spin in the headline.*

Mind the headline.

CHANGING FACES IN FRENCH WORKPLACE

PARIS July 21, 2008 (BBC) - A major grievance during the riots three years ago was the discrimination young people of Arab and African origin said they faced in getting jobs.

But now the government of President Nicolas Sarkozy says things have improved - and French companies are hiring more people from deprived neighbourhoods like Saint-Denis, especially young graduates.

"There's a real dynamic which has begun on the issue of hiring young people from poor areas or from ethnic minorities," says the Minister for Urban Affairs, Fadela Amara, who herself grew up in a mainly immigrant suburb:

There's a real campaign to promote diversity. Large companies have discovered that young people from these areas offer genuine potential. And this isn't philanthropy, it's just good business. They know that those who have degrees have had to work very hard to get them, twice as hard as those who don't live in neighbourhoods where there are problems, so they're extremely competitive on the job market.

But when I put this to people in Saint-Denis market, they say little has changed as far as they can see [and here and here].

... And activists campaigning for equal opportunities say there has not been a breakthrough.

"You can't really measure any progress yet because we're still at the very beginning," said Carole da Silva,** head of an organisation which helps minority graduates find jobs.

... In Evry, south of Paris, I met Fatou Fall, a management assistant in a communications company. She manages the company's budget and considers herself fortunate to have a good job which she enjoys doing. But she says getting it was not easy - and when she was looking for a job, she says she sometimes faced blatant discrimination. Ms. Fall:

Once I applied for a job in a travel agency and the manager was very pleased with me. He wanted to hire me, but when the owner - his father - learned that I was Senegalese, he decided that he didn't want me - and the manager told me that it was because his father was older and he didn't get on well with foreigners.

But Ms Fall agrees that there has been progress under the Sarkozy government and she praises the work of the Urban Affairs Minister, Ms Amara.

... But if that is happening, it is not obvious to the people in Saint-Denis. One young black man told me:

France is racist and hypocritical. Perhaps things are getting better in the UK, but not here.

Hhhmmm, the reporter has found exactly one changed face in the French workplace with much of the non-government commentary belying the happy headline. This story was lifted whole and re-edited by IslamOnline.net. Here is its headline:

FRANCE'S JOB DISCRIMINATION STILL RIFE
July 21, 2008 (IslamOnline.net)

[Pause.] Yes, well, for our money the Muslim press seems to have gotten the headline right.

------------------------------------
* Other examples of spun headline here, here (item No.2), here, here, and here.

Carole Da Silva is the Founder and Director of the « AFIP », (Association pour Favoriser l’Insertion professionnelle). The objective of the association is to help young graduates with « visible » ethnic difference to find a job. Afip has a method including knowledge of the enterprise needs, coaching, and various training courses. A member of the High Council for Integration, Carole also takes part in the EYEO steering committee.

PFFT (What is this?): Spinning discrimination 3½ | Rayonnement français ½

Pave: How Poor Are The French Poor?

Le jour 434 de Sarko

For ye have the poor with you always...

Mark 14:7 (KJV)

The Christ -- no slouch on behalf of the poor -- pronounced this simple truth. Yet socialist governments believe they can wand wave the poor away with some combination of state controls, state assistance, propaganda, and/or criminalizing poverty. But the poor persist. Why?

Marxists, fascists, and socialists would all have you believe that the reason there are the poor is because there are the rich. This is why millionaire socialists publicly pretend to detest the rich. [Pause.] But this is a political lie for the political enrichment of Marxists, fascists, and socialists.

Poverty, when it is not circumstantial, is the product of choice. [We pause to assist the swooning liberal.] Not that many people consciously choose poverty, but bad choice and poor judgment -- more probably a number of bad choices and poor judgments -- put people on the losing end of the economy.

The varieties of Marxism try to even out the economy by limiting individual choice to only those choices that serve the party which serves the state which serves the party which serves itself. In the end only the party prospers. Western socialism tries to smooth out the economy by redistributing the gains of productive individuals to less productive and nonproductive individuals.* Eventually the socialist state becomes an eleemosynary state and goes bankrupt. The state distributes more than it can skim and still keep productive individuals producing. It becomes more profitable to be nonproductive than to be productive.

NUMBER OF POOR PEOPLE REACHES 7.9 MLN IN FRANCE IN 2006
PARIS July 19, 2008 (Xinhua)

GAP BETWEEN RICH AND POOR IN FRANCE WIDENS

PARIS July 21, 2008 (AHN) - A study [Les niveaux de vie en 2006] made by the National Institute for Statistics and Economics Studies [Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, INSEE] in France showed that the gap between the rich and the country's poor is growing wider.

... According to data collated by the NISES [sic, INSEE], the number of French people living below the poverty line reached 7.9 million or at least 13.2 of the total population [as of 2006].** This segment of French society has a per capita monthly disposable income of less than $1,390 [€872.426].

The study showed that France's rich earn 3.41 times as much compared to the country's poor in 2006.

This is sloppy and wrong. The INSEE report uses disposable income -- gross income minus tax on that income -- as the point of comparison, not earnings or gross income. Since the French poor earn very little -- some 42% of their income derives from social transfers -- and the rich earn a great deal more before punitive French taxes, the earnings multiple would be considerably more than the disposable income multiple. As the numbers below attest the rich have 3.41x more disposable income than the poor.

The same study adds that the per capita annual disposable incomes of the rich comprised of 10 percent of the country's population average at least $52,440 [€32,913] in 2006 compared to only $15,357 [€9,638] of the poorest 10 percent of the population.

The higher and lower deciles are separated by $37,083 (€23,287). When we consider the gap between our own modest position and say, Bill Gates or Steve Forbes, [We consider this.] well, the French gap does not seem an extravagant divide.

The report gives the average standard of living in France as €20,600 per annum. So the meaningul gap is here, between the middle and the lowest. That is a less dramatic €5,243 or 1.34x poor income. But comparing the richest to the poorest keeps the average citizen out of the picture so as not to get him wondering why after his grueling 35-hour work week he is only 34% better off than the destitute of France.

Compared to the per capita purchasing power parity of emerging economic giant China ($5,300), the French poor's $15,357 per annum is 2.89x.*** Compared to India it is just shy of 6x ($2,700). Mexico, 1.2x ($12,800). South Africa, 1.57x ($9,800). Venezula, 1.25x ($12,200). Ironically, it is exactly 3.41x the exemplar socialist paradise, Cuba ($4,500). These are not comparisons with other countries' poor. These are comparison's of France's poor to the average citizen of these states. You may be poor in France, but you'd be living large in Kenya (9x!, $1,700)

The ratio of the per capital disposable annual incomes of the rich to the poor stood at 3.41:1 in 2006. In 2004 the ratio was 3.41:1 and in 2005, it was 3.37:1.

Whoa! [We whoa.]

The gap hasn't widen at all. It has simply reverted to its 2004 multiple. The report itself considers the change from 2005 to 2006 as insignificant (p.3).

De 2005 à 2006, l’évolution du taux de pauvreté (+ 0,1 point) ne peut pas être considérée comme significative.

So here we have a "widening gap" headline that wilts atop its story.

We are not hard-hearted. We do not envy the poor their lot, nor do we wish it on them. We wish everyone all the necessities that make life livable, all the little amenities that make it pleasant. We only ask that rich-poor reporting be confined to the findings and spare us the tricked out drama.

The missing headline here is, POOR LIVING NICELY IN FRANCE, THANK YOU.

------------------------------------
* The redistribution of wealth across society is, of course, not that different from what the Christ advocated, except that He made it an act of individual conscience not an act of state.

*** All per capita PPP numbers are 2007 estimates.

PFFT (What is this?): Poor report 3½ | Rayonnement français 1½

Pave: Scamming The French American Dream

Le jour 433 de Sarko

Mes chers compatriotes, il faut croire en la France.

[My dear compatriots, it is necessary to believe in France.]

Then-Jack, Now Ex-Jack,
then-Président de la République,
trying to resuscitate Tinkerbell France
PALAIS DE L'ÉLYSÉE, Paris 31 décembre 2005 (Élysée)

We were sent this curious story yesterday:

FRENCH COUPLE CHARGED WITH IMMIGRATION FRAUD IN LA

LOS ANGELES July 4, 2008 (Mercury News/AP) - Deborah Sion, 25, was arrested in Van Nuys Thursday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after being charged with mail fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and transfer of false identification documents. Also charged in the case is her husband Isaac Peres, 27, who is in custody in France, where he is facing charges in an unrelated fraud scheme.

According to court documents, the couple posted ads on the Internet offering jobs for French workers at restaurants in the Los Angeles area and casinos in Las Vegas. Sion told interested applicants she could help them get legal immigration status through a green card lottery program and that application for the program cost between 1500 to 2700 Euros (or $2,358 to $4,244), depending on additional services such as travel and housing assistance she could sell to the victims.

The U.S. government does not charge a fee to apply to the Diversity Lottery Program, [U.S. attorney's spokesman Thom] Mrozek said.

... Several victims discovered the fraud when they were stopped at U.S. airports and told they couldn't enter the country, or when they went to the American consulate in Paris and were told the cards were fake. Philippe Larrieu, the French consul general in Los Angeles, said Sion and Peres stole from more than 100 victims.

Robert Schoch, special agent in charge of ICE's Los Angeles office:

Sadly, the people who fell victim to this scheme genuinely believed the defendants had ties to the United States government and were selling legitimate 'green cards'. Our nation's immigration benefits are not for sale.

Sion and Peres each face up to 57 years in prison if convicted.

[Hat tip: Carine]

We are shocked! Shocked!

[A long pause as we allow several successive waves of shock to ripple off. We consider a cigarette, but realize we do not smoke.]

Perhaps our disbelief is your disbelief. Perhaps our questions are your questions. How could such a scheme come about? Where would magouilleurs find the Frenchies who would leave France, Paradise itself, to moil in the trenches of "dark America"? How could such a scheme ever reach the proportions detailed in the report? Why would Frenchies emigrate to America for a better life when they already experience life as-good-as-it-will-ever-be in France, in Paradise?

Here, here, here, here, here, here, and here -- these are partial answers. But emigrate to America? Has France been brought so low? Shocking!

PFFT (What is this?): Shocking ½ | Scamming the American dream 4½ | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: Barbie féministe

Le jour 432 de Sarko

Bon anniversaire, la République !

All this week Pave celebrates the French Republic's birthday.

What better occasion than la Fête Nationale to decry the sham equality of the Republic?

These actions, written into the “Charter of Equality Between Men and Women,” resulted in France‘s acquiring effective means in the last few years to improve the place of women in public life, professional life and private life.

The law on the equal access of men and women to elective office provides for parity in the executives of municipal and regional councils, and stiffer financial penalties for political parties that fail to comply with the legal requirements in terms of parity. It also requires a general councilor and a substitute of different gender to be elected in the upcoming local elections in the cantons. In this way, it opens up our local assemblies to “real parity.” With this law, a pool of women will be formed, leading to their full involvement in political life.

This law completes and strengthens our measures for parity in politics.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix,
then-Chargé d’Affaires to the UN,
bragging to the UN on French affirmative action
for achieving gender equality in France
PROMOTION OF GENDER EQUALITY AND
THE EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN
NEW YORK March 7, 2007 (franceonu.org)

Ah, but where in France is M. Lacroix's completed parity?

DES FÉMINISTES COLLENT DES BARBES
AUX STATUES DE LA PLACE DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE
[FEMINISTS PASTE BEARDS TO STATUES
IN LA PLACE DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE]

PARIS 13 juillet 2008 (MSN/AFP) - Des militantes du groupe d'action féministe, "La Barbe", qui dénonce la suprématie masculine aux postes dirigeants, ont affublé dimanche les trois grandes statues de pierre de la place de la République à Paris de grandes barbes colorées.

Les trois militantes de ce collectif revendiquant une centaine d'adhérentes à Paris et Toulouse, ont escaladé le piédestal de la statue de la République, promettant de revenir chaque année tant que la France n'aura pas eu une femme présidente de la République, selon Marie de Cenival, fondatrice du groupe.

"Le 14 juillet, c'est la célébration de la prise de la Bastille, mais également de la déclaration des droits de l'Homme, qui sont aussi des droits des femmes", a-t-elle ajouté, en rendant hommage à Olympe de Gouges (1748-1793), "première féministe".

EQUALITY PRANKING
Advancing Equality With Stunts
[Photo source: Jean Ayissi/AFP]

[The militant feminist action group, "The Beard*", which denounces male supremacy in positions of leadership, Sunday disguised the three large stone statues on the Place de la République in Paris with big colored beards.

The three activists claiming a hundred followers in Paris and Toulouse, climbed the pedestal of the statue of the Republic, promising to return each year as long as France has not had a woman president of the Republic, according to Marie de Cenival, founder of the group.

July 14 is the celebration of the storming of the Bastille, but equally of the rights of man, which are also the rights of women," she added, in paying homage to Olympe de Gouges (1748-1793), "the first féminist".]

ADVOCATING FOR L'HÉGÉMONIE FÉMININE
Turnabout Is The Good Discrimination
[Photo source: Le Barbe]

It's no secret discrimination is rife in France. And women come in for their unfair share of it. In politics certainly the most qualified candidates should be put forward, regardless of gender. But making gender a qualification -- the qualification, which is the start point of La Barbe's position -- well, male or female, that is sexual discrimination. Standing discrimination on its head may be affirmative action, but it is still discrimination. As such it debases the very principle of equality that it seeks to establish.

MODE D'ACTION
Strap This Over Your Ears And Feel The Man Power!
(Fake Fur, Phony Beard, Sham Equality)
[Photo source: Le Barbe]

Those who politick with their genitals, stand to lose with their genitals.

------------------------------------
* As an interjection or exclamation in French "la barbe" has the additional meanings of "What a bother!", "Nuisance!", "Enough!" [Hat tip: Hervé G.]

PFFT (What is this?): A woman at all costs 2 | Rayonnement français ½

Pave: Défaillances dans la sécurisation

Le jour 431 de Sarko

28 KILOS D'EXPLOSIFS VOLÉS
SUR UN SITE DE LA SÉCURITÉ CIVILE
[28 KILOS OF EXPLOSIVES STOLEN
FROM CIVILIAN SECURITY SITE]
18 juillet 2008 (20minutes)

Heavy-handed security is the rule in France. And it has, to date, spared France. All of which makes this lapse all the more curious.

LARGE SEMTEX CACHE STOLEN IN FRANCE

July 19, 2008 (Telegraph) - The 28 kilograms [61.6 pounds] of the explosive were discovered to be missing yesterday along with an unknown quantity of detonators, but the Interior Ministry said they could have been taken more than a week ago.

The Lyon depot is situated in a disused 19th century castle at Corbas near Lyon and is used by a civil defence unit to store explosives needed for bomb disposal workers. [The Interior Ministry] said there had been "security failings" [défaillances dans la sécurisation de ce site] which gave the thieves their chance.

... The Semtex is now being searched for by French anti-terrorist police who fear it could be used to attack civilian targets. Semtex is favoured by terrorists because it is powerful, has no smell and is almost impossible to detect.

"The investigation has to find out how they could have been stolen," a police source said.

How? [Pause.] Here is a clue.

MISSING EXPLOSIVES SITE
HAD NO PROTECTION: POLICE CHIEF

PARIS July 19, 2008 (AFP) — The stockage of 28 kilos (62 pounds) of Semtex along with detonators at Corbas, near Lyon in southeast France, "was not usual, and certainly not authorised," Xavier de Fuerst [the regional official in charge of security] said.

He told AFP the site, a former fort, had been sold by the defence ministry to the interior ministry in 2005.

"At the time it was protected by cameras but now there are only the shells. Work was planned in 2009 to put back the cameras and strengthen the entrances."

De Fuerst said the fort was ideal for storing explosives, as there was no threat to local people, but staff had "lowered their guard through overconfidence."

While the presence of the explosives would only have been known to the dozen or so personnel using the site, "ill-intentioned people could have observed their comings and goings" and deduced what was there.

"The explosives had probably been there since the beginning of 2008. The commander of the centre had anticipated the fact that he would have official authorisation by the end of 2009, but the security measures were not in place," de Fuerst said.

He said neither the local authorities nor the police had been aware that the explosives were there.

Thierry Butin, the mayor of Corbas:

I am extremely surprised and angry that from one day to the next you can store products as dangerous as this, without any protection.

How could this theft have happened? Hhmmm. The total absence of security might explain it. [Pause.] Just a guess.

PFFT (What is this?): It's a mystery how these things happen 0 | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: Une nation qui rayonne dans le monde IV

Le jour 431 de Sarko

ANOTHER NUCLEAR LEAK IN FRANCE

PARIS July 18, 2008 (IHT) - Uranium-bearing liquid has leaked from a broken underground pipe at a nuclear plant in southeastern France, the national nuclear safety authority said Friday. It was the second leak discovered at a French site this month.

The Nuclear Safety Authority said experts were trying to determine how much leaked uranium was present at the plant, which is owned by the electricity company Areva.

Areva, which is owned by the French government, is at the forefront of President Nicolas Sarkozy's effort to sell home-grown nuclear energy technology to the rest of the world.*

... An Areva spokesman, Charles Hufnagel, said the leak of lightly enriched uranium did not spread outside the site in Romans-sur-Isère and had "absolutely no impact on the environment." He said the factory hoped the problem would be classified as Level 1, the most minor of seven possible.

« IL N'Y A PAS DU TOUT D'IMPACT SUR L'ENVIRONNEMENT »
Quoi ?

Thank God! Another leak at a French nuclear facility with "absolutely no impact on the environment". How reliable is French containment at its nuclear plants? Apparently impeccable. Leaks can go years before discovery, yet still have "absolutely no impact on the environment".

The Nuclear Safety Authority said the pipe was believed to have ruptured several years ago. It added that the pipe "was not in line with the applicable regulations, which require shock resistance ability sufficient to avoid rupture."

------------------------------------
* The latest Eurobarometer Report (February 2007), "Europeans and Nuclear Safety", finds that 53% of citizens of the EU25 consider nuclear power a risk to their persons and families (p.23). More disturbing, in France -- with the most nuclear power plants in Europe, 58 -- that number kicks up to 65% of French who think nuclear energy poses a risk (p.21).

PFFT (What is this?): Pas de soucis 0 | Trust the French government 0 | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: Never Mind III

Le jour 431 de Sarko

This one almost got away.

Comme la France le pressentait et le redoutait, la guerre en Iraq a précipité des bouleversements qui n'ont pas fini de dérouler leurs effets. ... Elle a offert au terrorisme un nouveau champ d'expansion.

[As France sensed and feared, the war in Iraq has triggered upheavals whose effects have not yet ceased to unfold. ... It has given terrorism a new field into which to expand.]

Then-Jack, Now Ex-Jack,
then-Président de la République,
worrying aloud about a free Iraq being a terrorist incubator
Allocution lors de la présentation des vœux
du corps diplomatique
PARIS 5 janvier 2007 (Palais de l'Élysée)

Oh. Never mind.

FEARS OF IRAQ BECOMING A TERRORIST INCUBATOR
SEEM OVERBLOWN, FRENCH SAY
PARIS April 8, 2008 (NYT)

PFFT (What is this?): Never mind 3 | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: Never Mind II

Le jour 430 de Sarko

Le rejet irlandais du traité de Lisbonne conduit le Gouvernement à aborder la Présidence française avec "modestie et rigueur".

[The Irish rejection of the treaty of Lisbon leads the Government to approach the French Presidency [of the EU] with " modesty and rigueur".]

Jean-Pierre Jouyet,
secrétaire d’Etat aux Affaires européennes,
characterizing the upcoming French presidency of the EU
19 juin 2008 (Gouvernement de la France)

FRANCE HAS 'AMBITION OF BEING MODEST', SAYS KOUCHNER

July16, 2008 (EurActiv.com) - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said he is putting himself entirely at the disposal of the European Parliament during the French EU Presidency and pledged to listen to the opinion of the House. ... Speaking to the Foreign Affairs Committee* on 15 July, Kouchner made "modesty" a key word of his speech.**

"The French Presidency has the ambition of being modest," he said, humorously recognising that "modesty and listening are probably not part of our reputation".

Oh. Never mind.

NICOLAS SARKOZY IS ACCUSED
OF BLACKMAIL OVER EU TREATY
June 22, 2008 (Telegraph)

PETER MANDELSON: I WON'T BE BULLIED
BY NICOLAS SARKOZY OVER WORLD TRADE DEAL***
BRUSSELS July 8, 2008 (Telegraph)

AFFAIRE PETRELLA : LE PRÉSIDENT ITALIEN
AGACÉ PAR LA DEMANDE DE SARKOZY
[PETRELLA AFFAIR:† ITALIAN PRESIDENT
IRRITATED BY SARKOZY REQUEST]
9 juillet 2008 (Le Monde)

LES PROPOS DE SARKOZY FÂCHENT À DUBLIN
[SARKOZY REMARKS ANGER DUBLIN]
16 juillet 2008 (Libre Belgique/AFP)

[Hat tip: Janina]

------------------------------------
* The foreign office, with some experience of French modesty, has discreetly edited out M. Kouchner's bon mot from the official communiqué.

† Marina Petrella was a bossling of the Brigate Rosse (Red Brigades, BR), a Marxist-Lenist terrorist group active in the 70s and 80s that sought to reduce Italy to revolutionary chaos. The better world of the BR had no clear plan other than kidnapping and ransoming or killing. Revolutionary excitement soon exhausted the BR and most were caught or fled. France became a welcoming refuge when leftist (former pétainiste) President Mitterand granted asylum to Italian terrorists who renounced violence. With the revolution going poorly, Sig.a Petrella upped sticks to France. France has since agreed to her extradition. Sarko has asked the Italian government to grant clemency.

We will post more fully on l'Affaire Petrella soon.

PFFT (What is this?): Off to a modest start 3 | Never mind 4 | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: Une nation qui rayonne dans le monde III

Le jour 429 de Sarko

A little follow-on.

We're not talking about dishwater here. This is a dangerous radioactive material.

Ben Ayliffe,
head of nuclear campaigns at Greenpeace,
making an alarming distinction
(infra)

I don't want people to feel that we are hiding anything from them.

Jean-Louis Borloo,
ministre d’Etat, ministre de l’Ecologie,
de l’Energie, du Développement durable
et de l’Aménagement du territoire,
reassuring the French that nothing is hid --
in less time then it takes to pronounce his title
(infra)

La population est inquiète et ne croit plus aux chiffres officiels.

[The local population is worried and no longer believes official figures.]

André-Yves Becq,
deputy mayor of Bollène,
revealing that the locals are not team players
17 juillet 2008 (Le Monde)

BONJOUR ATOMIQUE !
Oh! Don't Mind Us. Just Checking The Dosimeter. Omigod!
[Blinky is a cartoon mutant fish and not a French national;
The Simpsons™ & © 2008. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.]

FRANCE ORDERS TESTS
ON ALL NUCLEAR POWER STATIONS AFTER LEAK
Fears Over France's Nuclear Reactors Have Been Raised
As The Government Orders Ground Water Tests At Its 58 Power Stations,
After A Uranium Leak At One Polluted Local Water Supplies.

PARIS July 17, 2008 (Telegraph) - The safety lapse at a plant in Provence run by French nuclear giant Areva has raised questions over President Nicolas Sarkozy's drive to roll out reactors around the world – in Britain but also in states with less stringent safety norms.

... Residents in Bollène in the Vaucluse, southern France – a top tourist area – have been told not to drink water or eat fish from nearby rivers, after 74kg of liquid uranium was spilled on July 7 at the Tricastin nuclear plant. Swimming and water sports were also banned along with irrigating crops with the contaminated water, which reached two rivers [scil., the Gaffière and the Lauzon].

... It has been declared all vegetables and crops irrigated just after the leak fit for consumption, but residents around Bollène, where the power station is located, said they feared for their health.

... [André-Yves Becq, the deputy mayor of Bollène] said Socatri [operator of the site and a subsidiary of Areva] inspectors "suspiciously" told one family that dangerously high levels of contamination in its water supply were due to a "dirty measurement instrument".

[L'attitude de la Socatri, qui a fait des prélèvements de nuit et a tenté d'expliquer une teneur en uranium de 64 microgrammes d'uranium par litre d'eau, chez un particulier, par une souillure des instruments de mesure, nous a paru suspecte.]

PFFT (What is this?): Pas de soucis 0 | Trust the French government 0 | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: The Holiday Car-be-cue

Le jour 428 de Sarko

Bon anniversaire, la République !

All this week Pave celebrates the French Republic's birthday.

The French car-be-cue is a popular Republican recreation during the fête nationale française (and here) -- or any holiday really (and here and this and here and this).

VANDALISM AS PATRIOTISM
Bleu, Brûlé, Rouge

FETE NATIONALE - SOIREE DU 13 JUILLET :
297 VEHICULES BRULES
[NATIONAL CELEBRATION - NIGHT OF JULY 13:
297 VEHICALS TORCHED]

14 juillet 2008 (LCI) - La soirée du 13 juillet, marquée par plusieurs bals à l'occasion de la fête nationale, a été assez calme à Paris mais plus agitée en Ile-de-France, avec notamment des incendies de voitures et d'un gymnase dans le Val d'Oise. Dans toute la France, 297 véhicules ont été incendiés et 121 personnes ont été interpellées, selon un bilan communiqué par le ministère de l'Intérieur.

[The evening of July 13, characterized by many balls on the occasion of the national holiday, was rather calm in Paris but more restless in Ile-de-France, notably with car torchings and arson of a gymnasium in the Val d'Oise. In the whole of France, 297 vehicles were torched and 121 persons arrested, according to a statement by the Interior Ministry.]

295 VEHICULES BRULES ET 98 INTERPELLATIONS
DANS LA NUIT DU 14 AU 15 JUILLET
[295 VEHICLES TORCHED AND 98 ARRESTS
FOR THE NIGHT OF JULY 14 TO 15]
15 juillet 2008 (Le Monde/AFP)

PFFT (What is this?): A culture thing 3 | A psyche thing 3 | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: Subject To Change VIII

Le jour 428 de Sarko

Like the weather, if you don't like government policy in France just wait a news cycle for something different.

Posted by Damian at January 11, 2008 01:30 PM

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday's French position.

FRENCH PRESIDENT NICOLAS SARKOZY
SAYS EITHER LISBON OR NICE

July 11, 2008 (Enjoy France) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy has advised the European Parliament that the EU should stop wasting time on further discussions regarding the Lisbon Treaty.

In a speech he made to MEPs in Strasbourg, President Sarkozy said:

There will not be any new treaty. It's either Lisbon, or it's Nice.

Today's French position.*

FRANCE EYES TREATY CHANGES
FOR IRISH RE-VOTE: SARKOZY AIDE

PARIS July 16, 2008 (EUbusiness) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy could ask Ireland to hold a second referendum on the EU reform treaty but with some minor changes to the charter, [Henri Guaino,] a key adviser said Wednesday.

One of the solutions would be indeed to eventually ask the Irish to re-vote, but probably not on a text that would be exactly the same.

We'll see.

The Irish didn't vote down the treaty on minor points so minor changes will not likely have them vote it up. And were minor changes substantive enough to satisfy Irish objections then ratifications of the earlier version would be void. The latter is not a serious impediment as the parliaments of member states appear ready to ratify anything that will lessen the burdens of native governance.

------------------------------------
* Earlier opposite flip-flop here.

PFFT (What is this?): We'll see 1 | Rayonnement français 0

Pave: A Brief History Of The Republic

Le jour 427 de Sarko

Bon anniversaire, la République !

All this week Pave celebrates the French Republic's birthday. All of them. Unlike boring America with its single start point, its single constitution, and its continuous form of government, France is a much more complicated story.

France herself predates the first of the French republics by some 949 years, her discrete establishment dates from the Treaty of Verdun on August 8 (or 11), 843. The First Republic -- at the time simply République française, so keen the gush of optimism -- was declared on September 12, 1792 coincident with deposing the current monarch, Louis XVI. (The September date is the proper birthday of French republicanism, but it lacks the nervous excitement of the earlier storming of the Bastille.*)

A constitution was cobbled up a year later, ratified, then suspended before it took effect. The First Republic had three separate constituted governments: the National Convention (1792–95), responsible for the Reign of Terror; the Directory (1795–99), responsible for bankrupting France while pillaging Europe; and the Consulate (1799–1804), a trial-run dictatorship responsible for trashing the Republic. The first two governments were overthrown by force, while the third simply slipped into a popular tyranny.

After a short-lived empire (1804-1814, with a brief 100-day encore in 1815), whose imperial diastole was followed by a ruinous systole, the House of Bourbon was restored to the throne by the continental powers arrayed against France (1814-1830). It was overthrown in the July Revolution and replaced by the July Monarchy (1830-1848) of the House of Orleans, an impractical constitutional monarchy. This too was overthrown by another French revolution and the Second Republic proclaimed (1848-1852). This was overthrown in short order by the Coup d'État du 2 décembre 1851 and the establishment of the Second Empire (1852-1870) the following year. The empire came to an abrupt and humiliating end at Sedan** with the capture of the emperor and his army by Prussia.

Time to trade down to a parliamentary monarchy again. The government and the citizenry were willing but the settled-on pretender to the throne, the Comte de Chambord, queered the deal by insisting on replacing the revolutionary drapeau tricolore with the traditional drapeau blanc of the monarchy of yore. He was refused and he refused in turn. Remarkably, on this petty sticking point, the French monarchy evaporated. Piff. What misrule, mobbing, bloodletting, mock justice, deceits, and chaos had failed to expunge with finality, the drapeau tricolore now killed off forever.

LE DRAPEAU TRICOLORE (L) ET LE DRAPEAU BLANC (R)
Drapeau Blanc Reintroduced For A Brief Period In 1940

The raucous Third Republic (1870-1940) is the longest-lived of all the French republics. Although an elected president was head of state, the executive government was constituted by the President of the Council (scil., prime minister), who depended on majority support in the quarreling Assemblée nationale. The Republic banged around from crisis to crisis with 87 successor governments, or roughly 1¼ governements per year. Following defeat in the French 6-week condensed version of WWII, the Third Republic finally fell in 1940.

Then, as the French tell it, the whole of real France (scil., la France libre) upped sticks to Britain leaving a phony France behind (scil., Vichy France), run by imposters who in every respect were identical to their French originals. Except they were imposters. Not French at all but Nazi constructs -- all this figured out some 20 years before