The Tocqueville Connection French News Aggregator

Expatica French News Blog

Little Green Footballs on Paris Intifada

Michelle Malkin on Paris Riots

Paris Riot Update (via UrbanBarbara)

Paul Cruce's Email from Paris (via RogerLSimon.com)

French Police Raid Bomb Factory

Moxie & Charm

 
Catblogging is so much fun... 

Bull Moose: Bush Really Might Face Impeachment

The logical extension of this argument is that its advocates should call for impeachment of the President. If there was ever a "high crime and misdemeanor" it is deliberate deceit to lead the country to war. Some of the outer reaches of the left have already reached this conclusion. Is this where the leaders of the party are headed? It sure seems so by the argument that they are now employing.

Paris Riots & Denial at The New York Times

Craig Smith's article shows that the editors of The New York Times can't recognize reality because of their ideological blinders. Evidence can be found in their own reporter's notes.

For example: Smith's quote from a source in the French Algerian community, stating the obviously political agenda behind the Paris riots and arson:

"It's a game that has been started between the youth and Sarkozy," said a French-Algerian man wearing Chanel sunglasses outside Aulnay's mosque, in a converted warehouse. He would give his name only as Nabil. "Until he quits," he said, "it's not going to get better."

Yet, two paragraphs later, Smith declares:

For now, the violence seems to have been the work of unfocused teenagers and young adults without a clear political agenda.

I don't believe Smith or his editors are consciously lying to New York Times readers. Rather, I think they are in denial--they cannot admit the truth, that the riots are organized by Islamist extremists--because it would shake their entire worldview. This type of denial of reality is nothing new for Times editors.

Most strikingly, during WWII, New York Times editors put reports of Hitler's extermination campaign against the Jews of Europe on the back pages, in tiny print. American Jewish groups were forced to buy full-page advertisements to alert Times readers to the Holocaust that the Times refused to acknowledge while it was taking place. You can read about it in Laurel Leff's story on the History News Network: How the NYT Missed the Story of the Holocaust While It Was Happening.

As George Santayana noted, those who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it--even at the Times.

UPDATE: More on this at RogerLSimon.com

Al Qaeda Leader Escapes From US Jail

One more sign of trouble for the Bush administration's Global War on Terror:

Omar al-Farouq, born in Kuwait to Iraqi parents, was considered one of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants in Southeast Asia until Indonesian authorities captured him in 2002 and turned him over to the United States. He was one of four suspected Arab terrorists to escape in July from the detention facility at Bagram, the main U.S. base in Afghanistan. It was not clear how long he had been held in Afghanistan.

Although the escape was widely reported at the time, al-Farouq was identified by an alias and the U.S. military only confirmed Tuesday that he was among those who fled.
A video the four men made of themselves after they escaped from Bagram was broadcast on Dubai-based television station Al-Arabiya on Oct. 18, the broadcaster said.
In the video, the four men said they escaped on a Sunday when many of the Americans on the base were off duty, and one of the four � Muhammad Hassan, said to be Libyan � said he picked the locks of their cell, according to Al-Arabiya. ">SignOnSanDiego.com > In Iraq -- Security heightened at U.S. base where suspected top al-Qaeda operative escaped: "Omar al-Farouq, born in Kuwait to Iraqi parents, was considered one of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants in Southeast Asia until Indonesian authorities captured him in 2002 and turned him over to the United States.

He was one of four suspected Arab terrorists to escape in July from the detention facility at Bagram, the main U.S. base in Afghanistan. It was not clear how long he had been held in Afghanistan.

Although the escape was widely reported at the time, al-Farouq was identified by an alias and the U.S. military only confirmed Tuesday that he was among those who fled.
A video the four men made of themselves after they escaped from Bagram was broadcast on Dubai-based television station Al-Arabiya on Oct. 18, the broadcaster said.
In the video, the four men said they escaped on a Sunday when many of the Americans on the base were off duty, and one of the four--Muhammad Hassan, said to be Libyan--said he picked the locks of their cell, according to Al-Arabiya.

NYT: Ken Tomlinson Under Investigation

Here's the money quote:

People involved in the inquiry said that investigators had already interviewed a significant number of officials at the agency and that, if the accusations were substantiated, they could involve criminal violations.

Last July, the inspector general at the State Department opened an inquiry into Mr. Tomlinson's work at the board of governors after Representative Howard L. Berman, Democrat of California, and Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, forwarded accusations of misuse of money.

The lawmakers requested the inquiry after Mr. Berman received complaints about Mr. Tomlinson from at least one employee at the board, officials said. People involved in the inquiry said it involved accusations that Mr. Tomlinson was spending federal money for personal purposes, using board money for corporation activities, using board employees to do corporation work and hiring ghost employees or improperly qualified employees.

Through an aide at the broadcasting board, Mr. Tomlinson declined to comment Friday about the State Department inquiry.

Why Russian Students Cheat

Konstantin's Russian Blog explains the Russian system of higher education, responding to American ESL teacher Jane Keeler. What he says matches what I experienced teaching in Tashkent and Moscow. So, you can memorize Konstantin's blog entry, or print it out and copy it onto a tiny piece of paper folded up like an accordion, which you'll hide up your sleeve...

The Squid and The Whale

I saw The Squid and the Whale over the weekend. There were only three other people in the theatre for the 5:30 p.m. show, so it may not be the biggest film of the year. But it certainly is one of the best. Depressing, yet enjoyable. Like listening to someone else's psychoanalytic session. It is told from the point of view of a 16-year old boy in the midst of his parents divorce and struggle with joint custody. Best line, from a friend of the protagonist: "Joint custody sucks..." But on another level, it is about the idiocy of urban life, the shallow and empty dead-end of pretentious literati in NYC, repeating their mantras about "filet" and Kafka and New Yorker short stories while neglecting their children and families. The zipless coupling and uncoupling, Sex in the City without the nice clothes, the Lolita-like professor's relationships, the Holden Caufield youthful attitude, the Portnoy's Complaint masturbation, make the film a nice literary detective novel. Cinematically, Baumbach pays homage to Woody Allen and the Museum of Natural History, as well as a number of French films that I probably haven't seen -- there is a poster for The Mother and the Whore, so that's a clue. Anna Paquin is the minx, so New Zealand cinema is represented as well.

The acting is good. Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, Billy Baldwin and the rest of the ensemble seemed to be having fun making each other miserable. Oh, did I mention Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

If Baumbach's parents are really still talking to him after this, then they are either more shallow and star-struck than it is possible to believe, or the real-life situation was even worse. Totally realistic, compelling, and an indictment of New York's pretentious poseurs. Two Ph.D.'s in literature--one a published novelist, the other a New Yorker writer--can't recognize their son has plaigarized a Pink Floyd song. Priceless...

The Saundra Messinger Collection

The other day we met a fellow Fulbrighter from Tashkent, who is helping her relative in the jewelery business. She was wearing a number of bracelets, all of them original and attractive. We asked her, where did you get this stuff? She answered that it is made right in New York City, on 47th street. It was so nice, that I thought it might be nice to put a link on my blog to the Saundra Messinger website. I hope my colleage is able to make a go of it in the bling trade with her relation, and that maybe a sale or two might come of this plug ...

Paris Still Burning . . .

According to AFP, the rioting has spread. How long before the French finally crackdown hard and issue "shoot-to-kill" orders? This report from Paris sounds like what was coming out of Andijan not so long ago:

Those responsible are groups of young Muslim men, the sons of families from France's former Arab and African colonial territories, who have said in interviews that they are protesting economic misery, racial discrimination and provocative policing.

The leader of one police union, Bruno Beschizza, described the riots as "urban terrorism", led by a radicalized minority of criminals and "Islamic radicals".

Sarkozy, who harbours ambitions of becoming president in 2007 elections, has claimed that they are being orchestrated by unknown organizers.

Shrinkwrapped calls this the "French Intifada." (ht Roger L. Simon) He quotes Amir Taheri:

Some are even calling for the areas where Muslims form a majority of the population to be reorganized on the basis of the "millet" system of the Ottoman Empire: Each religious community (millet) would enjoy the right to organize its social, cultural and educational life in accordance with its religious beliefs.

In parts of France, a de facto millet system is already in place. In these areas, all women are obliged to wear the standardized Islamist "hijab" while most men grow their beards to the length prescribed by the sheiks.

The radicals have managed to chase away French shopkeepers selling alcohol and pork products, forced "places of sin," such as dancing halls, cinemas and theaters, to close down, and seized control of much of the local administration.

A reporter who spent last weekend in Clichy and its neighboring towns of Bondy, Aulnay-sous-Bois and Bobigny heard a single overarching message: The French authorities should keep out.

"All we demand is to be left alone," said Mouloud Dahmani, one of the local "emirs" engaged in negotiations to persuade the French to withdraw the police and allow a committee of sheiks, mostly from the Muslim Brotherhood, to negotiate an end to the hostilities.

Here's a link to the Al Jazeera coverage.

Mark Steyn's take here:

And essentially, you're dealing with communities that are totally isolated from the mainstream of French life. Where all kinds of practices that wouldn't be tolerated, that are not officially tolerated by French law, such as polygamy, for example. Polygamy is openly practiced in these...in les Banlieux, as they call these suburbs, these Muslim quarters of Paris. I mean, we're talking about five miles from the Elysee Palace. Five miles from where Jacques Chirac sits. And you finally got...you know, we kept hearing all this stuff ever since September 11th, you know, the Muslim street is going to explode in anger. Well, it finally did, and it was in Paris, not in the Middle East.

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Putin Blasts Dutch Chechen Stance

On a state visit, the Russian president took on the EU's pro-Chechen foreign policy:

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende had raised concerns about respect for human rights in Chechnya in talks with Putin.

But Putin likened Russia's problems in the region to attacks by Islamic militants in Europe, such as the murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh exactly a year ago by a Dutch-Moroccan.

"It was a terrible event that is, of course, a sign of a much broader problem called international terrorism," Putin said at a televised joint news conference with Balkenende in The Hague.

"We are fighting very cruel people -- beasts in the guise of human beings who do not and do not want to understand in what time and world they live. Our response must be equal to the threat they present to modern civilization," Putin said. . . .

. . . Putin said terrorists would seize upon any sign of weakness and chastised Western Europe for what he said were overblown concerns about abuses against Muslims in Russia.

"Sometimes it seems to me that certain European leaders want to be more Muslim than the Prophet Mohammed," Putin said.

"My opinion is that in the Caucasus and in Chechnya, we are protecting both our and your interests. If we allow terrorism to raise its head in one region, the same will happen in other regions of the world," he said.

Countries need to work together to combat terrorism effectively, Putin said, adding that cooperation with the Netherlands and the European Union on this issue was one topic that he and Balkenende had discussed.

Secret CIA Torture Prisons in Poland, Romania?

According to reports from Human Rights Watch, Poland and Romania are likely sites for the mysterious secret CIA torture prisons called "black sites." The Washington Post reported the allegations the other day, and it looks like this may drip, drip, drip, in the media until it erupts into a full-fledged scandal.

My suspicion is that the unfolding CIA torture scandal may lead to the impeachment and conviction of Vice-President Cheney and perhaps even President Bush...

Public Broadcasting Chair Ousted

Ken Tomlinson, chair of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, has been ousted by his own board after completion of an Inspector General's report (scheduled to be made public on November 15th). The controversy raises a question as to how long Tomlinson will be able to contiue to serve on the International Broadcasting Board which oversees the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, Radio Marti, and Radio Free Asia.

Gone Fishin'...

Actually, gone for a few days with my mother-in-law, blogging will be light for a while...