Even if the case has been dropped, Dominique Strauss-Kahn is not 'not guilty' : New York D.A. Cyrus Vance Jr is guilty of cowardice, and the US Judiciary guilty of mixing politics with justice.
I more than reasonably doubt that Mr Vance believes DSK to be innocent.
I more than reasonably doubt that this masquerade will serve women's rights : for rape victims, the Nafissatou Diallo jurisprudence states that you are not a Saint you will be treated as a whore.
I more than reasonably doubt that the judicial system that spared O. J. Simpson is just.
I more than reasonably doubt that in a democracy District Attorneys should be elected directly by the people and campaigning as politicians.
US Justice's standards are poor : it should be downgraded.
blogules 2011
20110728
US debt : Fools House
The debt-ceiling deadblock can be easily summed up this way : while Barack Obama is trying to prevent the economy from collapsing, John Boehner is trying to prevent the Republican party from imploding.
Of course, as we well know (see "GOP: time to split"), the said implosion started with the 2004 elections, but US voters are just beginning to understand the GOP dilemma : this party cannot at the same time win the 2012 elections and save its soul.
The only way of saving face without caving in would be to submit for vote an absurd proposal bound to crash, and to blame Democrats for the failure.
Well US voters proved that they could be fooled once (giving Newt Gingrich the right to torpedo the budget during the mid 90s), and even twice (giving GWB the right to nuke America's value and economy for four more years during the mid 2000s).
At least twice.
The other day I watched Tim Pawlenty trying to sell, on CNN's "State Of The Union", the idea that they'd been fooled one more time by Obama because the deficit tripled under his first term.
But Candy Crowley was not fooled. And she kindly reminded Pawlenty of the 2008 situation, when only he and the John McCain he campaigned for believed the US economy to be still "fundamentally sound".
Unlike Tim Pawlenty, John Boehner is not a fool.
Just a liar.
blogules 2011
Of course, as we well know (see "GOP: time to split"), the said implosion started with the 2004 elections, but US voters are just beginning to understand the GOP dilemma : this party cannot at the same time win the 2012 elections and save its soul.
The only way of saving face without caving in would be to submit for vote an absurd proposal bound to crash, and to blame Democrats for the failure.
Well US voters proved that they could be fooled once (giving Newt Gingrich the right to torpedo the budget during the mid 90s), and even twice (giving GWB the right to nuke America's value and economy for four more years during the mid 2000s).
At least twice.
The other day I watched Tim Pawlenty trying to sell, on CNN's "State Of The Union", the idea that they'd been fooled one more time by Obama because the deficit tripled under his first term.
But Candy Crowley was not fooled. And she kindly reminded Pawlenty of the 2008 situation, when only he and the John McCain he campaigned for believed the US economy to be still "fundamentally sound".
Unlike Tim Pawlenty, John Boehner is not a fool.
Just a liar.
blogules 2011
20110726
To all Anders Behring Breivik wannabes
If Anders Behring Breivik is your hero, I've got some news for you :
- Anders Behring Breivik is not insane, granted - even if his lawyer is unsurprisingly walking that perennial defense line. But Anders Behring Breivik is a dangerous psychopath, and he must face justice.
- I've met you before. Of course, not likely face to face (who knows ?), but one of your likes, on some internet forum. You've been promoting the same kind of hate speeches : Islam is at war with Western Civilization, we must eradicate it from Europe, take the arms, clean the place... the usual clash of civilization imposture.
- Anders Behring Breivik is not a hero, but a loser who cornered himself in that deadend for fear of facing his own identity crisis, a fool feeding on hate diatribes cooked by the same kind of impostors who turn weak minds into terrorists in the Muslim world. You think people like Geert Wilders defend the Western World against the Muslim World but you don't realize that YOU are his real target, not the Muslims. How can you trust a man who doesn't even trust the color of his own hair ?
- Just ask yourself why you admire Breivik, and you'll probably find the same anger, despair, unsureness inside yourself. You're bragging about being a 'pure blood', but are you that comfortable with your own identity ?
- By the way : did you know that your parents were Africans ? Yes, we humans come all from Africa. Even I, a blondish, blue-eyed Caucasian, Western European to the nth generation, am a proud African. And did you know that civilizations bloomed first in the Middle East, that big chunks of the antique European heritage were saved by Muslim scientists ?
- Make no mistake : Islam is not the menace, but another victim of fundamentalism, the mother of all impostures*. Remember : the main enemy always come from within. So don't get fooled by XXIst century crusaders. Don't be your own worst enemy.
blogules 2011 (also in French : "Message personnel aux fans d'Anders Behring Breivik")
* see also "Universal Declaration of Independence from Fundamentalism"
---
UPDATE 201108 : "Andreas" actual ID recovered, link to the French version
- Anders Behring Breivik is not insane, granted - even if his lawyer is unsurprisingly walking that perennial defense line. But Anders Behring Breivik is a dangerous psychopath, and he must face justice.
- I've met you before. Of course, not likely face to face (who knows ?), but one of your likes, on some internet forum. You've been promoting the same kind of hate speeches : Islam is at war with Western Civilization, we must eradicate it from Europe, take the arms, clean the place... the usual clash of civilization imposture.
- Anders Behring Breivik is not a hero, but a loser who cornered himself in that deadend for fear of facing his own identity crisis, a fool feeding on hate diatribes cooked by the same kind of impostors who turn weak minds into terrorists in the Muslim world. You think people like Geert Wilders defend the Western World against the Muslim World but you don't realize that YOU are his real target, not the Muslims. How can you trust a man who doesn't even trust the color of his own hair ?
- Just ask yourself why you admire Breivik, and you'll probably find the same anger, despair, unsureness inside yourself. You're bragging about being a 'pure blood', but are you that comfortable with your own identity ?
- By the way : did you know that your parents were Africans ? Yes, we humans come all from Africa. Even I, a blondish, blue-eyed Caucasian, Western European to the nth generation, am a proud African. And did you know that civilizations bloomed first in the Middle East, that big chunks of the antique European heritage were saved by Muslim scientists ?
- Make no mistake : Islam is not the menace, but another victim of fundamentalism, the mother of all impostures*. Remember : the main enemy always come from within. So don't get fooled by XXIst century crusaders. Don't be your own worst enemy.
blogules 2011 (also in French : "Message personnel aux fans d'Anders Behring Breivik")
* see also "Universal Declaration of Independence from Fundamentalism"
---
UPDATE 201108 : "Andreas" actual ID recovered, link to the French version
20110713
2004 inverted
Justice !!! Rupert Murdoch the amoral Kingmaker drowning in his own slime, George W. Bush the amoral Chief Torture Officer about to be indicted by Human Rights Watch...
Of course, neither Murdoch nor Dubya are in jail yet (heck, even Alberto Gonzales is walking free !), but the 'winners' of the 2004 elections have definitely moved closer to the 'losers' category. Note that the GOP joined the said category even before those doomed elections*, torn between classic conservatism and a cocktail of theocons + free market ayatollahs willing to destroy the Republic itself...
Of course, the US of A remain in danger of bankrupcy or worse, of a relapse into moral bankrupcy. Of course, UK politics remain under "Dirty Digger"'s spell, David Cameron prolonging Tony Blair as Murdoch's Prime Puppet.
But at long last, some fingers are being pointed to the right direction (and when I write 'right' I don't necessarily mean it literally).
Now France too has significantly evolved since 2004. But certainly not in the right direction (except maybe literally).
Remember France, that longtime US ally crucified for mentioning the risks that Bush's crusade in Iraq might fuel worldwide terror instead of taming it (yeah, France, that good friend of African and Middle Eastern dictators) ? Remember France, that herald of mutual respect denouncing the clash of civilizations imposture (yeah, France, that place where only sportsmen and sportswomen can succeed if their skin is too dark) ? Remember France, that country where Murdoch's Weapons of Mass Disinformation couldn't strike except for a one shot French edition of the Sun making fun of Chirac, or the infamous 'cheese eating surrender monkey' uttered in an episode of the Simpsons (yeah, the less unsung France, that country where medias consider off limits the dirty secrets of their most respected politicians) ?
Well that France is passed on ! This France is no more ! It has ceased to be ! It's expired and gone to meet its maker ! This is a late France ! It's a stiff ! Bereft of life, it rests in peace ! If you hadn't nailed it to the UN Security Council it would be pushing up the daisies ! Its metabolical processes are of interest only to historians ! It's hopped the twig ! It's shuffled off this mortal coil ! It's run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible ! This is an ex-France !
Over the past few years, Nicolas Sarkozy has been dutifully** following Dubya The Perfect Fundamentalist's to do list :
- undermining the republic's safeguards ? check.
- extending the executive power's sphere against all other powers (legislative, media, justice...) ? check.
- pushing for an end to the separation between the state and religion and palling around with Ratzinger ? check.
- widening all national divides, starting with his own party ? check...
And now, Presidential Elections that have Karl Rove's fingerprints all over them.
Well. As far as Dominique Strauss-Kahn is concerned, Sarko's diggers didn't have to venture too deep into the pigsty : DSK knew perfectly that they were coming at him, but apparently the guy is too sick to control his own behavior...
But for Martine Aubry, an Angela Merkel wannabe and now their main target, here's their story : the socialist mayor of Lille would be a lesbian and an alcoholic (I thought they would save that last one for Jean-Louis Borloo, a center-right contender with a solid reputation in that field), and her husband would be a dangerous radical Islamist.
Of course, just like Bush in 2004, Sarkozy decently cannot win the elections in 2012 : that would be an insult to the Republic and a tragedy for the country, and bring absolute shame on French voters.
Well fool me once...
blogules 2011 (see also in French blogules : "Un Novembre 2004 a l'envers")
* see "GOP - Time to split"
** see "Traître à la nation"
Of course, neither Murdoch nor Dubya are in jail yet (heck, even Alberto Gonzales is walking free !), but the 'winners' of the 2004 elections have definitely moved closer to the 'losers' category. Note that the GOP joined the said category even before those doomed elections*, torn between classic conservatism and a cocktail of theocons + free market ayatollahs willing to destroy the Republic itself...
Of course, the US of A remain in danger of bankrupcy or worse, of a relapse into moral bankrupcy. Of course, UK politics remain under "Dirty Digger"'s spell, David Cameron prolonging Tony Blair as Murdoch's Prime Puppet.
But at long last, some fingers are being pointed to the right direction (and when I write 'right' I don't necessarily mean it literally).
Now France too has significantly evolved since 2004. But certainly not in the right direction (except maybe literally).
Remember France, that longtime US ally crucified for mentioning the risks that Bush's crusade in Iraq might fuel worldwide terror instead of taming it (yeah, France, that good friend of African and Middle Eastern dictators) ? Remember France, that herald of mutual respect denouncing the clash of civilizations imposture (yeah, France, that place where only sportsmen and sportswomen can succeed if their skin is too dark) ? Remember France, that country where Murdoch's Weapons of Mass Disinformation couldn't strike except for a one shot French edition of the Sun making fun of Chirac, or the infamous 'cheese eating surrender monkey' uttered in an episode of the Simpsons (yeah, the less unsung France, that country where medias consider off limits the dirty secrets of their most respected politicians) ?
Well that France is passed on ! This France is no more ! It has ceased to be ! It's expired and gone to meet its maker ! This is a late France ! It's a stiff ! Bereft of life, it rests in peace ! If you hadn't nailed it to the UN Security Council it would be pushing up the daisies ! Its metabolical processes are of interest only to historians ! It's hopped the twig ! It's shuffled off this mortal coil ! It's run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible ! This is an ex-France !
Over the past few years, Nicolas Sarkozy has been dutifully** following Dubya The Perfect Fundamentalist's to do list :
- undermining the republic's safeguards ? check.
- extending the executive power's sphere against all other powers (legislative, media, justice...) ? check.
- pushing for an end to the separation between the state and religion and palling around with Ratzinger ? check.
- widening all national divides, starting with his own party ? check...
And now, Presidential Elections that have Karl Rove's fingerprints all over them.
Well. As far as Dominique Strauss-Kahn is concerned, Sarko's diggers didn't have to venture too deep into the pigsty : DSK knew perfectly that they were coming at him, but apparently the guy is too sick to control his own behavior...
But for Martine Aubry, an Angela Merkel wannabe and now their main target, here's their story : the socialist mayor of Lille would be a lesbian and an alcoholic (I thought they would save that last one for Jean-Louis Borloo, a center-right contender with a solid reputation in that field), and her husband would be a dangerous radical Islamist.
Of course, just like Bush in 2004, Sarkozy decently cannot win the elections in 2012 : that would be an insult to the Republic and a tragedy for the country, and bring absolute shame on French voters.
Well fool me once...
blogules 2011 (see also in French blogules : "Un Novembre 2004 a l'envers")
* see "GOP - Time to split"
** see "Traître à la nation"
20110622
The K-pop bubble
Pop, that's the sound of a bubble when it bursts. Not your usual, big fat speculative bubble, no : rather the cute, ephemeral, soap edifice of a kid.
But K-pop is not much of a child's play : here, no room for innocence, chance, or unexpected wind twists. In this overformatted industry, creativity only exists in the way products are marketed, with a focus on viral and addictive gimmicks.
In a certain way, K-pop mirrors Korean society in this early IIIrd millenium, but not in its most sustainable aspects : visual and auditive over-stimulations including immediate reward systems, a dystopia founded on extreme competition and superhuman training leading to the negation of nature and systematic plastic surgery, mushrooming virtual communities offering the security of belonging without any ideology-related stress...
Yet, nothing new under the sun. As far as music is concerned, of course, but also regarding the business model : you simply have to adapt classic boy / girl bands recipes, and to progressively inject some of Hollywood majors' tricks to lead a young and docile audience along the slowest and most controled maturation process. SM Entertainment & co plan to alter their product mixes step by step, so that consumers don't churn as they grow older. Longer lasting K-pop groups have already developped embryos of proto-intellectual alibis, illusions of brainwaves because you don't want to believe your favorite singer is "a mental midget with the IQ of a fencepost"*.
Does it sell ? You betcha : as soon as the first contagion signs showed in Europe, K-pop marketers rushed to Paris with their whole Barnum.
Not exactly the kind of cultural bridge I dreamt between Asia's and Europe's heralds of cultural diversity... But I'm getting used to it : a couple of years ago, I was crucified by Uzbek or Japanese Bae Yong-joon fans because I deplored the way 'dramas' were promoted overseas, or the vacuity of Yonsamania (sorry but Korea shouldn't be summed up in that Hallyuwoodian caricature of Michael Jackson).
Hopefully, theses fads won't last. And something positive can even grow from them : the most daring fans will reach deeper into Korean culture, its language, and its fantastic cuisine**.
blogules 2011 - see also "La bulle K-pop" on blogules in French, "K-popping bubbles" on SeoulVillage.com (join Seoul Vilage on Facebook, on Twitter).
* in the musical universe, Tom Waits is probably the ultimate anti-K-pop element : an ugly fella with a rough voice and crafting incredible songs by himself (this line belongs to "The piano has been drinking (not me)", best served in the album "Bounced Checks").
** another cultural domain where the Korean government has been promoting exports a not always subtle way...
But K-pop is not much of a child's play : here, no room for innocence, chance, or unexpected wind twists. In this overformatted industry, creativity only exists in the way products are marketed, with a focus on viral and addictive gimmicks.
In a certain way, K-pop mirrors Korean society in this early IIIrd millenium, but not in its most sustainable aspects : visual and auditive over-stimulations including immediate reward systems, a dystopia founded on extreme competition and superhuman training leading to the negation of nature and systematic plastic surgery, mushrooming virtual communities offering the security of belonging without any ideology-related stress...
Yet, nothing new under the sun. As far as music is concerned, of course, but also regarding the business model : you simply have to adapt classic boy / girl bands recipes, and to progressively inject some of Hollywood majors' tricks to lead a young and docile audience along the slowest and most controled maturation process. SM Entertainment & co plan to alter their product mixes step by step, so that consumers don't churn as they grow older. Longer lasting K-pop groups have already developped embryos of proto-intellectual alibis, illusions of brainwaves because you don't want to believe your favorite singer is "a mental midget with the IQ of a fencepost"*.
Does it sell ? You betcha : as soon as the first contagion signs showed in Europe, K-pop marketers rushed to Paris with their whole Barnum.
Not exactly the kind of cultural bridge I dreamt between Asia's and Europe's heralds of cultural diversity... But I'm getting used to it : a couple of years ago, I was crucified by Uzbek or Japanese Bae Yong-joon fans because I deplored the way 'dramas' were promoted overseas, or the vacuity of Yonsamania (sorry but Korea shouldn't be summed up in that Hallyuwoodian caricature of Michael Jackson).
Hopefully, theses fads won't last. And something positive can even grow from them : the most daring fans will reach deeper into Korean culture, its language, and its fantastic cuisine**.
blogules 2011 - see also "La bulle K-pop" on blogules in French, "K-popping bubbles" on SeoulVillage.com (join Seoul Vilage on Facebook, on Twitter).
* in the musical universe, Tom Waits is probably the ultimate anti-K-pop element : an ugly fella with a rough voice and crafting incredible songs by himself (this line belongs to "The piano has been drinking (not me)", best served in the album "Bounced Checks").
** another cultural domain where the Korean government has been promoting exports a not always subtle way...
20110528
Show me the money, Mr Strauss Kahn
If DSK's outrageous, $35,000-a-month new home in NYC was hard to swallow for fellow French socialists, the former IMF boss doesn't care much about politics these days. And the message is first intended to the alleged victim's lawyers.
Here it goes :
blogules 2011
* see former episode : "DSK's appallingchian trail"
Here it goes :
We cannot contact you, but know that money is not an issue for us.
It may be for Nafissatou Diallo, that client of yours, a brave single mom maid coming from a poor African country and living in a not so nice neighborhood. She can't offer you much beyond the satisfaction of doing something good for her and furthermore for Cyrus Vance Jr, that ambitious DA who will never make it into the Big League.
You already know that this trial won't be a walk in the park for you nor for Nafissatou : our own teams have been digging everywhere, and you know how nasty things can become. Our client's honor has already been tarnished*, but he's ready to put that aside. A nice, fat settlement would be a win win win situation, don't you think ?
Name your price.
Yours falsely.
blogules 2011
* see former episode : "DSK's appallingchian trail"
20110520
DSK's appallingchian trail
Yes, I'm a French citizen but no, I have no more sympathy for Mr Dominique Strauss-Kahn than I had for Roman Polanski.
Unlike the latter, the former has not been convicted yet, but his troubled personality is at last being publicly exposed and that's a good start. Excellent news for the alledged victim, but also for France, for the French Socialist Party, and for DSK himself.
Good news for France ? All my country needed was a non deforming mirror to expose its own troubled personality : a Republic claiming liberty, equality, and fraternity, but actually a corrupt system promoting impunity, unfairness, and collusion between politics, justice, and the media.
Good news for the PS ? DSK was expected to be the target of a well deserved character assassination much closer to the Presidential elections, so the party has more time to look for a decent plan B, and if possible to look for a consistent program, one that aims at the political center and not at the impossible synthesis between progressive and obsolete currents. In the mirror, what they see is a leadership that failed to address the issues that really matter, that forgot what politics should be all about.
Good news for DSK ? This man is obviously sick and in denial of the danger he represents. Even before the alledged assault, Strauss Kahn was perfectly aware of the attacks to come on this very dark side of his personality... He too needed to have a good look at himself in the mirror.
So thank you, Dear America, for this embarrassingly precious mirror.
But please, this time, spare us your usual fake happy endings (OJ, Wacko Jacko...), and go all the way.
blogules 2011
Unlike the latter, the former has not been convicted yet, but his troubled personality is at last being publicly exposed and that's a good start. Excellent news for the alledged victim, but also for France, for the French Socialist Party, and for DSK himself.
Good news for France ? All my country needed was a non deforming mirror to expose its own troubled personality : a Republic claiming liberty, equality, and fraternity, but actually a corrupt system promoting impunity, unfairness, and collusion between politics, justice, and the media.
Good news for the PS ? DSK was expected to be the target of a well deserved character assassination much closer to the Presidential elections, so the party has more time to look for a decent plan B, and if possible to look for a consistent program, one that aims at the political center and not at the impossible synthesis between progressive and obsolete currents. In the mirror, what they see is a leadership that failed to address the issues that really matter, that forgot what politics should be all about.
Good news for DSK ? This man is obviously sick and in denial of the danger he represents. Even before the alledged assault, Strauss Kahn was perfectly aware of the attacks to come on this very dark side of his personality... He too needed to have a good look at himself in the mirror.
So thank you, Dear America, for this embarrassingly precious mirror.
But please, this time, spare us your usual fake happy endings (OJ, Wacko Jacko...), and go all the way.
blogules 2011
20110512
Truthers Part MMXI - Saving Private Bin Laden
Osama Bin Laden is not dead. Of course, the US confirmed his death*, and so did al Qaeda, not to mention Osama's daughter, an eye witness of the operation. But for Truthers**, Bin Laden is not dead.
To their credit, his elimination brought all the ingredients needed for a good conspiration theory with a stealth chopper parading next to a Pakistanese army base, a body discarded into the sea, and a final victory speech by Agent O from the Men In Black... But no. Osama is not dead. Truthers ask for pieces of evidence they will anyway never consider as true, as usual.
Because for a Truther, the truth lies somewhere else an preferably in some remote, hidden place. Those guys love the X-Files because you only catch a few subliminal glimpses of The Unbelievable. Not the classic B-movie where Godzilla shows his ugly plastic face on every frame, no. Here, everything is suggested, with here and there a 25th image stolen from an impossible angle, just to maintain the suspense and to help those nerds moving one nanoinch closer to their elusive orgasm. And above all, no final conclusion. Because a solved and close case means death. Their death.
So no, Bin Laden is not dead. Or maybe he'll resuscitate the third day. Anyway, bet on more sightings on video : as a Yeti up in the Himalayas, as a Dahu in the Swiss Alps, as Rick Astley in the Apple Store... it doesn't matter if, for the same lunatics, Bin Laden didn't exist in the first place. Just like September 11, 2001, that mythic, concealed, classified day when all cameras where simultaneously hacked by a clone of Kim Jong-il.
Navy Seals didn't assassinate Bin Laden : Americans got rid of the worst enemy of Islam***. Using methods (un)worthy of Mossad (when they don't imitate Borat, that is - see "Israel's Funniest Away Videos"), but also using a clear mandate against the criminal at the top of the world's most wanted list. Moderate Muslims applaud, but Truthers see a Zionist plot, a grotesque Photoshop forgery. The impostor who announced the death of their hero ? Michael Jackson. The old man watching the terrorist on his TV ? Elvis himself, barely recognizable after his opium diet in Afghanistan. Amateur work.
Now Truthers, they're true professionals : field journalists who investigate beyond what official media say, but never far away from the Truthersphere... except when they dump tons of Trutherisms over the web, clogging up fora and even this excuse for a website.
Actually, the true Truther doesn't want to know for fear of facing his own reality.
blogules 2011 (see also on blogules VF : "Les Truthers veulent la peau de Geronimo")
* BTW loved that cartoon (I forgot by whom) where Obama proudly brandishes his birth certificate in one hand and Osama's death certificate in the other, in front of a 2012 campaign board.
** on this weird cult, see previous episodes :
- "ReOpenReOpenReOpen911 - the Pentagony continues" ("Truthers : la Pentagonnade continue")
- "9/11 Truthers Knockin' At Your Door" ("Baggy truthers")
- "11 Septembre français : l'incroyable vérité"
*** see "Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader, he was a mass murderer of Muslims"
To their credit, his elimination brought all the ingredients needed for a good conspiration theory with a stealth chopper parading next to a Pakistanese army base, a body discarded into the sea, and a final victory speech by Agent O from the Men In Black... But no. Osama is not dead. Truthers ask for pieces of evidence they will anyway never consider as true, as usual.
Because for a Truther, the truth lies somewhere else an preferably in some remote, hidden place. Those guys love the X-Files because you only catch a few subliminal glimpses of The Unbelievable. Not the classic B-movie where Godzilla shows his ugly plastic face on every frame, no. Here, everything is suggested, with here and there a 25th image stolen from an impossible angle, just to maintain the suspense and to help those nerds moving one nanoinch closer to their elusive orgasm. And above all, no final conclusion. Because a solved and close case means death. Their death.
So no, Bin Laden is not dead. Or maybe he'll resuscitate the third day. Anyway, bet on more sightings on video : as a Yeti up in the Himalayas, as a Dahu in the Swiss Alps, as Rick Astley in the Apple Store... it doesn't matter if, for the same lunatics, Bin Laden didn't exist in the first place. Just like September 11, 2001, that mythic, concealed, classified day when all cameras where simultaneously hacked by a clone of Kim Jong-il.
Navy Seals didn't assassinate Bin Laden : Americans got rid of the worst enemy of Islam***. Using methods (un)worthy of Mossad (when they don't imitate Borat, that is - see "Israel's Funniest Away Videos"), but also using a clear mandate against the criminal at the top of the world's most wanted list. Moderate Muslims applaud, but Truthers see a Zionist plot, a grotesque Photoshop forgery. The impostor who announced the death of their hero ? Michael Jackson. The old man watching the terrorist on his TV ? Elvis himself, barely recognizable after his opium diet in Afghanistan. Amateur work.
Now Truthers, they're true professionals : field journalists who investigate beyond what official media say, but never far away from the Truthersphere... except when they dump tons of Trutherisms over the web, clogging up fora and even this excuse for a website.
Actually, the true Truther doesn't want to know for fear of facing his own reality.
blogules 2011 (see also on blogules VF : "Les Truthers veulent la peau de Geronimo")
* BTW loved that cartoon (I forgot by whom) where Obama proudly brandishes his birth certificate in one hand and Osama's death certificate in the other, in front of a 2012 campaign board.
** on this weird cult, see previous episodes :
- "ReOpenReOpenReOpen911 - the Pentagony continues" ("Truthers : la Pentagonnade continue")
- "9/11 Truthers Knockin' At Your Door" ("Baggy truthers")
- "11 Septembre français : l'incroyable vérité"
*** see "Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader, he was a mass murderer of Muslims"
20110502
Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader, he was a mass murderer of Muslims
Another radical political leader falls : Bin Laden was a warlord and by no means a religious leader.
So thank you Mr President for reminding your national and international audience this evidence : Bin Laden was an imposter and the worst enemy of Islam, even before he was an enemy of the USA*.
Yes, "Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader, he was a mass murderer of Muslims". But no, Justice has not fully be done : the man has been killed, not technically brought to justice.
Still, his death is the best case scenario : the terrorist has already been found guilty, and a public trial would have offered him one last moment to spread hatred in the spotlight.
The President's Speech (not the one broadcasted at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner) also timely stressed the need for national unity, to the point of mentioning Fundamentalist in Chief GWB in positive terms.
That imposter has yet to be brought to justice.
blogules 2011
* see "Universal Declaration of Independence from Fundamentalism"
So thank you Mr President for reminding your national and international audience this evidence : Bin Laden was an imposter and the worst enemy of Islam, even before he was an enemy of the USA*.
Yes, "Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader, he was a mass murderer of Muslims". But no, Justice has not fully be done : the man has been killed, not technically brought to justice.
Still, his death is the best case scenario : the terrorist has already been found guilty, and a public trial would have offered him one last moment to spread hatred in the spotlight.
The President's Speech (not the one broadcasted at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner) also timely stressed the need for national unity, to the point of mentioning Fundamentalist in Chief GWB in positive terms.
That imposter has yet to be brought to justice.
blogules 2011
* see "Universal Declaration of Independence from Fundamentalism"
20110414
China-North Korea : the Great Hanschluss still the base case scenario
Very interesting conference yesterday at The Plaza Hotel Seoul : "Responding to the Consolidation of Economic Cooperation between North Korea and China" was sponsored by the Korea Finance Corporation (KoFC, the State-run investment arm), and Maeil Business Maeil Business Newspaper (mbn).
For its 18th edition, this North Korea Policy Forum conference became an international seminar, with China, Japan, and the USA providing keynote speakers (bonus: an opening remark - in Korean - by US Ambassador Kathleen STEPHENS, ahead of Hillary CLINTON's visit later this week). Unfortunately, neither Russia (definitely below the radar regarding the issue), nor DPRK (for obvious reasons) were represented.
This Four Party Talk was observed by a captive audience (see exhibit A*), in spite of a very dense agenda (see exhibit B, the full program below**) which didn't leave much time for Q&A nor discussions.
What made this conference really exciting were the differences in appreciation of a definitely complex and tricky situation. And at this game, US players spoke their minds out quite freely, even if some Koreans expressed very clearly their concerns to "Mr China" a.k.a. Professor Zhu Feng, absolutely brilliant in his good cop routine : what engagement ? we're not engaged to North Korea, just good neighbors tired of your family affairs - yes, KIM Jong-il is a bad guy and a headache for us as well, but he's your brother, and brothers don't kill each other - yes, these days, our Chinese government is rather conservative, and is pervasively locking key entry points across North Korea, but the colonization of NK by China is a ludicrous conspiration theory - yes, we're doing every day more business here, but as Pr KIM Chul noticed, our entrepreneurs are so much struggling with their local partners that most are curbing their enthusiasm...
Of course, no one mentioned the Northeast Project of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences : this was about business, with politics clearly off-limits. As if PRC-DPRK relations were apolitical. As if policies had nothing to do with politics...
Anyway, I had fun and would very much like to attend the next edition - maybe in a different order (first the historical background, then the trends, and finally the various scenarii / recos), and in a different format (ie three panelists max for each topic, a lunch between two power sessions instead of a dinner after a marathon).
By then, chances are many more fundamental changes will have happened. If not the end of North Korea, at least a re-engagement by the South, and potentially a summit (consider the past year : Cheonan sinking and Yeonpyeong-do shelling, KIM Jong-un's promotions, Middle East uprisings, NK reviving its nuke program, Japan spicing North East Asia nuclear nightmares with a new flavor, or the day before the conference a mini-crisis over Mt Gumgang tours...).
If you're familiar with this excuse for a blog, you already know my opinion on North Korea*** :
1) Technically, the North Korean regime is already dead. It only relied on ideology and propaganda, the first lost its substance and the second its efficiency in the eyes of a growing proportion of the population. A little bit like in Iran, ailing and corrupt leaders progressively outsource the power to brutal military forces. At this stage, masses remain overwhelmed and change remains driven by State leaders, but popular rebellions are getting bolder every year, and 450,000 North Koreans have now a mobile phone (reaching far beyond the first nomenklatura circles).
2) The statu quo, or what I called the "Juche line" is not an option - change is coming. For the official end, my base case scenario evolved over time : until the late nineties I believed in an "Albania scenario" (brutal collapse, masses fleeing the country, cult of personality victims abused by con people and more or less religious cults...), but spectacular initiatives from China followed by the highly controversial Northeast Project led me to believe in the more subtle, progressive, and pervasive "Hanschluss scenario". A scenario confirmed by the ambitious developments announced over the following 2-3 years for North East China (on schedule, as we saw yesterday during the conference) : once again, whatever the motives and whatever North Korean leaders do, they also result in artificially relocating the epicenter of Koreanity on Chinese soil, and more physically than intense revisionism about Korean history (ie Goguryo). A scenario sealed by LEE Myung-bak in 2007 : South Korea's disengagement precipitated further the North towards China, leaving no dovish alternative.
3) Of course, China doesn't need to politically integrate North Korea as another province : an unofficial vassal status easy does it, and the process seems very well engaged. Reminder : the Cheonan aggression was about internal affairs, but not between both Koreas. KIM Jong-il had first to reassess his friendship with the army, and second to get some leverage ahead of the "negociations" with the PRC. Chaperoned by CHANG Sung-taek, KIM Jong-un got the nod from Beijing : KJI's brother in law later developped a paralel FDI tool, more China-friendly than the official one. He also lost a rival in a convenient car accident. No need to read fortune cookies to understand that more high ranking officials will join the collaborators to push their luck. With the Yeonpyeong island shelling, Junior assessed his own friendship with the army (nevermind those darn binoculars). Father and son completed the pledge of allegiance with a familial pilgrimage in China, where Grand Dad KIM Il-sung himself got his education, an other way of accepting the only filiation that counts : NK's Motherland is China.
4) The Great Hanschluss is not completed yet. Both China and South Korea are also experiencing ideology crisis at home between conservatism, progressivism, and agnostic pragmatism / reform. South Korea and North Korea share more common ground than survivors of a lost era. They still share an identity and a destiny. And this is not about rejecting China, but about embracing themselves.
blogules 2011 - see also the original post on Seoul Village ("Re-engaging North Korea - A Four Party Talk")
* including yours truly (exhibit A: Stephane and Steven, alias Paris, Texas - photo by KIM Jae-hun, Maeil Business Newspaper - "北·中 교류, 일방적 원조서 시장원리로 전환") :
** The full program:
- Opening remarks : RYU Jae-han (President, KoFC), CHANG Dae-hwan (CEO, Maeil Business Newspaper), Kathleen STEPHENS (US Ambassador to South Korea)
- Panel One ("East Asian Regional Cooperation and North Korea-China Relations" and "China's Approach to North Korea: National Interests and Strategy") :
. moderator : HONG Yang-ho (former Vice-Minister of Unification)
. presenters : Matsuno SHUJI (Ritsumeikan University), John Delury (Yonsei University), Zhu Feng (Beijing University)
. panelists : LEE Chan-woo (Tokyo International University - NB: the first to entertain the audience with maps), Edward REED (from The Asia Foundation - NB : only had time to phrase the key questions, but it was worth the trip), LEE Hui-ok (Sungkyunkwan University), KIM Heung-kyu (Sungshin Women's University), KIM Yong-hyun (Dongguk University)
- Panel Two ("The Present and Future of Economic Cooperation Between North Korea and China" and "China's Growing Influence on North Korea and How South Korea Should Respond") :
. moderator : LEE Sang-man (Chairman, the Steering Committee for the North Korea Policy Forum)
. presenters : YOON Seung-hyun (Yanbian University, NEA Research Institute), Scott SNYDER (Center for US-Korea Policy), PARK Gun-il (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
. panelists : OH Seung-ryul (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies - NB: the first to mention the obvious limits of official statistics, which capture only part of exchanges between DPRK and PRC), KIM Chul (Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences), CHEONG Seong-chang (Sejong Institute), CHU Suk-yong (KoFC - Ministry of Unification), KIM Se-hyung (Chief Editor, Maeil Business Newspaper)
*** see previous posts on NK, and in particular the focus on the "Great Hanschluss" ("Great Wall of China - Anschlussing Korea (continued)" - also on blogules in English "a greater wall of china - bonus, korea inside (the great hanschluss)" and in French "La Grande Muraille de Chine à l'assaut de la Corée (l'ultime Hanschluss)")
For its 18th edition, this North Korea Policy Forum conference became an international seminar, with China, Japan, and the USA providing keynote speakers (bonus: an opening remark - in Korean - by US Ambassador Kathleen STEPHENS, ahead of Hillary CLINTON's visit later this week). Unfortunately, neither Russia (definitely below the radar regarding the issue), nor DPRK (for obvious reasons) were represented.
This Four Party Talk was observed by a captive audience (see exhibit A*), in spite of a very dense agenda (see exhibit B, the full program below**) which didn't leave much time for Q&A nor discussions.
What made this conference really exciting were the differences in appreciation of a definitely complex and tricky situation. And at this game, US players spoke their minds out quite freely, even if some Koreans expressed very clearly their concerns to "Mr China" a.k.a. Professor Zhu Feng, absolutely brilliant in his good cop routine : what engagement ? we're not engaged to North Korea, just good neighbors tired of your family affairs - yes, KIM Jong-il is a bad guy and a headache for us as well, but he's your brother, and brothers don't kill each other - yes, these days, our Chinese government is rather conservative, and is pervasively locking key entry points across North Korea, but the colonization of NK by China is a ludicrous conspiration theory - yes, we're doing every day more business here, but as Pr KIM Chul noticed, our entrepreneurs are so much struggling with their local partners that most are curbing their enthusiasm...
Of course, no one mentioned the Northeast Project of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences : this was about business, with politics clearly off-limits. As if PRC-DPRK relations were apolitical. As if policies had nothing to do with politics...
Anyway, I had fun and would very much like to attend the next edition - maybe in a different order (first the historical background, then the trends, and finally the various scenarii / recos), and in a different format (ie three panelists max for each topic, a lunch between two power sessions instead of a dinner after a marathon).
By then, chances are many more fundamental changes will have happened. If not the end of North Korea, at least a re-engagement by the South, and potentially a summit (consider the past year : Cheonan sinking and Yeonpyeong-do shelling, KIM Jong-un's promotions, Middle East uprisings, NK reviving its nuke program, Japan spicing North East Asia nuclear nightmares with a new flavor, or the day before the conference a mini-crisis over Mt Gumgang tours...).
If you're familiar with this excuse for a blog, you already know my opinion on North Korea*** :
1) Technically, the North Korean regime is already dead. It only relied on ideology and propaganda, the first lost its substance and the second its efficiency in the eyes of a growing proportion of the population. A little bit like in Iran, ailing and corrupt leaders progressively outsource the power to brutal military forces. At this stage, masses remain overwhelmed and change remains driven by State leaders, but popular rebellions are getting bolder every year, and 450,000 North Koreans have now a mobile phone (reaching far beyond the first nomenklatura circles).
2) The statu quo, or what I called the "Juche line" is not an option - change is coming. For the official end, my base case scenario evolved over time : until the late nineties I believed in an "Albania scenario" (brutal collapse, masses fleeing the country, cult of personality victims abused by con people and more or less religious cults...), but spectacular initiatives from China followed by the highly controversial Northeast Project led me to believe in the more subtle, progressive, and pervasive "Hanschluss scenario". A scenario confirmed by the ambitious developments announced over the following 2-3 years for North East China (on schedule, as we saw yesterday during the conference) : once again, whatever the motives and whatever North Korean leaders do, they also result in artificially relocating the epicenter of Koreanity on Chinese soil, and more physically than intense revisionism about Korean history (ie Goguryo). A scenario sealed by LEE Myung-bak in 2007 : South Korea's disengagement precipitated further the North towards China, leaving no dovish alternative.
3) Of course, China doesn't need to politically integrate North Korea as another province : an unofficial vassal status easy does it, and the process seems very well engaged. Reminder : the Cheonan aggression was about internal affairs, but not between both Koreas. KIM Jong-il had first to reassess his friendship with the army, and second to get some leverage ahead of the "negociations" with the PRC. Chaperoned by CHANG Sung-taek, KIM Jong-un got the nod from Beijing : KJI's brother in law later developped a paralel FDI tool, more China-friendly than the official one. He also lost a rival in a convenient car accident. No need to read fortune cookies to understand that more high ranking officials will join the collaborators to push their luck. With the Yeonpyeong island shelling, Junior assessed his own friendship with the army (nevermind those darn binoculars). Father and son completed the pledge of allegiance with a familial pilgrimage in China, where Grand Dad KIM Il-sung himself got his education, an other way of accepting the only filiation that counts : NK's Motherland is China.
4) The Great Hanschluss is not completed yet. Both China and South Korea are also experiencing ideology crisis at home between conservatism, progressivism, and agnostic pragmatism / reform. South Korea and North Korea share more common ground than survivors of a lost era. They still share an identity and a destiny. And this is not about rejecting China, but about embracing themselves.
blogules 2011 - see also the original post on Seoul Village ("Re-engaging North Korea - A Four Party Talk")
* including yours truly (exhibit A: Stephane and Steven, alias Paris, Texas - photo by KIM Jae-hun, Maeil Business Newspaper - "北·中 교류, 일방적 원조서 시장원리로 전환") :
** The full program:
- Opening remarks : RYU Jae-han (President, KoFC), CHANG Dae-hwan (CEO, Maeil Business Newspaper), Kathleen STEPHENS (US Ambassador to South Korea)
- Panel One ("East Asian Regional Cooperation and North Korea-China Relations" and "China's Approach to North Korea: National Interests and Strategy") :
. moderator : HONG Yang-ho (former Vice-Minister of Unification)
. presenters : Matsuno SHUJI (Ritsumeikan University), John Delury (Yonsei University), Zhu Feng (Beijing University)
. panelists : LEE Chan-woo (Tokyo International University - NB: the first to entertain the audience with maps), Edward REED (from The Asia Foundation - NB : only had time to phrase the key questions, but it was worth the trip), LEE Hui-ok (Sungkyunkwan University), KIM Heung-kyu (Sungshin Women's University), KIM Yong-hyun (Dongguk University)
- Panel Two ("The Present and Future of Economic Cooperation Between North Korea and China" and "China's Growing Influence on North Korea and How South Korea Should Respond") :
. moderator : LEE Sang-man (Chairman, the Steering Committee for the North Korea Policy Forum)
. presenters : YOON Seung-hyun (Yanbian University, NEA Research Institute), Scott SNYDER (Center for US-Korea Policy), PARK Gun-il (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
. panelists : OH Seung-ryul (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies - NB: the first to mention the obvious limits of official statistics, which capture only part of exchanges between DPRK and PRC), KIM Chul (Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences), CHEONG Seong-chang (Sejong Institute), CHU Suk-yong (KoFC - Ministry of Unification), KIM Se-hyung (Chief Editor, Maeil Business Newspaper)
*** see previous posts on NK, and in particular the focus on the "Great Hanschluss" ("Great Wall of China - Anschlussing Korea (continued)" - also on blogules in English "a greater wall of china - bonus, korea inside (the great hanschluss)" and in French "La Grande Muraille de Chine à l'assaut de la Corée (l'ultime Hanschluss)")
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