What do we know about Senator Barack Hussein Obama of Illinois ?
Unlike Hillary, he wasn't born in Chicago from a Welsh lineage but in Hawaii, from a Kansas - Kenya combo.
Unlike Hillary, he still needs to gain the favors of the Afro-American minority.
Unlike Hillary, he wasn't raised a Methodist but decided to become a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ.
Unlike Hillary, he seems happily married. Anyway, Michelle Obama would be as great a First Lady as Bill Clinton a First Male First Lady.
Unlike Hillary, he said "no" to the war in Iraq, but so did Joe Biden.
Unlike Hillary, he looks cool, but so does Bill Clinton.
Unlike Hillary, he looks kind and good, but so did John Edwards.
He has already won (some hearts in) New Hampshire, but so did Wesley Clark.
Barack Obama looks too good to be true.
Up to now, he was overprotected. A candidate at the Federal level, he must face the ugliest side of politics and media. If he survives the attacks, a nice spot on the Democratic ticket seems guaranteed. The top spot won't be easy : Hillary Rodham Clinton has been claiming for eight years the role of Commander in Chief for the two terms to come.
20070116
Bush : Cultural Learnings of Iraq for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of America
Saddam may not be hanging around anymore, Osama may or may not be dead, justice remains to be truly rendered.
The US have a great opportunity to clean the whole mess and restore their status of a great democracy. Actually, impeaching Dubya is its only way out of Iraq.
Don't get me wrong : the US can't abandon what's left of Iraq that soon. It's just that they cannot signify a change in their approach any other way. This country badly needs a regime change and I don't want Dubya to survive 2007 as the oldest G8 leader.
Both George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney must and can be impeached. Treason could be a good start : 2006 was the year a wider audience than this lousy blog's came to understand this Administration's blunders were actually strategical successes for the true W.
George W. Bush didn't act in the interest of his country as a President of the United States.
George W. Bush didn't act in the interest of his party as a Republican.
George W. Bush did act in the interest of fundamentalism as a fundamentalist.
Once again, the war in Iraq was not masterminded by neocons for the benefit of oilcos : the war in Iraq was sold by neocons to SIGs which sold it to the Congress, but it was masterminded by a bunch of crazy theocons who planned from the start the collapse of Iraq and a final showdown between Israel and Iran.
Reelecting Bush-Cheney was an Historical blunder, not impeaching them would be criminal.
The US have a great opportunity to clean the whole mess and restore their status of a great democracy. Actually, impeaching Dubya is its only way out of Iraq.
Don't get me wrong : the US can't abandon what's left of Iraq that soon. It's just that they cannot signify a change in their approach any other way. This country badly needs a regime change and I don't want Dubya to survive 2007 as the oldest G8 leader.
Both George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney must and can be impeached. Treason could be a good start : 2006 was the year a wider audience than this lousy blog's came to understand this Administration's blunders were actually strategical successes for the true W.
George W. Bush didn't act in the interest of his country as a President of the United States.
George W. Bush didn't act in the interest of his party as a Republican.
George W. Bush did act in the interest of fundamentalism as a fundamentalist.
Once again, the war in Iraq was not masterminded by neocons for the benefit of oilcos : the war in Iraq was sold by neocons to SIGs which sold it to the Congress, but it was masterminded by a bunch of crazy theocons who planned from the start the collapse of Iraq and a final showdown between Israel and Iran.
Reelecting Bush-Cheney was an Historical blunder, not impeaching them would be criminal.
20070105
Red blogule to AdSense, no sensibility
This site hosts a few ads as a part of its grand borghesian design. The aim of the game is not to raise funds (the few cents harvested will certainly not make for the time I spend / you waste on it), but to study how beings, things, places and times can get both freed and stuck in the net, the coopetition between reality and fiction, not to mention the interactions of my troubled mind and its environment (to which you now belong since you're reading these silly lines).
Anyway. Here is Google, grand provider of free traps, proposing its AdSense advertising programs and Google Coop Custom Search Engines. After resisting the urge, I decided to give both of them a try.
The custom search engine happens to be, as the name suggests, an engine that searches and can be customized. This one is supposed to browse my site but when I type "bush", a word that occurs about 3,850,926,712 times in it*, Google tells me sorry, there is no such expression to be found in this place. On the other hand, "Dubya" brings 6 pages of results, without even including the pages omitted. What when Google says "custom", do they mean "intimate" ?
AdSense is supposed to provide ads related to the content. I can specify where French is spoken and where English is broken, but it doesn't deter these kings of marketing from splashing banners in German for people visiting from Korea.
Worse : when AdSense decides to become accurate, it grows dangerous ! The other day, the Restored Church Of God was selling its crazy fundamentalist prophecies on the very pages where I was denouncing them ! I could stop the flow by adding their website to the list of advertisers banned on my site but I'm starting to wake up in the middle of the night.
Some day, when I type "bush" on my custom search engine, I will be proposed Dubya's autobiotheography.
* a little bit less according to Blogger's integrated search engine (Blogger being both the platform used by this excuse for a blog and a Google outfit !) : see "bush". By the way : still waiting for the new and improved version with tags.
Anyway. Here is Google, grand provider of free traps, proposing its AdSense advertising programs and Google Coop Custom Search Engines. After resisting the urge, I decided to give both of them a try.
The custom search engine happens to be, as the name suggests, an engine that searches and can be customized. This one is supposed to browse my site but when I type "bush", a word that occurs about 3,850,926,712 times in it*, Google tells me sorry, there is no such expression to be found in this place. On the other hand, "Dubya" brings 6 pages of results, without even including the pages omitted. What when Google says "custom", do they mean "intimate" ?
AdSense is supposed to provide ads related to the content. I can specify where French is spoken and where English is broken, but it doesn't deter these kings of marketing from splashing banners in German for people visiting from Korea.
Worse : when AdSense decides to become accurate, it grows dangerous ! The other day, the Restored Church Of God was selling its crazy fundamentalist prophecies on the very pages where I was denouncing them ! I could stop the flow by adding their website to the list of advertisers banned on my site but I'm starting to wake up in the middle of the night.
Some day, when I type "bush" on my custom search engine, I will be proposed Dubya's autobiotheography.
* a little bit less according to Blogger's integrated search engine (Blogger being both the platform used by this excuse for a blog and a Google outfit !) : see "bush". By the way : still waiting for the new and improved version with tags.
20070103
White blogule to OH Se-hoon - swift boats across the Hangang
LEE Myung-bak may or may not become South Korea's next president. Like Sarkozy, he could be leading in the polls too clearly too early. Actually, the man who changed the face of the Capital city (Bus Rapid Transit system, restored Cheonggyecheon, Seoul Sup...) always seems in a hurry and doesn't like to waste time. For a start, he never took the time to change his own face. Plus he was twice convicted for starting an election campaign too early.
But swiftness is certainly not a handicap in Korea. After all, LEE's predecessor did become Korea's head of state in a hurry : GOH Gun assumed ROH Moo-hyun's interim during his short 2004 impeachment transition.
Still, LEE's successor could very well become the "next-former-mayor-of-Seoul president". It's just that 2007 looks a little bit too early for OH Se-hoon, who isn't even of the "former" kind since he only took the mayoral charge last summer. At least, this good looking politician won't have to change his face to seduce the voters.
Yesterday, OH decided to stop the pre-electoral stalemate on real estate issues, the most important topic in a country that doesn't seem to realize North Korea is about to collapse in a meltdown if not nuclear, at least economically ten times more destructive than Albania's*.
Anyway... ROH Moo-hyun's Government cannot go as far as it would like against real estate speculation because the opposition doesn't want it to succeed before this year's elections... the said opposition including many members of the "ruling" Uri party. OH Se-hoon is a member of the Grand National Party but wants to be remembered as a man who reaches for the good of the majority : he didn't wait for national guidelines to set tougher rules on new developments. A small move but a wise and a timely one.
Nowadays, some short sighted Gangnam investors see LEE Myung-bak as their only hope of postponing the inevitable burst of Seoul's real estate bubble. The wisest and swiftest among them are becoming OH Se-hoon's best supporters... with the hope of making in Gangbuk for their future losses in Gangnam : they have already moved their assets north of the Han river, flocking to such areas as Nowon-gu like rats before the shipwreck.
* once again : instead of benchmarking Germany for their reunification scenarios, Koreans would be inspired to remember what happened to Albania after the collapse of Enver Hoxha's regime.
But swiftness is certainly not a handicap in Korea. After all, LEE's predecessor did become Korea's head of state in a hurry : GOH Gun assumed ROH Moo-hyun's interim during his short 2004 impeachment transition.
Still, LEE's successor could very well become the "next-former-mayor-of-Seoul president". It's just that 2007 looks a little bit too early for OH Se-hoon, who isn't even of the "former" kind since he only took the mayoral charge last summer. At least, this good looking politician won't have to change his face to seduce the voters.
Yesterday, OH decided to stop the pre-electoral stalemate on real estate issues, the most important topic in a country that doesn't seem to realize North Korea is about to collapse in a meltdown if not nuclear, at least economically ten times more destructive than Albania's*.
Anyway... ROH Moo-hyun's Government cannot go as far as it would like against real estate speculation because the opposition doesn't want it to succeed before this year's elections... the said opposition including many members of the "ruling" Uri party. OH Se-hoon is a member of the Grand National Party but wants to be remembered as a man who reaches for the good of the majority : he didn't wait for national guidelines to set tougher rules on new developments. A small move but a wise and a timely one.
Nowadays, some short sighted Gangnam investors see LEE Myung-bak as their only hope of postponing the inevitable burst of Seoul's real estate bubble. The wisest and swiftest among them are becoming OH Se-hoon's best supporters... with the hope of making in Gangbuk for their future losses in Gangnam : they have already moved their assets north of the Han river, flocking to such areas as Nowon-gu like rats before the shipwreck.
* once again : instead of benchmarking Germany for their reunification scenarios, Koreans would be inspired to remember what happened to Albania after the collapse of Enver Hoxha's regime.
20061230
Smokescreened him out - Saddam 1-1 Slobodan - Red blogule to justice in 2006
Red blogule to justice in 2006. Slobodan Milosevic died unconvinced and Saddam Hussein unconvincingly. The former in the middle of a fair trial that took too long, the latter after the caricature of a trial that took too much away from the relevant issues.
At least historians will be able to browse through the unedited tapes of Solbo's show on ICTY TV (International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia). Less frustrating than the almost comical tragedy narrowcasted by Baghdad TV, not to mention the lousy tapes of Nicolae Ceaucescu's execution.
By the way : Romania is joining the European Union. Along with Bulgaria.
And oh : 2006 is about to be executed soon, too. Quite a serial killer of bad guys*, this one.
Happy new year folks.
* Let's not forget Augusto Pinochet, Pieter Wilhem Botha, Kenneth Lay, James Brown (who used to beat his wife - wives ?), Paik Nam-june (who used to short circuit our brainwaves), or Gerald Ford (for not publishing his critical views on war in Iraq beyond the ears of Bob "The Vault" Woodward). My ennemies could add both my grandmothers, also claimed by this nasty serial killer : DNA tests proved their responsibility for my birth.
At least historians will be able to browse through the unedited tapes of Solbo's show on ICTY TV (International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia). Less frustrating than the almost comical tragedy narrowcasted by Baghdad TV, not to mention the lousy tapes of Nicolae Ceaucescu's execution.
By the way : Romania is joining the European Union. Along with Bulgaria.
And oh : 2006 is about to be executed soon, too. Quite a serial killer of bad guys*, this one.
Happy new year folks.
* Let's not forget Augusto Pinochet, Pieter Wilhem Botha, Kenneth Lay, James Brown (who used to beat his wife - wives ?), Paik Nam-june (who used to short circuit our brainwaves), or Gerald Ford (for not publishing his critical views on war in Iraq beyond the ears of Bob "The Vault" Woodward). My ennemies could add both my grandmothers, also claimed by this nasty serial killer : DNA tests proved their responsibility for my birth.
20061223
Red blogule to Condi Rice - is war "worth the investment" ?
Each war has its purpose and the War in Iraq was sold as a war on terror. It proved to be a war in favor of it... and sold through bold lies.
Democracy ? Bush replaced a cruel dictatorship with an even more lethal chaos. Not to mention such collateral damages as the failure in Afghanistan, or the repeated insults to America's values.
I do hope democracy will prevail in Iraq but it will cost much more in time, money and lives than through the constructive ways of the international community, also crushed by this excuse for an Administration.
Let us consider the "investment" in American lives and dollars mentioned by USA's top "diplomat" (and not consider the losses in Iraqi lives, which Condoleeza Rice must consider yet another "wonderful opportunity") : "I don't think it's a matter of money - along the way there have been plenty of markers that show that this is a country that is worth the investment, because once it emerges as a country, that is a stabilizing factor you will have a very different kind of Middle East".
We'll have a very different kind of Middle East, all right. For a start, Iraq will not emerge as a country (as it used to do) but as several countries. Iran will emerge as the dominant player in the region, which could be considered "a stabilizing factor"... but for the nerves of some neocons / theocons.
Fundamentalism will emerge in Israel, Palestine and Turkey, new herds of terrorists will emerge in Jordan. As planned from the start, Christian fundamentalism will strengthen its base in the US and overseas.
I've been telling the same for years on these pages, Condi : this war in Iraq was definitely worth the investment for the fundamentalists who sold it to such a gullible audience.
Democracy ? Bush replaced a cruel dictatorship with an even more lethal chaos. Not to mention such collateral damages as the failure in Afghanistan, or the repeated insults to America's values.
I do hope democracy will prevail in Iraq but it will cost much more in time, money and lives than through the constructive ways of the international community, also crushed by this excuse for an Administration.
Let us consider the "investment" in American lives and dollars mentioned by USA's top "diplomat" (and not consider the losses in Iraqi lives, which Condoleeza Rice must consider yet another "wonderful opportunity") : "I don't think it's a matter of money - along the way there have been plenty of markers that show that this is a country that is worth the investment, because once it emerges as a country, that is a stabilizing factor you will have a very different kind of Middle East".
We'll have a very different kind of Middle East, all right. For a start, Iraq will not emerge as a country (as it used to do) but as several countries. Iran will emerge as the dominant player in the region, which could be considered "a stabilizing factor"... but for the nerves of some neocons / theocons.
Fundamentalism will emerge in Israel, Palestine and Turkey, new herds of terrorists will emerge in Jordan. As planned from the start, Christian fundamentalism will strengthen its base in the US and overseas.
I've been telling the same for years on these pages, Condi : this war in Iraq was definitely worth the investment for the fundamentalists who sold it to such a gullible audience.
20061220
Rewriting history (reloaded) - IHT Letters To The Editor
Praise the International Herald Tribune. First for publishing another blogule of mine (even if slightly edited* to fit a wider audience than this utterly incorrect blog), second for giving it a title I've been mantrazing for a few years.
Actually, I mentioned "Rewriting History" in one of the few blogules published by "Le Figaro" before Sarkozy became Editor in Chief. Back then, I noticed the irony in the way Dubya compared himself to Roosevelt and Churchill ("Reecriture de l'Histoire - GW Bush le nouveau FDR ?" - 20040607).
I guess "rewriting history" could be considered today's international pastime on steroids.
Anyway... For those who missed my latest ranting on Abe** and/or reached their newstands to late, here is the letter as published in today's IHT*** :
* let's say I elaborated a bit on "declared his nationalist views"
** see "Red blogule to Shinzo Abe - another revisionist leader" (20060926), or the unedited blog spill in French preceding my letter to the IHT : "Blogule rouge a Shinzo Abe - l'Empire contre attaque" (20061216)
*** see iht.com/articles/2006/12/19/news/edlet.php (20061220)
Actually, I mentioned "Rewriting History" in one of the few blogules published by "Le Figaro" before Sarkozy became Editor in Chief. Back then, I noticed the irony in the way Dubya compared himself to Roosevelt and Churchill ("Reecriture de l'Histoire - GW Bush le nouveau FDR ?" - 20040607).
I guess "rewriting history" could be considered today's international pastime on steroids.
Anyway... For those who missed my latest ranting on Abe** and/or reached their newstands to late, here is the letter as published in today's IHT*** :
Rewriting History
Your Dec. 16 edition delivered two rather disheartening insights on the way history is being taught.
In "Confronting Holocaust denial" (Views), Ayaan Ali Hirsi reveals how the Holocaust is not only absent from textbooks in many Muslim countries but also still considered a great idea by many young people.
In the news report "Japan passes measure for patriotic education," an education reform is not only meant to keep the Japanese people in the dark regarding the terrible war crimes committed during Hirohito's reign, but also to revive ultranationalism.
Perhaps worst of all: None of this comes as a surprise. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran is on a permanent revisionist road show, while Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan has already declared his nationalist views.
I wonder what tomorrow's textbooks will tell the next generations about our time? In this sick medieval revival, even the president of the United States and the pope want to replace science and reason by an ultraconservative caricature of religion.
* let's say I elaborated a bit on "declared his nationalist views"
** see "Red blogule to Shinzo Abe - another revisionist leader" (20060926), or the unedited blog spill in French preceding my letter to the IHT : "Blogule rouge a Shinzo Abe - l'Empire contre attaque" (20061216)
*** see iht.com/articles/2006/12/19/news/edlet.php (20061220)
20061215
Red blogule to Taco Bell Jingle Bell Shingles All The Way
The first and last time I tried Taco Bell was about 20 years ago near Frisco.
That was enough to understand where the brand got its Latino twist from... that junk food was pure turista in a wrap : two secs to wolf it down, three days to recover. At least I didn't get E. Coli.
This joint should close for good, not for a few days. And the Golden Arches as well, for good measure.
Praise Big Apple for banning trans fat ! Nothing personal, Boy Georges. I just don't want to die of secondhand smoke from overburnt burgers each time I pass by a 24/7 deli.
That was enough to understand where the brand got its Latino twist from... that junk food was pure turista in a wrap : two secs to wolf it down, three days to recover. At least I didn't get E. Coli.
This joint should close for good, not for a few days. And the Golden Arches as well, for good measure.
Praise Big Apple for banning trans fat ! Nothing personal, Boy Georges. I just don't want to die of secondhand smoke from overburnt burgers each time I pass by a 24/7 deli.
20061207
White blogule to Mary Cheney - Red blogule to Mary Cheney
This time, I must agree with President Bush : I'm rather happy for Dick Cheney, whose daughter announced her pregnancy after 15 years of partnership with her beloved park ranger, a Ms Poe.
Note that Dubya is happy for his VP, not for his VP's daughter (who recently became a VP herself, at AOL).
I prefer to see a happy lesbian couple raising one child rather than a Christian fundamentalist family raising an army of doomsday activists.
Note that Mary Cheney herself is an activist. Less eager to support the gay and lesbian cause than her dad's interests and her own's, at it seems. Lobby Dick's ticket won again in 2004 and Junior specializes in getting nice positions in companies targeted by true activists.
Note that Dubya is happy for his VP, not for his VP's daughter (who recently became a VP herself, at AOL).
I prefer to see a happy lesbian couple raising one child rather than a Christian fundamentalist family raising an army of doomsday activists.
Note that Mary Cheney herself is an activist. Less eager to support the gay and lesbian cause than her dad's interests and her own's, at it seems. Lobby Dick's ticket won again in 2004 and Junior specializes in getting nice positions in companies targeted by true activists.
20061202
Red blogule to Hallyu Expo in Asia and Wacko Jacko Bae Yong-Joon
Seogwipo is a convenient place to welcome Asia's Hallyuwood lovers, flocking in by entire charters (mainly from nearby Japan) through Jeju-do's main airport.
His Royal Lowness Yonsama managed to ruin the Governor's inauguration speech with his Liz Taylorish late arrival. Ponytailed and white gloved, Bae Yong Joon resembles more and more Michael Jackson. But Korea's lousiest actor doesn't need any plastic surgery : he just needs to put his copyrighted fake smile on, the one that make his fans faint and his jaws ache.
I may infuriate some of my readers from Uzbekistan or Japan, but Hallyu Expo in Asia is both the Graceland and shame of this country. A profitable exhibition certainly, but an anticultural event nonetheless. Once again*, Korean culture deserves (and has) much better ambassadors.
* see "Red blogule to Bae Yong June Airlines" (20050426) or "Blogule rouge à Bae Yong June - Vide Sidéral" (20050109)
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Seoul Village
His Royal Lowness Yonsama managed to ruin the Governor's inauguration speech with his Liz Taylorish late arrival. Ponytailed and white gloved, Bae Yong Joon resembles more and more Michael Jackson. But Korea's lousiest actor doesn't need any plastic surgery : he just needs to put his copyrighted fake smile on, the one that make his fans faint and his jaws ache.
I may infuriate some of my readers from Uzbekistan or Japan, but Hallyu Expo in Asia is both the Graceland and shame of this country. A profitable exhibition certainly, but an anticultural event nonetheless. Once again*, Korean culture deserves (and has) much better ambassadors.
* see "Red blogule to Bae Yong June Airlines" (20050426) or "Blogule rouge à Bae Yong June - Vide Sidéral" (20050109)
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Seoul Village
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