Paulson, Sarkozy to Socialist Heaven : "show me the money !"

Europe hastily awarded some jailed Chinese dissident with some prestigious human rights prize before embarking on a plane for Beijing.

There, Jose Manuel Barroso, Nicolas Sarkozy et al went down on their knees and begged the Great Socialist Empire to let some of its wealthy reserves trickle down over the bankrupt Capitalist rest of the World.

From DC, Hank Paulson also asked the IIIrd Millenium's Hyperpower to consider some kind of a Marshall plan ("could you please bail out the US of A ? you know, we don't hate socialists that badly, after all - according to John McCain we're even about to elect one as our President").

In other words, capitalism defies socialist China : "Show me the money".

Wen Jiabao is all ears. And smiles*. "Yes, we can".

Yes, Wen can provide some kind of relief to his new admirers, but he has some fish to fry at home as well. Will he chose to secure China's business model and one fifth of the World's population, to help the richest fifth, or to give a hand to the forgotten rest ? Probably a little bit of each : China will durably strengthen its positions in Asia, Africa, Europe and America, but the trickiest part will be China itself (see "Pervasive China's CIA (Central Investment Agency)").

New series of models will emerge. Not this week-end. Nor November the 15th, when the World Egghead Forum takes place. Nor even during the couple of years to come. But timely (at a geologic time scale at least).

They will differ from XXth century socialism or capitalism (see "This is not a financial crisis"), and China is no exception.

* Actually, I'm wondering how badly Wen's jaws hurt - he was already jubilating during his interview with Zakaria a couple of weeks ago (GPS @ CNN / Newsweek). But not as much as I did, listening to Alan Greenspan swallow just a tiny little bit of his titanic pride.

What Fareed Zakaria got wrong

If one reads Fareed Zakaria's latest attempt to save his own face, "What Bush Got Right" was actually to stop being Bush*.

What Fareed Zakaria got wrong was to stop being the Fareed Zakaria that brilliantly denounced the lack of understanding by the American people of what was going on after 9/11.

That Fareed Zakaria was carefully taken care of by the hawks that sold the invasion of Iraq : an invitation at the prestigious 2003 Bilderberg Meeting, a briefing by top White House figures, and a promotion as Editor of Newsweek International.

Zakaria spent the following months justifying the invasion of Iraq, and the following years trying to clumsily justify himself.

And yes, Bush got something right : everything. But as a fundamentalist, not as the POTUS.

* Newsweek August 18-25, 2008 issue.

Riding The Bullet

"Where Have You Gone, John ?"

Good question and excellent answers by Jonathan Atler*.

McCain 2008 is definitely becoming a caricature of Bush 2004, and doesn't have much left in common with McCain 2000.

Already swiftboated in muddy waters by 527 Groups**, Barack Obama is now being parishiltoned by John's own Nightmare Team of campaigners, headed by The Bullet himself, Steve Schmidt, the ant behind The Architect in Karl Rove's masterpiece : George W. Bush 2004 election (remember ? Dubya lost in 2000 but Jeb won Florida for him).

How low can it go indeed ? Back in 2003, The Dixie Chicks would clearly denounce Bush's invasion of Iraq. Five years later, Paris Hilton is actually campaigning for John McCain. No wonder : compared to Nathalie Maines, this perfab rehab celeb has the IQ of a fencepost. Ever the superficial caricature of herself, she is not criticizing the Republican candidate for his program or character but for his age, the only field where she can outscore him (Mac also underwent cosmetic surgery, but for serious reasons - and no, I never considered dumbness a sexy attribute).

The air is almost getting fouler in pre-election America than in pre-olympic Beijing. Yet, even under this blanket of slime and mud, a serious debate seems to be emerging on energy issues. Obama knows the quickest way to curb emissions is to change behaviors, and McCain knows nuclear power should remain a major option.

Even nowadays, after the World's leader in percentage of electricity generated by nuclear plants disclosed series of embarassing incidents involving its beloved plants.

After all, there's been some improvement since 2004 : if France is still not really helping the GOP champion, at least Paris joined the Party.



* see his latest column (Newsweek 20080811) - and my previous blogules on this tragic Mac Drive : "The McCainistan War" (20080718), and "Values Question Marks" (20080512)
** see "The Case Against Barack Obama ? More propaganda from mud loving PIGs" (20080703)

Red blogule to pro-life / pro-death pro-teges

How many black people among how many dead people down in the South ? Thousands ? Yet a fraction of the country cries over the death of one single individual in Arlington, VA. White supremacists and Christian fundamentalist expect a "good" successor to William Hubbs Rehnquist, praised by his November 2000 Protégé (and pro-life+pro-death-penalty pal*) King Dubya for "improving the delivery of justice for the American people".
John Roberts was not supposed to take the helm that soon but the US should be very careful who will replace Sandra Day O'Connor. Edith "Joy" Brown Clement, a woman from 'bama with a New Orleans pedigree, would be the perfect post-Katrina nominee but for his potential last shot and one year before key elections, W needs to send a much stronger message to his "base"**.
Besides, since she's still sitting in Louisiana, Brown may have a not so Clement word to say during the inquiry about Katrina's aftermath.

* "pro-life" people tend to be "pro-death", but there's nothing funny about it
** Speaking of which... Newsweek just published in their 20050901 edition the mild extract of my 20050708 blogule on London bombings I sent them : "President Bush keeps talking about good vs evil (...) - Tony Blair keeps talking about attacks against civilization... but such speeches are music to the ears of fundamentalists. What these leaders need to protect is not their own "way of life" but the basic rights of moderate majorities under the spell of extremist minorities."

Red blogule to neolibs

(...) A radical counterforce to neocons is gaining momentum across the world, leveraging on Bush's extreme stance and on the popularity of "alternative" themes (no to total deregulation / free market, no to war, no to polluters, no to neocons...) to recruit beyond the traditional extreme left side of the spectrum. Among them, (not always former) Troskyists have a knack for infiltrating the administrations and the youth.
The French press is noticing an infiltration of education by radical "altermondialists" (in today's Le Figaro "Enquête : comment ATTAC infiltre l'école" ). ATTAC are known for supporting the so called "Tobin tax", riots during G8 summits, or the NO vote to the European constitution. There is a fierce debate within the movement : we are acting like a political party, shall we turn into one and nominate a candidate for the 2007 presidential elections ? This could mean the implosion of the socialist party.
An interesting phenomenon is the way these radicals deal with the "weaker" ones, very similar to the high pressure / terror put by hawks on potential doves : if you don't agree with us you are with them, and thus you are a fascist.
What I feared is happening : the extremes feeding each other, the moderates crushed in between, and radicalism getting overall mainstream.
As I see it, Howard Dean seems to extend towards the center right instead of locking the far left (see Newsweek Intl's article on abortion : "A Case of Roh vs. Reality" ). I don't know how long it will take for the two-party system to implode, but it seems to be well protected by the shortness of mandates (4 years).
SM on disinfopedia

White blogule to deep throats

If W. Mark Felt actually is Watergate's "Deep Throat", the best kept secret in journalism has come to an end.
What puzzles me is first the timing of the disclosure... right after the "flushed Quran" scandal (which, as I suspected, should never have been called the "Newsweek scandal") : just to remind the not so courageous guy who leaked the Guantanamo mess before retracting the whistle blower can be the hero.
What puzzles me next is the paper releasing the scoop, "Vanity Fair" being a joke on the media exposure. Exposing himself as Deep Throat to the mass media mirrors wasn't about vanity - the guy is 91 and just wanted the truth to come out. What wasn't fair was the necessity to hide for telling it in the first place.

Red blogule to the flushed Quran scandal

Tough times for journalists : you need bullet proof evidences and witnesses to publish anything in BC04 Amerika or else... you're to commit seppuku publicly, explain you told lies*, that you never meant to criticize Uncle Joe... er... Uncle Sam. Dubya's mob is as efficient as Stalin's : they can forge any untruth they want (hey, that got'em reelected) but if you can't have your own sources confirm their off the record leaks (which could get them fired) you're a bold liar. So you become the one responsible for fueling hatred within the Muslim world, you're the one carrying the scapegoat nickname (Rathergate) while the Karl Rove squad of forgers walks away, you're the one shooting a sick remake of sex, lies and videotapes in Abu Ghraib, you're the one bringing shame on Guantanamo, that pleasant resort for tourists from the Middle East...
I suppose the Quran was truly desacrated in Guantanamo but I can't prove it. But I know for sure America has been desacrated by its own rulers : Bush flushed the US Constitution down the toilet of History.

* Newsweek's mea culpa : "On Monday afternoon, May 16, Whitaker issued the following statement: Based on what we know now, we are retracting our original story that an internal military investigation had uncovered Qur'an abuse at Guantanamo Bay."

Red blogule to Guggenheim - Ghost in a shell

Since the issue of "Guggenheim Economics" is raised (Newsweek 20041220), let me add that this franchise has the business model of a low cost carrier sponsored by minor league airports. But don't think economies of scale : the more outlets they open, the more dilluted the collections. The space and architecture makes for the cultural void and the original Guggenheim in New York now looks like a "ghost in a shell". Visiting Guggenheim Bilbao is quite an architectural experience but you're more marvelling at the craft of a software than the inspiration of an artist. And after the ride you realise you were lured into believing you actually met great works but hey, that's how the Planet Hollywood concept managed to sell for a little while. Stephane MOT