GalliaWatch

Herman Van Rompuy - Master of Shabby Compromises

2009-11-21T20:32:00.008-05:00

As you all know there is now a president of Europe. His name is Herman Van Rompuy and few know who he is or what he is about. Paul Belien, of The Brussels Journal, however, is well acquainted with Mr. Van Rompuy, and offers a short analysis of his character in an article posted at The Daily Mail. I am re-printing it here, in its entirety:

Belgium's Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy has been named new EU president. Devoid of patriotism and contemptuous of democracy, Herman Van Rompuy perfectly embodies the culture of the EU. His sole political ideal is the creation of a federal superstate, destroying national identities across Europe.

As someone who has known him since the mid-1980s, I recognise Van Rompuy as a man of powerful intellect and deep cynicism. Although diffident in manner, it would be a great mistake to underestimate this Belgian. A shrewd manipulator, he will do all in his power to further EU integration.

Despite his modest appearance, he is not lacking in selfesteem. When he was 12, he was asked by his family what he wanted to be when he grew up. His answer was: 'President.' Van Rompuy is a product of the debased, corrupt political life of Belgium. Like the EU, it is an artificial construct, the result of political compromise and experiment. It was built in 1830 by the international powers joining two separate peoples - the Dutch of Flanders in the north and the French of Wallonia in the south.

Because of this lack of real nationhood, Belgians despise their own state.

But this unpatriotic attitude is precisely the reason why Belgian politicians have been so enthusiastic about the EU, in which they see the mirror image of their own fraudulent, unprincipled country.

The tragedy of Van Rompuy's political career is that he used to have a very different outlook. When I first met him in 1985, he was much more sceptical about European federalism. A conservative Catholic, he had been heavily influenced by the Flemish philosopher Lode Claes, who passionately believed that without a genuine spirit of nationhood, there could be no democracy and no political morality. Van Rompuy wrote elegantly about the importance of traditional values and the need to maintain the Christian roots of Europe. He was so disgusted by the Belgian establishment's rejection of these principles he told me he was thinking of leaving politics.

But his bosses the Flemish Christian-Democrat Party were appalled at the thought of losing this bright young star. So he was offered rapid advancement up the political ladder.

Van Rompuy accepted, and embarked on a series of shabby compromises which brought him high office but proved he had sold his soul.

In one telling deal, for instance, he helped push through one of Europe's most liberal abortion bills, even though, as a Catholic, he had once written in defence of the rights of the unborn child.

He will feel very at home at the top of the EU.

Please read Paul's longer analysis of Van Rompuy at The Brussels Journal. Check out the home page also for numerous other articles on the "election" of this man to the presidency of the EUSSR.

Her Own Voice

2009-11-21T10:48:00.000-05:00

Now that Jean-Marie Le Pen is inching his way into semi-retirement, it is, at long last, time for Marine Le Pen to take the helm of the Front National. Until now, she has been an excellent speaker, debater and symbol. If she lost the mayoral election in Hénin-Beaumont a few months ago it was not her fault. A concerted anti-Le Pen campaign was successfully waged by Sarkozy's UMP party, affiliated suddenly and only for the occasion with every other party to form a coalition that intimidated the voters to such a point that they voted to keep the deplorable conditions in which their Socialist mayors had held them hostage for so long.

But now it's time to look ahead to the regional elections coming up in March. Novopress has this update:

Marine Le Pen (...) has chosen her campaign poster. A deliberate shift away from traditional posters, it is closer to that of a show-biz star than to a female politician, with its image reminiscent of the child from Forbach who became the most popular icon of French song: Patricia Kaas. Even reminiscent of Johnny Halliday!

With her slogan "The Voice of the People" - understood "the little white guy", as they used to say in Africa - the vice president of the Front National hopes to occupy the populist niche in a region that has been profoundly affected by the ravages of globalism, where the unemployment rate has reached such levels that nothing appears able to stem the growing uncertainty.

Notice that the tricolor flame, logo of the Front National, appears on the poster, but not the name of the party. "Marine Le Pen" is henceforth a unique trademark.

We will wait and see. But on the whole, I think this is a very good change in the right direction. At least she is appealing to a white conservative base that senses the danger it is in. Let's hope she has learned a few bitter lessons from her father's cynical tendencies and from the fiasco of the 2007 presidential election, for which she was primarily held responsible.

In the long term, the FN will have to try to win over the Identitarians who tend to be regionalists (the FN favors centralization, as far as I know). They will also have to try to win back those who jumped ship after 2007, as well as the smaller splinter groups that have formed in opposition to Marine, for whatever reason. Many Catholics may have to compromise some of their values when they vote for her, but they compromised infinitely more when they voted for Nicolas Sarkozy.

She will be greatly assisted in her task by the immigrants themselves - provided they continue to commit acts of violence. It is the violence in everyday life that finally spurs sleeping minds to awaken. So long as the violence and degradation of the once very pleasant French life-style we all envied continue unabated, Marine Le Pen can count on lots of new members.

More Soccer Violence

2009-11-20T18:02:00.004-05:00

On Wednesday Algeria won a soccer match against Egypt. The game took place in Sudan, but the French police anticipated a violent night in France, whether Algeria won or lost. According to Le Figaro 63 persons were arrested in Paris alone:

The demonstrations involved 3000 persons in the ghetto of Barbès and 12,000 on the Champs-Elysées. The police intervened quickly and arrested those who were throwing projectiles and committing acts of destruction, indicated the Prefecture of Police.

Four store fronts were damaged on the Champs-Elysées.

Despite a few burnt cars and fights (hey! What's one more burnt car especially if it isn't yours?) the northern city of Lille celebrated without incident. Another northern city, Roubaix, however, fared less well. A local paper, La Voix du Nord, reports:

(...) Everything began well. (...) But around 9:00 p.m. in the downtown area (cordoned off by police and gendarmes) the first confrontation took place between police and "young people" who threw glass bottles. Most incidents took place in the Epeule neighborhood where the streets were plunged into darkness after the game. Stones hurled at firemen who came to put out trash can fires and burning cars, broken storefronts, cars pillaged: an unleashing of violence. The police proceeded to make some arrests.

Note: The city of Roubaix has been in the hands of immigrants for a long time. The violence there is routine.

For those who read French, this article from Le Parisien gives a rundown, city by city, of the violence that took place on Wednesday after the game. The final toll is considerably higher than the two bland articles quoted above lead us to believe. According to Europe 1 Radio just the number of torched cars was higher than 330. I will try to post more details later tonight or tomorrow.

Meanwhile, look at this short video, posted at François Desouche of the ghetto of Barbès in Paris. It's terrifying:

Gaston d'Orléans

2009-11-20T17:40:00.005-05:00

According to Le Salon Beige, France has a new "petit Prince" named Gaston d'Orléans, born on November 19, 2009 to Prince Jean and Princess Philomena d'Orléans.

The birth occurred nine months after the civil marriage (the religious ceremony took place two months later). Then Keeper of the Seals Rachida Dati performed the ceremony.

This is all I know for now.

There is a long discussion at LSB over the merits (or lack thereof) of the name "Gaston", and the House of Orléans. Now, at least there is a male heir to the throne of France, a fact that brings a feeling of relief to some. So far as I know, Louis de Bourbon has only one daughter. Of course that could change. I wonder if the birth of Gaston would be a deciding factor if it ever came to choosing a King. Or would "they", whoever they are who choose the King, be obligated to consider only dynastic claims.

Fillon in Vietnam

2009-11-20T13:07:00.006-05:00

Update: Many thanks to a reader and many contrite apologies to all. I had inadvertantly called Hanoi "Ho Chi Minh City" in my original post. Of course, Ho Chi Minh City is NOT Hanoi, but Saigon. Also, my reader points out that no one uses the name Ho Chi Minh City anymore. The post has been duly modified.

On November 13, Prime Minister François Fillon paid a visit to Jane Fonda City - Hanoi. There he laid a wreath on the tomb of the man America could not defeat, thanks in part to Ms. Fonda, the left-wing media that told blatant lies about the war, the student uprisings and the vacillations of two American administrations, one Democrat, the other Republican. Yves Daoudal writes:

Four days after celebrating the fall of the Berlin Will, Prime Minister François Fillon paid a visit on Friday to Hanoi, to the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, hero of Vietnamese independence and father of the Communist nation. He then participated in a forum where he praised the merits of the "new Vietnam", no longer a stranger to the market economy.

Accompanied by a part of his delegation, the prime minister, his face somber for the occasion, placed a wreath at the entrance of the mausoleum, a large grey building in the heart of the capital, before standing in silence before the remains of the founder of the Vietnamese Communist Party.

The two comments to the post indicate a belief that he had to swallow a lot of bile to go through with this ordeal. Of course, he was on mission from his boss, who had just entered into a major deal with the Chinese Communist Party.

The Men Who Were (Not) There

2009-11-20T12:35:00.006-05:00

Hitchcock could not have done better (or am I thinking of Mel Brooks?).

Last week, on November 9 to be exact, Europeans, amidst much hypocritical hoopla, celebrated the "fall" of the Berlin Wall, an event of great importance only to those who had been sequestered behind the wall, and those for whom Communism (and its current incarnation - anti-racism) represent a major nefarious and limiting force in the lives of men.

One of the funniest stories to come out of France on this topic was Nicolas Sarkozy's pronouncement on Facebook that he too had been in Berlin on that day and had witnessed the fall. A useless lie, since the French media caught him immediately with egg on his face. Not that he cared. Not that he apologized for his error, or even claimed a slip in his memory.

Here are a few excerpts from Alain Auffrey's blog published by the left-leaning Libération:

The president tells us that on November 9, 1989, he was there. With a hammer in his hand and a photo to back him up. The man who was preparing to make history could not miss out on this historical moment. Super!

The problem is that his story does not hold water:

"On November 9, in the morning, we were listening with interest to the news from Berlin that seemed to announce a change in the divided German capital. We decided to leave Paris with Alain Juppé (then prime minister) to participate in the event that was taking shape."

But on the morning of November 9, nobody in Paris - or even in Berlin - could have had an inkling that the wall was going to fall. West German radio and television did not begin to talk about "freedom of movement" until after 8:00 p.m. And it wasn't until after 11:00 p.m. that East Berliners, taking premature reports for definitive statements, began to gather in such large numbers at the border post of Bornhomer Strasse that the East German border guards had to finally lift the barriers. According to an eye-witness, the event never "took shape".

To add insult to injury, Sarkozy added this completely imaginary scene:

"When we arrived in West Berlin, we sped to the Brandenburg Gate where an enthusiastic crowd had already gathered on hearing that the wall would probably be opened."

At no time did the announcement of a "probable opening" trigger any gathering of West Berliners. The crowd was on the East side. And many more were to the North, in the Prenzlauer Berg section. West Berliners only began attacking the wall the next day - November 10. They were joined by visitors from all over the world, including Nicolas Sarkozy and Alain Juppé.

But if he wasn't in Berlin, where was our future president on that famous November 9? Maybe he was at Colombey-les-deux-églises, as he is every November 9, commemorating the death of General de Gaulle. Just a hypothesis.

Readers of Libération offered many suggestions:

- In truth, the Brandenburg Gate only opened much later. In December. I was there, unlike Nicolas...

- No! On November 9, he was painting the Lascaux caves. Everybody knows that!

- A good trick on the part of the Leader. Did he see the Ceausescu couple die? Was he in Moscow at the end of the USSR? Will he be in Cuba when Castro dies? The suspense is killing me.

- My cousin from Frankfort was there, because his wife was on the other side. I confirm that nobody could have been on the site before midnight without the danger of being shot at by the border guards.

A short while after Sarkozy announced that he had been in Berlin that day, Prime Minister François Fillon, in a loyal act of damage control, announced that he too had been in Berlin on November 9, and that he HAD SEEN SARKOZY there! His story too was ripped to shreds by the media. According to 20 Minutes:

(..) On Monday night, around 9:30 p.m. Fillon published on Facebook, a photo (below) of himself, in a long tan coat, chipping away at the Berlin Wall with a hammer. The photo is not dated, but by all indications it comes from after November 10, 1989. It resembles in many ways the photo posted by the president: a photo taken at night in which we can see Nicolas Sarkozy also chipping away at the wall.

In his caption, François Fillon affirms that he had been in Berlin since November 7, participating in a conference organized by the Free University of Berlin (...)

François Fillon had already rushed to the aid of his boss on Monday afternoon, but a lot of good it did him. Claiming that he actually saw Nicolas Sarkozy on November 9, 1989 in Berlin, since he had been there himself since November 7, 1989, he was caught in his own trap. Evidence in the form of minutes from the meetings of the National Assembly shows that François Fillon could not have been in Berlin on November 7, 8, and 9 because he was in the National Assembly on November 8.

While the actual dates are of little importance, and while the two men may be telling partial truths, what really matters is the way Sarkozy turns a minor faux-pas into a major one, opening himself to more ridicule. More importantly the way everyone rushes to get on a bandwagon, to be "part of history", even though their loyalties are ambivalent at best, even though they may have no knowledge or even interest in the history they claim to be a part of.

Wherever these men were in 1989, we can say with no hesitation that in 2009 François Fillon found himself in Hanoi, on November 11 - 13. (A good way to recover from having to celebrate the destruction of a Communist symbol in Berlin. See my next post).)

That the same François Fillon was sighted on November 17 at the annual convention of mayors of France held at the Porte Versailles, where he was abundantly booed by the mayors over fiscal reform issues. A video at Le Post attests to the volley of boos that greeted him.

While the prime minister took it on the chin from the mayors, Nicolas Sarkozy was spending the day of November 17 in Saudi Arabia, on a 24-hour semi-private visit of friendship, thus, as the article from Le Post puts it, skillfully evading the mayors, with whom he will meet on Friday. So one can infer that rather than face the mayors, Sarko sent Fillon to receive the brunt of their anger. Presumably on Friday they will have cooled down (unless they decide to throw a pie in his face).

This makes Sarkozy not only an inventor of tall tales, but a coward as well. If he cannot face his own mayors, how can anyone even begin to assume he could stand up to criminals and violent pressure groups?

The Organizers

2009-11-20T12:02:00.006-05:00

FYI, in the comment section of the previous post a reader mentioned Gates of Vienna, which also covered the news of Saturday's riot in Paris that followed the cancellation of a money giveaway. The information at GoV is essentially the same, but there is a bit more speculation over the so-called "machete" in the hands of one of the thugs. Those interested should check it out.

Meanwhile, Novopress would like to know more about the people responsible for organizing such a blatantly cynical event:

On Saturday, riots of uncommon violence occurred in Paris. If there is no doubt about the participation of non-European immigrants (the videos and photos speak for themselves), there are questions about those who organized this giveaway that ended so violently.

The media spoke of Stéphane Boukris, in charge of marketing at Mailorama, the company that organized the event. Mailorama is itself an affiliate of Rentabiliweb. More about that later.

Stéphane Boukris' resumé is impressive. A graduate of ESSEC (Advanced School of Economics and Business) and of San José University in California, Boukris, 25, earned a Masters Degree in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from ESCP-EAP (Advanced School of Business-European School of Management Studies), headed by Daniel Rouach. He won the BFM (Berlin-Frankfort-Münster) Academy award in 2008.

How is it that such a brilliant person, a graduate of our best schools of management, did not anticipate the provocative nature of such a undertaking, especially in this time of crisis? Unless we assume that these schools and their students live in another world.

Now let us look at Rentabilise, the parent company of Mailorama. The beginning of an article published in Capital provides a few interesting clues:

"Kilt, dark glasses, dreadlocks and boots with cleats, at 38 Jean-Baptiste Descroix-Vernier seems to have stepped right out of "Matrix". Residing on a barge in the industrial port of Amsterdam, this pleasantly eccentric guy from Lyons runs one of the trendiest start-up businesses of today, Rentabiliweb.

Placed on the stock exchange in 2006, four years after its founding, it is worth almost 100 million euro today. 'Exceptional results, even on the Internet,' notes Marc Oiknine, manager in charge of investment funds.

Attracted by the performance of this cyber-Visigoth, several figures from the business world decided to bank on him. Bernard Arnault, CEO of Louis Vuitton/Moet Hennesey owns shares worth 6.3% of the enterprise. Stéphane Courbit, former head of Endemol France (producer of "Star Academy") controls 10.3%. As for the Board of Directors it includes in its ranks Jean-Marie Messier and former free-market liberal minister Alain Madelin. "The more I feel like a Leftist, the more I surround myself with people of the Right," jokes Descroix-Vernier. "But in business matters, we are on the same frequency."

Note: This is the opposite of Sarkozy who, touts himself as a conservative but surrounds himself with Leftists. But it shows, too, that the market liberals (wrongly called "Rightists") and the progressives, a.k.a. Socialists, spring from the same anti-nationalist, open borders, pro-EU, pro-immigration matrix.

As Novopress points out in its closing sentences:

The two share-holders mentioned (Bernard Arnault and Stéphane Courbit) were part of those who celebrated Nicolas Sarkozy's victory on May 6, 2007 at Fouquet's restaurant.

Reminder: This dinner at Fouquet's became notorious in the minds of the French who saw it as a sign of rich men exploiting the people, or as a "conservative" candidate celebrating with his wealthy right-wing cronies. The feeling was that Sarkozy should have begun his reign more humbly. But that dinner was only the beginning, and hardly cause for complaint considering what came afterward, though it did set the stage, so to speak...

The two administrators (Descroix-Vernier and Boukris), sang to us the praises of supra-national free-market liberalism in its most unregulated form.

Supra-national liberal markets, and non-European immigration: this is the explosive cocktail that is dissolving French identity, the ravages of which we glimpsed last Saturday in Paris.

An article posted about 4 days ago at Nouvel Obs has more to say about Rentabiliweb (or Rentabilise), the company that owns Mailorama. Spokesmen for the parent company sent out the following explanations:

Rentiliweb "deplores the chaos that occurred" when the distribution of money was cancelled. "All precautions" had been taken and "a smooth operation was assured".

"Rentiliweb shares the anger of all those who were happy to see money from publicity going, for once, into the pockets of the consumers, instead of into management."

Note: I need not point out the ludicrous nature of that statement.

The police arrested ten persons, nine of whom were kept in custody, saying that the organizers of the event had been warned that "distribution of money as a means of promotion was forbidden" and that "threats to public safety" were likely.

But Rentabiliweb insisted that Mailorama "had received formal and written authorization to hold the event." "Without this authorization, without the express agreement of the police authorities, without the guarantee that all steps had been taken to insure public safety, Rentabiliweb would not have taken such an initiative..."

Only 50 policemen had been engaged. Metal barriers had been installed, quickly climbed over by the crowds. By 11:00 p.m. the decision was made to cancel the operation "at the request of the police", according to the company.

"Rentabiliweb is concerned that a festive event, well-meaning, can be organized without incident in Canada or in the United States, but apparently not in France," said their communiqué. Jean-Baptitste Descroix-Vernier announced that he would donate the entire sum of 100,000 euro that was to be distributed, to the Public Assistance fund ("Secours Populaire").

Note: Despite the protests of the company, the French Interior Ministry has announced it will bring suit against the organizers "who were the cause of the trouble."

Note: Regarding unregulated supra-national free-market liberalism, alluded to above, I feel compelled to add the following thoughts that I jotted down while doing this post:

It cannot be stressed enough that businesses with no national feelings or loyalties, no cultural affiliations, and no motivation except money, such as Rentabiliweb, must be distinguished from traditional American-style capitalism that may be local, regional or national, that is intimately tied to loyalty to its own nation and to a sense that the fate of that nation depends in large measure on the ability of its people to enrich themselves through personal efforts and a religious-based work ethic. A system where the fate of the individual is largely in his own hands, and is not remotely-controlled by a cynical, irresponsible, beholden-to-none bureaucracy has been the foundation of America's success until recent years. As we lost our original principles, we moved more and more into globalism/socialism, financial scams of all kinds, nihilism, open borders suicide and national dissolution. The connection between the get-rich-quick mentality and Socialism was soon apparent. Capitalism does not mean get-rich-quick. It refers to a life-long effort to become as independent as possible. One is never completely independent, nor should one be coddled from cradle-to-grave.

Likewise, socialist programs, when limited to a specific group or nation, are not necessarily bad. They become bad when they are used as a lure, as a form of bribery or blackmail, or as a crutch that deprives the individual of his sense of pride in his personal accomplishments.

A Wild Week-End in France - Part 2

2009-11-16T23:22:00.012-05:00

Le Conservateur has a post entitled (in English) "Tourists Beware. Don't visit Paris, you're not safe anymore." There is only one photo, no text, but it is sufficient to convey the image of violence that occurred Saturday in Paris near the Eiffel Tower and in front of the Ecole Militaire, France's once proud military academy. It seems that an organization called Mailorama was set to distribute 40,000 euros to whomever... I have no idea what this nonsense is about, but it seems to have been a publicity gimmick that has been tried before in other countries, including the U.S. If I learn more details I'll pass them on.

A reader alerted me to the story. When I attempted to navigate around the François Desouche website, I was knocked off by Google, but I think it was merely a technical glitch and not censorship of any kind.

At any rate, Mailorama cancelled its money distribution, and as so often happens nowadays when there are crowds in Paris, all hell broke loose. The violence rapidly escalated, with mostly black thugs beating up whites, at least as far as the photos tell us. Here is the brief report from Novopress. I am using Novopress instead of François Desouche in the hopes of avoiding more technical problems. Please feel free to consult FDS (link below), even if you don't know French. The photos and videos will give you some idea of the violence:

The event turned into a riot. Clashes occurred Saturday near the Eiffel Tower after the cancellation of the money distribution organized by Mailorama.fr. Store fronts were smashed and cars damaged near the Ecole Militaire, where there were large crowds. According to a visitor to the website TF1 News, some rioters first used oranges to throw at passers-by or at the people who had come in the hopes of getting a few euros. Then they progressed to more serious methods - obviously premeditated, since we can distinctly see weapons in the hands of certain rioters. One of them is even waving a machete! "The neighborhood was sacked", she told us. Passers-by were molested, a photographer beaten up. Around 2:15 p.m. calm was restored.

The following two-minute video gives some idea:

The narrator tells of the shops vandalized and the cars overturned, in particular a police car that was totally destroyed (you'll see it in the video). He says that when they realized there would be no free money they went wild. At the very end of the video we hear the famous words of Nicolas Sarkozy (I cannot verify that it is his voice) uttered during earlier riots in Paris, when he was still Interior Minister: "You've had enough? Well, we're going to get rid of this scum." This now almost-legendary pronouncement led many to think Sarkozy was a "tough cop". More than that, it permanently fixed his image in the world-wide media as being one of a "conservative" who fights crime and boldly confronts violent immigrants.

The following set of photos was published at a Belgian website. We see a white person being beaten (similar to photo at top), then the thugs throwing oranges, then a scene of disorder, and finally a person carrying a machete.

H/T: Thanks to my reader, and to François Desouche

A Wild Week-End in France - Part 1

2009-11-16T23:01:00.005-05:00

On Friday November 14 Novopress had warned of possible violence if Algeria lost a soccer match against Egypt. Algeria did lose on Saturday night. The following very short video shows a scene of a boat burning in the port of Marseilles.

The next video, 2 minutes long, shows the mob in Marseilles, followed by similar shots of the burning boat.

The next video is similar to the preceding one:

There were riots elsewhere including the ghetto of Barbès in Paris, the subject of one of my recent posts on the Friday prayers in the street.

Technical Difficulties

2009-11-16T18:00:00.004-05:00

In a comment to my previous post I warned of technical difficulties. This post is an attempt to see if the problem has been resolved.

Update: I'm not sure it has been completely resolved. It appears to be OK, but I need more verification.

Poster Contest

2009-11-13T11:37:00.006-05:00

The Academic Council on High-School Life (or CAVL) is an organization composed of twenty elected high-schoolers, whose job it is to draw up proposals on all kinds of topics affecting the daily lives of students in a particular school district ("académie"). There are also councils within each individual high school, as well as a national council. Thus these organizations operate on three different levels. While I know of nothing comparable in the U.S. we do have student governments in most high-schools.

The CAVL of the school district of Paris ("Académie de Paris") has come up with an idea to promote an acceptance of "vivre ensemble" or "living-together" (this refers to living side by side with those who are "different".) The touchy-feely slogan "vivre ensemble" has been used to the saturation point by government agencies as part of the plan to force the French to accept the unacceptable, i.e. multiculturalism, "métissage", immigration, and the attendant consequences: national dissolution, crime, broken families. Political pressure groups in France, as in the U.S., seek to train minds as early as possible, often from elementary school. Now the high school students of France are sufficiently indoctrinated to promote the official doctrines of 21st century France.

Their idea is to hold a contest for the best poster, photograph or video clip illustrating the theme of the fight against discrimination and negative images of the Other. To advertise this contest a high school student created the poster above, which I feel needs no further explanation (except to say that "concours lycéen" means "high-school contest"). At their website the students announce:

"The fight against discrimination and negative images is one of the priorities of our school district. Moreover, learning to live together, to respect each other mutually and to enrich ourselves from these differences is also one of the missions assigned to our schools."

Further down their text reads:

" (...) the high-school students of Paris will promote a positive vision of living-together and of tolerance."

Note: Not only is this government propaganda, but one can almost feel the pressure being exerted on the students to word their message within the narrowest range of vocabulary. For example: "the mission assigned to our schools"; it sounds as if they have received orders from the high command. It could of course mean that this is how they themselves perceive their mission. Also, "the students of Paris WILL promote a positive vision (... ) of tolerance"; but we know what this means. It means that white Frenchmen of European stock had better change their ways and become "tolerant". The use of the future tense indicates there is no choice, and the word "positive" eliminates any possibility of criticism of the Other. There is no indication that respect and tolerance and living-together are two-way streets at best, and even then, only when the parties concerned are compatible AND subject to the laws of the ORIGINAL culture.

At his blog, Yves Daoudal notes:

On this poster we see the equality between normal and homosexual couples. Equality implies homosexual "marriage", which is still illegal.

One of his readers noted another detail:

- For shame! The woman in the poster is smaller than the man, and she's wearing a dress to boot - a sexist cliché if ever there was one!

Le Pen Votes For Russia

2009-11-12T19:29:00.005-05:00

The Front National, for better or for worse, is reaching out to Russia. On the occasion of a vote in the European Parliament on whether or not Russia should be admitted to the WTO, Jean-Marie Le Pen expresses his conviction that Russia is completely different from the USSR. Here he explains to the president of the EU Parliament the reasons for his vote:

Russia is decidedly the only country in the world that never finds favor in your eyes, and whose imperatives, needs and sensitivities you hide systematically.

It is true that for almost fifty years the Soviet yoke was held tightly over half of Europe, in blood the tanks repressed aspirations of freedom, in Budapest in 1956, in Prague in 1968, in Poland, in the Baltic countries... But your reproaches, at the time, were so much more discrete! If indeed there were any!

In 1989 again, at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall, how many European leaders cried out for a simple reform of Communism and the maintaining of the status quo? As if the bloodiest dictatorship of the 20th century and its 150 million deaths could ever be reformed!

But Russia is not the USSR.

It is a great country with whom we ought to be creating privileged relations. Because we have common interests and reciprocal benefits to gain from these relations.

But above all because Russia, unlike Turkey, is unquestionably part of the European geographic, cultural, spiritual and civilizational sphere.

Note: I do not know how the vote turned out. Some reports online indicate that Russia was pretty much sure to be admitted to the WTO this November, after the United States blocked its entry (at least that is Russia's accusation) in the wake of the conflict in Georgia and South Ossetia. Those interested can check this CNN report.

This is, in general, a topic I am not familiar with (particularly as concerns the connection between the EU and the WTO. I know that some countries have dual representation in both bodies.) But I found his comments on Russia interesting. He clearly does not want to side with the United States. Like so many French nationalists who cannot abide the United States he is turning to Russia as a substitute super power to ally with, thus finding himself in a position where the terrible history of the USSR must be treated as a closed chapter in human history. Maybe it IS closed, and maybe not. Do we know?

We do know that the defeat of a system and its structures does not imply the defeat of the particular psychology or mentality that created the system in the first place.

The most striking thing of all is his recognition that Communism could not be reformed. But he does not feel that way about Islam, and has said without hesitation that Islam is not incompatible with the French way of life.

Who Said This in 1991?

2009-11-12T14:18:00.003-05:00

"Our problem is one of overdose. Perhaps it is true that there are more foreigners, but they aren't the same ones and that's the difference. Having Spaniards, Poles, and Portuguese working here poses fewer problems than having Muslims and blacks."

The quote was spotted at François Desouche, in a side column devoted to notable quotes. For the answer to the question, click here.

The Great Non-Debate on National Identity

2009-11-12T13:04:00.006-05:00

One of the biggest stories in France these past several days has been the much-touted (by the Establishment) and much-ridiculed (by the Right) "debate on national identity" launched by the Sarkozy regime. The amount of material is staggering, and I can only present a small sampling. Here is one of the first articles on this topic from Le Point dated October 26:

Eric Besson, Minister of Immigration, announced on Sunday the launching of a vast debate on national identity with the "vital forces" of the country, thus re-opening on the front pages one of the central themes of Nicolas Sarkozy's presidential campaign. "I want to launch a great debate on the values of national identity, on what it means to be French today," declared the Minister of Immigration and National Identity. "I will launch it with parliamentarians, deputies and senators, and with European deputies."

This debate will last two and a half months and end with a "great closing discussion" late in January. The minister will ask "prefects and sub-prefects to organize meetings with the vital forces of the Nation on the theme of what it means to be French, what the values are that bind us together, what the nature is of the ties that make us French and of which we should be proud. We must reaffirm the values of national identity and pride in being French," he said. "I think for example that it would be good - in the United States it's banal, but in France it's still a bit complicated - for all young Frenchmen to have at least one opportunity a year to sing the Marseillaise," he explained.

Note: I have no idea what he means by the above reference to the U.S. But as for singing the Marseillaise, we know it is frequently booed by both foreigners and natives alike at soccer matches. In America, I remember clearly when the Star-Spangled Banner was booed by black students in the school assemblies. Today in America very few people can sing the anthem, and nobody knows the words.

The article goes on to disclose that for Eric Besson the burqa should be banned because it is not a part of French identity. Not surprisingly he never says that Islam should be banned. However he does indicate that the Front National should disappear:

"We never should have abandoned to the Front National a certain number of values that are a part of the republican patrimony (...) I think that the political death of the Front National would be the best news for all of us." (...)

However, an article at Le Salon Beige quotes another article from Polemia on the true nature of this pseudo-debate. No one will be surprised:

The debate on national identity launched by Eric Besson, on orders from Nicolas Sarkozy, is not only a strategy for taking votes away from the Front National, but it is especially an operation of propaganda on métissage. The minister said it himself:

"The mission I have received from the president says: 'Our nation is of mixed blood. Immigration constitutes a source of permanent enrichment of our national identity'. We have a president who is saying: 'I am a person of mixed blood at the head of a nation of mixed blood'."

Polemia clarifies further:

There we have a constant in Nicolas Sarkozy's beliefs. His second wife Cécilia was proud of saying she "did not have one drop of French blood". In his campaign publication from July 2006, Sarkozy wrote:

"I think that the French are awaiting the France of the future. It will be a France where the expression 'ethnic Frenchman' ('Français de souche') has disappeared."

In the same vein, Nicolas Sarkozy declared on December 17, 2008, at the Ecole Polytechnique, the temple of republican merit: "The objective is to meet the challenge of 'métissage'. (...) It is not a choice, it is an obligation."

Note: The above was the notorious speech in which Sarkozy literally threatened his subjects that there would be dire consequences if they did not engage in cross-breeding, miscegenation, mixing blood, or whatever term you prefer for "métissage".

Polemia goes on:

Prime Minister François Fillon was not to be left out: at Reunion Island on July 9, 2009, he spoke of a "united France, a multicolored France, that has never had any flag other than the tricolor (sic!) (...) A France that pursues its centuries-old work of cross-breeding." As for Jean-François Copé, leader of the UMP deputies in the National Assembly, he had declared to Le Monde before the launching of the debate: "Stop forcing our children to believe that our ancestors were all Gallic."

Le Salon Beige closes its article:

For Polemia, this great debate is a way of burying the identity of France: her ethnic groups, her Catholic faith, her history, her culture, her language. Nicolas Sarkozy should be cautious. It was he who declared in Ryad, Saudi Arabia on January 14, 2008:

"My dear friends of Saudi Arabia, this is not about trying to impose a unique example of civilization (...) That would be denying identities. (...) Nothing is more dangerous than a wounded identity, a humiliated identity."

Note: Sarkozy, like the Left in general, has created an inextricable web of lies and misunderstood notions like "race" and "racism", and as they always do, they pretend to be "patriots" just before an election (some regional elections are coming up, or have already transpired). The agenda, as Polemia and every informed conservative knows, is first, to win votes, second to destroy what remains of a national identity - on orders from Brussels, if not the devil...

An important point, often overlooked, is that through the years, African leaders have bitterly criticized the white man for carving up Africa without regard to ethnic identities. In other words, the Africans themselves WANT their separate identities. They do not WANT to be mixed. But when it comes to invading a European society like France with its gigantic welfare State and its self-hating rhetoric, THEN they come in droves. Strange, isn't it?

I still cannot grasp if the French people - in their MAJORITY - realize this, or if they are sucked into it, or if they are merely bored or confused and want to be left alone... Any thoughts?

At any rate, Eric Besson, amidst much hoopla, created a website for those interested in voicing their opinions on this topic. But be advised that if your point of view smacks of the Right, you may be censored, as Le Salon Beige readers found out:

- Yes! They finally posted my comment (after seven attempts!!!) but they cut out the middle. What should I do?? Send the second half seven times?

- At Monsieur Besson's site, they want anonymous bleaters, symbols of the official thought that has turned most Frenchies into left-wingers and imbeciles.

- It is necessary to bring this censorship to public attention. I also posted my participation and it was never published. It was very correctly worded, but it did go back to fundamentals...

- I too was censored. This site must be boycotted since it is propaganda that recalls the darkest days of France. Here is what I said:

"National identity has been sacrificed, not by the most moral of the ruling elite, but by the most 'arriviste', on the altar of money and globalization. France today is weakened and in debt. She no longer has the means to be humanist. She can only be naive and sink further and further. How far down? There has never been a civilization disappear and then be reborn. We have lost our national identity and we will never be able to retrieve it."

There are other comments. And Bernard Antony, whose blog I frequently consult, was censored when he posted the contents of one of his older blog entries. The entry, to be sure, is very long, and recounts the history of France and the genesis and development of her culture and civilization. Here is just a tiny passage:

(...) In the course of these last fifty years, French identity has been the object of a conjuncture of factors relating to evolution and changes such that the possibility of a radical change of identity, even of an end to an identity by means of the process of genocide through substitution, must be considered.

No wonder it wasn't posted.

French readers can consult this entry at Le Salon Beige for more comments on the thwarted attempts to post patriotic messages, and for a link to Besson's website where some well-known French politicians leave their contributions.

The collage at the top is a parody of Sarkozy's presidential campaign poster. "La France d'après" (the France of the future, or the France afterwards) is portrayed as a crime-ridden Islamized country, unrecognizable to those who remember "la France d'avant" (France before). It cannot be stressed too much that Nicolas Sarkozy WARNED his subjects of his policies before the election. Only at the last minute did he allow himself to be seen next to Jean-Marie Le Pen, thus triggering a spate of useless enthusiasm on how he was espousing nationalism, patriotism and pride in country. When Sarkozy boasts about having told the truth, he is NOT lying... Most French nationalist blogs were not in the least bit fooled by his last-minute posture of patriotism. This posture has served him well - he wins his elections, and prevents the Front National from winning anything.

Below, Minister of National Identity, Eric Besson.

A New Alliance

2009-11-12T12:55:00.003-05:00

On October 23 in Budapest an agreement was signed between several nationalist parties from different European countries. They include the Front National from France, the British National Party, the Hungarian Jobbik, the Fiamma Tricolore from Italy and the National Demokraterna from Sweden.

They guiding principles of this new alliance are listed in a post at Yves Daoudal. I find them too vague almost to the point of being obscure, and not conducive to concrete action, but it may be too soon to tell. Nor am I sufficiently informed as to the genesis and purpose of this alliance or how it hopes to accomplish its goals:

As representatives of movements and national parties in Europe, we demand:

1. The creation of a Europe of free, equal and independent nations in the framework of a confederation of sovereign States, that will refrain from making decisions on issues justifiably dealt with by the States themselves;

2. The rejection of any attempt to create a European Super-State;

3. The promotion of freedom, dignity and equality of rights of all citizens and opposition to all forms of totalitarianism;

4. The primacy of direct voting by the peoples or their elected representatives on decisions of any administrative or bureaucratic organism;

5. Genuine protection of Europe from new threats of terrorism as well as from political, economic, financial or religious imperialism;

6. The resolution in humane and peaceful conditions of the problem of immigration, notably through an international cooperation that aims to promote the development and self-sufficiency of third world countries;

7. Strong policies in favor of families, with the goals of reducing Europe's demographic deficit and promoting the traditional values in the society;

8. The preservation of the diversity in Europe that is the result of a variety of original identities, traditions, languages and cultures;

9. A common struggle of the peoples of Europe against social dumping and the destructive effects of globalization.

Note: Wikipedia has a brief definition of social dumping.

As I acquire more information on this alliance I'll pass it on. This post was the first I heard of it.

Victims of Communism Remembered

2009-11-06T23:20:00.007-05:00

If you find yourself in Paris tomorrow Saturday at 6:00 p.m. in the afternoon, you may want to participate in a demonstration commemorating the fall of the Berlin Wall and honoring all those who have perished at the hands of Communism - countless millions. Bernard Antony's Christian association, Chrétienté-Solidarité, has organized this gathering, not only to pay tribute to the legions of lives lost over the past 90 years, but to denounce as well the resurfacing, in various guises, of an ideology that won't die and that has as one of its goals the destruction of Christianity. Here is one of several announcements at his blog:

(...) The Berlin Wall did not fall for everyone. France is the only Western country where the showing of the film Katyn was widely restricted. It is in France that HALDE, the new Cheka in the service of so-called anti-racism and the ideology of gender, operates, endowed with means and tremendous powers. It is also in the French Republic that the party in power - the president's UMP party - signed a shameful agreement with the Chinese Communist Party.

We will demonstrate against that also, side by side with all the speakers and representatives of countries that have been victimized by Communism!

Saturday, November 7, from 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Place du Président Edouard Herriot
Paris 7ème (next to the National Assembly)

Note: In addition to the announcements about tomorrow's gathering, Bernard Antony has devoted eight posts to a retrospective of Communism, with special emphasis on how France and Frenchmen were involved, either heroically or as collaborators of the Soviet regime.

Fort Hood

2009-11-06T00:20:00.004-05:00

You have no doubt heard about the mass murder (actually a terrorist attack) at Fort Hood, Texas. The killer was a Muslim named Malik Nadal Hasan. Since there will be a deluge of information both on television and the Internet, I will not talk about this horrible, though predictable, event. I recommend you read Lawrence Auster, here and here, and follow his links, especially those to Jihad Watch.

There's also an exceedingly long post at Hot Air that gives a detailed account of what happened starting with the very first reports. The name of the killer varies. Sometimes he is Nidal, sometimes Nadal.

Paul Belien: Europe Is Annexed By Brussels

2009-11-05T15:47:00.007-05:00

Here are excerpts from Paul Belien's latest article on the events taking place in Europe:

On November 3rd 2009, at 3 pm local time, the Czech Republic ceased to exist as a sovereign state when Vaclav Klaus, its president, put his signature under the Treaty of Lisbon. The Czech Republic was the last of the 27 member states of the European Union to ratify the treaty which turns the EU into a genuine state to which it members states are subservient. (...)

The pressure on Klaus had been tremendous. Because the treaty could not come into force until the Czech ratification, the EU authorities and the political establishment of the 26 other member states had been tightening the screws on Prague. In early October, the Czech cabinet, under pressure from Berlin and Paris, had met in an emergency session to consider how to complete ratification in the event of Klaus’s continued intransigence. They even considered impeaching the president.

Bernard Kouchner, the French Foreign Minister, was very blunt on 15 October: he threatened that “a single man is not allowed to oppose the will of 500 million Europeans.” The “500 million Europeans” referred to the citizens of the 27 member states of the European Union, the “single man” to Vaclav Klaus. Kouchner’s declaration, however, was as deceptive and mendacious as the entire ratification process of the Lisbon Treaty had been throughout the EU. 500 million people had deliberately not been asked for their opinion of the treaty because the European political establishment feared they would vote it down. (...)

Now, with Mr. Klaus’s signature, the game has drawn to its close and a treaty, so despised by the people that it was never put to them, has turned 500 million Europeans into citizens of a genuine supranational European State which is empowered to act as a State vis-à-vis other States and its own citizens. The EU will have its own President, Foreign Minister, diplomatic corps and Public Prosecutor. Henceforward, the only remaining sovereign power of any significance in Europe is Russia. Apart from Switzerland, Norway and Iceland, the EU leviathan has a grip on every other nation, whose national parliaments are, in accordance with the Lisbon Treaty, obliged to “contribute actively to the good functioning of the Union,” i.e. further primarily the interests of the new Union, rather than those of their own people. (...)

Read the whole article.

Klaus Signs

2009-11-05T15:04:00.003-05:00

Here are two very short, but inadequate, versions of Vaclav Klaus speaking after signing the Treaty. Possibly in the future, there will be better versions, but I don't see why they would be necessary. We know what happened, and how and why it happened. See my next post for an excellent essay by Paul Belien of The Brussels Journal on what this really means for Europe (and for America, if anyone in America is really interested, other than the few with some curiosity and insights.)

Both videos are larger than I would have liked, but I wasn't able to customize the dimensions.

This version of Vaclav Klaus after the signing the Lisbon Treaty, sent by a reader, has poor sound quality (on my computer). At the website where it appears there is a transcript in English of the audio portion, in the event you cannot hear it well. The pro-Lisbon point of view is featured here.

Here is another version of the same event, with greater emphasis on Klaus' brief speech to the press. However the audio portion is lost midway through, though the subtitles are OK.

Delusion and Indifference

2009-11-04T17:21:00.006-05:00

From July 1 to December 31, 2008, France presided over the European Union. Nicolas Sarkozy has never stopped boasting of the role he played during that period as a mover and shaker of Europe's destiny. And while economics, fiscal reform, the need to tighten the belt, and unemployment were hot topics, one story that did not surface, except in spurts here and there, and unofficial comments, was the gigantic sum of money spent by the French government to host the much-touted French presidency. Here is a summary from Marianne2, dated Tuesday October 27:

(...) The Accounts Court has just turned in an extremely critical report on the cost of the French presidency of the EU. French taxpayers have had to foot the bill of over 170 million euro, most of it connected to special events, a bill that turns out to be double the budget required by Slovenia and even Portugal, during their presidencies. And more than triple what France had spent during her preceding presidency, in 2000 (56.9 million euro). Yes, it is less than the 180 million spent by Angela Merkel one year earlier, but we must remember that Germany has 20 million more inhabitants than France, and that the German presidency did not take place during an economic crisis.

The head of the Accounts Court, Philippe Séguin, stresses the "intensity of the programming": 800 events in six months, most of them organized "on the spur of the moment", hence the "compromises made with the rules on competitive bidding did not allow for an efficient use of public money."

Note: Apparently, during such an event, if there is a need to build something or provide some service, the host country is supposed to ask for bidders, and choose the candidates that offer the best for the least amount of money. Very much the way a homeowner will interview several plumbers before deciding which one to hire.

The article then relates the cost of the four-hour meeting of the Mediterranean Union (long one of Sarkozy's pet projects: an economic and cultural association between Arab/North African/Muslim countries, Turkey, and France), and reveals how the long-standing friendship between Accounts Court magistrate Philippe Séguin and members of the UMP party did not prevent the magistrate from doing his duty. He found that the four-hour meeting "was added suddenly and late in the schedule" and that "due to the arbitrariness of the methods used and the short notice of the event, they were able to convene without first asking for bidders." Eventually, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had to intervene to force the government accountant to pay the twelve million euro bill for the brief summit meeting.

These were truly sumptuary expenses: the creation at the Grand Palais, site of the summit, of 30 cabins for interpreters and a press headquarters capable of holding 1900 authorized journalists, a room for the final declarations, a listening room, eight press conference rooms, offices for the heads of delegations, eight "salons" for bilateral talks with a connecting shower room, 32 interpreters' cabins, air conditioning of an immense area capable of holding 3000 persons. The ensemble made necessary the creation of a floor elevated 1.20 meters, the building of staircases, and prestigious decoration. The job mobilized more than 500 workers, of whom 300 had to work through the night. So says the report issued by the Accounts Court. Among these expenses the infamous shower, installed in the presidential offices, that cost upwards of 245,572 euro. For a site that was used four hours - the shower having been dismantled without EVER being used...

And here is the most scandalous thing - all this gear was tossed out as soon as the summit was over. And it all happened, stresses Philippe Séguin, "while the Grand Palais itself was in the midst of being remodeled." Twelve million euro for a few hours. (...)

The reader who tipped me off about this story linked to another version at Veilleur, where the following tidbits regale us:

The Accounts Court declared: "By its magnitude, the irregular nature of the procedures followed, and the massive impact on public finances, this summit (i.e., the Mediterranean Union) constitutes a type of record." Just the dinner served on July 13, to 43 heads of State, cost more than a million euro! (...) When you read the details, it is shocking: 400,464 euro for furniture, including flat screens, 194,977 euro for flower pots, 91,456 euro for carpets. The installation, cleaning and dismantling cost 4,383,614 euro.

The above figure of 4,383,614 can be added to the total of twelve million euro quoted above, for a grand total of roughly sixteen million euro, just for the one four-hour summit.

(On a different note, same general topic, an article at Impots-Utiles informs us that Sarkozy had a coffee-maker installed in his private jet for 25,000 euro. As a coffee lover myself, I sympathize completely... My own coffee pot cost about $40.00, but then, I do not have access to public money.)

Note: Leaders of Third World countries have been known to be lavish spenders. But Sarkozy has nothing to learn from them. He seems to be obsessed by the fear of not "keeping up appearances", and his idea of how things should look (as a reflection of himself of course) smacks of delusion. Does anyone really care about all these rooms and cabins and showers? Why so many showers? Do these leaders bathe in the middle of the day? Why so many interpreters? The Mediterranean Union (a fictional, Sarkozy-generated enterprise at best) consists of various dialects of Arabic and French (or so I thought).

I would add one more thought. Even though he seems to suffer from delusions of grandeur, he also suffers from complete indifference to anything that does not bring him the instant gratification he craves. He is willing to recklessly spend other people's money, and then throw everything out, as if it didn't matter one iota. A monarch would construct something grandiose, but PERMANENT, to be a testament to his power. But Sarkozy only cares about the moment as a child only cares about a new toy for a few days. Hence the strange title of the post. I couldn't decide if his delusions outweighed his total indifference, or vice versa.

Cartoon above by Louison. Cartoon below from Veilleur.

Lisbon Treaty Official

2009-11-04T09:46:00.005-05:00

This short notice, followed by an addendum, was posted yesterday at Yves Daoudal's blog:

"The Lisbon Treaty, in its ensemble, is not in contradiction with the Czech Constitutional order," declared the president of the Czech Constitutional Court, Pavel Rychetsky, rendering the Court's verdict (no surprise, unfortunately) on the appeals filed by a group of senators.

Addendum:

This afternoon, Vaclav Klaus signed the treaty. He declared: "I expected this decision of the Constitutional court and I will respect it, even though I fundamentally disapprove of it. With the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, the Czech Republic ceases to be a sovereign State."

Shortly thereafter, Sweden, the country that currently presides over the Europe Union, declared that the Treaty would officially go into effect on December 1.

Note: Recently I posted about the denaturing of November 11 in France. Some readers declared that it was not worth fighting such a war that would eventually lead to WWII and from there to the EU. Reading the above and the preceding article by Paul Belien, I think I have to agree. Of course, no one knew that at the time. It has not been given to us to predict the course of human events, only to make decisions in terms of what we already know. But still, as a rhetorical question: "Should we have sacrificed ourselves in that war?" the answer appears to be "no".

Other readers in the past have suggested that the underlying purpose of WWI was to demonize Germany and to aid and abet the establishment of the USSR. While I don't entirely agree with that point of view, I think it has more merit now than I did back then. The establishment of the USSR, its subsequent "demise" (only of the outer structure, not the inner convictions) has led to a new, possibly much more insidiously violent USSR, known as the EU. If so many wanted the USSR, it is not all that surprising that there is so little popular resistance to Brussels. Resistance has been heroic, but spotty, sporadic and ultimately inconsequential.

An enormous part of humanity simply does not want freedom or personal responsibility.

The Long Arm of Brussels

2009-11-04T08:14:00.005-05:00

You may be aware that Paul Belien of The Brussels Journal now writes also for the Hudson Institute, "a non-profit, non-partisan policy organization" in New York. This can only benefit (and possibly demoralize) the people who will be reading Paul and thus learning some exceedingly unpleasant truths about the situation in Europe. Despite the grimness of his mission, we all wish Paul great success at the Institute, and hope that his words have a genuine impact on his readers. Here are excerpts from his article dated October 26. The article also appears at The Brussels Journal:

If all goes as planned, the 27 member states of the European Union will soon have a common hate crime legislation, which will turn disapproval for Islamic practices or homosexual lifestyles into crimes. Europe’s Christian churches are trying to stop the plan of the European political establishment, but it is not clear if they will be successful.

Last April, the European Parliament approved the European Union’s Equal Treatment Directive. A directive is the name given to an EU law. As directives overrule national legislation, they need the approval of the European Council of Ministers before coming into effect. Next month, the Council will decide on the directive, which places the 27 EU member states under a common anti-discrimination legislation. The directive’s definition of discriminatory harassment is so broad that every objection to Muslim or homosexual practices will be considered unlawful.

On April 2, the European Parliament passed the “directive on implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation,” 363 votes to 226. The directive applies to social protection and health care, social benefits, education and access to goods and services, including housing. American citizens and companies doing business in Europe are also required to adhere to it.

Originally intended to serve as an equal treatment directive for the disabled by prohibiting discrimination when accessing “goods and services, including housing,” activist European politicians and governments had the directive’s scope expanded to include discrimination on the basis of religion, age and sexual orientation. (...)

Harassment, as vaguely defined in the directive, allows an individual to accuse someone of discrimination merely for expressing something the individual allegedly perceives as creating an “offensive environment.” The definition is so broad that anyone who feels intimidated or offended can easily bring legal action against those whom he feels are responsible. Moreover, the directive shifts the burden of proof onto the accused, who has to prove the negative, i.e. demonstrate that he or she did not create an environment which intimidated or offended the complainant. If the accused fails to do so, he or she can be sentenced to paying an unlimited amount of compensation for “harassment.”

Read more.

H/T: Lawrence Auster

Technical Problems

2009-11-01T20:29:00.005-05:00

Some of you may be having trouble viewing videos at GalliaWatch and at other Google websites. For some of us, the video of Anne Lauvergeon (with English subtitles), on the AREVA hiring practices, is not viewable here, or at François Desouche, or even at YouTube. Another video at my post entitled "Taking Over Paris Streets" is also not working (nor is it viewable at YouTube).

When this started earlier in the day, I was sure it was censorship, and I wrote a long post on censorship, but removed it almost at once, when I learned from a reader that it appeared to be a Google problem. As far as I can tell from the Google Forum it IS a technical problem, but one that goes back many months, affects many browsers, and many people. So far there has been no reply from Google tech support.

Some videos, not others, are not working. An error message appears: "An error occurred, please try again later."

The French version of Lauvergeon's video is available. If I have some time I'll post it with my translation. It's only 26 seconds long.

You should be aware that the François Desouche website is being harrassed by "agents" from another website called Le Post, which in turn is part of Le Monde. FDS is being accused of working for the Front National, of being racist, sexist, homophobic, etc... This is what led me to fear censorship. But, as I said, the problem seems to be more widespread than that, though I must admit I'm not entirely convinced of anything right now.

In the past Google has always resolved the problems that affected me because they affected millions of others as well. I can only wait and see.

UMP's Great Leap Forward

2009-11-01T03:08:00.006-05:00

Sarkozy never disappoints, as he promised he never would. After denaturing Armistice Day and delivering to the farmers a speech that he had already, word for word, delivered a few months previously (I may find time to post on that); after condoning a pedophile and spending 245,572 euro to have a shower installed for his personal use (I will try to post on THAT - maybe he was trying to cleanse himself after supporting Frédéric Mitterrand, but as Lady Macbeth learned, etc...), we now learn that he has hooked up his UMP party with the Chinese Communists. Well, why not... No better example of greed, repressed love of money, and grand theft than the Communists (I don't know about their showers). The left-wing Marianne2 reports, tongue-in-cheek:

"The winds from the East will prevail over the winds from the West!" Mao Zedong was accustomed to saying. By becoming the brother-party of the Chinese Communists, UMP has finally fulfilled the predictions of the Great Helmsman! On the occasion of a visit to China, Xavier Bertrand (General Secretary of the UMP party), signed an agreement "for a better understanding, better knowledge, and many more exchanges" between the two parties. It's a way of compensating for the incident following the meeting between Nicolas Sarkozy and the Dalai Lama at the beginning of the year and a strong message to the UMP dissident Lionnel Luca, a supporter of the illegitimate theocracy of Tibet, now a recluse on the Riviera!

Note: A cursory check at Luca's website indicates that he has taken leave of the UMP party because of the signing of this new agreement. He had also voiced strong disapproval of the executions of three Tibetans who participated in anti-Chinese demonstrations in March 2008. However, on other matters, he seems to be very much in tune with Sarkozy.

A reminder that China angrily upbraided Sarkozy for his visit with the Dalai Lama, and threatened to boycott French businesses.

Who would have thought? We had to make sure it wasn't a hoax. No, it's rock-solid. The UMP is indeed joining in matrimony with the last remaining totalitarian party in the world (along with the North Korean Communist Party), the party that led the cultural revolution and caused the deaths of hundreds of millions of Chinese.

The Village Idiot (I assume they mean Xavier Bertrand) who had this stroke of genius, was quite happy to have beaten the Sinophile Jean-Pierre Raffarin (vice-president of UMP) to the draw, and has provided us with some details on the historic agreement. Every other year, he promised, there will be an event that places "a particular emphasis" on this accord. You can well imagine the dilemma they'll face: What to choose? A military parade signed Serge Dassault? A long march by the cashiers of Carrefour? A parade of majorettes led by Carla Bruni?

One thing is clear: the general secretary of UMP was also there to draw inspiration from the Chinese Communists. He visited the school for managers of the party that has 76 million members in order to learn about modern modern methods for recruiting political workers. "Red wine is the drink of the Red Guard", sang Nino Ferrer in the 1970's.

The pastiche of Xavier Bertrand on the Chinese flag is also from Marianne.

The New November 11

2009-10-31T14:49:00.009-04:00

The two principal architects of the European Union, as everyone knows, are France and Germany. Not too long ago I posted an historical retrospective on the creation and evolution of the EU, from its beginnings during the Second World War, when it was a seemingly necessary measure to end the bloodshed that was decimating Europe, through its current incarnation as a nation-destroying, multi-ethnic, open-borders, anti-Christian behemoth, run by deeply entrenched ideologues who have no intention of giving up their sinecures, just because some unenlightened European philistines don't want Brussels interfering in their lives.

Today, Providence has brought together two leaders, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, who are themselves the incarnation of the EU's ideals. Snug as two bugs in a rug, they join in holy matrimony to lead their subjects into some "brave new world" that isn't brave, isn't new, and isn't a world in any cultural or coherent sense. Neither country has as one of its strengths a political party dedicated to tradition, to the work ethic, to the Christian moral order, to national pride, to preserving the uniqueness of the ancient cultures that comprise the French or German identities. This, despite the names "conservative", "right-wing", "Christian-Democrat", etc... and other misleading labels that often adorn the letterheads of political groups.

Now, true to his vow to re-make France in his own image, Sarkozy will, by presidential fiat (there is no evidence yet that France's Parliament has been consulted on this, even less evidence that France's Parliament counts for anything anymore) denature November 11, Armistice Day, by turning it into a day honoring Franco-German friendship. A gesture of pure theatrics? A gesture of arrogance? A congenital indifference to the past?

These and similar questions come up every time Nicolas Sarkozy decides to re-program the mindset of the people, either through admonitions and threats, or through measures that aggrandize Europe at the expense of France.

But, at this point, does it really matter? How many really care about WWI any more? Many believe that WWI was a total waste of blood and treasure, resulting only in the collapse of Austro-Hungarian Empire, the depletion of young healthy males, the rise of the Soviet Union, and the pretext for the rise of Adolph Hitler. Better to forget it than commemorate it. At any rate, it was not a war to end all wars, au contraire, it was the start of the disintegration of nationhood. Better to forget it. The men who went off to fight were saps, those who deserted were smart. Better to forget it.

Whatever one's feelings about WWI, the Armistice will no longer be commemorated. Will it even be taught in schools? The following is an article, dated October 28, from the pen of Jean Quatremer, a pro-Europe journalist whose blog appears at the left-wing publication Libération:

For a longtime Nicolas Sarkozy has been hoping to make a grand gesture to Germany, equivalent to the one made by his predecessor, François Mitterrand, when he took chancellor Helmut Kohl by the hand during the commemoration of the Battle of Verdun in 1984. Now it's a done deal. Today on the eve of the European Council set for Thursday night and Friday in Brussels, and just before the dinner for the French leader and the German chancellor who was recently re-elected, Elysée Palace has announced that November 11 will remain a holiday, but it will no longer celebrate the Armistice of 1918:

"After the death of the last 'poilu', Lazare Ponticelli who died at the age of 110 on March 12, 2008, Nicolas Sarkozy wishes that November 11 become a day of Franco-German reconciliation, in order to build a shared future."

November 11 is not celebrated in Germany and it is not a holiday for the institutions of the EU, any more than May 8 (the date of the 1945 German surrender). Germany has never understood why this anniversary continues to be celebrated, since it marks the end of a European civil war that set the stage for another, that of 1939-1945. May 8 ought to be abolished and replaced by May 9, the date of Robert Schuman's declaration launching the construction of the European Community, and the date that has become the European holiday (EU institutions are closed on May 9).

For French readers, Quatremer has more on the Franco-German pre-nuptials here.

At Le Salon Beige they remind us that November 11 has religious significance as well:

November 11 is, above all, the feast of Saint Martin, the apostle of the Gauls. More than 3600 churches are dedicated to Saint Martin. And there are all the places, hamlets, abbeys, fountains, and bridges named after this very popular saint. Throughout the world, a considerable number of places make reference to Saint Martin of Tours.

There follows a lovely description in French of the life of Saint Martin, but I'm settling for this short passage from Wikipedia:

St. Martin's Day (or Martinstag or Martinmas) is November 11, the feast day of Martin of Tours, who started out as a Roman soldier. He was baptized as an adult and became a monk. It is understood that he was a kind man who led a quiet and simple life. The most famous legend of his life is that he once cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm, to save the beggar from dying of the cold. That night he dreamed that Jesus was wearing the half-cloak Martin had given away. Martin heard Jesus say to the angels: "Here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptised; he has clothed me." (Sulpicius)

In 2007 François Desouche posted this fascinating albeit upsetting video of battle scenes of WWI. The singer is Marc Ogeret. The author of the anti-war lyrics is unknown. They were set to a waltz entitled Bonsoir m'amour, and the French military authorities at the time offered a small fortune for information on the author. Here is just the refrain that is repeated three times:

Farewell to life, farewell to love,
Farewell to all women.
This infamous war is over for us, forever
Here at Craonne on the plateau
We leave our bodies
For we are all doomed
We are the sacrificed ones!

The rest of the song is a cry of despair on the inhuman conditions, the hopes betrayed and the luxury in which the rich live, while the men lie dying.

The lyrics are posted at a website called Du Temps des Cerises aux Feuilles Mortes, devoted to songs of the period from the end of the Second Empire to the 1950's. Some French readers may find it of interest.

Chanson de Craonne
Uploaded by Horadrim. -

The WWI battles that took place in Craonne, more specifically on the road called Le Chemin des Dames, in northern France, are discussed at Wikipedia. The Second Battle of the Aisne, April 16 and April 25, 1917, commemorated in this video, culminated in 270,000 French deaths and 163,000 German deaths. General Nivelle had to be replaced by General Philippe Pétain, later infamous for his supposed collaboration with the Nazis - another controversial accusation. Pétain managed to bring about improved conditions for the men.

Watching the video confirms the brutality of the war, and makes Nicolas Sarkozy's gesture of obliterating November 11 as a French national holiday all the more disloyal, even if it is true that the Germans suffered as well, even if it was brother against brother, as so many have claimed. Let the Germans commemorate in their own way and the French in theirs.

I wrote about this topic last November, when Sarkozy used November 11 to honor and exonerate the deserters of the war. Click the labels below for more posts on WWI and the "poilus" (French soldiers).