Is France Obselete?

An amazing law, even by French standards.  My good friend Petr Barton at IREF gives the details...

A summary paragraph:

The French government is hoping to help consumers – and increase growth – by making it illegal to manufacture products with artificially shortened lifetime. We argue that proving such case will be nearly impossible in modern technology and the ban will act as a tax, with consequences even worse than the status quo. If governments want to artificially boost production, they should in fact subsidise products with shortened lifetime, instead of banning them. 

 Of course, better still to leave things alone.  The key to the above paragraph is the word "artificially," the point being that this law doesn't even succeed on its own cockeyed terms.  Amazing.

I should note that Petr's blog is generally quite insightful.  You might follow him on Twitter at @iref_eu .  Some nice detail on economic problems in Europe.  The piece on Greek debt payments was surprising to me....I guess I bought the propaganda.  But it turns out that Greece is not "crippled" after all.

Save American squirrels from French kickers wearing underwear!

Headline:  "Grand Canyon Investigates Squirrel-Kicking Video."

Now I enjoy synechdoche as much as the next person (and, for you economists, that is not a city in upstate New York).

But the image of the Grand Canyon wearing a Colombo jacket and saying, "Now, dere's just one more ting I don't understand..." and springing the trap is irresistible in this case.

I also like where they say "Chances of finding the man are slim."  What about finding the squirrel?

Here's a story about the video.  I was down with the whole thing (I do NOT like squirrels, or deer.  They eat all my plants and bird food, and I would prefer to eat them, at least in the case of deer).  I should note that the pussweilers at YouTube removed the actual video.  Look: squirrels are vermin.  They need to die, or so say I.

UNTIL I learned from the video that the men "are believed to be French." Okay, wait a minute.  Really?  You Froggies wanna get all up in here and be kicking our squirrels around?  Why don't you stay home and step on snails?  They are more your speed, buddy.  I've seen your team play soccer, and squirrels you are NOT.

So:  Save American squirrels from French kickers!

Did she go "mad"? Or did she just go FRENCH?

One an Angus' favorite (and rightly so) Chris Rock's routines is the one about the tiger.

As in, the tiger ain't go crazy.  That tiger went TIGER.

This woman...just went French?  As the label says...

You Retard

This story is so fantastic, it's fantastic.  Here it is:

EDMONTON – A family has made its peace with Coca-Cola after discovering what appeared to be an offensive message printed on a bottle cap. 

Doug Loates had complained to the company after his daughter and her husband in Edmonton found the words “You Retard” under the cap of a bottle of Vitaminwater. Loates was initially unhappy with the company’s first attempt at an apology but says the second attempt from David Thomson, a vice-president with Coca-Cola Refreshments Canada, was more personal and he accepts it. 

The company has cancelled the promotion that paired randomly generated English and French words on the lids of bottled water. Loates found the message on the cap particularly offensive because he has a daughter who is developmentally delayed. 

A company spokesperson has explained that the problem was the word lists for each language were approved separately and that in French, “retard” simply means late.

You may recall that folks in Duke's Lit Department accepted entire papers generated using this technique.  Then, much too "en retard," they realized their mistake.

Nod and much love to most observant MK.

This week's sign of the apocalypse

Yikes!

Once again I ask, if crap like this can happen, why do we even have a government at all?

Hat tip to The Poke.

Happy New Year from your friends at KPC

Any thoughts, people? Tell me in the comments.

The Culture that is Sweden: Lunch Lady Edition

A school chef in a town in Sweden has gotten a cease and desist order because her food is BETTER THAN WHAT IS SERVED IN OTHER SCHOOLS!

I am not making this up.

Apparently she produced a 15 item veggie buffet and fresh baked bread, while staying on budget.

No more.

The horror doesn't end here though,"Her traditional Easter and Christmas smörgåsbords may also be under threat."

The golden age of journalism is NOW!

Crushing expose of Christine Lagarde in this morning's WAPO.

Turns out that she's "Chanel Suits and weekend denim". One time in India, she swam laps "extra hard".

The "intoxicating Hermes perfume she wears"? People you know it's  “Un Jardin sur le Nil”

Kudos to you Ned Martel. You are a giant of journalism.

The closest thing I could find that might be of some conceivable relevance in this hum-job of a piece is that Christine buys  "Greek yogurt at the Foggy Bottom Whole Foods".

Chrissie buys Greek? That's gotta mean SOMETHING, right?

Maybe I'll ask her about it tonight. I'm going to Raskia West End, where she often "drops by".

We have met the enemy....

As a diagnosed Celiac sufferer, I am often asked to explain why I am not eating bread. When I do so, people often tell me something to the effect that they "couldn't live" without bread or some other wheat-based product. To which I often reply to the effect that if they had my symptoms, they'd never want to eat their beloved wheat-based food.

However, I think I may be very wrong about this.

 Check out the 8 minute prologue to this episode of "This American Life", where people eat nuts knowing they'll be headed to the emergency room, or bring an epi-pen with them when they go out for a shellfish meal.

YIKES!!

An ER doctor is quoted as saying "the ER is a virtual laboratory of dysfunctional behaviors and bad choices".

And that puts it into perspective for me at least. If some people spend a lifetime smoking or abusing alcohol or not dealing with their diabetes, of course there are going to be those who won't worry too much about poisoning themselves for a comforting meal.

Headline of the Month

"Nearly 40% of Europeans Suffer Mental Illness"

Lets see, JC Trichet, check; DSK, check; Sarkozy, check; Silvio Berlusconi, check; Joseph Ratzinger, check......

Hmmm, maybe that number is a bit low?

Interestingly, the percentage was only 27% in 2005 (it's 38% now).

That is an excellent rate of return in these troubled financial times, so I feel fully justified in recommending that our readers go LONG IN EUROPEAN MENTAL ILLNESS.

Honey Badger don't care

Hat tip to Aaron S.

DSK Fail

Wow. There are two stories.

HE SAYS: The maid was in the room. He didn't know it. He walked out of the shower, all nekkid and pasty white 62 year old dough boy. The maid, seeing him, was overwhelmed by his physical beauty, and demanded that they couple, immediately, on the nearest available horizontal surface.

SHE SAYS: He came out of the shower, she didn't know he was in the room. She tried to ignore him. He pursued her, caught her, and raped her, in spite of her protests and resistance.

WHAT IS KNOWN FOR SURE: They were both in the room. Sex was had, because there is ... let's call it "DNA" ... from DSK. And it was all up in the part of the woman where "DNA" would be if they had sex.

THE VERDICT: These are two implausible stories. His is just silly. But it turns out that the maid has a history of lying and associating with very sketchy characters. Since both stories are implausible, we look to the presumption. In a criminal case, the strong presumption is innocence on the part of the accused.

DUKE LACROSSE: Not even close. There, no sex was had. Except with six other (non-lacrosse, non-Duke) guys, before and after. (EWWWWW!) But there was never any evidence that any of the students had sex with CM. None. Zero. In the DSK case, he DEFINITELY DID have sex with the woman, according to his own story and the DNA evidence. The question is whether it was consensual. Sounds like DSK walks.

STILL: The lacrosse players at Duke were innocent. DSK is "not guilty." There's a big difference.

DSK Fail, Francophonies Fail

Okay, so this has been building up for about a decade. In me, I mean. Listening to all my leftoid friends worshipping France. We need something like their system of government, their culture, their possession of an actual political left, to protect the workers from those big mean capitalists. Well, Maureen Dowd, of all people, put it rather brilliantly in the NYT yesterday.

(The title of the article, "Cherchez la femme," was opaque to me. After reading an explanation, still not sure what Ms. Dowd was going for with that title. There was no woman affecting a man's behavior here, only a rape. And the story is about Christine Lagarde, who is impressive, but... Intriguing.)

Anyway, the article does a fine job of laying out the issues. I do want to emphasize just two things:

1. How can you socialist-lovers defend as "socialist" a society where the phrase "troussage de domestique" is common? And where it is used seriously as a DEFENSE of a man's actions? As Ms. Dowd puts it:

The journalist Jean-François Kahn said he was “practically certain” that DSK was not trying to rape the Sofitel maid, but was merely engaging in “troussage de domestique,” lifting the skirt of the servant. Jack Lang, a former government minister, cracked, “It’s not like anybody died.”

So if a rich man employs a poor woman, he is simply entitled to lift up her skirt? And as long as no one dies, he can actually physically enjoy her, against her will? No wonder all you lefites love France. This is Bill Clinton's idea of heaven, because you can say "So what?" instead of having to lie to the grand jury. And your wife, instead of making up some absurd "great right wing conspiracy," can proudly say that she admires your seductive prowess? (Though you francophones will have to explain to me how forcible rape is seduction...)

(Hilarious, this bit from FT. Nice arse, indeed.)

2. Capitalist elites have rich tastes, but they expect to pay for it. Socialist elites have tastes at least as rich, but think they are entitled to take, by harnessing the state's coercive force if necessary, because they "serve the people." $50k per month apartment? $3,000 per night suite? And this guy is a man of the people? The case reveals not just the hypocrisy of protecting male sexual predators in France, but also protecting the political predators who call themselves socialists. I think that part of the story is underreported. National Review hits on it, but that hardly counts among the "real" media you lefties take seriously.

Here is one honest person of the left, I'll admit.

UPDATE: Anonyman sends this tidbit. The title of the article could be expanded to ANY socialist organization, including our own Congress. And before you guys go all, "He's not a socialist" out of your little reflexive talking points, I have to point out that DSK calls HIMSELF a socialist. So go argue with him.

Veiled Fury

France bans veils. Walking around nekkid is still allowed, however. (Nod to the Blonde, though she doesn't really advocate the walking around nekkid part; I added that.)

Here is the US First Amendment, including the five freedoms from majority tyranny:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. (Written September 25, 1789)

Here is the French version of the same freedoms of religion (from the Declaration of the Rights of Man):

10. No one shall be disquieted on account of his opinions, including his religious views, provided their manifestation does not disturb the public order established by law.

11. The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law. (These two written August 26, 1789).

The American version was Sept 25, 1789; the French was August 26, 1789. Yet banning the wearing of headscarves in the U.S. is literally inconceivable.

The difference is that the U.S. version says "Congress shall make no law..." That's a protection against the government.

The French version basically says you aren't supposed to break the law, but there is no restriction on the law itself. The law can say whatever some bunch of meddlers want it to say. That's an establishment of state power over religion. Quite a difference.

Vive le difference!

Ban on Dying

French town of Sarpourenx bans dying.

Two problems occur to me. First, how to enforce the ban? Second, I'm pretty sure this means they will have to raise the retirement age, right?

(Nod to the LMM)

The Culture that is France

Tyler says: "A Korean man over 75 is more likely to be working than a Frenchman in his early 60s."

How to succeed in soccer, or where's Vlade Divac when you really need him.

Consider this the equivalent of a 2,000 word essay:

Oh! Canada!

Our northern neighbors are hosting the latest G-7 Finance Ministers meeting this week. In Iquluit Nunavut!

Canada's Finance Department, the organizer of the G-7 event, has been limited in the activities it could plan. There are only 300 hotel rooms in town. And because some 500 guests, including ministers, security and media are expected, some will have to sleep in dorm rooms.

With a dearth of limousines in Iqaluit, ministers will use the 15 rental cars available from the town's single car-rental agency. After those are full, school buses will ferry around attendees further down the diplomatic food chain.

Local residents are anxious to see how the dignitaries respond to Saturday's traditional Inuit feast, which has muskox, caribou and seal on the menu—some of it skinned and served raw.

But, people I come not to bury Canada but to praise her. Why? Well because Timothy Geithner is the guy who goes to these meetings right? Who knows, maybe he'll get stuck riding a bus to his dorm room. Maybe he'll get slush kicked up on him by a passing snowmobile. Maybe he'll have a run in with some amorous caribou! Maybe he'll turn out to be allergic to seal heart!

Consider all the possibilities.....