Drive-by Planet

Showing posts with label France related. Show all posts

Apr 24, 2012

Sarkozy offers three debates: Sarko aide says Hollande 'scared'

During a speech to a partisan crowd after his recent loss in the first stage of the French presidential race, Sarkozy proposed three debates between himself and Socialist challenger François Hollande. The occasion in itself was a little odd. A casual viewer tuning in might have mistakenly thought Sarkozy was celebrating a victory rather than a loss. He is in fact the only outgoing president not to lead after the first round of a presidential election.

Hollande, who placed first in round one, has turned down Sarkozy's offer. As the winner in round one why should Hollande allow Sarko to dictate the terms and do what he loves... bloviate for the cameras. One of the issues in this campaign is Sarkozy's overblown personality. He has turned off a lot of French voters who in addition to disappointment with broken promises and empty rhetoric, view his style as anything-but presidential. Simply put many voters are sick and tired of Sarkozy and his posturing.

A Sarkozy spokesperson, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, said that Hollande was "scared" to go against the president in three debates. The Hollande team was quick to react.

Guardian:

Hollande's team responded by saying Sarkozy's offer was a childish "whim" and an attempt at manipulation. His spokesman, Pierre Moscovici, said Hollande refused to be dictated to by a man who would go down in history as the only outgoing president not to lead after the first-round vote.

Muscovi also said:

Just because he's got a bad result he now wants three debates. It's the whim of a naughty pupil, someone who didn't get the score he expected. He never wanted that before. And he's trying to make out François Hollande is afraid. The debate – there will be one of them – will be a big debate and we hope it will answer the questions that concern the French... We're not going to take any lessons from Nicolas Sarkozy. He has no credibility. He's not in a position to impose anything on François Hollande.

Bar some miraculous alignment of electoral fortunes it looks as though Sarko is on the way out. In more basic terms he needs about 80% of Le Pen's voters. However there is a limit on how far he can go in wooing Front National voters without alienating the center. Anyway many FN voters are so turned off by President Bling Bling they will likely abstain or even vote Socialist. On paper at least 27% of FN voters have said they will vote for Hollande in round two.

Sarkozy has been making a pitch to the far-right, promising a get-tough approach. It's pathetic that he is prepared to pander to the hate, anger and alienation represented by the Front National surge, but not surprising. Sarkozy is all about opportunism, especially when it comes to securing the edge on anything that touches on his ego.

He also needs to try and keep Bayrou's centrists in play. Good luck with that. A majority of centrists have more sympathy for Hollande - some 40% - than Sarkozy. Only around 25% have said they will vote for Sarkozy. So his options are limited going into round two.

By contrast most of the 15.1% of voters who backed other left-wing parties will get solidly behind Hollande. If you pool the contenders overall likely support base, Hollande's percentages are significantly higher than Sarkozy`s. One analyst indicates the breakdown would be around 36% for Sarkozy and 42% for Hollande.

Apr 6, 2012

Jean-Luc Mélenchon: Left-Front surges in French polls

Left-Front firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon has moved ahead of far-right Marine Le Pen to become the third placed contender in the French presidential campaign. He pulls no punches in his colorful descriptions of Le Pen and her far-right views, calling her "a dark presence" and "semi-demented."

Mélenchon is sometimes misrepresented as a communist. He's an ex-member of the Socialists - a party that he believes has gone soft. He has been described as a socialist republican with a Marxian view of the crisis afflicting market capitalism. He's also engaging... a great crowd pleaser.

In a recent article Angelique Chrisafis captures the essence of the Mélenchon appeal:

Mixing brute rage with killer, comic one-liners about the French political class, Mélenchon whipped up the crowd with promises of a civic insurrection to crush aristocracy and privilege. Hundreds who could not fit into the hall stood freezing in the car-park watching a live feed on a video screen, waving red banners and tricolour flags. "Welcome to Mélenchon-mania," beamed a student at her first ever rally.

Mélenchon is disarmingly candid about his remedies for the French economy. He characterizes himself as "dangerous"... "Dangerous for financial interests, and dangerous for the oligarchy in France and Europe." He's not kidding either.

Mélenchon:

Anything above €360,000, we take it all. The tax bracket will be 100%. People say to me, that's ideological. I say too right it is. It's a vision of society. Just as we won't allow poverty in our society, we won't allow the hyper-accumulation of riches. Money should not be accumulated but circulated, invested, spent for the common good.

When asked if such policies wouldn't drive the rich out of France, he replied: "If they do, no problem. Bye bye."

It may not be that easy to escape. He proposes that tax exiles should have to pay the difference back to the state: "So there's no point leaving, because we'll catch you. If they don't pay, we'll seize what they own..."

Eat-the-rich and bash-the-bankers rhetoric is finding a receptive audience in France. Lifestyles of the rich and infamous has provoked popular revulsion. An example of this being the the behind-the-scenes activities of L'Oreal cosmetic heiress, Liliane Bettencourt, who lives in a mansion in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Tapes made on the fly by her butler suggest Bettencourt was avoiding paying taxes by stashing cash in undeclared Swiss bank accounts. A former accountant, Claire Thibout, alleged in an interview with the website Mediapart that visiting conservative politicians were given envelopes stuffed with cash. Other revelations involving Bettencourt's lifestyle have added to the cynicism - even the news that her dogs eat only fresh fish.

On the EU Jean-Luc Mélenchon is equally outspoken and unafraid of rocking the status quo. He is no longer a defender of European federalism because "economic liberalism has totally corrupted the institution and makes it impossible to achieve democratic change which is necessary in the EU, all power belonging to technocrats with no popular legitimacy."

He supports a citizens revolution (révolution citoyenne) that will reverse the division of wealth and include changes to the constitution. Radical stuff. It has prompted some of his critics to name him "Chávez a la française" - but judging from Mélenchon's appeal many people in France seem to have an appetitie for radical solutions. More than six out of 10 show some support for the ideas of Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

Mélenchon rally

The prospects for the rich in France look challenging unless Sarko can be retained. Even Sarkozy's main rival, Socialist François Hollande is on record saying "I don't like the rich" adding that making them pay more tax is "patriotism."

Apparently Jean-Luc is a big poetry fan. Also a fan of the French Revolution. During a speech he said "The French Revolution of 1789 hasn't breathed its last... If Europe is a volcano, France is the crater of all European revolutions!"

Mar 28, 2012

Merah killings: more about psychiatric issues than jihad?

To describe the Mohamed Merah killings as the act of a jihadi-on-a-mission is the type of simplistic narrative that short circuits more in-depth discussion of Merah's motivations. There are questions about his psychological state that raise questions in turn about whether he was acting as an Al Qaeda connected "mujahedin" - a claim he made when speaking with French police.

Merah grew up in one of the roughest housing estates in Toulouse. He had a chaotic and disjointed childhood. When he was age 5 his father left to head back to Algeria. His mother was largely unemployed. He drifted into a life of petty crime. A local official described him as a "little failure."

Although Merah traveled to Pakistan, at this point it's unclear whether claims that he received military training in Waziristan are true or not. According to some reports that cite intelligence officials, a group of Frenchmen operating under the name Jihad-e-Islami received training in the use of explosives and weapons in North Waziristan. One source claims the camps where training took place were located near the town of Miran Shah and in the Datta Khel area.

To date French officials have dismissed claims that Merah received any such training. Yet other reports indicate he may have been involved in the planting of explosives for the Taliban.

Was Merah motivated just by jihad or were his actions also driven by more dysfunctional urges? He relished killing in a strange, almost sadistic fashion - spoke of how he took "infinite pleasure" in killing. This would relate more to the Ogrish-type execution videos Merah apparently enjoyed than the content of any mujahedin training video. Certainly the way he carried out his crimes doesn't fit the mold of a jihadi on a mission.

Independent:

But despite apparently professing grand aspirations, a police source... said that Merah seemed more obsessed with himself than with his cause. "He wanted to give himself a starring role," the source said. "He had a narcissistic need to seem important."

The practice of filming his victims during the attacks suggests that he intended to view the tapes at a later date, perhaps for vicarious thrills. Maybe he even hoped to find a way to post them online.

According to the head of the French police counterterrorism agency, Bernard Squarcini, Merah had shown signs of "psychiatric issues" in the past.

Independent:

Bernard Squarcini, head of the French internal security service, told Le Monde newspaper: "He (Merah) resembles no other pattern we have seen until now... What he did points more to a mixture of medical problems and fanaticism than the usual career of a jihadist."

While there can be no justification for Merah's crimes, the tragedy also draws attention to the harsh social and political realities facing Muslims in France that too often get overlooked in the rush to point the finger of blame.

Sarkozy's effort to attract votes from the far-right by complaining about the numbers of 'foreigners', targeting halal meat and veils, fails to address the real challenge faced by France. Western military adventures, occupation of Muslim lands, Islamophobia linked to old colonial prejudices, the marginalization of French Muslims, racism and xenophobia - these are the issues that lie at the root of the challenges facing France. Until these matters are addressed no amount of scapegoating of Muslims and their customs will improve the situation.

It's interesting to note the different reactions to the murderous rampage of American serviceman Robert Bales - that also took the lives of innocent children - and the Merah killings.

We have heard comment from American media sources drawing attention to the "human side" of Bales - recipient of numerous military awards. We learned that he's a Dad, a "regular guy" to those who knew him. He had pressures... was financially strapped. Even the very deed itself somehow or other couldn't have been perpetrated by an American serviceman in his right mind. Bales had to have been drunk, brain damaged, stressed, on drugs... any number of reasons to explain away what was by any standard an act of cold blooded savagery. The children Bales murdered remain pretty much faceless in the media, for the most part no names either. The collateral damage of a soldier's psycho night out.

By contrast in the wider public forum many are more than happy to brand Merah a terrorist, a jihadi, a Muslim fanatic, evil, a monster... as though that's all we need to know. The danger of this type of tabloid thinking is that it adds to the risk of similar occurrences down the road.

More also from Guardian and Stopwar.org

Mar 15, 2010

Front National makes gains in French elections

Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP has taken a hit in French regional elections. In the first round the Socialists came out on top with 29.48 % of the vote, Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement got 26.18% and Europe Ecologie 12.7%.

The far-right Front National staged a surprising comeback, defying Sarkozy's predictions. Front National got 11.55% of the vote - a significant increase from the 6.8% it scored in last year's European elections and the 4.3% it picked up in the 2007 presidential vote.

Sarkozy has been accused of giving the anti-immigrant far-right and their sympathizers a leg-up when he launched a national identity debate. Socialist leader, Martine Aubry, said he was "re-opening the door for the Front National". She also said: "... this debate on national identity is aimed at opposing French from here with French from elsewhere or foreigners, well (in doing so) he opened a door".

The debate took place on internet forums and in public meetings. Rather than an exercise in soul-searching and enlightenment many of the exchanges descended into rants against immigration and Muslims.

In the current climate in France an anti-immigrantion stance is seen by some politicians as a way to attract votes. During the campaign the Front National put out a poster with the predictable stereotypes front and center... a woman in full Islamic veil and minarets that resembled missiles.

The poster was banned by a French court but FN leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen displayed it anyway during a TV appearance.

The results bode ill for Sarkozy. Opinion polls indicate the Socialists and their allies could win 21 mainland regions. Socialist leader Martine Aubrey said the results show that the French want to "express their wish for a more just and a stronger France".

For more on the story - Guardian - France24

Feb 14, 2010

Ko Siu Lan: 'censorship' of work in Paris

Chinese artist Ko Siu Lan has accused the prestigious French art school, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, of censorship after the school took down her banner installation on the grounds that it was "overtly political."

The banners satirize a campaign slogan of Nicolas Sarkozy. The notorious phrase "Work more to earn more" has been altered, with individual banners bearing the words "earn", "less", "work" and "more".

At a time when France is experiencing an economic downturn the banners speak to a hard reality. They also fit very well with the theme of the exhibition: "The sevenday weekend."

Beaux-Arts issued a statement to say that Ko's work had been removed because of its "explicitly political" message which could violate "public service neutrality". The school reportedly received complaints from the ministry of education about the installation.

Ko Siu Lan said she was shocked and saddened by the decision. She said: "I come from China and we know what to expect there but I would not have expected this kind of brutal censorship in France."

She also added: “Who are they to decide what is and what is not neutral... France is not as ‘Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité’ as people think. The directors are lacking in moral courage and I don’t even think even they know what they are doing. This is an almost fascist control of art.”

It certainly appears to be an act of blatant censorship that runs counter to the values Beaux Arts should be defending. Predictably politics comes into it. France 24 reports that the exhibition's curator, Clare Carolin, received an email that summoned her to meet with the school's director, Henri-Claude Cousseau.

France 24 coverage includes an excerpt from the email: “I was told by Henri-Claude that your work was too explosive to stay in situ, that it had already caused offence to [college] staff members and people from the Ministry of Education, that this was an especially sensitive moment given that [college] is about to renew its funding agreement with the ministry, that the consequences of leaving it there after 5 pm this afternoon could be disastrous.”

The school has accused Ko of 'manipulation.' It claims that she set up the work earlier than planned and said it should have been clearly labeled as a work of art and part of an official exhibition. The statement by the school also said that the banners as presented were an attempt to manipulate the establishment.

The school said it was willing to display Ko's work indoors as part of the larger exhibition - an offer the artist refused on the grounds that “It would ruin the integrity of my art and render it meaningless.”

Ko Siu Lan says the school had known since December exactly how her work would be presented. She showed France 24 a catalogue for the exhibition in which her work was clearly displayed.

It would seem the outcry over the 'take-down' may have had some impact. France’s Culture Minister Fédéric Mitterrand has called for Beaux Arts to put Ko Siu Lan's work back on display.

France 24 report - here.

Guardian story - here.

Ko Siu Lan YouTube video - here.

Apr 6, 2009

Paris Liberation:'whites only' victory

blacks excluded from Paris Liberation celebrations

BBC researchers have unearthed documents that reveal British and American commanders took steps to ensure that the liberation of Paris on August 25th 1944 was a "whites only" affair. A disturbing irony when you consider that the fight against Nazism included a fight against the vicious racism it promoted.

BBC:

...the BBC's Document programme has seen evidence that black colonial soldiers - who made up around two-thirds of Free French forces - were deliberately removed from the unit that led the Allied advance into the French capital.

Leader of the Free French Forces, Charles de Gaulle, was adamant that his Frenchmen lead the liberation of Paris. High Allied Command agreed, but on the understanding that De Gaulle's division contain no black soldiers.

By the time France fell in 1940, some 17,000 of its West African troops - mainly Tirailleurs Senegalais - had given their lives in defense of the Republic. In 1944 with the Allied move on Paris they had a chance to take their revenge, but the opportunity was never given to them due to the priorities of the Allied Command.

Documents that contain correspondence from British General Frederick Morgan to the Allied Supreme Command includes the following:

"It is unfortunate that the only French formation that is 100% white is an armoured division in Morocco.

"Every other French division is only about 40% white. I have told Colonel de Chevene that his chances of getting what he wants will be vastly improved if he can produce a white infantry division."

It proved to be difficult to come up with an all-white division. West African conscripts made up a large part of the French army.

Allied Command insisted that blacks be removed and replaced with white soldiers from other units. Even then there weren't enough whites to fill the gaps, so less obviously black soldiers who hailed from the Middle east and N. Africa were selected to stand-in.

BBC:

In the end, nearly everyone was happy. De Gaulle got his wish to have a French division lead the liberation of Paris, even though the shortage of white troops meant that many of his men were actually Spanish.

The British and Americans got their "Whites Only" Liberation even though many of the troops involved were North African or Syrian.

The French treatment of their West African Tirailleurs Senegalais was extremely poor. These brave African fighters made up 65% of Free French forces, yet they received little recognition for their sacrifice. Many were simply stripped of their uniforms and sent home. As BBC notes matters were made worse when in 1959 their pensions were cut.

The BBC report gives the last word to a French colonial soldier, Issa Cisse, from Senegal:

"We were colonised by the French. We were forced to go to war. Forced to follow the orders that said, do this, do that, and we did. France has not been grateful. Not at all."

Some scenes from the liberation of Paris victory celebrations:

Apr 2, 2009

Police violence in France unchecked

In a 46-page report: Public Outrage: police officers above the law in France - Amnesty International has accused French authorities of failing to adequately investigate alleged cases of violence by security forces.

Police violence in France has been directed mainly at French citizens of ethnic origin and at foreign nationals living in France.

Cases profiled in the Amnesty report include two pregnant women who say they were punched by police officers and the case of two men who died after reportedly being ill-treated.

Amnesty says that beatings and even killings often aren't looked into and that security officials involved are rarely brought to justice. Although not every case brought against French authorities has merit, the discrepancy between the number of complaints made and the number of disciplinary sanctions "raises questions about the thoroughness and impartiality of the investigations".

For example in 2006, 639 allegations were made and 8 police officers dismissed following investigations. In addition, a high number of complaints against law enforcement officials are closed by the prosecutor without reaching trial.

Another trend has been for people who are victims of police violence or who witness police brutality to find themselves charged with the criminal offense of insulting or assaulting a police officer.

In France the investigative procedures against police fail to meet the standards required by international law. Amnesty has called on French authorities to reform the current system and create an independent police complaints commission. But good luck on this because the French have proved unresponsive in the past. Recommendations made by Amnesty in a 2005 report, were all but ignored by French authorities.

Representatives from the French justice ministry, the interior ministry and the National Union of Police Officers disagree with the findings in the Amnesty report. Guillaume Didier of the justice ministry said: "there is no tolerance for police violence".

It's difficult not to see this response as routine official denial when the findings of Amnesty and other independent observers indicate that there is a problem with police violence in France.

La Belle France

Related story - here

Nov 30, 2008

Vittorio de Filippis: Libération journalist arrested by French cops

Vittorio de Filippis, an executive and former editor-in-chief of the Paris newspaper Libération, recently awoke to the sound of knocking on his door at 6.40 AM. Three cops were at the door - two men and a woman.

When the police entered the journalist's home, they informed him that they had a warrant to take him before the Tribunal de grande instance (TGI) high court in Paris. They refused to allow him to contact his attorney. An argument ensued, witnessed by de Filippis' children.

The journalist was ordered to get dressed and transported to Raincy police station, located near his home. He was informed that he had been arrested in connection with libel cases brought by Xavier Niel, founder of the internet company Free, in relation to articles written by Renaud Lecadre. These articles appeared in both Libération and the paper's web site.

Vittorio de Filippis was managing editor of Libération in 2006 when the Renaud Lecadre articles were published.

It appears investigating magistrate Muriel Josie issued the arrest warrant for de Filippis because she believed he had ignored her mailed summons. This was an extreme move on the part of Josie because de Filippis' lawyers were apprised of the details of the case - their numbers are listed in the phone directory, as is the number of Vittorio de Filippis.

After being handcuffed de Filippis was transported to the main courthouse in the center of Paris. He was forced to strip and subjected to a humiliating body search before being locked in a cell.

The following morning at around 10 AM, he was again forced to undress and once again subjected to a body search. This apparently occurred because Muriel Josie insisted that police follow procedure to the letter.

Following this treatment, he was taken to Josie's office. She refused his request to call his lawyers, and as a consequence, de Filippis refused to answer any of her questions. Josie formally notified de Filippis that he was being investigated in a libel case and he was released onto the sidewalk at the front of the court.

The Paris newspaper Libération is a left-wing daily. It has been a strong critic of president Sarkozy. The extensive powers of French police under Sarkozy's law-and-order initiatives allow much leeway when it comes to the treatment of alleged suspects. So it appears to be no coincidence that de Filippis was singled out for extraordinary treatment over a two-year old libel case that may draw a fine, but certainly not a prison sentence.

There is little doubt that these proceedings were designed to humiliate and 'punish' de Filippis. The police conduct under these circumstances was outrageous and has caused an outcry from those who believe that freedom of expression in France is under threat.

This from Reporters Without Borders:

"We are outraged by the unacceptable methods used against Vittorio de Filippis and their humiliating nature. Such a thing has never been heard of in France. To treat a journalist like a criminal and to resort to practices such as body searches is not only shocking but unworthy of French justice."

Washington Post coverage of story here.

Oct 30, 2008

Sarkozy fails in bid to have voodoo doll banned

French president Sarkozy has failed to have the Nicolas Sarkozy voodoo doll banned. A French court threw out the ban attempt. The judge ruled that the doll and how-to manual that explains how to put the evil eye on the president, falls within the boundaries of "free expression" and "right to humor."

Sarko's lawyer argued that the president owned the right to his own image, which was violated by the sale of the doll.

Unlike Sarkozy, his Socialist rival Ségolène Royal who has a similar voodoo doll circulating in her likeness, didn't sue. She praised the verdict as a victory for the freedom to "caricature the world's most powerful."

It's unknown if Sarkozy will appeal.

French legislators find use for Sarko voodoo doll

Related story - here

Oct 25, 2008

Serge Gainsbourg: new exhibition opens in Paris

Serge Gainsbourg is the subject of an ambitious exhibition that opened this week at the Musée de Musique in Paris.

John Lichfield writing in the Independent provides some background:

The exhibition, Gainsbourg 2008, is part of a series organised by the Cité de Musique in the 19th arrondissement, whose classically oriented museum has paid tribute in recent years to giants of rock music from John Lennon to Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd. Serge Gainsbourg is the first French pop musician to be honoured.

The curator of the exhibition, Frédéric Sanchez, describes the choice of Gainsbourg as a "consecration" and an "apotheosis". The show, which lasts until 1 March, presents Gainsbourg as not just a pop star and rebel but an intellectual and artist, who also dabbled in cinema, painting, poetry and novel-writing.

Great talent though he was, it was the hit "Je T'Aime Moi Non Plus" that brought Gainsbourg international fame, due in large part to the orgasmic moaning of a female co-performer. He never tried to hide his unconventional tastes. In his incarnation as 'Gainsbarre in France' he acquired the image of an aging roué - a rep added to by his fascination with the sexual allure of teen lolitas.

Gainsbourg's lyrics were often sexual, at times morbid. Double-meaning and sexual innuendo delivered a message that couldn't be spelled out. For example the song, "Les Sucettes," that he wrote for the French singer France Gall, was really a metaphor for oral sex - something Gall didn't catch onto at first.

In an article that appeared in the Independent in 2006, Philip Sweeney writes of the enduring Gainsburg legend and the manner in which it has been resurfacing in tribute albums such as Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited:

A new album, Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited, features the maestro's work, translated into English, performed by a couple of dozen choice members of the UK and US music scenes, and the flagship French Gainsbourg TV show broadcast last month was devoted largely to these performers. Along with Gainsbourg contemporaries such as Birkin, Marianne Faithfull and Françoise Hardy, a new crop of Gainsbourgians - Franz Ferdinand, Placebo, Tricky, Jarvis Cocker - was in the studio to testify to the unshaven anti-hero's greatness, and to comment, almost without exception, that their first experience of his music was that number, you know, with the girl moaning, "Je T'Aime".

In his later years Gainsbourg was a regular on French television. This certainly didn't signal a toning down of his idiosyncratic ways. He often showed up unshaven and at times under-the-influence. He was reliably unpredictable. In 1986 when he appeared on Michael Drucker's show with the American singer, Whitney Houston, he announced out loud "I want to fuck her."

Gainsbourg was one of the first pop artists of the late 1960s. While artists such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein explored modern iconographic consumer culture through painting, Gainsbourg explored similar territory in music. Love him or hate him - he was a true original.

Serge Gainsbourg died on 2 March 1991 of a heart attack. His funeral brought Paris to a standstill. Then French President Mitterand said of him, "He was our Boudelaire, our Apollinaire."

Oct 22, 2008

Sarkozy threatens to sue over voodoo doll

The publisher K&B has issued 20,000 editions of a voodoo doll in the likeness of Nicolas Sarkozy. The kit comes with pins and instructions on how to put the evil eye on the French President.

The Sarkozy 'voodoo doll' has sayings by the President printed on its body. Users have the option to stick their pins into the most hated quote. Some of the choices include "work more to earn more" and "get lost you pathetic asshole" (the BBC report translates it as "get lost, jerk") which is what Sarko reportedly said to a man who refused to shake his hand at an event last year.

Perhaps Sarkozy has a superstitious streak because he's very unhappy about the voodoo doll kit - so unhappy he has threatened to sue K&B if they don't pull the kit from the shops. His lawyer claims the president has "exclusive and absolute rights over his own image."

So far K & B has refused to oblige. The publisher characterized Sarkozy's reaction as "totally disproportionate."

Super Sarko and the curse of the voodoo doll

Related story - here

Sep 22, 2008

Sarkozy smoking 'the opium of the people'

French President Nicolas Sarkozy was so delighted to welcome Pope Benedict recently he broke with tradition and made the trip to Orly airport in order to be in attendance as the Pontiff's red shoe touched down on French soil. At Sarkozy's side was Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, minus her guitar.

Pope Benedict arrived in France on a mission. A primary objective was to address the touchy subject of state-church relations. Sarkozy has signaled that he is open to change with his call for a more flexible approach to laïcité - the traditionally rigid separation of church and state in France.

Sarkozy has taken to speaking of "positive secularism" which really is a misnomer, because secularism correctly understood is neutral. Agnès Poirier makes that point in her New Statesman' article - "The Pope's Plot":

What the Pope and president pretend not to know is that there is no positive or negative secularism (laïcité in French). Secularism is neutral. It is neither a dogma nor a doctrine. If anything, it's an abstention. Secularism abstains from fav ouring one religion over another, or favouring atheism over religious belief. It is a political principle that aims at guaranteeing the largest possible coexistence of various freedoms.

When Sarkozy gave a speech praising the benefits of a secularism "more open to religions", the Pope commended him for his "expression of positive secularism". However the rather amorphous concept of "positive secularism" didn't originate with Sarkozy. As Poirer points out:

According to the political scientist Caroline Fourest, author of a recent book on the Catholic Church, the sympathy between the Pope and the French president shouldn't be surprising. Their "new idea" is a Trojan horse. The term "positive secularism" was actually coined in 2005 by the then Cardinal Ratzinger, whose views have inspired two of President Sarkozy's close aides and speechwriters, the practising Catholic Emmanuelle Mignon and the Dominican friar Philippe Verdin.

Not everyone was as delighted about the Pope's visit as Sarkozy, who apparently was keen to attend almost every important event during Benedict's French visit. Socialist leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon accurately pointed out that the Pope and Sarkozy have "a common political goal" that casts doubt on the "laïcité of our Republic."

The satirical magazines Le Canard and Charlie Hebdo took a few shots. Le Canard informed its readers that Benedict had been listed in the controversial new police registry known as Edvige. Charlie Hebdo had a long editorial denouncing the Church along with anti-Pope petitions and protest info.

Nicolas Sarkozy: Vatican special agent 17756-SARK-O

Related story - here

Jul 23, 2008

EDVIGE and CRISTINA: twin threat to French liberties

A new database in France named EDVIGE - exploitation documentaire et valorisation de l’information générale (documentary exploitation and enhancement of general information), to be used by French intelligence and administrative police is proving to be highly controversial.

EDVIGE will file data on individuals, groups and organizations who by their individual or collective activity are deemed to endanger public order. This data collection can start from the age of 13 and will include not just the targeted individual or groups, but also those associated with them.

In an attempt to justify the collection of data on 13 year olds, minister of the interior, Michele Alliot-Marie said: “We have observed an increase in child delinquency.”

In an interview with Journal du Dimanche, justice minister Rachida Dati announced the creation of a "file on organized gangs." This initiative followed upon an incident on the Champs de Mars that involved clashes between youths and the police.

The "file on gangs" is suspect because it seems to be a tool for targeting people who because of their profile, might commit an offense. Le Monde raised an objection to such an idea in a June 30 editorial: "A state governed by the rule of law (Etat de droit) cannot accept the penalization of supposed intentions.”

EDVIGE was created by decree on June 27, 2008 and given its scope is a potent instrument of police control. It will collect data such as - "civil status and occupation; physical addresses, phone numbers, email addresses; physical characteristics, photographs, behaviour; identity papers; car plate numbers; fiscal and patrimonial information; moves and legal history."

Gay organizations have learned that it will also keep data relating to sexual orientation and health - in particular information relating to HIV seropositivity.

The League for Human Rights has condemned this "awesome extension of political-police files on citizens." The Syndicat de la magistrature (Magistrate's Union), has called the file "undemocratic ... it involves informing the government on politically active people and no longer just facilitating the appreciation of a political or economic situation.”

EDVIGE comes with a twin - CRISTINA.

CRISTINA aims to centralize intelligence for homeland security and national interests in France. Not a lot of detail is known at this point. The French government evoked article 26.111 - a provision of the Data Protection Act - in deciding not to publish the decree relating to CRISTINA.

There has been widespread mobilization against EDVIGE in France. A petition hosted by Réseau Associatif et Syndical (RAS), has already gathered some 16,000 signatures from individuals and 170 signatures from associations, trade unions and political parties. Some of these groups are also preparing legal action against the French government in an effort to obtain the annulment of the EDVIGE decree.

Jul 13, 2008

Segolene Royal accuses Sarkozy 'clan' of being behind break-in

Segolene Royal , the defeated French presidential candidate, is a woman who isn't afraid to speak her mind. Recently she accused President Sarkozy and his wealthy friends of attempting a "take-over" of France.

Her concern is understandable. Sarkozy has made moves that create the impression he is rewarding his pals. He recently banned advertising on state-owned television. The spin-off effect from this will drive business to commercial television channels owned by his friends, potentially boosting their revenue annually by an estimated 450m Euros.

Strangely, on June 27, one day after Mme Royal criticized "the Sarkozy clan," her apartment in Boulogne-Billancourt, was broken into. Even more strange ... nothing was stolen. The place was just ransacked. The perpetrators seemed more interested in intimidating Mme Royal, rather than pilfering anything of value.

Her apartment was also broken into during the presidential campaign. On that occasion also, nothing was stolen. It is hard to believe that the most recent break-in, with similar characteristics to the first, was simply coincidence.

When Mme Royal linked the June 27 break-in with her criticisms of the "clan", it was taken by politicians close to Sarkozy as a finger pointing directly at the President. Mme Royal was accused of being "unstable" ... of having a "martyr complex." Parliamentary speaker, Bernard Accoyer, said: "She will stop at nothing to get attention." The Prime Minister, Francois Fillon, said it was "absolutely shameful" to make accusations against the President "without a shred of proof."

On her part Mme Royal said:

"I observe that on the day after I said that it was time to halt the Sarkozy clan's take-over of France, my home was ransacked. I make a link between the two events."

"I am the only politician to denounce strongly the moves being made to undermine the state television services... There is a kidnapping going on, a robbery of the advertising revenue on France 2 and France 3 to enrich M. Sarkozy's friends ... I will bow to no intimidation in my attempts to prevent this dirty trick against the people of France."

Segolene Royal is not the first critic to have concerns about President bling-bling and his many rich, influential associates. The favors go back and forth and nothing gets overlooked. For example Paris Match obligingly photoshopped Sarko's vacation photos to trim down fat around the Presidential waistline.

When Sarkozy wanted to find a suitable position for Laurent Solly, his deputy campaign manager, he placed a call to his billionaire friend, Martin Bouygues. Shortly after Solly got named to a top post at TF1. This sort of practice is usually referred to as "influence peddling" but when Sarkozy does it, it's more like business-as-usual.

Leader of the Socialist group in parliament, Jean-Marc Ayrault, made a perceptive comment on the possible causes of the Royal break-ins. He said that Sarkozy's time in power had created "a climate ... which recalled the most unpleasant periods of French political history." He went on to say that once such a climate is created "anything can happen."

The cult of personality that surrounds the French President prompted a psychiatrist, Serge Hefez, to identify a new mental illness among the French - "obsessive Sarkosis." Related conditions include Sarkophrenia and Sarkonia. This might be viewed as a tongue-in-cheek exercise, but it isn't without a basis in reality.

Sarkozy is a polarizing personality and some of his most ardent followers identify with him to the point of fanaticism. Criticism of Sarkozy in the present "climate" could indeed have made Mme Royal a target for recrimination.

Break-in at Segolene Royal's residence

Related story - here

Apr 15, 2008

Brigitte Bardot: in court for inciting hatred

Brigitte Bardot's unconditional compassion for animals doesn't extend to fellow humans, especially if they happen to be Muslim. Bardot has taken on a second career of sorts as a celebrity defendant. She recently went on trial for the fifth time in France for insulting Muslims. The prosecutor in the case, Anne de Fontette, is asking for a tougher sentence, adding "I am a little tired of prosecuting Ms Bardot."

The one-time sex kitten is married to Bernard D'Ormale, an associate of right wing demagogue Jean-Marie Le Pen who heads up the National Front.

Muslims aren't the only target of Bardot's scorn. In her book, A Cry in the Silence, gays and lesbians are described as "cheap faggots or circus freaks". This seems odd since Bardot has claimed that gay people are among her best friends - as she put it: "For years, they have been my support, my friends, my adopted children, my confidantes."

The unemployed don't escape her scorn either. They are characterized as people "who only accept jobs on the black market." The woman who describes herself accurately as 'no Balzac' also denigrates interracial marriage, women in politics, immigration ... among other things.

Her hysterical excesses when describing the influence of Islam on French society knows no bounds. It's unclear if she reads Mark Steyn, but she seems to be infected with a similar virus, at various times describing Muslims as barbaric, cruel etc and out to exterminate the French.

In 1998 Bardot was convicted of inciting racial hatred following comments she made about civilian massacres in Algeria. Some time later the Human Rights League and the Movement Against Racism sued her for racial discrimination and promoting racial hatred.

This time around the charge is once again 'insulting Muslims' and 'inciting racial hatred'. French anti-racist groups had a problem with remarks Bardot made about the Muslim feast of Eid-al-Adha.

Bardot has claimed that France is being invaded by 'sheep slaughtering Muslims' - she announced that she is "fed up with being under the thumb of this population which is destroying us, destroying our country and imposing its acts." A statement derived more from perception than reality.

Even though France is host to the largest Muslim population in Europe, it's hard to understand how a mere 8% of the French population could be responsible for Bardot's angst. The greater truth is that Bardot has little or no comprehension of the day-to-day lives of French Muslims and listens too much to the anti-immigrant talk common in right wing circles. She herself has said that her right-wing husband never shuts up about politics.

It's sad to see the decline of a former icon of French cinema - once the model for the French Marianne - into this hate-filled figure. On occasion Bardot has had teary moments in which she appears to have regrets. One such moment occurred in court when she tearfully claimed that she never "knowingly wanted to hurt anybody."

Despite the extreme prejudice of some of Bardot's remarks in La Figaro and elsewhere, people should have the right to express their opinion without fear of prosecution. The last thing we need in our societies is libel chill. Prosecuting Bardot in such a public manner makes her into a martyr figure in the eyes of some and provides publicity for hateful commentary that it simply doesn't deserve.

She offered the following insight as a way of explaining her reactionary tendencies:

"I was born in 1934, at that time inter-racial marriage wasn't approved of. There are many new languages in the new Europe. Mediocrity is taking over from beauty and splendour. There are many people who are filthy, badly dressed and badly shaven."