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A fine point
I forget how I got to this examination of the French riots, but this is a pretty good explanation
What you’re seeing in the riots now is really just the same thing that happens when the government tries to privatise some public company, and the unions go on strike.
This is the French banlieu criminal union going on strike.
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Dinosaur attack
In what I can only assume is an attempt to keep their names in the paper, both Jesse Jackson and Ralph Nader have taken sides on the Terrell Owens affair.
The civil rights activist said the level of punishment could have been warranted if Owens had been caught shaving points, selling drugs, carrying a gun or fighting fans without sufficient restraint.
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Synchonicity
Whilst going to see the A-Sides at Limerick junction last night I experienced a weird coincidence of sounds and scene. I was listening to the Waco Brothers album “To The Last Dead Cowboy” and for two miles the alienation of the music matched the inherent alienation of an urban landscape.
I was driving up McClendon, which actually goes for quite a ways. The neighborhoods were very nice, and very pricey, but also very old. It occurred to me that the builders and original dwellers of the neighborhood were long gone; it gave the neighborhood a strange, bruised feel. The houses had character and style, but they seemed lost without their original owners. The separation was somehow palpable (with the soundtrack).
Reading over this I don’t think I’ve captured the thought accurately.
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Long time no blog
The riots in France continue. Is it me, or is it very strange that there is a national strategy on what is essentially a local law enforcement problem, albeit a common one.
I still think some of the French politicians are playing a “the worse, the better” game with the rioters, to wit, the worse the riots, the more the anti-immigration sentiment, which bodes well for le Pen’s party. Or it could be that the French government simply lacks the ability to end the riots.
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Wednesday round up
- Torture Warrants – it deals with everything honestly I suppose.
- Google founders buy a private jet – and yet “We’ve worked very hard to make sure our [net] impact on the environment is positive”
- The gutlessness of the Republican party is amazing.
- Kinky!
- Topless protesters – though after a certain age one’s cause doesn’t really break even in effectiveness. The organization is called “Breasts not bombs” though I see no reason why we can’t have both.
- Ayn Rand’s cover illustrator is still alive and has some wonderful art on his site. I highly recommend it. His prints are exhorbitantly expensive sadly.
- Wonderful pulp art (the Shadow) from Micah Wright, who it would seem is a fraud in his other endeavors.
- Twinsparc has released SaySo.org
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Band of the moment
The Barnyard Playboys – nothing complicated, just good old country punk. I got their album after seeing them at the Star Bar about six years ago (during my rockabilly period) and I haven’t listened to it in about 4 years. Still good, unpretentious stuff. Where else can one hear “Someone shaved a yeti” in song?
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Time between
It just occurred to me that the notion of Christmas is always better retrospectively than prospectively. That is to say thoughts of Christmas future pale in comparison to memories of Christmas past.
I wonder why.
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And on the 13th day
The riots continue, and seem to escalate a tad.. I am a believer that this underclass was created by perverse incentives of the French welfare system, who have nothing to lose by indulging in Jane Galt “breaking stuff is fun” meme.
That being said though, are the French actually trying to stop the rioting? Their efforts have been somewhat subtle. It seems like there’s something larger afoot here.
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But what about Biggie?
link via The Agitator, Cynthia McKinney brings America.… the
SEC. 4. TUPAC AMARU SHAKUR RECORDS COLLECTION AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES.
- (a) In General- (1) Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the National Archives shall commence establishment of a collection of records to be known as the `Tupac Amaru Shakur Records Collection.’ In so doing, the Archivist shall ensure the physical integrity and original provenance of all records. The Collection shall consist of originals or record copies of all Government records relating to the life and death of Tupac Amaru Shakur, which shall be transmitted to the National Archives in accordance with section 2107 of title 44, United States Code. The Archivist shall prepare and publish a subject guidebook and index to the collection, including the central directory described in paragraph (2)(B), which shall be available to the public and searchable electronically.
And
SEC. 5. CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
- (a) Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the National Archives shall appoint an independent Citizens Advisory Committee, subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C., App.), as defined in App. 2, from candidates solicited from and nominated not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act by non-governmental organizations from the Society of American Archivists, the National Bar Association, the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, Inc., and the National Conference of Black Political Scientists, the civil rights, civil liberties, entertainment and African American community, which will consist of appointees–
- (1) who have not had any previous involvement with any official investigations into the life and death of Tupac Amaru Shakur,
- (2) who were never employed or engaged by any Federal, state or local intelligence or law enforcement agency which is covered in the scope of this Act’s search for records related to the life and death of Tupac Amaru Shakur,
- (3) who shall be impartial private citizens, none of whom is presently employed by any branch of the Government, and
- (4) who shall be distinguished persons of high national professional reputation in their respective fields who are capable of exercising the independent and objective judgment necessary to the fulfillment of their role in ensuring and facilitating the review, transmission to the public, and public disclosure of records related to the life and death of Tupak Shakur,
- (A) who possess an appreciation of the value of such material to the public, scholars, and government, and
- (B) who include at least three scholars in current history, at least 3 members of the civil rights community, at least 3 experts on civil liberties, and at least one member of the immediate family of Tupac Amaru Shakur.
IIRC I think there is only one immediate member of Shakur’s family.
I think we saw the gutlessness of the Republicans with the failure of the Coburn amendment. If this makes it though Congress I suggest we hand the keys to the country to Walmart and call it a day.
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Weird stuff
They now have vanilla flavored toothpaste, which I like a good bit. It’s like brushing your teeth with cookies.