Irish voters on June 12 said ‘No’ to the superpower ambitions of European political elites, who want all 27 member-states of the European Union to ratify the 269-page (about 3000 pages with annexes) Lisbon Treaty that would turn the EU into a bureaucratic superstate. Ireland was the only country to submit the “Reform Treaty” to a popular vote; all other member states of the EU intend to ratify the document through parliamentary procedures. Although by EU law the Irish vote (53.4 percent said ‘No’ and 46.6 percent said ‘Yes’) should kill the treaty (because it requires unanimous approval to come into effect), European politicians will almost certainly find a way to keep it alive.

 

The burst of the bubble in 1990 shook up Japan's confidence in the efficacy of its old ways. Western ideas and brands have flowed into the breach, profoundly altering the Japanese society.

This essay was first published at the Scandinavian blog Snaphanen, but since some of my readers may not have seen it I republish it here. It was inspired by the book Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction, by James Clackson. The discovery of the Indo-European language family was made by Sir William Jones, a gifted British classical scholar who had mastered French and Italian and some Hebrew and Arabic at an early age. He is said to have known thirteen languages well, and twenty-eight fairly well, at the time of his death. In 1786, Jones elaborated a theory of the common origins of most European languages and those of Iran and northern India. Here is Jones as quoted by Ibn Warraq in his excellent book Defending the West:

The New York Times (NYT) is in the business of changing the American culture, especially what it perceives as really bad American habits. One of them is free speech.

In an article (Unlike Others, U.S. Defends Freedom to Offend in Speech) the NYT tried to address the issue of the different approach that American judicial system takes on the important issue of free speech. The article is a marvelous study in the architecture of deceit. What is omitted and what is included create a much distorted picture of the issue at hand. It all starts in the first paragraph:

“A couple of years ago, a Canadian magazine published an article arguing that the rise of Islam threatened Western values. The article’s tone was mocking and biting, but it said nothing that conservative magazines and blogs in the United States do not say every day without fear of legal reprisal.”

A quote from a motion for a resolution at the European Parliament:

(...) Whereas weblogs are an increasingly common medium for self-expression by media professionals as well as private persons, the status of their authors and publishers, including their legal status, is neither determined nor made clear to the readers of the weblogs, causing uncertainties regarding impartiality, reliability, source protection, applicability of ethical codes and the assignment of liability in the event of lawsuits, (...)

[The European Parliament] suggests clarifying the status, legal or otherwise, of weblogs and encourages their voluntary labelling according to the professional and financial responsibilities and interests of their authors and publishers; (...)

 

In France the presence of squatters and large numbers of immigrants both legal and illegal triggered the call for automatic free housing for all those in need. It came to be called DALO ("droit au logement opposable"). Roughly translated: "the inalienable right to housing that a court cannot deny you". In other words, if you want housing, and are denied it, then if you go to court, this so-called DALO law must prevail over any preceding refusals. Up to now DALO has not been put to the test in a courtroom but that omission has now been corrected, as Yves Daoudal explains in two posts. The first, dated May 21, provides background to the case of Namizata Fofana:

A quote from EUobserver, 10 June 2008

French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner has warned Ireland about the consequences of voting "No" in Thursday's referendum, saying the Irish would be the "first victim" if they reject the EU treaty.

Speaking on France's RTL radio, Mr Kouchner said that a "No" vote would be met by "gigantic incomprehension" in the rest of Europe. Mr Kouchner alluded to the Irish being ungrateful about what the country has received from the EU since its membership in 1973.

George Handlery on the week that was. How to negotiate with pariahs? What makes Obama “formidable”? Good candidate, good President? Freedom and equality. Redistribution and oppression. The chance of success or the security of entitlements? The Party and reincarnation. Mugabe’s is an expert – on hunger.
 
1. Obama has caused some disquiet by his promise to talk to America’s enemies. The problem of the pledge is not his willingness to parley. Negotiations as such are not, ipso facto, a mistake. The nominee’s problem is that he appears to be willing to talk to Kim, Castro 2, the Mullahs. One also wonders whether Bin Laden is missing by accident or conscious design. When a party lacks legitimacy, unconditional talks give it something for nothing. Direct talks with the President instead of consultations behind the scenes with subordinates have a value. They represent a gain in stature for the opposing party and the price of that should be collected. There should also be an informal general agreement before the President sits down with a figure of the political underworld. Giving away the pre-conditions is unlikely to be a favor that is kindly returned. The direct negotiation upgrades the other side and that strengthens its hand. In addition, dealing with the pariahs of politics hands them a success and at the same time it puts the President under pressure to “succeed.” That means that he must reach an agreement, any agreement, anything that sounds good. Such a transaction makes it likely that the deal will be a bad one.

How the Brussels edition of the Times' front page reported the Irish polling yesterday. Spot the deliberate mistake.

Being charitable I have come to the conclusion that the Thunderer was just trying to be nice to its Brussels readership.

A quote from The Daily Telegraph, 6 June 2008

Most of France's tanks, helicopters and jet fighters are unusable and its defence apparatus is on the verge of "falling apart", it has emerged.